The Crow: City of Angels (1996)

The spirit of the Crow resurrects another man seeking revenge for the murder of his son.

Director:

Tim Pope

Writers:

James O'Barr (comic book series and comic strip), David S. Goyer

Stars:

Vincent Perez, Mia Kirshner, Richard Brooks

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vincent Perez	...	Ashe Corven / The Crow
Mia Kirshner	...	Sarah
Richard Brooks	...	Judah Earl
Iggy Pop	...	Curve
Thomas Jane	...	Nemo
Vincent Castellanos	...	Spider Monkey
Thuy Trang	...	Kali
Eric Acosta	...	Danny
Ian Dury	...	Noah
Tracey Ellis	...	Sybil
Beverley Mitchell	...	Grace
Aaron Thell Smith	...	Tattoo Customer
Alan Gelfant	...	Bassett
Shelly Desai	...	Hindu
Holley Chant	...	Holly Daze

Storyline

Some time ago, Ashe Corven and his son Danny were killed when they stumbled across a pack of drug dealers murdering a fellow dealer. The dealers work for Los Angeles drug kingpin Judah Earl. Local tattoo artist Sarah, who has great knowledge of the crow legend because of what happened with her late friend Eric Draven, has been having dreams about Ashe and Danny. One night when a crow leads her to the scene of the murders of Ashe and Danny, Ashe appears before her. The crow has resurrected Ashe, so Ashe can go after Judah and his right hand man Curve. With the guidance of the crow, Ashe starts killing off Judah's men one by one, on his way to Judah.

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Plot Keywords:

back from the dead | murder | drugs | revenge | power | 

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Taglines:

In a world where the forces of darkness rule, justice is about to take flight.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, drug content, language and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Pressman Films

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 August 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Crow 2

Filming Locations:

Front Street Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,785,111, 1 September 1996, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$17,883,659, 1 December 1996

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,500,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bad Bird Productions,Dimension Films,Jeff Most Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 1997, video game developer Gray Matter and video game publisher Acclaim Entertainment released the movie tie-in video game also called The Crow: City of Angels (1997) on Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Microsoft Windows. The game's design was similar to Resident Evil (1996) in several ways (i.e. fixed camera, "tank" controls, 3D objects on 2D backgrounds) and loosely follows the plot of the movie. It quickly gain the reputation of notoriously bad and has somewhat of a cult status among the fans of "so bad it's good" content.

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Goofs

(at around 9 mins) When Sarah is tattooing the man's head, she makes a few mistakes. 1) She is not wearing gloves. 2) During her conversation with her client, she puts her fingers directly on the tattoo she is working on. 3) Her client's skin is not red, there is no bleeding, puffiness, etc., revealing she is not actually working on a tattoo.

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Quotes

Danny: Look! I made this.
Ashe Corven: Who are they?
Danny: Those people?
Ashe Corven: Yeah.
Danny: That's you and me.
Ashe Corven: That's me? And the thing on top over there?
Danny: That?
Ashe Corven: Yeah.
Danny: That's a blue sun!
Ashe Corven: A blue sun?
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The following scenes were in the original 160 minutes long workprint version of the film, but were cut from the theatrical version by Miramax in order to make The Crow: City of Angels more like The Crow:

