The Crow (1994)

A man brutally murdered comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée's murder.

Director:

Alex Proyas

Writers:

James O'Barr (comic book series and comic strip), David J. Schow (screenplay)

Stars:

Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Rochelle Davis

3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brandon Lee	...	Eric
Rochelle Davis	...	Sarah
Ernie Hudson	...	Albrecht
Michael Wincott	...	Top Dollar
Bai Ling	...	Myca
Sofia Shinas	...	Shelly
Anna Levine	...	Darla (as Anna Thomson)
David Patrick Kelly	...	T-Bird
Angel David	...	Skank
Laurence Mason	...	Tin Tin
Michael Massee	...	Funboy
Tony Todd	...	Grange
Jon Polito	...	Gideon
Bill Raymond	...	Mickey
Marco Rodríguez	...	Torres

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

back from the dead | vigilante | crime boss | gothic | star died during filming | 

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Taglines:

Real love is forever.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a great amount of strong violence and language, and for drug use and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 May 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

El Cuervo

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$50,693,162

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$94,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crowvision Inc.,Edward R. Pressman Film,Entertainment Media Investment Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 98 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby DTS Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

With his profits from the film, James O'Barr bought his mother a car, and a surround system for himself, then donated the rest. "I was really good friends with Brandon, so it just felt like blood money to me," he said at a comics convention in 2009. "I didn't want to profit at his expense. And I kept that secret for as long as I could. It's not charity if you get credit for it."

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Goofs

(at around 51 mins) When Gideon is stabbed and shot you can see him take a breath before it changes to the next scene.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

For Brandon and Eliza

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Connections

Followed by The Crow: City of Angels (1996)

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Soundtracks

Snakedriver
Performed by The Jesus & Mary Chain
Courtesy of Blanco y Negro/Warner Music U.K. Ltd. for the U.K./American Recordings for the U.S./Wea International, Inc. for the rest of the world
Written and Produced by William Reid and Jim Reid
©1993 Honey Songs/BMG Songs, Inc./W.B. Music Corp./Pressmancherrymusic (ASCAP)

User Reviews

"Suddenly I heard a tapping, as of someone gently rapping...at my chamber door"

THE CROW, like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY separates those who see from those who do not! (who CANNOT). Alex Proyas will never achieve anything close to this masterpiece again and if Brandon Lee HAD to die, then there could never have been a better time and place (do not misinterpret my words or meaning here). Personally, I shall for ever be indebted to him for what he has left...a performance in a film that challenges, implores, conjures, paints. A surreal landscape of good and evil in almost equal proportions.

I am no Goth, have never read the original comic strip, nor do I wish to. I simply regret watching the unspeakably pathetic and inappropriate sequels...do not make the same mistake!

For all its grotesque violence, seediness and Gothic degeneracy, THE CROW is a pure love story, so pure, that even immersed within the blackest of adult fairy-tales its power cannot be dampened or lessened. Eric Draven's spiritual pursuit of those who murdered his beautiful girlfriend is less of a revenge story and more a reminder that karma balances out in the end.

Perhaps the best performance, other than that of the crow itself, is from Michael Wincott, a very underrated actor, as the incarnately evil gang leader. It is the role of a lifetime for him.

If I were in a position that I could see only two films again for the rest of my life, they would be 2001 and THE CROW. At no stage would I ever subsequently be able to say that I had seen EVERYTHING that either had to offer.