The Omen Blu-ray

The Omen

 (1976)

Horror | Mystery | Thriller



A staid U.S. ambassador (Gregory Peck) switches his wife's (Lee Remick) baby with an orphaned boy when their child is stillborn. As the boy grows, disaster surrounds him, beginning with the suicide of his nanny, and as the bodies pile up, his horrified father begins to suspect the boy is evil incarnate and must be destroyed.

For more details about The Omen on Blu-ray, see The Omen Blu-ray Review

Starring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw
Director: Richard Donner

The Omen Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


20th Century Fox presents The Omen on Blu-ray with a 1080p high definition, 2.35:1-framed transfer. Potential viewers need be aware that The Omen does not represent the pinnacle of high definition eye candy. The film offers a restrained, slightly bleak, somewhat flat, and grainy picture. Nevertheless, the film has never looked better; the grain structure is used to fine effect, particularly in the film's darker corners, and while the print showcases the occasional blemish, it has been cleaned up and offers audiences an image that represents the best The Omen has ever looked on home video. Black levels aren't extraordinarily deep or inky here, only moderately so, rather offering a hint of gray in some scenes. Detail is moderately good, be it the interior of the Thorn home, clothing, or various exterior settings, such as the zoo or Damien's birthday party near the beginning of the film. Look at a scene in chapter 22 as Mr. Thorn speaks with Mrs. Baylock in the kitchen. The dishes seen throughout, the wallpaper, and various knickknacks bring the scene alive, all benefitting from the improved resolution of the Blu-ray transfer. Facial detail is strong, and flesh tones never veer too far away from natural. Colors are strong; a yellow taxi seen in chapter 23, for example, is bright and clean but not harsh or overblown. The Omen is a film that offers a fine example of how a properly mastered Blu-ray can breathe new life into an old classic, and fans will be most pleased with the results.

The Omen Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


The Omen haunts Blu-ray with a lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, and the disc also retains the film's original monaural mix. The lossless rendition of the score and all of the film's dialogue and effects provide solid presence, adequate in both volume and fidelity, though it remains focused primarily across the front with only the occasional rear channel presence. Sound effects are loud and somewhat undefined, such as the sound of shattering glass as the Thorn's first nanny hangs herself and crashes through a window. Though the lack of surround activity is palpable, the back channels come alive in support of the primaries on several occasions. The first time they work with any sort of vitality is during the film's zoo scene in chapter 13 as the animals cause quite the ruckus in reaction to Damien's visit. The soundtrack does provide some punch in the form of lows in a few scenes, an example being the smashing of a headstone in chapter 26. Dialogue is rendered adequately throughout. The Omen's audio quality, much like that of its video, is not of modern-day reference quality, but it does benefit a great deal from its reproduction on Blu-ray.

The Omen Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Fox Announces The Omen Collection for Blu-ray - June 30, 2008

The Omen Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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