The Final Conflict

This film begins with a construction project uncovering some ancient daggers which were buried many years earlier. It is then revealed that these 7 daggers are known as the "Daggers of Megiddo" and they were made for only one purpose--to kill the Antichrist when he finally appears on Earth. The scene then shifts to a corporate CEO by the name of "Damien Thorn" (Sam Neill) negotiating with the "President of the United States" (played by Mason Adams) on his conditions for accepting the ambassadorship to Great Britain. For purely political reasons, the President gives Damien everything he wants. In the process, however, he unwittingly fulfills an ancient prophecy that the Antichrist would begin his rise to power in the British Isles. Not long afterward, a special astronomical event occurs which is interpreted by certain monks in an Italian monastery that Jesus is about to be reborn. Not only that, but in order to facilitate this event, they are now obligated to use the Daggers of Megiddo to kill the person they know to be the Antichrist--Damien Thorne. What they don't realize, however, is that Damien is fully aware of their intentions--and he is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure his claim to world power. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be a satisfactory final installment of the Omen Trilogy as it contained some decent suspense along with solid performances by both Sam Neill and Lisa Harrow (as "Kate Reynolds"). Admittedly, I didn't much care for the rather phony religious mumbo-jumbo thrown in at various times, but even so, the film still managed to pass the time well enough, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

A fairly good end to the trilogy, although it's a shame the threatened armaggeddon never comes off (as in the later novels). Sam Neill puts in a good performance as the Devil's son and is surrounded by decent character actors. However, how Jerry Goldsmith didn't win an Oscar for the score, I will never know. It's absolutely amazing and proves music really can improve a film (just imagine a score-less Psycho, for example).

The horror in this movie is so bad it's funny! Every time a monk gets anywhere near Damien the poor guy falls off a bridge or drops down a hole or just slips on a banana peel or something.

On the other hand, the smart and pretty lady reporter gets her hands on Damien right away, without any trouble. It's said that Sam Neill who plays Damien and Lisa Harrow who plays Kate Reynolds were actually falling in love for real as this movie was being made. It really shows! Aside from being just gorgeous, Lisa Harrow was a good actress. You can see that her character has at least three sides to her. As a reporter, she's intrigued by Damien's vast wealth and growing political power. As a mother, she's frightened of his influence over her troubled teenage son. And as a woman, she can't help responding to the sheer excitement of his darkly sexual charisma. But what makes this interesting is that the story line always treats her character with respect. Her sexual feelings don't cancel out her heart or her intelligence, they just make her more mature and sympathetic.

Why is it that major stars like Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan never play anyone half as interesting as this?

This second sequel to huge hit 'Richard Donner's Omen (Gregory Peck, Lee Remick)' centres on anti-Christ personified by Damien (Sam Neill) . Now grown-up Damien (as a teen was incarnated by Jonathan Taylor) is the only proprietary of Thorn industries , one time deceased his forested parents (William Holden , Lee Grant from Omen 2 by Don Taylor) . Damien is named American Ambassador to London by the US President (Mason Adams). A group of monks (Rossano Brazzi , Tony Voguel , among others) get the seven daggers , as Damien Thorn can now only be murdered by one of the daggers . In England Damien is helped by an assistant (Don Gordon) and he falls in love with a TV journalist (Lisa Howard) . The film talks, fundamentally, about the rebirth of Christ and confrontation to anti-Christ Damien . The devilish Damien is poised for ruling over earth supported by his underlings .

This exciting follow-up contains thrills , chills , suspense ,tension and grisly killings . The chief excitement resides in seeing what amazing and creepy murders happen every few minutes of picture . The eerie scenes range from the genuinely fantastic to the bizarre and horrifying images . The movie is quite predictable but we have seen the previous chapters but also its predictability is redeemed in part by the charismatic acting by Sam Neill , the New Zealand-born player , and an effective secondary casting . Colorful and adequate cinematography by Phil Meheux (The Zorro) . Again evocative musical score by the great Jerry Goldsmith (Planet of apes) with soundtrack-alike first entry , winner a deserved Oscar . The motion picture was professionally directed by Graham Baker (Beowulf , Alien Nation) . Followed by an inferior television movie , Omen IV (2001) , and for genre addicts only , directed by Jorge Montesi with Faye Grant and Michael Woods .

After watching the latest Damien movie The First Omen (2024), a prequel to the original The Omen with Gregory Peck I decided to rewatch all the movies about the Antichrist Damien Thorn. The prequel was not bad but not as good as the first movie. The second one was of the same quality as the prequel. The Final Conflict (The third Omen) was like I feared, just watchable but nothing else. Sam Neil is this time playing an adult Damien Thorn. Nothing wrong with his acting but you just don't get that evil feeling when Damien was a kid. Also the ominous soundtrack that was so typical in the other movies is this time of poor quality which results in just an average movie. Rarely sequels are getting better and since I just checked the ratings for the fourth movie I think I'll leave it at that. It was a fun ride, good to remember a classic horror movie. Sometimes you have to let it go instead of trying to milk a good story.