This new version is an almost scene-for-scene remake, which is good news in the first half and bad news in the torpid second.
The Omen (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:158
Fresh:41
Rotten:117
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: Even with the force of a "classic" behind it, remake fever can't hold up the hollowness of this style-drenched Omen.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for disturbing violent content, graphic images and some language
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:06-06-2006
Synopsis: Many believe the prophecy from the Book of Revelation provides a map to a terrifying future…or it presents fragments of history that have come to life in our time. The signs, they claim, are all... Many believe the prophecy from the Book of Revelation provides a map to a terrifying future…or it presents fragments of history that have come to life in our time. The signs, they claim, are all around us: terrorist attacks, extreme weather… the list goes on. The passage specifically points to the arrival of the Anti-Christ, who is branded with the numerical sequence “666”: the mark of the Beast. The Anti-Christ will receive his power directly from Satan to establish a counterfeit kingdom on earth, signaling the beginning of Armageddon… Robert Thorn is unaware of such dark prophecies. Thorn, a senior American diplomat, has other things on his mind. His wife, Katherine, has endured a difficult delivery and she’s as yet unaware their newborn child has died. Devastated by the loss, Thorn’s concern turns to Katherine, who had suffered two previous miscarriages. The news will surely devastate her. The hospital priest, Father Spiletto, presents Thorn with another child born that night, whose mother died in childbirth. The priest compels Thorn to take the infant boy as his own; Katherine will never know the truth, and their son, which they name Damien, will be raised as their flesh and blood. Katherine embraces the child as her own, blossoming in motherhood; Thorn, it would seem, has made the right choice. Thorn’s career ascends – he becomes the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain – and the family settles into an estate outside London. But certain events, all seeming to revolve around the now five-year-old Damien, are deeply disturbing: Damien’s nanny hangs herself at the youngster’s birthday party; a strange priest brings dire warnings to Thorn; a children’s trip to the zoo results in a panicked frenzy; Damien becomes hysterical during a drive to church; and blurred movements in a series of photographs portend shocking deaths. The troubling incidents multiply, pointing to something wrong – terribly wrong – with Damien. Enter Mrs. Baylock, Damien’s new nanny, who seems to have a preordained devotion to the child. Then tragedy strikes closer to home. But only later does Thorn comprehend the truth: Damien is no ordinary child; he is the long-prophesized Anti-Christ. Now, Thorn must make the ultimate sacrifice to prevent the unspeakable terror that awaits the world. The prophecy is clear, the signs unmistakable: Armageddon is upon us. On 6 / 6 / 06, the omen is revealed...and our darkest fears are realized. -- © 20th Century Fox [More]
Starring: Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Mia Farrow
Starring: Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Mia Farrow, Josh Hutcherson, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite
Director: John Moore
Director: John Moore
Screenwriter: Dan McDermott
Composer: Marco Beltrami
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for The Omen
John Moore directed with verve, and glosses nonsense with artful lighting. The audience is lured into not giggling too early or often, though decapitation gets a howl.
What's wrong with the 2006 version? Well, it has none of the positive elements of the original, and there's no chemistry between Stiles and Schreiber. The acting, the music, the photography, and the technical elements are all fair to downright awful.
Not since Gus Van Sant inexplicably directed a shot-by-shot remake of Hitchcock's Psycho has a thriller been copied with so little point or impact.
This version of The Omen comes prepackaged, nearly identical to the original, and as such, it is unnecessary.
It's well made, but if you've seen the original one, you've seen the best one.
Now the big question is pretty simple: was David Seltzer's screenplay any better than Dan McDermott's? The answer is for the most part no.
In an almost shot-for-shot remake of the 1976 occult hit, the boy Antichrist otherwise known as Damien returns to the screen, born of the greedy she-wolf otherwise known as Hollywood.
Has one of the best on-screen deaths ever put on film...truly grotesque and effective.
The gimmick of releasing The Omen on the sixth day of the sixth month in the year 2006 doesn't distract from its mediocrity.
The Omen is, at last, about Kate, the mother who distrusts her child and shouldn't trust her husband. She doesn't have a chance.
I suggest you save your ticket money and rent the original. In fact, rent the entire trilogy.
Though the Oxyrhynchus papyri gives the number of the beast as 616 rather than the more-widely accepted 666, the re-makers of The Omen obviously couldn't resist the propitious release date.
John Moore ('Behind Enemy Lines') copycats Richard Donner's style, but with about half the suspense and pacing.
This is one of those movies that profits from very low expectations. If you go in expecting something dreadful, be assured: It's only near dreadful.
[The 1976 version is] exactly the sort of movie that would be improved in the retelling, but there's one catch: You're not supposed to treat the original like holy writ.
There's really only two words to describe remaking cult classic The Omen: Not necessary.
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