Title: The Crow
Written by: Jamees O’Barr
Screenplay by: David J. Schow & John Shirely
Director: Alex Proyas
Company: Crowvision Inc, Edward R. Pressman Film, Entertainment Media Investment Corporation, Jeff Most Productions, Miramax Films
Distributed by: Miramax Films, Dimension Films, Buena Vista International
Us Release Date: May. 13, 1994
Length: 102 minutes
MPAA: Rated R
Eric Draven, a local musician, had the perfect life with his fiancée Shelly. They were tragically murdered by Top Dollar’s goonies on Devil’s Night just before their wedding Day.
Eric is resurrected by a crow and now is seeking vengeance for the wrong that was committed one year earlier.
The Crow stars Sofia Shinas, Rochelle Davis, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, Tony Todd, David Patrick Kelly, Angel David, Laurence Mason, Michael Massey, Bai Ling, Anna Thomson, Jon Polito, Brandon Lee as Eric Draven, and features the band My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult.
Brandon Lee was mortally wounded by a prop gun during the last few days of filming, so the rest of his scenes were completed through digital composing.
Watching The Crow again brought back memories of when I was in high school. I continue to be impressed with the amount of effort that went into making the film. Brandon’s performance of a grieving man still astounds me to this very day. Sherri, a supporting character from the comic book, had her name changed to Sarah in the film. It prevented audiences from confusing her name with Shelly’s name, yet retained some similarities between each other. I liked how they included Sarah in the film even though she only appeared for a few pages in the comic book. I was disappointed with Skull Cowboy’s omitted scenes out of all the deleted scenes. He served as Eric’s additional and explained why he bleeds after helping Darla. Eric and Shelly’s death inside their home because of an eviction notice dispelled the comic book’s illusion of a ‘random act of violence.’
Side Notes: The Crow was created by James O’Barr for Caliber Comics in 1989. O’Barr wrote the story to come to terms with his girlfriend’s death by a drunk driver. The film music created an emotional connection with the desolate pseudo-Detroit setting when it carried over songs by Joy Division and The Cure, who influenced O’Barr while he wrote The Crow.
Join me next week when I review The Crow: City of Angels!
Princess Powerful
princesspowerful@comicattack.net
This was just on the other day. lol – Good movie!
Love the original, like the second all the others can burn. I could watch this one any day of the week.
This IS the best one hands down, and one of the better comic adaptations to a moive that I have ever seen. The rest were just trying too hard to capture the essence of the original and defied the laws of physics by sucking and blowing at the same time.
I think Lee’s performance was great and was unexpected as well and like Dan I could watch this movie any time. I actually still have a framed original movie poster from it’s debut!
I agree. I wish that they drew in ideas from the comic book as there were TONS of “The Crow”(s) mentioned that would have made a great movie adaptation.
I’ll have to see how bad the rest of the TV show and movies are. I hope that I can get through it XD.
The TV show was such a let down. I do think that Marc Dacoscos was a decent choice to play Eric but the mood didn’t feel right with most of it being shot in the day time. It would probably make for a better HBO, AMC, or Showtime series if done now.
I LOVE this movie!
Weren’t they gonna stick Ice Cube in a sequel? What ever happened to that?
Ice Cube in The Crow, you’re joking, right? O_O
DMX wanted to do “The Crow: Lazarus”, but that never got picked up. Rob Zombie’s Crow didn’t either and countless others.
http://deadman.crowfans.com/corvus_2037&lazarus.html (bottom)
Yeah I remember it being DMX as well and that made me roll my eyes several times. Maybe one day a sequal will be done that will actually be watchable. Until then Brandon Lee’s version will be the fav.
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