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Dom Robinson reviews 
- Cert:
- Cat.no: 08976 DVD
- Running time: 311 minutes
- Year: 1976/78/81
- Pressing: 2001
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 50 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: 11 languages
- Widescreen: 2.35:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £39.99
- Extras: Documentary: “666: The Omen Revealed”, Featurette: “Curse or Coincidence”, Jerry Goldsmith Interview, Trailers, 3 Audio Commentaries
The Omen Quadrilogy: 
Directors:
- Richard Donner, Don Taylor and Graham Baker
, respectively
Producer:
- Harvey Bernhard
Screenplay:
- David Seltzer; Stanley Mann & Michael Hodges; Andrew Birkin
Music:
- Jerry Goldsmith
Cast:
- Robert Thorn: Gregory Peck
Katherine Thorn: Lee Remick
Damien (age 6): Harvey Stephens
Damien (age 13): Jonathan Scott-Taylor
Damien (age 32): Sam Neill
Jennings: David Warner
Father Brennan: Patrick Troughton
Richard Thorn: William Holden
Ann Thorn: Lee Grant
Father DeCarlo: Rossano Brazzi
25 years ago in The Omen there was a demon created with more strength than anything Brian from the Big Brother house could scream at, when Damien was born. However, things nearly took a different turn for Robert and Katherine Thorn (Gregory Peck & Lee Remick), but because she gave birth to a stillborn son, Robert was unable to tell his wife of the grave news and so passed off newborn orphan Damien as their chosen one.
But, D’oh!, if he didn’t go and pick a real duffer that was seriously about to wreck their lives big time, because Damien was born at 6am on the 6th day of the 6th month, representing Satan in human form: the coming of Armageddon, the site of the final confrontation between the forces of good and evil, as foretold in the Book of Revelations.
How can he be evil if he looks so sweet and innocent though? Well, try asking the nanny who tops herself, Jennings (David Warner) who has a nasty encounter when he tries to complain about his double glazing and Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton) who performs a dangerous tracheotomy procedure. You’ll find no favours too from his parents when he tries to kill his mother and gets the goldfish instead, then later when his father discovers the ‘666’ on Damien’s forehead.
Note that Channel 4 actually showed this film as their Christmas Day special one year!
In Damien: Omen II, seven years have passed since Damien narrowly escaped death at the hands of his own father and the boy is now a 13-year old cadet in military academy, living with his rich and powerful American uncle, Richard Thorn (William Holden). Damien does not yet understand exactly who (or what!) he is, but his awesome powers suddely begin to manifest themselves when a school bully makes the mistake of taunting him.
As Damien and his powers grow, he is watched over by shadowy disciples of evil and anyone who tries to warn Thorn about Damien’s true satanic nature meets a grisly end. But time is running short – will Damien be destroyed by the forces of light, or will he survive and flourish as the embodiment of evil on Earth?
The performances of all actors in the film, apart from the chilling face of Damien, are all outshadowed by the fates dealt out to the cast members who have a date with the Grim Reaper, most notably ‘Death by lift-shaft’ !
It’s also worth noting that the eerie goings-on in the film echo the sentiments of reality, since during pre-production on the first film, an IRA bomb rocked the hotel where the producer and director were staying. A violent storm swept through Rome during a location survey and a bolt of lightning struck Hadrian’s Gate, a landmark near producer Harvey Bernhard’s hotel.
The jinx continued with Damien: Omen II as filming schedules went awry, equipment was lost, a stunt-girl was almost killed, Bernhard’s Los Angeles apartment was destroyed by an inexplicable fire and his car shed a wheel on the freeway shortly afterwards.
Finally, in Omen III: The Final Conflict, this third segment of the Omen trilogy sees the satanic Damien (Sam Neill), now a grown man of 32, as head of the gigantic Thorn Corporation, Ambassador to the Court of St. James in England and, as advisor to the President Of The United States, just one step away from the most powerful position on earth.
Set in an eerie future, The Great Recession has arrived. As worldwide starvation and economic doom prevail, so does Damien who relentlessly continues his sinister plot to control the world.
Only a priest, Father DeCarlo (Rossano Brazzi), whose sacred mission is to destroy the Antichrist, stands between Damien and his diabolical ambition to bring the world to the brink of global chaos. One by one, the seven Italian monks who carry the seven sacred daggers of Megiddo attempt to rid the world of Damien’s evil; and one by one their valiant efforts are brutally and horrifically thwarted. Will Father DeCarlo succeed, or will the Antichrist claim the souls of all mankind?
The third part in the Omen trilogy also contains a number of shocking deaths which made the series so popular. In this part, two of the most violent come firstly during the scene featuring the American Ambassador who ends up looking a little unwell and not quite in the right attire for his press conference; and secondly in a scene pointing out the wrong way to doing the ironing…
A great film is certainly helped by a good cast which this one has, as well as a fine lead in Sam Neill as the most evil man on the planet. There’s also a couple of interesting cameos from two stars of British television who frequent the screen most often, namely Eric Richard, aka Sgt. Bob Cryer in The Bill who appears as the Astronomer’s Technician; and the ubiquitous Ruby Wax as secretary to the American Ambassador.
Only the first film is available separately on DVD. Also pictured are the PAL laserdisc sleeves for the sequels.
The picture looks very good for its age in all three films. Artifacts are non-existant, but there are a few minor print defects even though it’s nothing you wouldn’t normally rule out for films from the late 70s and early 80s, but suffice to say a little extra care on the remastering wouldn’t hurt.
Although there were three different directors, each film is presented in the original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio and is anamorphic. The frame is well-filled in each, too. The average bitrate for the first film is 5.9Mb/s, occasionally peaking over 7Mb/s.
Oh, how I wish someone had remastered the entire trilogy in Dolby Digital 5.1, but an opportunity has been missed and it’s in Dolby Surround all the way. For each of the death scenes, what you’ll hear is effective if you turn it up loud enough, but it’s never going to make you jump out of your seat like it deserves to.
As is the way with special edition boxsets, there’s more extras on the first disc than on the remainders. Disc one contains a feature-length Audio Commentary from director Richard Donner and editor Stuart Baird – the latter of whom has gone on to edit many action pictures including Mission: Impossible 2 and Tomb Raider as well as directing U.S. Marshals and Executive Decision – and a documentary, “666: The Omen Revealed”, lasting 46 minutes and contains chat from crew members, showing how many of the film’s key scary moments were created.
The 6-minute featurette “Curse or Coincidence” has the crew talking about those moments during filming that I mentioned in the section about the second film. Composer Jerry Goldsmith has his say in four short interview clips that total 18 minutes and the disc is rounded off with the original theatrical Trailer.
Both of the other two discs each contain Trailers for all three films. The second also has a Producer’s Commentary from Harvey Bernhard and the third contains a Director’s Commentary from Graham Baker.
Chaptering could be a little improved with the first film having 20 and the others 15 apiece. The main menus contain subtle animation and music and subtitles are provided in 11 languages: English, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese and Swedish. The packaging looks fantastic displayed in the shape of a cross like the Buffy Season 1 DVD boxset.
The Region 1 DVD boxset also contains Omen IV: The Awakening, which only got a video release over here, but it retails for $100.
DAMIEN: OMEN II
OMEN III
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.