Blu-ray Disc REVIEW |
Release Date: November 14, 2006. Film Rating:  / Starring: Liev Schreiber (Robert Thorn), Julia Stiles (Katherine Thorn), Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick (Damien) Written by: David Seltzer Directed by: John Moore His Day Will Come. It wasn’t long ago that I had the opportunity to watch the original 1976 film The Omen. I had seen pieces of it plenty of times on late-night TV and usually trying to keep at least one eye open to watch all of it – not because I found it boring, but because I’ve always had the bad habit of putting too much into my day and not being able to stay awake late at night. So…watching movies late at night would guarantee a good rest rather than good entertainment. After all of that shut-eye, it appears that I didn’t miss much when I revisited the film on DVD a few months back. My desensitized brain found the movie to lack shocking moments or anything worth remembering. For those of you new to this film, it’s about a U.S. diplomat, Robert Thorn, who realises that his orphan son is actually the son of Satan. When giving birth in Italy, his wife didn’t know their real child was stillborn. With the advice of a clergyman, Robert made the decision to approve the switch so his wife wouldn’t be devastated. Now he must attempt to prevent Satan’s wrath on his family…and eventually the world. Gregory Peck’s performance was so-so and personally I think he had to hold the whole movie on his shoulders since no other actor seemed capable of carrying the movie with him. Instead, we seem to get strange and deranged performances from the supporting cast mostly because those characters called for it. A fault in the writing? Maybe… This 2006 remake fares no better for entertainment. In an almost step-by-step recount of the events of the original film, it feels more like a college-level re-enactment of the same script. The same awkwardness plagues the characters, most notably the priest. Liev Schreiber’s acting seems stillborn in comparison to Peck’s. In fact, in this version in the film we almost hardly feel like we know any of the characters at all. There is virtually no connection with audience and film. It’s strange that I feel this way since few of the scenes seem to be altered. But it’s all about presentation and this version flunks.  VIDEO QUALITY 4/5 At least this Blu-ray disc looks devilishly good. I can’t fault this transfer. It’s very detailed, exhibits excellent depth between objects as well as foreground and background images. This dimly lit film has excellent contrast. Shadow detail is exceptional and the low lit scenes add more to the film then take away. Skin tones look very good but colour tone varies in consistency. Some scenes look a bit orange and others look slightly less vibrant in darker scenes. I don’t believe this is an issue with the Blu-ray disc, but rather the projector not being able to deliver full colour at low light conditions because of a weak black level (everyone should experience this to a degree). Still, I would prefer if the flesh tones were tamed a bit. Oh, and let me not forget about the overuse of red imagery in this film. It stands out like a sore thumb and is overused. It no longer becomes a subtle clue of foreshadowing events; instead it feels more like a mockery of literary allusions. Edge enhancement is absent and film grain and compression artefacts are almost unnoticeable. This title proves that yet again MPEG-2 can deliver a remarkable image for HDTV. The aspect ratio is correct at 1.85:1. AUDIO QUALITY: 3/5 Listening to the lossy core of the DTS-HD Master Audio lossless option was a delight. The sound, while not as strikingly powerful as uncompressed PCM, delivered a reputable presentation that can only be bettered by extracting all of the data from audio bitstream once DTS-HDMA decoders become available. The sound mix isn’t always expansive although it has a solid front stage that has moderate width. The film is driven by dialogue that is closely mic’d and not always spatially integrated. The surrounds are used to a degree mostly for the few action moments in the film. Aside from that, as I’ve said, it isn’t too exciting. Music sounds very good and the resolution/tonal balance of sound is very acceptable. I didn’t find the soundtrack fatiguing at all. A minor amount of LFE has been recorded but not enough to captivate me when listening. Bass is mostly present in the front three screen channels. TACTILE FUN!!  / TRANSDUCER ON/OFF?: ON SPECIAL FEATURES / Most of the special features from the DVD are included on this Blu-ray disc. What is missing is the Omenisms documentary. I’ll expand a little about these features in the near future, but briefly on this disc you will find:
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