Albert Pyun has long been a purveyor of cheap science fiction/action films (the Van Damme starrer CYBORG is one of his best known) and this film comes as no exception. You can almost imagine them thinking of the concept here; "Oh yeah, let's remake YOJIMBO again but this time with an all-robot cast! That'll be cool!". While OMEGA DOOM does have some redeeming factors, in the end these are spoiled by poor editing which totally ruins any excitement the action scenes may have had, and the simplistic script. In the end it's just like any other mid '90s low-budget sci-fi caper, it looks impressive from the outside but invariably disappoints.This film has one small, cheap set. It looks like it's been filmed in an eastern European war-torn town, and that's because it was. As there is little budget for impressive visual effects (a few colourful flashes, and a moving severed head are about it), the guys on the sound effects track go berserk with all manner of weird and wonderful sounds. Each robot movement makes a whirr or a clank, each time a weapon is powered up there's a cool noise. In fact 90% of this movie has some kind of sound effect going on in it. Sadly these become tiring after a while.Pyun has always been a journeyman director, and here he does a pretty bad job again. As I mentioned earlier, a right hash is made of the action scenes in which it's impossible to figure out what's happening. Much of this film consists of talk though, and its quite watchable and never becomes boring. Most fun is Rutger Hauer, whose poetry-spouting peaceful robot is the film's most interesting character, and he dominates much of the screen time. Hauer is fine in the role, although it isn't exactly stretching.The supporting cast has some mildly familiar faces, but most of the actors and actresses are just minor players - although, somewhat scarily, a whole load of them seem to have been either in Pyun's HEATSEEKER or BLAST, a DIE HARD rip-off also from '96. Shannon Whirry appears in a minor role as an evil female robot who plans to double-cross Hauer and gets shot in the stomach before s-l-o-w-l-y dying; Whirry's best known for her role in late night adult films so her acting is, as to be expected, pretty atrocious. However, good value comes from Norbert Weisser as 'the Head', an amusing foil for Hauer who spends most of the screen time either doing pratfalls or having his head knocked off and smashed against walls. Some of the robots, as played by Tina Cote and Jahi Zuri, are also sufficiently imposing, especially the latter with his piercing blue contact lenses.OMEGA DOOM has a few tricks and surprises up its sleeve which keeps it mildly watchable in a good-natured way, but it's not a film you would want to pay to see. Instead, it's a derivative quickie, in which there isn't much originality and which offers up nothing new or of interest to the genre. Basically, you can live your life quite happily without seeing this film, trust me.

Machines reign supreme in a bleak post-apocalyptic world. Rival factions the Roms and the Droids fight over a hidden cache of guns in a rundown old town. Salvation materializes in the unlikely form of shrewd and lethal hybrid automaton Omega Doom (a fine and smooth performance by the always cool Rutger Hauer). Director Albert Pyun, who also co-wrote the engrossing script with Ed Naha, relates the fun story at a steady pace, presents an intriguingly grim and harsh futuristic environment full of despair and bereft of hope, stages the showdowns with flair, and gives the whole thing a neat and imaginative "Man With No Name"-type spaghetti Western kind of gritty'n'groovy vibe. Moreover, the cast have a ball with the offbeat material, with especially stand-out work by 90's erotic thriller starlet Shannon Whirry as the pragmatic Zed, Norbert Weisser as a sage, much abused, and frequently disembodied robot head, Tina Cote as the ruthless and impulsive Blackheart (her big climactic confrontation with Omega Doom rates as a definite exciting highlight), Anna Katarina as a weary and gentle pacifist drone bartender, Jill Pierce as the tricky Zinc, Cynthia Ireland as the suspicious Ironface, and Jahi J.J. Zuri as the brutish Marko. George Mooradian's garish cinematography gives the picture a funky-punky bombed-out look. Anthony Riparetti's flavorsome score hits the rocking harmonic spot. A very enjoyable oddity.

I cannot believe this film did not do it in terms of the box office. I just sat back and enjoyed it! I think Hauer is a great actor and this film further proves it. He plays a good hero as he did in Blind Fury, he has another sinister role in this film but he is the good guy. He still has that scary appeal about him like what he did in The Hitcher. Shannon Whirry provides superb support as a droid who is incharge. This makes the film all the more enjoyable as she provides a lot of unexpected charisma to it. The scenes where her and Hauer are against each other are just brilliant!10/10Enjoy

When I mean special effects from hell, I don't mean they suck. Even worse they arn't finished or haphazardly done. In one scene... Shannon whirry lay um... dying (in robot terms) and green screen material is clearly showing. And our dear HEAD's real neck is poorly erased. Still, the story is sound. The acting by the important characters are surprisingly well done. As the backside to Blind Fury. I couldn't tell which is worse. bad acting , good story on blind fury or good acting, bad effects on the other.The unfinished look of the film will scare most film nuts away. But having a certain bias towards Rutger, I think giving it a 5/10 is pretty darn good. Certainly better than Battlefield Earth. In that case, bad acting bad story, fantastic special effects. :P5/10Quality: 2/10 Entertainment: 8/10 Replayable: 7/10