Omen III: The Final Conflict appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The image usually looked pretty good.
Definition was positive. Occasional soft shots materialized, and I couldn’t call the movie razor-sharp, but the majority showed good clarity.
No issues with shimmering or jaggies materialized. I saw no edge haloes and only detected a couple of tiny specks.
Colors appeared largely appealing. The movie tended toward a low-key palette, and the disc replicated those with good accuracy.
Blacks were reasonably dark, while low-light shots demonstrated appropriate clarity. This became a solid “B” image.
As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 remix, the material mainly hewed to the front speakers. In that spectrum, I heard appealing stereo separation and imaging for the music.
Effects had less to do, however, as they often remained largely monaural. Some of these elements sporadically spread to the side and/or rear channels, but they didn’t do much to broaden out from the front center.
Audio quality was dated but good. Dialogue occasionally displayed some flatness, but speech usually seemed reasonably natural and distinct, and I heard no concerns related to intelligibility.
Effects demonstrated some minor distortion at times, but those elements sounded acceptably clean and accurate. Music also seemed pretty positive, as the score appeared fairly full. This became a competent remix.
How did the 2019 Shout Blu-ray compare to the Fox BD from 2008? Picture and audio appeared to be identical, as unlike the 1976 movie, this Shout release for the sequel didn’t opt for a new scan.
The Shout disc did offer a minor upgrade in terms of its original stereo audio, however. Whereas the Fox presentation delivered that mix via a lossy format, the Shout version brought lossless DTS-HD MA stereo.
As we shift to extras, we get two audio commentaries, the first of which comes from director Graham Baker. He offers a running, screen-specific look at story and characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, music, effects and connected domains.
On the surface, that sounds like a good selection of production subjects, but unfortunately, Baker provides an extremely spotty chat. When he talks, he offers some decent insights, though he never gives us anything especially memorable.
The main issues stems from the fact Baker goes silent an awful lot of the time. This leaves us with gobs of dead air, particularly during the film’s second half.
I’d be surprised if Baker gives us more than five minutes of information across the last 55 minutes or so, and the first half doesn’t seem much more productive. Baker remains MIA way too much to make this an enjoyable commentary, so skip it.
New to the Shout release, we find a commentary from Special Project Consultant Scott Michael Bosco. He delivers a running, screen-specific discussion of religious domains, story/characters, connections among the films, music and audio mixes, and his thoughts on the movie.
Given that I thought Bosco’s commentaries for the first two movies rambled and offered little of value, I went into this one with low expectations. When Bosco almost immediately referred to the second film as Damien: Omen III, I figured I’d find myself in for a long ride.
And I assumed correctly, as Bosco provides another commentary long on his own beliefs and short on relevant material. Bosco spends a massive chunk of the chat on his own religious beliefs, which he tends to present as “facts”.
These maintain tangential connections to Final Conflict but usually Bosco just goes on and on about God and various related domains without much real relevance to the movie at hand. The discussion does get more on-topic during the flick’s second half.
In addition, at least Bosco avoids the expression of the off-putting personal views he articulated in the prior two tracks. Nonetheless, this turns into another meandering and not enjoyable commentary.
Three featurettes follow. First comes a 24-minute, 56-second Interview with Director Graham Baker.
The filmmaker discusses how society’s changes over the last 40 years reflect Final Conflict and the movie’s themes, cast and crew, production topics and general memories. While not a fascinating chat, Baker makes the interview considerably more efficient and informative than his poor commentary.
An Interview with Writer Andrew Birkin comes next. It runs 20 minutes, 30 seconds.
Birkin covers how he got the assignment as well as story/character choices and his screenplay. Birkin provides a solid view of his work.
Finally, we find an Interview with Production Assistant Jeanne Ferber. This reel lasts 16 minutes, 38 seconds.
Here Ferber talks about her experiences during the shoot. She offers a fun and engaging look at her memories.
In addition to a trailer and two TV spots, the disc concludes with an Image Gallery that provides 51 elements. It mixes shots from the movie and publicity elements to become a serviceable compilation.
After The Final Conflict, the Omen franchise went dormant for a decade, and I can’t complain about that lull. Conflict wraps up the original trilogy with a yawn. The Blu-ray provides generally good picture and audio as well as a mix of bonus features. Conflict fails to develop into a lively thriller.
Note that as of May 2025, this 2019 Shout Blu-ray of The Final Conflict can be purchased solely as part of a five-film “Omen Collection: Deluxe Edition” box. It also includes 1976 movie and its second and fourth sequels along with its 2006 remake.
