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Extras: Documentary: "666: The Omen Revealed", Featurette: "Curse or
Coincidence", Jerry Goldsmith Interview, Trailers, 3 Audio Commentaries
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.
THE OMEN DAMIEN: OMEN II OMEN III PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS
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This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
The Omen Quadrilogy: 
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.
