The Omen Collection (Fox Blu-ray Set)

 

Picture: B     Sound/Extras/Film:

 

Omen (1976) B-/B/B

 

Damien: Omen II (1978) B-/C+/B

 

The Final Conflict – Omen III (1981) B-/C-/C-

 

Omen (2006 remake, aka Omen 666) B+/C-/D

 

 

To get moving on the coverage, we have reviewed the original film once in its double DVD set and the catastrophic remake three times.  You can start to read about all of it with the link to the DVD set of the 1976 original here:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3926/The+Omen+(1976)+-+Collector's+Ed

 

And our thorough bashing of the embarrassing remake, starting with the Blu-ray they already issued and is included in this set here:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4597/The+Omen+(2006/Blu-ray)

 

 

Now for more on the original Omen film.  It was a big hit for Fox the year before Star Wars, is a classic and remains an underrated gem in their catalog, especially after the “big mistake” remake and it put Gregory Peck back on top.  Of course, it is a film that once it is done, you cannot recreate the idea that out of nowhere, here is a prophecy that has been lingering for centuries and no one can stop it.  With that said, it remains one of the best films Richard Donner ever made and its combination of suspense, creepiness and ability to suspend disbelief with its supernatural storyline remains impressive to this day.  Even after the sequels, imitators and endless pop culture references (a Satanic student named Damien showed up recently on South Park) the film’s ability to remain effective is a testament to the concept, David Seltzer’s amazing screenplay, Jerry Goldsmith’s unforgettable score and effective casting all add up to a film that deserves more rediscovery.

 

Many people have panned Damien: Omen II, but along with Jaws II, Halloween II and a very small number of other Horror sequels, it understood what made the original work, knew how to run with it and pumped up the nightmare qualities with more action, contextual violence and made no false steps in giving us the dark pay-off that the first film set up.  Johnathan Scott-Taylor is dead on as a dangerously self-aware Damien, while director Don Taylor (Escape From The Planet Of The Apes) once again proves he knows his way around genre filmmaking.  Besides great acting by Leo McKern, William Holden, Lee Grant and Sylvia Sydney, the script manages to recapture the tone and dark promise of the first film.  Even Jerry Goldsmith returned to do the music, which sealed the deal.

 

However, The Final Conflict – Omen III arrived too late and despite the dead on casting of Sam Neill as Damien, now a U.S. Ambassador to England, the plot about him taking over the White House/U.S. Government and its connection to the Apocalypse never worked and has been too eclipsed by reality since (no slight to any single president, but the office has had too much scandal from both parties since that this angle seems lightweight) and the ending is very dumb and anti-climactic.  Scott-Taylor refused to return to the role and that was a smart move.  Rossano Brazzi and Don Gordon are interestingly cast, but this is almost a total dud.

 

Note that a fourth TV movie sequel was made, but thankfully was not included in this set, yet the equally inept remake is.  That is odd since it is badly repeating the characters form the first film, but completists can rejoice, while the rest of us can ignore it.

 

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 on the original trilogy and 1080p 1.85 X 1 image on the remake are all surprisingly about equal.  The first three films were shot in real anamorphic Panavision scope and looked good.  The remake has bad digital work all over the place, so any chance it had to look good went right down the drain.  The first film is here in an AVC @ 21 MBPS transfer and was shot by Director of Photography Gilbert Taylor, B.S.C., (Dr. Strangelove, Repulsion, Frenzy, Star Wars) and his work holds up very well.  Too bad the print is a bit faded and not as sharp and clear as this looked when it first arrived in 35mm in theaters.  The second and third films have the same print problem, both presented in an AVC @ 36 MBPS transfer (due to less extras) and should also look better.  The second film was shot by Bill Butler, A.S.C., (Jaws, Hickey & Boggs, The Conversation, Grease) and his approach works very effectively here.  Cinematography chores were split on the third film between Phil Meheux (The Long Good Friday, GoldenEye, the Casino Royale remake) and Robert Paynter (The Mechanic, Superman II, An American Werewolf In London) doing their best with the material given.  The styles mesh well-enough, especially since they both follow the first two films.  The third may be slightly sharper and clearer than the first two, but only marginally.

 

The DTS HD MA (Master Audio lossless) 5.1 offers the same results for the original trilogy, despite different release formats, while the remake has an obnoxious mix that is pointless and not that well recorded for a new film.  The first film was monophonic, the second in 4-track magnetic stereo and third analog Dolby Stereo.  In all cases, the Goldsmith score sounds as second generation as the sound effects and dialogue, needing reworked and redone down the line.  When you hear Goldsmith’s score isolated on the first film, that becomes all the more apparent.

 

We should note the annoying menus with their “boom” sounds every time you move the cursor and cannot shut the sound off!  The highlights themselves are of the “666” logo and it becomes a joke that wears thin very quickly.  Also, the fold out has the discs on soft individual spindles, so don’t be shocked if any discs are loose when you first get the set.  That will likely bother some even more than the menus.

 

Extras on the original trilogy Blus include theatrical trailers and audio commentaries on all of them, plus the importing of all the extras from the DVD set of the first film we already covered.  The first film’s Blu also adds interactive trivia, a second audio commentary by Lem Dobbs and HD-shot new interview with Donner.  The remake’s extras are also identical to the first Blu-ray release.  Thankfully, they spared us the fourth film from the original series for now, but like The Exorcist, this is a hit-turned-franchise that has been played out too much.  At least the original two films hold up and they are the only reason to get this set, especially since Damien: Omen II is not sold separately yet.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo