{"id":22132,"date":"2019-10-13T15:17:19","date_gmt":"2019-10-13T22:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=22132"},"modified":"2021-09-13T15:27:39","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T22:27:39","slug":"review-omen1976-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2019\/10\/review-omen1976-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"The Omen (1976) Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Although I don\u2019t hold The Omen<\/em><\/strong> in as high regards to some as I never found the plot itself all that enegaing, the film does have its moments and genuine creepiness and a bit of a dark fun factor going for it.<\/p>\n

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The Omen<\/span>
\n(1976)<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Horror, Thriller, Supernatural<\/span>
\nShout Factory | R \u2013 111 min. \u2013 $0.00 | October 15, 2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Date Published:<\/strong> 10\/13\/2019 | Author:<\/strong> The Movieman<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Directed by: <\/strong>Richard Donner
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>David Seltzer (written by)
\nCast: <\/strong>Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DISC INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Features: <\/strong>Audio Commentaries, Interviews, Introduction, Theatrical Trailer, TV Spot, Radio Spots, Still Gallery
\nSlip Cover: <\/strong>No
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>No
\nFormats Included: <\/strong>Blu-ray
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>1<\/span><\/p>\n
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Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), English (DTS-HD MA 1.0)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 2.35
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>47.43 GB
\nTotal Bitrate: <\/strong>34.51 Mbps
\nCodecs: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/span><\/p>\n
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Shout Factory provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
\nThe opinions I share are my own.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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THE MOVIE \u2014 3.25\/5<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Plot Synopsis: <\/strong>When Kathy Thorn (LEE REMICK) gives birth to a stillborn baby, her husband Robert (GREGORY PECK) shields her from the devastating truth and substitutes an orphaned infant for their own \u2013 unaware of the child\u2019s satanic origins. The horror begins on Damien\u2019s fifth birthday when his nanny stages a dramatic suicide. Soon after, a priest who tries to warn Damien\u2019s father is killed in a freakish accident. As the death toll mounts, Robert realizes his son is the Antichrist and decides he must kill the boy to prevent him from fulfilling a cataclysmic prophecy.<\/p>\n

Quick Hit Review: The Omen<\/em><\/strong> is a movie I thought I had seen many years ago, but remember very little about. This being my first viewing probably a decade, I didn\u2019t really find it all that great, though it had its share of disturbing moments, and the acting from Gregory Peck was pretty damn good, giving the film some weight. Other than that, it never genuinely scared me and perhaps that\u2019s due to the era when the movie was made, although a film like The Exorcist<\/em>, released only three years prior to this, still holds up very well.<\/p>\n

The film was directed by the venerable Richard Donner who, with his cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, gives the movie a real ominous vibe without looking too dark or overbearing, though having an evil child is kind of like clowns, to me anyway, they\u2019re easy to make creepy or downright frightening. Again, probably just me… In any case, while I wasn\u2019t as full on board with this movie compared with others of the same ilk (such as the aforementioned Exorcist<\/em>), there is still plenty here to appreciate.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 4.75\/5<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Audio Commentaries:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Director Richard Donner and Editor Stuart Baird<\/li>\n
  • Director Richard Donner and Filmmaker Brian Helgeland<\/li>\n
  • Film Historians Lem Dobbs, Nick Redman and Jeff Bond<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Here we get three commentary tracks, each one covering different viewpoints. Probably my favorite is the Donner\/Helgeland, a track featuring two filmmakers with Helgeland serving as a moderator and keeps the conversation flowing. The third track is very much an educational type of commentary and all three commentators delve into the background into the project.<\/p>\n

    Interviews:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Screenwriter David Seltzer (23:25)<\/li>\n
    • Actress Holly Palance (13:14)<\/li>\n
    • Composer Christopher Young (19:05)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      All three of these are pretty fascinating. Seltzer and Palance relayed stories from the set with the former discussing his screenplay and being rather humble and Palance talking about this being her first picture. Young\u2019s interview was an appreciation for Jerry Goldsmith.<\/p>\n

      Vintage Featurettes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Richard Donner on The Omen<\/em> (14:37)<\/u><\/strong> is an interview with the filmmaker recorded in 2008.<\/li>\n
      • The Omen<\/u><\/em><\/strong> Revelations (24:10)<\/u><\/strong> \u2014 This one looks at the religious angle of the movie with interviews by members of the clergy as well as Seltzer and Baird.<\/li>\n
      • Curse or Coincidence? (6:22)<\/u><\/strong> looks at some oddities that happened during the production.<\/li>\n
      • 666: The Omen<\/em> Revealed (46:18)<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Lengthy featurette on the making of The Omen<\/em>.<\/li>\n
      • Introduction with Richard Donner (1:56)<\/u><\/strong> provides brief thoughts on the film.<\/li>\n
      • Deleted Scene (1:26)<\/u><\/strong> that includes a commentary with Donner.<\/li>\n
      • Screenwriter\u2019s Notebook (14:53)<\/u><\/strong> is an interview with Screenwriter David Seltzer.<\/li>\n
      • An Appreciation: Wes Craven on The Omen<\/em> (20:17)<\/u><\/strong> \u2014 The legendary, and late, great horror filmmaker gives his praise for the movie.<\/li>\n
      • Jerry Goldsmith Discusses The Omen<\/em> Score (17:37)<\/u><\/strong> is pretty self-explanatory but the wonderful composer, who I guess recorded this not long before his death, provides his process with coming up with the score.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Trailers From Hell (2:46)<\/u><\/strong> is a breakdown on the Omen<\/em> trailer by Larry Cohen.<\/p>\n

        Rounding things out are promotional materials: Theatrical Trailer (2:25)<\/u><\/strong>, TV Spots (1:24)<\/u><\/strong>, Radio Spots (3:51)<\/u><\/strong> and lastly four Image Galleries<\/u><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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        VIDEO \u2013 4.5\/5<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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        Shout Factory releases The Omen<\/em><\/strong> onto Blu-ray presented in its original 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and given a new 1080p high-definition transfer culled from a 4K remaster of the original negative. With that in mind, the film does look excellent: detail is sharp and nicely defined throughout and colors appear era-appropriate without appearing bolstered or oversaturated. The natural film grain and noise has been retained and it looks fairly clean, free of major instances of artifacting, aliasing, dust marks and other damage that comes with age.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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        AUDIO \u2013 4.25\/5<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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        The movie comes with the option of either a Mono or 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track with the former being the default. Either one is perfectly serviceable with the 5.1 track giving an ever so slight more depth with the soundtrack and effects getting spread through the other four channels and the LFE kicking on only a few times, mostly towards the end.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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        OVERALL \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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        \n

        Although I don\u2019t hold The Omen<\/em><\/strong> in as high regards to some as I never found the plot itself all that enegaing, the film does have its moments and genuine creepiness and a bit of a dark fun factor going for it, alongside the performance from Gregory Peck. This Blu-ray release has good video\/audio transfers and a great set of bonus features.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

         <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Although I don\u2019t hold The Omen in as high regards to some as I never found the plot itself all that enegaing, the film does have its moments and genuine creepiness and a bit of a dark fun factor going for it.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,970],"tags":[4935,4968,1429,6553,549],"class_list":["post-22132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","category-quick-hit-reviews","tag-david-warner","tag-gregory-peck","tag-lee-remick","tag-omen","tag-richard-donner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22132"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27114,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22132\/revisions\/27114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}