Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: 20th Century Fox
Blu-ray: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Disc:
Region: A
Runtime: 110 min
Chapters: 24
Feature
Size: 19.8 GB
Case: Lightweight Gatefold Case, with Slipcover
Release date: October 7th, 2008
Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Resolution: 1080p
Video codec: MPEG-2 @ 18 MBPS
Audio:
English DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio. Spanish & French DTS
5.1
Subtitles:
English & Spanish
Extras:
• Feature Commentary by Director John Moore, Producer
Glenn Williamson and Editor Dan Zimmerman.
• Featurette: Abbey Road Sessions (10:14)
• Featurette: Revelations 666 (22:17)
• Extended Scenes (4:12)
• Devil's Footnotes Trivia Track
The Film:
The Movie: 6.5
While not quite a frame by frame recount of the
original, a la Gus van Sant's Psycho, John Moore's
remake of the 1976 classic sticks close to the original
scenario, so close in fact that David Seltzer is till
given credit for the present screenplay. Moore's update
reflects current society's increasing tendency to become
detached, even from our family. It also is clearer about
the price one pays for selling out one's values – that
is, making a deal with the devil. We may miss the
charisma of Gregory Peck and the cool sex appeal of Lee
Remick, but Moore would not have cast their like even if
he could for he is after a different tone: less
romantic, an image more sharply in focus, while all the
while keeping his protagonists in the dark about their
fates.
Liev Schreiber is Robert Thorn, an American diplomat
stationed in Italy. He arrives at a hospital to learn
that his infant son has died at birth. A hospital cleric
suggests to Robert that another child, whose parents
have just died, could be swapped in place of their baby.
Reluctantly, Robert agrees, feeling that his young wife,
Katherine (Julia Styles) would be devastated if she
learned that her baby had died, and he agrees to keep
the changling's identity from her.
The difference between The Omen and the various Faustian
stories is that Thorn is not given informed consent, nor
does he covet worldly gifts like Jabez Stone or Tom
Rakewell. Thorn doesn't get to know with whom he is
dealing until it is too late. He is not concerned with
the fate of his own soul, and having made his pact,
Thorn begins his desperate struggle to rationalize his
guilt and the mounting evidence before him. Not that he
isn't offered plenty of hints, sometimes more than just
hints. HIs fortunes improve on the bodies a string of
improbable and grisly deaths of innocent people, but
Thorn sees them as coincidences hardly worth noting: The
boy's nanny jumps off the roof of their home during his
birthday party, hanging herself in obeisance to Damien.
A zealot comes to Thorn (Pete Postlethwaith) fervently
insisting that his life and that of his wife's are in
danger. Damien's new nanny (Mia Farrow, not content with
having given birth to the Devil's spawn some 40 years
ago) insinuates herself into the family, and deftly
undermines the parents' authority.
Peck's Thorn may be more tormented, but he is decisive
and remains a man of action. Schreiber's Thorn is more
detached than Peck from the start. Where Peck charms his
way through his wife's dis-ease, Schreiber is a man of
small motions. He remains in a trance, shattered, from
the moment he learns of the loss of his child until the
final shot. To know his mood we must look closely at his
body language. Schreiber's subtle performance doesn't
invite us into his head any more than he invites his
wife. This is the good and bad news about the movie.
There is something eerily familiar about Schreiber's
characterization of the husband who simply doesn't
listen. His Thorn is a man of our times and, unlike
Peck's, it is not a friendly face.
Another actor the new Omen does not have is Jerry
Goldsmith. Marco Beltrami's music is certainly what is
called for in this new rendering; it is more angular,
more overtly threatening, there are no love themes.
Alas, next to Remick, it may be Goldsmith's Oscar
winning score that I miss most. The production design,
photography, the audio mix – these all show what money
can buy. Scene for scene, the remake holds it own and
occasionally betters the original. Gone, however, is the
lyricism that was in such elegant nineteenth century
counterpoint to hidden evil. John Moore's evil warrants
no such quarter. His evil stares us right in the face.
