Brandon Lee

Rochelle Davis

Ernie Hudson

Michael Wincott

Bai Ling

Sofia Shinas

Anna Thomson

David Patrick Kelly

Angel David

Laurence Mason

Michael Massee

Tony Todd

Jon Polito

Bill Raymond

Marco Rodríguez

Kim Sykes

Rock Taulbee

Norman Max Maxwell

Jeff Cadiente

Henry Kingi Jr.

Erik Stabenau

Cassandra Lawton

Lou Criscuolo

Todd Brenner

Joe West

Thomas Rosales Jr.

Jeff Imada

Tierre Turner

Tim Parati

Alex Proyas

David J. Schow

Sherman L. Baldwin

Jeff Most

Edward R. Pressman

Robert L. Rosen

Dariusz Wolski

Dov Hoenig

M. Scott Smith

Graeme Revell

Billy Hopkins

Suzanne Smith Crowley

Alex McDowell

Erik Rondell

Simone Boisseree

Sandy Berumen

Arianne Phillips

Cornelia 'Nini' Rogan

Grant Hill

John Shirley

Chad Stahelski

Ronnie Rondell Jr.

Troy Brown

Bob Brown

James O'Barr

Ric Roman Waugh

Caldecot Chubb

James A. Janowitz

Gregory A. Gale

Steve E. Andrews

Randall LaFollette

Ric Rondell

Jolene Cherry

Andrew Mason

Simon Murton

Geoffrey S. Grimsman

Marthe Pineau

Peter Pound

Hanna Strauss

William Barclay

John D. Kretschmer

David K. Riebel

Jeffrey Schlatter

Thomas Michael Ryan

James Martishius

David Crone

Ken Arlidge

Robert Zuckerman

John Verardi

Frederick Hackler

John Cambria

George Hesse

Michael Satrazemis

Ken Hudson

Marilou Vetter

Charles Laughon

Mark C. McManus

Bud Alper

Gene Ashbrook

Lance Anderson

Gary Gero

Darryl Levine

Marina Marit

Roberta Bilé

Pauline White-Kassulke

Amy Lilley

C.J. Harris

Sharon Ilson

Herita Jones

Sandra S. Orsolyak

Tyger Tate

Michelle Johnson

Mary Hedges Lampert

Shelly Hutchins

Rita Troy

Claudio Miranda

Daniel Kuttner

Edward 'Tantar' LeViseur

Charlene Hamer

Robert Batha

Sonny Baskin

Craig Wood

Matthew Booth

Richard Alderete

Dave McMoyler

John Miceli

Brian McPherson

Rick Avery

Buddy Joe Hooker

Bobby Bass

The Crow Collection

Fantasy

Action

Thriller

The Crow

Entertainment Media Investment Corporation

Jeff Most Productions

Pressman Film

Miramax

United Kingdom

United States of America

English

martial arts

superhero

supernatural

halloween

crow

based on comic

revenge

arson

vigilante

tragic hero

back from the dead

sadist

detroit, michigan

gothic

urban setting

aggressive

neo-noir

urban gothic

supernatural power

vigilante justice

good versus evil

horror

bold

straightforward

tragic

The Crow (1994) 

I hadn't seen it for about ten years and as the full moon came beaming through my apartment window late last night, it just felt right to indulge in some Proyas Gothic excellence. 

The question still taps away at all our doors, namely would the film be the cult classic it became without the Brandon Lee tragedy? That's a tricky one to answer because we all deep down have a morbid curiosity about us, especially with films and their stars. This is why I got a lot more from re-watching the movie after a very long period of time, namely that it may have drew many of us in years ago because of the tragedy and heart aching back story to writer James O'Barr's birthing of Eric Draven the character, but it can now enthral, thrill and shatter emotions of its own accord. 

The Gothic art design and the soundtrack are emo personified before such a label was invented, Lee is lithe and skilful and serving notice to what a talent we were robbed of that fateful day in March 1993. The villains are a roll call of go to guys for such roles, Kelly, Wincott, Todd, while Ernie Hudson fronts up as good cop personified. And finally Proyas, struggling with the budget even before Brandon's death, that he manages to create this world of perpetual bleakness, but still offer hope and beauty - the latter via tracking shots, pull aways and intricate frame shots of a tormented Draven, shows him to be a purveyor of considerable skills. 

All told, The Crow (1994) deserves to not be thought of as a cult classic, but just as a classic, period. 9.5/10 

Gimly

**The following is a long form review that I originally wrote in 2011.**

In the vein of films like _The Punisher_ and _Mad Max_, _The Crow_ first hit my screen only four years ago, way back when my DVD collection consisted of only about 40 films, (now it is around 500). I had $10 to my name but I was intent on expanding the thing, a girl I'd met only that day, suggested I buy it from Sanity, when there used to be one in Civic. Since that day, when I was well and truly blown away by it, we've always intended to make our tradition of "Crow and Coffee" (wherein you watch _The Crow_ and drink several litres of Ice Coffee & Bailey's) a repeated thing.

