Synopsis
A poetic guitarist Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) is brought back to life by a crow a year after he and his fiancée are murdered on the eve of their wedding. The crow guides him through the land of the living, and leads him to his despicable killers. One by one, Eric gives these thugs a taste of their own medicine. However their leader Top-Dollar (Michael Wincott, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), a world-class crime lord, will soon learn the legend of the crow and the secret to the vigilante’s invincibility.
There’s nothing quite like a good revenge film. Based on a comic by James O’Barr, Alex Proyas’ The Crow does a great job with creating a rich, dark atmosphere of a worn down city that desperately needs a reprieve from the bad guys destroying it. While on a simplified level than a movie like Batman Begins, which casts the same sort of worn down doubt in Gotham City and its citizens, The Crow still strongly establishes how bad things have gotten, especially when it opens up with a couple that has been brutally murdered. Proyas wanted the audience to know from the get-go that this city was not run by its citizens, rather by thieves and drug lords, and he does a great job with that. So, when Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) finally rises from the dead to not only avenge his fallen future wife, but also the city, you’re completely rooting for him. Each time he murders one of his murderers (say that five times) you’re just wanting everyone to get what they deserve; thus, a perfect revenge film.
With that said, Brandon Lee does give a little bit of a corny performance at time. His dialogue doesn’t sound natural in certain moments, but you can see the actor giving his best ‘dark’ side impression. Of course, the dialogue isn’t why the film was popular. The brutality of the film, and the different ways Eric could kill his enemies, was the draw to the film. Honestly, it’s an action film wrapped up into a tragic drama, which is perfect. Just don’t expect any spectacular dialogue, as you’ll find none here.
With that said, one of the more tragic tales in film history was The Crow. Not because the actual film was tragic, but because of what happened during filming. If you don’t know the history behind the movie then here’s the tragic tale. Brandon Lee was accidentally killed when a blank casing fired a lodged bullet shell (that went unnoticed) that ripped through his stomach and lodged in his spine. When the film was released it paid homage to the young up and coming actor, as it captured his last performance of what could have been. His final performance in The Crow is a passionate one, and one that will probably be remembered for some time. The sequels after the first could never live up to Lee’s, and that’s probably rightfully so.
The Crow is a good film that contains a very strong revenge story, and a great final performance from the lead actor. If you have never seen it then you should probably check it out, as it truly is a fun, yet brutal, ride.
As for the Blu-ray, Lionsgate did one helluva job in cleaning this 1994 film up. Generally when you have a re-release that isn’t high profile, such as The Crow, companies will just spit out the best Blu-ray they can quickly and price it low. Well, the price for The Crow is certainly low ($19.99 — Amazon has it for $14.99), so one would assume that the quality is as low as the price, right? Well, that is not the case. Lionsgate cleaned up the picture, did a great transfer job on it and made sure there was no grain or artifacts present. Outside of the so-so obvious special effects in some scenes, which is more of a sign of the times than a transfer issue, the picture was pretty much perfect. I’m still stunned with how good it looks. For example, when you see Eric fighting Funboy you’re going to see some sharp details in his face, and the surrounding shitty environment the fight takes place in. The bathroom scene alone will make you sick to your stomach, as mold and some sort of mildew is visually present everywhere; I never saw this much moldiness in the scene before the Blu-ray. Again, just an excellent job on the transfer. This goes for the audio, too. The Crow has one of the best soundtracks to emerge from the 90s, and it all sounds great in 5.1 DTS-HD. On top of that is some great sound effects to boot.
Finally, here is a list of features included on this Blu-ray:
– Commentary from Alex Proyas
– Behind-the-Scenes featurette
– A Profile of James O’Barr
– Extended Scenes
– Deleted Scenes
– Original Poster Concepts
– Storyboards
– Theatrical Trailer
– Digital Copy
If you’re familiar with the history of the film, from comic to screen, then you will appreciate what Lionsgate has for you in this section. The extended scenes were especially interesting, as you get to see a bit more of what Brandon Lee could do. One of the better extended scenes, which I’m sure the MPAA had a hand in cutting, was with Funboy. I’ve always wondered why Eric shows up in the next scene with tape around his abdomen, and this scene explains it. Funboy cuts him up pretty bad before meeting his own end. Anyway, the special features are really good.
