A poetic guitarist Eric Draven is brought back to life by a crow a year after he and his fiancée are murdered. The crow guides him through the land of the living, and leads him to his killers: knife thrower Tin-tin, drugetic Funboy, car buff T-Bird, and the unsophisticated Skank. One by one, Eric gives these thugs a taste of their own medicine. However their leader Top-Dollar, a world-class crime lord who will dispatch his enemies with a Japanese sword and joke about it later, will soon learn the legend of the crow and the secret to the vigilante's invincibility.Written by
Don Hoffman
James O'Barr modeled the comic book "Eric's Face" on an amalgam of Ian Curtis and Daniel Ash. Iggy Pop served as the model for comic Eric's torso and more importantly, the comic Funboy's overall look and attitude. Iggy was slated to star as Funboy in the film, however he was forced to decline the role due to touring/recording conflicts. To make up for his cancellation he agreed to be in The Crow: City of Angels (1996). See more »
Goofs
After Eric wakes from his grave and goes back to his former apartment. The apartment is still considered a crime scene even though a year has passed since he died and the living room is left untouched. It is unrealistic that abandoned housing would be left unused in cities. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Sarah:
[voiceover]
People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.
See more »
The collector's edition DVD set contains several scenes extended from their theatrical counterparts. Among them are:
The fight with Funboy, including Draven becoming wounded.
The arcade demolition scene includes footage of the gang harassing and tying up the arcade clerk. She watches as the bomb's timer ticks down. Draven encounters the dying, burnt woman after the explosion and accidentally takes in her memory of the attack.
In the extended version of the arcade demolition, one of the gang members mentions the Detroit River. Although the film takes place in Detroit, no mention of the city is in the final cut of the film (except for a reference to 'Motor City')
The shootout in Top Dollar's penthouse contains a bit of additional dialogue and more explicit bloodshed.
The deleted footage montage contains a brief scene featuring the Skull Cowboy. It also contains some additional dialogue in the opening scene, and a scene where trick or treaters are passing by.
The Crow is an excellent tragic film made even more tragic by the real life tragedies surrounding the film (Brandon Lee's death during filming, and the fact that the story is a result of James O'Barr's personal loss of his fiancée). Based on a very dark comic book, the film has the same dark feel. The movie does deviate from the comic book in some points, but in general is fairly faithful. If you can get it, I would recommend the DVD Collector's set with the 2 DVD version of The Crow (just to see the interview with James O'Barr is worth the price).
The story is a basically about revenge from beyond the grave, and how true love is forever. The movie has a good (but fairly basic) plot, excellent action sequences, and very good casting. Brandon Lee gives a good performance (not excellent, but good), as does Ernie Hudson. The supporting villains are excellent in their villainy, and you do feel better when they get it in the end. But the real star of this film is the mood and the feel. It feels gritty, bleak, and depressing, but surprisingly uplifting at the end. Alex Proyas did an excellent job of transferring this feeling from the book onto celluloid. All in all, one of the best comic book to film translations I have ever seen.
You do not have to be familiar with the comic book to thoroughly enjoy this film (like you do with some other comic book adaptations).
Rating : 4.5 out of 5
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The Crow is an excellent tragic film made even more tragic by the real life tragedies surrounding the film (Brandon Lee's death during filming, and the fact that the story is a result of James O'Barr's personal loss of his fiancée). Based on a very dark comic book, the film has the same dark feel. The movie does deviate from the comic book in some points, but in general is fairly faithful. If you can get it, I would recommend the DVD Collector's set with the 2 DVD version of The Crow (just to see the interview with James O'Barr is worth the price).
The story is a basically about revenge from beyond the grave, and how true love is forever. The movie has a good (but fairly basic) plot, excellent action sequences, and very good casting. Brandon Lee gives a good performance (not excellent, but good), as does Ernie Hudson. The supporting villains are excellent in their villainy, and you do feel better when they get it in the end. But the real star of this film is the mood and the feel. It feels gritty, bleak, and depressing, but surprisingly uplifting at the end. Alex Proyas did an excellent job of transferring this feeling from the book onto celluloid. All in all, one of the best comic book to film translations I have ever seen.
You do not have to be familiar with the comic book to thoroughly enjoy this film (like you do with some other comic book adaptations).
Rating : 4.5 out of 5