The Omen Trilogy Box Set [DVD]

Make no mistake, the first two movies of this series are what make it. Part III is several notches down but still worth seeing. But Part IV isn't even worth discussing in the same company, or buying in my opinion. So the Blu Ray Trilogy is the ultimate Omen package. I have obsessively loved the first 2 films since childhood (saw both in the very early '80s, some of my earliest movie memories). The first two have the best screenplays, but also that rare occurrence of capturing lighting in a bottle in terms of unbeatable casts and the mood captured by both. There were also some slightly strange real deaths in the lives of those associated either directly or indirectly with the first 2 movies around the time they came out or soon after a la Poltergeist, which created some buzz, although it wasn't needed.Part I: The best of the series, even though my personal favorite is Part II. Screen legend Gregory Peck took substantial risk late in his career to go outside his accepted comfort zone to take on this movie. He played the part of Robert Thorn, an elite and ever advancing member of society who is appointed US Ambassador to England. His wife (Lee Remick) was the perfect choice to play the emotionally charged Katherine Thorn and the child who played Damien certainly had me convinced!! The very cruel looking nanny hired by the Thorns (Ms. Blaylock) is actually a sentinel for Damien, unbeknownst to his parents, of course, along with a black Rottweiller who acts as the Devil's agent. I have to say that Ms. Blaylock's "crazy face" later in the movie was genuinely scary!! Without spoiling these movies for you, let me just say that these are worthy of your full attention to absorb every subtle plot detail. Even then, it will take many viewings to absorb them all. The menace starts out low and builds effectively all the way to the climax at the end. Anyone who was an obstacle to Damien's eventual emergence at the Anti-Christ dies a horrible (very cleverly devised) death that can be explained as a fluke rather than unholy intervention. If the movie simply came out with obvious attacks, it wouldn't have the same appeal. As has been proven so many times, implying something rather than showing it is often the better way, especially to those with vivid imaginations. While the movie is generally light on gore, the death scenes still have great shock value, especially the very blunt, unexpected hanging scene. The movie was a critical success and a huge commercial success, a complete surprise for many involved.Part II: This is the one I have watched the most times (lost count long ago), I even bought the book for this one first! I suppose it's partly because I saw it first as a young child and partly because Damien's character was only several years older than me at the time I saw it, so it was easier to identify with what it would have been like to be Damien himself! Again, a superior cast is critical to the movie. Jonathan Scott Taylor was absolutely perfect as Damien and had a fascinating combination of being a seemingly normal, innocent kid, but with an icy cold heart and a look that evokes the strange combination of Napoleon meets Hitler meets The Beatles. Irreplaceable. After Damien's "Earthbound" father met a rather....sudden...demise in the first film, he is adopted by Robert Thorn's brother, Richard Thorn. William Holden (Richard Thorn) is now the Thorn family patriarch and seems to be totally at home as a Captain of Industry, a man as accustomed to wielding great power and influence as he is to wearing tailored suits and conversing in wood paneled rooms while servants tend to his every need. Lee Grant is the very warm and charismatic Ann Thorn, wife of Richard and Damien's adoptive mother and his brother Mark Thorn is the all American kid, albeit one raised in great privilege. Damien has two sentinels in this one, the primary one being the smarmy Robert Foxworth (Falcon Crest), a cold, calculating Thorn Industries executive whose mission to guide Damien to the top, and Lance Henriksen as a secretly helpful Sgt at the elite academy Damien attends. And this time around the Devil's animal messenger is a raven, and its appearance is a sure sign someone's number is up!!I think Part II has even more clever "coincidental" deaths than the first. Again, you'll have to watch the movie, but let's just say as a kid I was terrified of elevators for a while!! Some of my favorite scenes occur at the very exclusive family lakehouse retreat. Damien's brother's massive birthday celebration amid the luxurious surroundings should have been a very happy time for Damien, but he had a brooding suspicion something strange was happening to him and couldn't enjoy the moment. BTW I WANT that house, incredible! Side note---historical fact, the owner of that house was the local Teamster's Union boss, who was murdered shortly after this film, probably by the same people who took down Hoffa, one of many interesting facts you'll learn when you hear the DVD commentary track. Holden is very cynical at first about the string of deaths in the movie, but by the end (when it's too late), is finally convinced of who Damien is. Holden handles this role masterfully and after seeing Omen II, I looked into his long Hollywood career prior to this to see many gems, check it out! I was sad to hear this great man lost his battle with the very real demon alcohol only 3 years after this movie was made. In the scenes where he had to express painful emotions, I think he was able to draw on his own real experiences with depression to give them extra weight. He and Lee Grant were the anchors of this movie and provided the framework for Jonathan Scott-Taylor to shine.Part III: I have seen this one the least number of times by far, but I keenly remember the major points: 1)The casting for the adult Damien (Sam Neil) was excellent; he nailed the look, the menace and the manner, but was let down by the writing and by not having a similarly excellent supporting cast. 2) The deaths aren't as clever or as implied as in the previous films, which means they attempted to actually show some things with crude effects 3)The final confrontation, which was obviously going to be extremely difficult to capture on film, fell far short of the expectation of such an event. Again, implying things rather than showing them is often better.Blu Ray Update: I already had the latest DVD Trilogy collection, but after upgrading to a new full blown home theater system, I had to have the Blu Ray. It was well worth it! The video is notably improved, I almost feel like I'm in the room with some of the characters having conservations, although these were filmed almost 40 years ago. Brilliant. The sound is also slightly improved, but not as much of a step forward. It's a shame that older movies simply weren't recorded back then to blow your doors off in a home theater, i.e., the frequencies simply don't range as far and they have much less volume. But the sound is as intended and more than adequate. These films didn't rely on studio trickery to impress anyway, it was always about the story and the mood. The extras include several hours worth of documentaries with some of the original cast and crew, as well as a very thorough discussion of the trilogy and strange goings on during filming, narrated by the great Jack Palance.

