The Omen - Special Edition

Although the 'blockbuster' film is seemingly ingrained in mainstream film culture, it's really not that old a concept. After World War II the major studios were stuck in a corporate morass, churning out dreary genre pictures and big budget epics that audiences generally ignored. In fact, only a few pictures (for example, The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady) had impressive box office takings between the end of the Second World War and the Vietnam era. Perhaps because of this, the artistic integrity of a project was generally a stronger consideration than the potential profit.

Until, of course, the box office success of The Exorcist in 1973 took Hollywood by surprise. Traditionally, Hollywood released new films to a few select cities and then transported them around the country depending on their success (this was known as the 'roadshow' model). The sudden revitalised interest in cinema during the 70's caused an explosion of multiplex theatres across the US. The studios needed product, and fast. Inevitably, they started borrowing successful ideas. It took three years for another Devil-inspired film to be released by a major studio, and it came from a most unlikely source.

That source was Richard Donner, director of TV shows like Gilligan's Island, Get Smart and The Six Million Dollar Man (amongst many, many others). He couldn't have made a stronger debut. Excited by a treatment entitled Antichrist, he removed the more fantastic elements from the story, ending up with a treatment that harked back to The Exorcist and Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby. By adding a suspense/thriller angle, Donner hoped he could capture the minds of an audience hardened by the Vietnam conflict.

Although the script was strong, the result could have been a disaster if not for the production team's desire to treat the material with the utmost respect. They managed to secure Oscar-winner Gregory Peck for the leading role, and his presence helped Donner assemble a stellar cast, one capable of infusing the film with the element of believeability required.

Peck plays Robert Thorn, an up-and-coming diplomat stationed in Rome, introduced to us as he rushes to a hospital where his newborn child did not survive. While grieving for his loss, it is discretely suggested that he might substitute another baby whose mother did not survive the birth, and his wife (Lee Remick) need never know. Thorn accepts, and his family accompany him to England when he is appointed the US Ambassador.

Everything is going swimmingly, until a series of disturbing incidents make Thorn and his wife question the true nature of their child. The first occurrence is shocking even today, and lets you know in no uncertain terms that this is not a film to mess with. I'm not a fan of revealing the entire plot, so I'll move onto Fox's presentation of the film 25 years on.

The first time I tried to watch The Omen was on Fox's original widescreen laserdisc, and the print was not so much transferred to disc as wiped onto it. The picture was noisy and grainy, colours were muddy and definition was less than impressive. Fox apparently made another attempt at doing the film justice on laserdisc, but I never came across it.

This DVD is far, far better than the original transfer, but still shows the flaws in the source material. Obviously we're talking about an old film here, so we have to accept that expecting a perfect picture is unrealistic. That said, shadow detail is lacking, and the image often feels over-dark. Colours are fully-saturated, tending towards oversaturation; in some early scenes Gregory Peck appears sunburnt!

On the positive side, sharpness is good for the age of the film, and the print is quite free of grit and artefacts, with only mild grain apparent. If you haven't seen the film for a long time, or only on pan-and-scan VHS, this DVD will be a revelation. The Panavision ratio is preserved with 16:9 enhancement, allowing the composition room to breathe. I don't think a better transfer is possible, given the source material.

The audio is obviously dated, being a Dolby Surround remix of the original mono soundtrack. Thankfully, it's free of distortion, but fidelity is only average. The looped dialogue meshes poorly with location sound, rarely sounding integrated with the environment.

True to its mono origins, the focus of the mix is usually on the centre channel, only occasionally straying into the left and right speakers. The rears are only noticeably engaged during the Jerry Goldsmith score, which won him his first Oscar after nearly a dozen nominations for previous efforts. It's a stunning, original work, utilising a black mass chorus, and director Donner admits he couldn't get enough of the chilling vocals. He often asked Goldsmith to remove some score and allow the singers to carry the soundtrack, as in a chillingly-effective scene where a dog paces menacingly down a hall, the whispers of the choir meshing with the panting of the beast.

An excellent package, not so much for the quantity (although it's hardly shabby), but feel that quality.

• Audio commentary - Richard Donner and editor Stuart Baird (who assisted Donner on a number of his later projects) reminisce on the making of the film. It's obvious that they have a strong friendship, and it makes for an entertaining, relaxing listen.
• Featurette - 666: The Omen Revealed - a fantastic 45 minute retrospective on the making of the picture, featuring interviews with most of the production team. Particularly interesting is Donner's explanations of many of the tricks used for the more complicated sequences, such as the film's most infamous set piece (which I won't describe for those who haven't watched the film yet), the baboon sequence and Lee Remick's fall from a balcony. For fans, the DVD is probably worth buying for this alone.
• Featurette - Curse or Coincidence? - Much like The Exorcist before it, some peculiar coincidences occured during production, leading the publicists to annouce that the Devil didn't want the film released. If only the Horned One did try to prevent all films with Satanic subject matter - we might have been spared from End of Days...
• Featurette - Jerry Goldsmith on The Omen score - Goldsmith reflects on his score for the movie, detailing his approach to four scenes (accessible individually or in sequence from the menu). He notes that this was the first film since Planet of the Apes where he had the ability to be avant-garde without it seeming out-of-place, and he obviously relished the opportunity.
• Theatrical trailer - soft, muddy and cheesy, as you'd expect from a 70s trailer. It manages to make the film seem woeful, with a wonderfully dated voiceover.

Omen devotees will already be rushing to place orders for this disc, and well they should. It's intelligent, challenging and engrossing, far transcending the vast majority of 'horror' films (and indeed, its sequels, which are available separately or in a boxed set of the four Omen titles).

Perhaps I've misjudged Richard Donner. I have a feeling I should give Superman another chance now, although something tells me I shouldn't chase down too many of his films... Goonies is out there...