• Sarah had a longer voice over in the beginning of the film.
• While he is underwater Ashe remembers reading stories to Danny
• The crow "lifts" (resurrects) Ashe.
• After Sarah takes him to her loft and he wakes up, Ashe does not believe he is dead so Sarah takes the kitchen knife and stabs him with it. Scared Ashe than runs away as in theatrical version.
• Ashe's last name (Corven) is clearly revealed as he runs back to his garage after his resurrection. The garage reads "Corven's Body Shop".
• When Ashe is going after Spidermonkey at the Trinity Drug Plant, he takes Spidermonkey's gun and says, "Don't try this at home, kids!", shoots himself in the head and falls on ground. Then as Spidermonkey approaches, Ashe gets up, scaring Spidermonkey.
• When Ashe destroys the Trinity Drug Plant, some thugs come to pick a fight with him. Ashe tells one of them that if he (the thug) has a gun he should shoot him (Ashe). The thug hesitates, and Ashe takes his gun, scaring the thugs and forcing them to flee.
• After killing Nemo, Ashe confronts Holly Daze, the stripper who was talking to Nemo at Live Girl building. Ashe grabs her and looks into her eyes. He tells her that she should value what's left of her soul and to never come back "here" again.
• In original version, when Ashe builds Danny's grave he does not burn his painting.
• Originally, there was more dialogue and love scenes between Ashe and Sarah.
• In original version Kali's and Curve's deaths happened the other way around.
• In the scene where Ashe is being shot by thugs at bar while Curve escapes, Ashe grabs the shotgun he took earlier when he killed Nemo and kills the thugs.
• Ashe/Curve motorcycle chase scene was longer.
• When Curve screams "You think I'm afraid of you?!" he pees his pants because he is afraid of Ashe.
• When Ashe blows up Curve's motorcycle with his shotgun, Curve is on the ground with his crotch on fire. Glimpse of this scene is still visible in theatrical version when Curve hits the ground.
• After dragging the injured Curve into the water, Ashe steals Curves gun and puts it into his coat. It's hard to see in theatrical version, but once Curve starts floating away his gun disappears from his pants.
• The Twins and Kali shoot at Sarah's apartment door features then trash Sarah's apartment and destroy her paintings.
• Theatrical version of fight scene between Kali and Ashe was part of the re-shoots by Miramax studio. Original fight scene between them was longer. Kali uses a 2x4 and a sword. When Kali tries to slice Ashe with her sword, Ashe dodges and breaks Kali's arm. Ashe was also 'psychotic' in this scene, especially as he recites the 'Shh...hush little baby..' dialogue.
• When Kali is thrown out of the window, a shadow of a giant crow morphing into Ashe is visible showing that the Crow and Ashe are one.
• Kali's death is different. She is still alive, though crippled and unable to move, cause her back were broken after being thrown out of the window, and she is seen crawling along the ground. Dialogue between her and Ashe was also deleted. Ashe comes out of nowhere and Kali begs him to kill her because she is in pain. Ashe refuses and smiles as he stands over her, telling her that he has already sent her to Hell. While he leaves, some thugs come and rape Kali to death.
• Judah reveals his motivations in wanting the crow's power, he tells Sarah when he has captured her about himself falling in icy water, drowning and nearly dying when he was younger and visiting hell before he was revived, which he enjoyed, leading to his obsession with the occult and becoming the way that he is.
• At the Day of the Dead festival, two more characters called Louis and Amede are shown.
• When Ashe is climbing Judah's headquarters, The Twins follow him. One falls off the building and ends up decapitated.
• When the ghost of Danny is at the Day of the Dead festival, instead of Danny saying to Ashe "If you give up now, we won't be together." He says instead, "It is time to go now," and Ashe refuses, saying he has to save Sarah. By doing so, he gives up his chance to return to Heaven, cursing himself to live on earth for eternity (since he is already dead and hence can't die). Danny disappears, Ashe looks for him in the crowd and turns a drunk guy around, believing it was Danny.
• More dialogue between Ashe and Judah during their fight.
• Ashe pulls out Curve's gun which he took from him earlier and unloads it into Judah's chest. It has no effect. Ashe tries to punch Judah, but Judah crushes his hand.
• During the fight scene, Danny's painting falls from Ashes coat and Judah rips it up.
• In original version, Sarah and Ashe talk to each other just before Sarah dies. Ashe says he stayed on earth for her. Sarah gives Ashe her ring and tells him that "If two people really love each other, nothing can keep them apart.. nothing." Ashe cries. Sarah tells him that she'll wait for him, "Forever if i have to."
• Ashe destroys Sarah's apartment so that he does not remember her anymore.
• Ending was very different than the one which was re-shot for theatrical version. Scene where Ashe carries dead Sarah to the church was longer. It also featured Ashe wearing Sarah's ring like Brandon Lee's character Eric did in the first movie. When he sits down, he is looking at Sarah's ring. The word "Forever" is inscribed inside of it. The priest from earlier in the film enters the church and, knowing that Ashe is walking dead, asks why he is "still here". Ashe replies that he has no where to go. Priest then asks Ashe, "What will you do now, my son?", slightly angered Ashe replies (since he is cursed to walk the earth for eternity) "There are already many shadows in this city.. one more won't make a difference."

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Connections

Featured in Hamlet (2000)

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Soundtracks

Jurassitol
Written, Performed, Recorded and Produced by Filter (as FILTER) on location with the twinmidget studios in siamese configuration
© 1996 Buddy Doiwer Publishing, EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. (BMI)
Mixed by Ben Grosse at Sunset Sound
Mastered at Gateway Mastering by Bob Ludwig
FILTER appear courtesy of Reprise Records
P1996 Reprise Records

User Reviews

underrated on all fronts

this is a surprisingly great movie. in fact, i'd say the crow trilogy is one of the best in the horror/dark action/supernatural genre. all the films are different enough to establish their own personality, but still similar enough in that they follow the exploits of a wronged man trying seeking vengeance. this film does what a sequel should do. while you can't continue the exploits of the eric draven, it brings back sarah from the first movie and continues the story of the crow granting a victim a chance to make things right. the only problem is it suffered from having to follow the legacy of the 1st crow movie. i thoroughly enjoyed the first crow movie, but i must say this is better in just about every aspect. it is shot so much better. in the first one, they try to make the film dark by washing out all the colors. this one achieves to be more twisted and sinister just by using darker hues and washing out most of the bright colors. it also has a deeper sense of foreboding and impending doom, and makes it villains darker and more mysterious by adding a slight touch of mysticism and perversion. vincent perez is fantastic as the crow, playing a more vulnerable ashe to lee's draven. he provides a more frustrated and frantic feel to his vengeance. he also adds more desperation, remembering his final moments when dispatching his enemies. mia kirshner is excellent as sarah and plays the role with just enough emotion to purvey her pain suffering but also an understanding of the crow mythos. the script is better written, making the film darker without resorting to stripping the film of color. the villains are made more sadistic and the crime to spark the crow more tragic. there is also a tighter feel between the characters by having it take place in what appears to be a pretty empty city except for during the climax. i dont want to ruin it, but the setting within the setting helps the story move along so much better to. tim pope does a superb job directing, adding an extra bit of flair to all the visuals from scene to scene while still the more gothic, medieval feel of the film. the soundtrack is also so much better. it isn't as all over the place as the first and maintains the intended feel of the movie with all of its tracks. it is also masterfully peppered throughout the movie, picking just the right song at just the right moment to add the little extra bit of feeling that help completes the scene. this film has just about all the ingredients of an underrated classic. my advice to you is to go out and rent this movie, but when you watch it forget about the legacy surrounding the crow and just try to enjoy it.