This is one awesome set. Gotta Own this. This is not one out of date film set to see it is a reminder that we must be on guard that Evil is still around every corner and He wants to take over. This is it. Get it.

Excellent remastered collection in this box set, what with the original classic trilogy included - a classic that always sticks with me.I would've given this 5 stars, but I gave it 4 due to one complaint: I think it should've included Omen IV: The Awakening instead of the 2006 remake of the original Omen, like my boxed DVD set from years ago did (in my attached pic). Why remake what is already an excellent classic, anyways? Especially if it's nowhere near as good?Now, Omen IV wasn't as good as the original trilogy, not by any means, but in my opinion was way better than the 2006 remake of the 1st flick. Why they included the flatly rehashed remake instead of Omen IV is beyond me, seeing as most folk I know of found the remake to be horrible, and, on top of that, Omen 4 is a decent add-on to the post-Damien cycle, with an near-unpredictable plot twist.Great package otherwise. I highly recommend.

Product arrived fast and in excellent condition!!

Caveat Emptor!Copy was developed for Region 2 players, something that was not brought up in the product description. Returning.

Had nightmares as a kid when I first saw this. For the third movie I had forgotten how handsome Sam Neill was/is

The second is my favorite but I was happy the set included the 2006 remake of the original as well.

A classic; pure and simple. The first two parts are definitely "fives" and the third a "4.5". Most people don't realize the very real connections to scripture, particularly the apocrypha and pseudopigrapha and shown in these films.

Execellent

Très bonne trilogie, restauration parfaite, films très prenant du premier au dernier, audio VF

100 % OK Goede verzending en besteld item beantwoorde volledig aan de beschrijvingvan de verkoper ( uiterst tevreden ):-):-):-)

Audio Italiano in DTS 5.1 per tutti e 3 i film... MASTER OTTIMO AUDIO IDEM.consiglio questa bella trilogia...

Płyty nowe. Super wysyłka. Ogólnie wszystko OK. Polecam.