ADDITION: Fox Blu-ray - October 08': I don't know why, but I wasn't expecting a lot from this new transfer - I was actually quite pleased with the way it turned out. This 32-year old film easily surpasses the previous SD-DVD editions with a color scheme that supports the 'CE' over the 'SE'. Detail is extensively improved and colors, especially skin tones seem more correct. The image has a tightness that was surprising considering its age. The speckles that existed in the CE are gone and this looks like a brand new film. Grain is visible to varying degrees and hopefully the screen captures below can bear out the improvement in 1080P with Fox using the MPEG4-AVC encode. I should state that my edition is part of the 4-disc Collection (which we will be reviewing shortly), not the individual release.

Audio gets a desirable bump to Lossless DTS HD Master 5.1 (and still keeps a mono option). Jerry Goldsmith's original score for The Omen is one of the more memorable in horror film history. Aside from the orchestral background we have two specific pieces written by him - "Ave Satani" and "The Piper Dreams" with the former being undeniably haunting and perfectly suited to the deep sense of suspense and mystique of the netherworld that is permeated in the narrative by Donner. There is a wonderful featurette in the extras and you can actually access the Isolated Score Track with this new Blu-ray. It is also covered a lot in the new, third commentary. It really comes to life in HD and adds another element of foreboding to the film - one I had not felt previously. Top marks. There are optional subtitles offered.

Extras appear to include all the past featurettes, deleted scenes and 2 commentaries - plus some new stuff - notably a third, new, commentary with film historians Lem Dobbs, Nick Redman and Jeff Bond. They cover a bit from the previous two discussions but also impart quite a lot of new information and the trio seem to work well together relating how this was the beginning of a new era of the horror genre with much on Goldsmith's score. We also have 15 minutes with Richard Donner on The Omen in HD as well as the aforementioned isolated score. Although not mentioned on the digipak the extensive The Omen Legacy (running 1:41:37) is still there.

I have always been high on this film (easily the best of the 4 'Omen' feature films made) and this Blu-ray does it justice. It looks and sounds great and there are more extras than any fan could have hoped for - if you include the commentaries as separate supplements - you have over 7 hours of extraneous stuff to indulge in. This is highly recommended! 

***

ON THE SD-DVDS: I'm usually criticizing these new 'super' editions for:

1) Their labelling - since the original releases in 2001 was called 'Special Edition' - this new edition had to be called 'Collector's Edition'

2) Improving the supplements excessively and the image indiscernibly.

BUT this is a different case - Fox have really done a great job with the transfer and the difference in colors can easily be seen. The balance on the new release is far superior (check skin tones below) and detail is also a notch advanced. We can also see the original release to be a shade cropped on all 4 sides - mostly the sides. I might not have found the old edition's brightness boosting excessive but alongside the 2-disc Collector's Edition it certainly looks that way now. In fact it's all better - they have added a very adept second commentary - shuffled the extras a little (all 5 are repeated with only 3 or 4 'new' supplements). Overall, I'm most happy with the new image which really establishes this 2-disc, along with the cheaper price tag, as a warranted purchase. Yes, you bet we recommend! Great film, great looking, solid extras. There is also a 5.1 track that sounded very good, although not 'knock your socks off' good, just adept and buoyant at the right times.

NOTE: I guess I should complain about something - the new menus are extravagant and damaging to the intelligent expression of the film. The more obvious 'horror effects' (in this case a shaky camera) were not necessary in the film and have no place in the animated menus. Ridiculous bitching on my part -> most certainly.    

 - Gary Tooze