Ben Rodrigues
06-06-2006, 06:49 AM
Anyway today in Australia is 6.6.06 – or as it has endearingly been called “The Day of the Beast”. What better day then to watch the 1976 remake of The Omen. After watching it, out of pure boredom I've decided to compile a review. So here we go -
Let me just say – the movie is pretty much exactly the same movie released 30 years ago. Though a few scenes have been added – the core and key scenes of the movie remain unchanged.
For those of you who haven’t seen the original – I’ll give you a brief run down of what the movie is about. The movie starts with Robert Thorn heading toward the emergency room as his wife is giving birth only to find that there were complications and the child died. Upon finding out, a priest who was part of the delivery process tells Thorn that his wife is unaware that the child died and another child was born at the same time whose mother had died conceiving. The priest then asks Thorn to take the child as his own and not speak a word to his wife as he would be doing the right thing. Years pass and the couple are happy with their son Damien and don’t suspect a thing until a series of events lead to the discovery that Damien is in fact the son of the devil and will stop at nothing to fulfil his purpose.
The movie, though not terrible, in my view lacked substance. I didn’t feel the same lingering eerie feeling that I felt in the original in this one. The remake seems to have gone for more shock horror then anything. So while you may find yourself jumping out of your seat in a few scenes, you’ll immediately resume watching comfortably right after.
I have to say the acting in the movie is sub par at best. There were a few scenes where Julia Stiles’ (Katherine Thorn) acting made me cringe. And the lead actor Liev Schreiber wasn’t all that convincing. Then again – when you’re having to follow in the work of the legendary Gregory Peck, it’s understandable that he didn’t live up the to the marquee. Overall, the acting hurts the film and makes it hard to really care about the characters or what’s happening to them.
Something that bothered me, but for those who haven’t watched the original trilogy I’m sure it won’t bother you – was the abandonment of the original Omen theme “Ave Santani”. That theme in my view encapsulated the entire feel of the movie. You probably have heard it before but don’t recognise it. If you’ve seen the very early South Park episode where Jesus fought Satin in a boxing match, it was the theme of the new playground boy who was also aptly named Damien.
Without giving away too much – for those of you who intend to watch it I’ll leave it at that. Overall it’s an average movie. And if you’ve seen the original I see no point in watching this one unless you’re curious about how they translated scenes from 30 years ago. But be warned, like I said – it’s the exact same movie. The sequence of deaths, the events and the ending are identical. So for those of you who want a star rating here it is -
Review: 2/5 stars.
Let me just say – the movie is pretty much exactly the same movie released 30 years ago. Though a few scenes have been added – the core and key scenes of the movie remain unchanged.
For those of you who haven’t seen the original – I’ll give you a brief run down of what the movie is about. The movie starts with Robert Thorn heading toward the emergency room as his wife is giving birth only to find that there were complications and the child died. Upon finding out, a priest who was part of the delivery process tells Thorn that his wife is unaware that the child died and another child was born at the same time whose mother had died conceiving. The priest then asks Thorn to take the child as his own and not speak a word to his wife as he would be doing the right thing. Years pass and the couple are happy with their son Damien and don’t suspect a thing until a series of events lead to the discovery that Damien is in fact the son of the devil and will stop at nothing to fulfil his purpose.
The movie, though not terrible, in my view lacked substance. I didn’t feel the same lingering eerie feeling that I felt in the original in this one. The remake seems to have gone for more shock horror then anything. So while you may find yourself jumping out of your seat in a few scenes, you’ll immediately resume watching comfortably right after.
I have to say the acting in the movie is sub par at best. There were a few scenes where Julia Stiles’ (Katherine Thorn) acting made me cringe. And the lead actor Liev Schreiber wasn’t all that convincing. Then again – when you’re having to follow in the work of the legendary Gregory Peck, it’s understandable that he didn’t live up the to the marquee. Overall, the acting hurts the film and makes it hard to really care about the characters or what’s happening to them.
Something that bothered me, but for those who haven’t watched the original trilogy I’m sure it won’t bother you – was the abandonment of the original Omen theme “Ave Santani”. That theme in my view encapsulated the entire feel of the movie. You probably have heard it before but don’t recognise it. If you’ve seen the very early South Park episode where Jesus fought Satin in a boxing match, it was the theme of the new playground boy who was also aptly named Damien.
Without giving away too much – for those of you who intend to watch it I’ll leave it at that. Overall it’s an average movie. And if you’ve seen the original I see no point in watching this one unless you’re curious about how they translated scenes from 30 years ago. But be warned, like I said – it’s the exact same movie. The sequence of deaths, the events and the ending are identical. So for those of you who want a star rating here it is -
Review: 2/5 stars.