I feel as if this one should have been known to me for far longer than it has. It's quite a point of shame in the Goth community to have none been raised on the shit. And I can tell why. The film blends some of the most incredible bands out (The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Violent Femmes, Pantera), is filled with great actors, it's based on one of the best comics I've ever had the good fortune of reading, and it's overshadowed by the death of the actor playing lead protagonist Eric Draven, Brandon Lee, son of martial arts master Bruce Lee.

_The Crow_ is filled with the dark and ominous. Towards the end, Draven fights using a martial arts move that was performed in honour of Brandon Lee's father, Bruce Lee, when he used an identical style in _Enter the Dragon_, the last film his father ever starred in, before his untimely death. In another scene, Draven can be seen filling a gun-barrel up with metal, and shooting them out into a pawn shop, Brandon Lee was killed on set during filming, when a metal casing became lodged in a gun that was then expelled by a blank, fatally wounding Lee in the torso. Behind the scenes, on the first day of shooting a carpenter suffered sever burns on set after his crane hit power lines. Later, a grip truck caught fire, an angry sculpting employee crashed his car through the set's plaster shop and another member of the crew accidentally impaled his own hand with a screwdriver. According to the biography of Bruce Lee, Brandon's death was predicted by his father after awakening from a coma, he foresaw Brandon's death long before he had even considered taking up acting, supposedly.

By no accounts is _The Crow_ unpredictable, it's rather the opposite, but it makes up for this in so many ways! It notches up some of the best quotes in film history, as well as being badass, and yet so utterly convincingly emotional. There is essentially no demographic I can think of that wouldn't enjoy (at least a little) this dark film's gothic atmosphere, gritty hopelessness, world-changing special effects, riveting action, and well-deserved cult status.

91%

-_Gimly_

CinemaSerf

Well if you though it was wet on "Blade Runner" (1982) then welcome to a ruined city where the torrential rain never seems to stop. A series of flashbacks tells us that two graves hold the bodies of a young couple about to be married. That's before local kingpin "Top Dollar" (Michael Wincott), who had designs on their building, sent his henchmen to "coax" them out. A year after this tragedy a crow alights on the grave of "Eric" (Brandon Lee) and enlivens his corpse so that he may avenge the brutality visited on his fiancée and himself. What now ensues is a dark and menacing revenge thriller that, though fairly predictable, sees this former rock musician develop some astonishingly lethal ninja skills as he identifies and then rather entertainingly despatches a variety of drug dealing undesirables whilst retaining a sense of the decent by befriending local cop "Albrecht" (Ernie Hudson) and re-connecting with the young "Sarah" (Rochelle Davis) whose mother is another of the addicts in this dismal and hopeless city. It's the enigmatic "Myca" (Bai Ling) who spots the Achilles heel of our hero and so sets a scene with her menacing beau as "Eric" hones in on the final stage of a challenge that will hopefully allow him to return to his own grave in peace. Lee is really is in his element here and Alex Proyas and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski use the grim, sodden and ruined environment to depict as physical a corruption as the story does a societal one. What dialogue there is is largely left to an engaging contribution from Hudson, who has his own mini axe to grind with his police colleagues who saw him busted from detective for trying to investigate the activities of "Dollar" before. When you watch this film, you can't help but think on the number of other characterisations it has spawned, and it shows how revenge horror can work without resorting to endless special effects and jump-scenes. A cinema screening is best - a big dark room that makes you hear that relentless rain fall all around you.

This is my first viewing of The Crow and it is a great, dark comic book adaptation that at times reminded me of Batman and moments that seemed to later inspire The Dark Knight, in particular with The Joker. It's a shame about Brandon Lee as he is amazing in the lead and this could've led to a great career. There are some poignant scenes and a genuine heart at its core. Just a home run from Alex Poyas. **4.25/5**

Great! All the more impressive given offscreen events.

The awful behind the scenes stuff with lead Brandon Lee was all that I knew about <em>'The Crow'</em>; I only learned it was a superhero flick in the lead-up to watching it, I had always assumed it was a straight up horror. No better time to watch it, what with the reboot out now... gotta see the sequels first!

There is a strong performance from Lee in there, Ernie Hudson is also someone I enjoyed in this. The rest of those onscreen are all positives, namely Rochelle Davis and Michael Wincott. I don't have any real complaints with this as a film, the feel is aesthetically, audibly and tonally spot on - plenty of Evanescence/Bring Me to Life and Gotham City vibes.

The Crow( 1994)

Believe in angels.

Overview

Top Billed Cast

Social

A review by John Chard

Written by John Chard on Wed Feb 04 2015

Media

Recommendations

Facts

Status

Original Language

Budget

Revenue

Keywords