There is time no longer for the simple pleasures of
life. In a thinly veiled political comment, with Damien
inheriting the American president as his godfather,
Armageddon is clearly upon us.
Image:
8.5/9
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were ripped directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
The first number indicates a relative level of
excellence compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a
ten-point scale. The second number places this image
along the full range of DVD and Blu-ray discs.
It may take a moment to realize why this image looks so
different from the original film on which it is based:
it is in 1.85:1 instead of 2.35:1. On a big screen in
one's private home theatre, this difference is huge. I
generally find that the squarer the image, the more
intimate my involvement; and while I find the
photography of the original more appealing, it is,
nonetheless, more stylized. The original is lovely to
look at, in marked contrast to its subject: evil. It is
lyrical, romantic, always interesting to look at, taking
full advantage of it widescreen possibilities. The new
movie is bigger, yet for all its extra image size, it is
emptier and colder. Its evil fills an emptiness that
passively lies in wait. Even the coffins are void save
the skeletons. The image, often in chiaroscuro, is
always sharp, without processing distractions. Bit rates
are high: in the upper 30s. I thought it very good
despite
its MPEG-2 credentials and 25 GB capacity.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio & Music:
9/8
The uncompressed DTS HD mix takes full advantage of the
medium, more often with subtle cues than with
directional surrounds. Whether a driving rain, a
discussion in a tunnel, an attack by dogs, a juggernaut
tricycle (reminiscent of The Shining), the audio track
is spot on.
Operations:
3
The Lord giveth and taketh away: 3 points for the worst
packaging I've seen for a Blu-ray set. The outer sleeve,
which is the same height as a standard DVD package, is
thin – that's not uncommon, but the flimsy gatefold that
holds the discs is an embarrassment to the industry –
hardly double the thickness of the thin outer sleeve,
with the cheesiest disc holders ever. Another thing I
had trouble with was that when I selected the desired
scene from the menu while the movie was playing, the
scene came up but the menu persisted. Why? Everything
else went well. Don't neglect the other bonus features
to the right. Disc loads quickly with no
previews or promos.
E
xtras:
6
The main extra feature is an audio commentary by the
director, producer and editor, which was lively and
informative as to the creative process and the thinking
about choices to diverge from the original movie. I
found myself liking the director, John Moore: a team
player, who gave credit away like Wachovia before The
Fall. There is also a visit to the recording session at
Abbey Road, but more to the point, composer Baltrami
demonstrates how he thought through his score. While the
sound in this segment, in mere DD 2.0, is clear and
dynamic, in my setup anyway, could not be controlled
from the remote in the same way as everything else. Very
odd. I had to adjust the volume for the front channels
separately as the master volume level had no effect.
Probably some peculiarity about my setup. Maybe not. A
quasi-documentary about the fascination with the New
Testament Revelation and its presumed predictions about
the Second Coming and the Beast is included. Looked like
something out of the National Enquirer. The Devil's
Trivia Track is activated from the Special Features menu
and appears as pop-ups throughout the feature. There are
lots of them, ranging in bits about the movie (not many)
to fascinating facts and factoids about Satanism.
"Damien" I learned is from the Greek, meaning "sweet and
harmless." I don't know if that's true, but it put a
smile on my face to consider the implications. I found
the Trivia Track a peculiar way to watch the track as
the movie vied for attention and vice-versa.
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Bottom line:
6
As you can probably tell from my review I thought more
of the remake than is generally held, once I let go of
Peck, Remick and Goldsmith. This is not merely a van
Sant re-filming of the same movie in a different format
(in his case, color), but a rethinking of the tone of
the story. I thought it stood well enough on its own
terms. On the other hand, considering the price of this
collection, the presentation is inexcusable. That said,
the discs themselves, especially the remake of the
original, are all very good in terms of both image and
sound. It's nice that the first two movies retain the
original mono option. At the moment, only the first
movie is
available separately, so the "Collection" is the only
option for any of the other movies in HD.
Leonard Norwitz
October 9th, 2008
