The Omen

The Complete Omen Collection (The Omen - 1976/ The Omen - 2006/ Damien: The Omen II/ The Omen III: The Final Conflict/ The Omen IV: The Awakening)
$39.98
THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST DEALS EVER. I GOT THESE DVD'S FOR ABOUT HALF OF WHAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AT THE STORES. THANK'S TO AMAZON.COM AND PLEASE REST ASSURED I WILL MAKE MORE PURCHASE THROUGH THEM FROM NOW ON. THANK YOU.

The Omen [Blu-ray]
$24.99
A somewhat subdued 'end of days' thriller, following in the footsteps of the terribly acted 1976 original, the 6/6/06 Omen is equally badly acted but that's okay because good acting would have spoiled its almost Greek tragedy texture. Actors wearing masks would have been more proper.

Sometimes crossing the line into 'exploitation' territory - suggesting that 9/11 and the last Space Shuttle crash were events described in the Book of Revelation - the Omen is someone one may want to watch on Halloween night after making sure that small children aren't present. There are no significant additions or innovations when compared to its 1976 predecessor other than a few CGI touches that make some of the more gruesome scenes look a little more 'real'. Other than that, Damien walks the exact same path and the movie ends with him exactly where we expected him to be, having watched the original release.

The Blu-ray treatment does enhance the viewing experience and the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound is as good as it gets. Other Blu-ray enhancements include the "Devil's Notes" option which splashes little trivia notes on the screen, sometimes but not always related to what is being shown. We get to learn, for example, that the movie's first day earnings were a dollar figure that ended in 666, that Mia Farrow has several relatives named Damien, about the 6 classes of demons and their characteristics and a lot about various Satan-worshiping or admiring cults and movements.

Additional features include an alternate commentary sound track, a feature on the composing and performing of the lugubrious sound track music and a surprisingly long and generally boring 22-minute discussion where various authorities on the subject such as author Tim LaHaye, someone who was born on 12/6/66 and other people in the know tell us that 666 is a very mysterious and troubling number.

Overall, it's not a bad movie and it more or less met my expectations. The crisp Blu presentation and the modernized recreation of an old almost-classic earn it its 3 stars meaning "It's OK".

The Omen
$7.99
This wasn't a terrible book, there were some good moments while I was reading, but the writing style was sparse, and for the subject, this book simply did not have the thrills and chills that one would usually expect. It would have been better if this book was more descriptive and horrifying.

The Omen Collection [Blu-ray]
$129.98
A blu-ray collection of these films should be cause for excitement - yet even when taking into account Amazon's generous discount on this set - the packaging must be be one of the cheapest, flimsy and thoughtlessly conceived on the format. Every expense seems to have been spared. If your going to market Blu-ray on its high spec credentials - some effort in all departments might be an idea. Such is the paucity of the packaging here it would barely survive liberation from the shrinkwrap.