Would The Crow have become the phenomenon it did without the tragic death of its star Brandon Lee just a
little over a week before principal photography was scheduled to wrap? Certainly star deaths during pre-production or
production were nothing new in Hollywood by that time, and famous projects starring everyone from Tyrone Power to
Montgomery Clift to Marilyn Monroe saw desperate scrambling (not always successful) to salvage whatever last
ventures they had been involved in before their demise. But Lee's premature death was probably raised to mythic
heights at least partially because he was the son of another star who died too soon, Bruce Lee. When the elder Lee
died (under what some still insist are mysterious circumstances), he hadn't quite become the icon he would
post-mortem, and his son seemed poised several years later to assume the mantle his father had forsaken far too
early. When Brandon in turn was killed in a freak accident involving a wrongly prepared gun which ended up firing a
fatal charge into Lee's abdomen, it seemed as if fate had some sort of vicious streak aimed at the family. The fact that
The Crow, based on an underground comic book (the term "graphic novel" was still nascent in those days),
dealt with a young man who returns from the dead to avenge both his and his fiancée's deaths only made the whole
project more alluring is a sort of proto-Goth way. One way or the other, The Crow's cast and crew came
together in the wake of Lee's untimely death and completed the film, and it was released to a fair amount of fanfare
and perhaps surprisingly strong box office. Seen now from the vantage point of almost two decades, the film is a
testament to director's Alex Proyas' (Dark City; I, Robot) emerging visual style, but either due to Lee's
unfortunate exit or simply a combination of other factors, the film often feels disjointed and incomplete, a mishmash of
admittedly exciting sequences which never add up to a cohesive whole. This is a film where the parts separately may
indeed add up to more than the sum of them collectively.
It's impossible to escape the all pervasive sense of morbidity which attends The Crow, not just because of its
deathly subject matter but also due of course to the knowledge that we're watching a star who met his own demise on
the set of the picture. That sort of "meta" experience may actually heighten The Crow's impact, helping it to
attain the mythic stature the story in and of itself only fitfully is able to convey. The story in fact is (no skeletal pun
intended)
bare bones. Musician Eric Draven (Lee) and his fiancée Shelly (Sofia Shinas) are viciously murdered by a gang of thugs
who are celebrating (if that's the right word) Devil's Night, October 30, the night before Hallowe'en, which is of course
All Hallow's Eve. Why these thugs have targeted Eric and Shelly is never adequately explained, just one of The
Crow's weaknesses in terms of providing context and backstory. Eric is killed immediately but Shelly manages to
hang on for a horrifying 30 hours before ultimately expiring. That leaves Sarah (Rochelle Davis), the young street girl
whom
they had been helping, to fend for herself, since her drug addict mother Darla (Anna Levine) isn't exactly a model of
maternal nurturing and solace. The rough and tumble (and chain smoking) policeman investigating the crime, Sergeant
Albrecht (Ernie Hudson), takes a shine to Sarah and becomes her ally after the deaths of Eric and Shelly.
A year later, a supernaturally endowed crow lands on Eric's gravestone, pecks at it, and awakens the dead man from
his eternal slumber. Eric returns to the site of his and Shelly's murder, and remembers what happened to them. He
applies grotesque, Joker-esque makeup to his face and dons positively Gothic black clothing and sets about avenging
the deaths of a year prior. That, in a nutshell, is all there is to The Crow, and despite its visual virtuosity
courtesy of Proyas' sweeping, swooping camera moves, may not be enough. The Crow is inarguably a film
where style trumps substance, but as anyone who has enjoyed the much weightier Dark City will understand,
Proyas' stylistic ingenuity is such that the lack of actual plot and character become less pressing than they might
otherwise be in the hands of a less artful director.
The Crow probably can't be fairly judged on at least some levels as Lee's death no doubt crippled production
and left the filmmakers
at a loss with how to complete the project. They no doubt did the best they could, but the film still seems woefully
underdeveloped both in
terms of Eric and Shelly's love story and the antagonistic relationship between Eric and the goons who become his
victims later on in the
film. While Proyas attempts to develop some heart with regard to the sidebar storyline between Sarah and Darla, that
element seems
relatively shoehorned into the proceeding and ultimately can't help provide the focus that should indeed be there,
namely Eric himself. What
remains, however, is an often exciting and visually impressive film that does an outstanding job within its extremely
constrained boundaries.
As a vengeance flick, The Crow is fine. One can't help but think, though, that it could have been so much more.
The film closes with
some narration by Sarah which serves as a fitting epitaph not just for Lee, but for The Crow that might have
been:
If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn,
people die, but real love is forever.
The Crow wings its way onto Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. This is a surprisingly sharp and
lustrously dark (in a
good way) looking high definition presentation, especially considering the fact that Proyas filmed The Crow on a less
than blockbuster
budget, to say the least. As fans of the film know, almost the entirety of the movie plays out at night, in darkened rooms
and in shadowy
outdoor locales, and despite that fact, shadow detail is phenomenal with virtually no sign of crush, despite the
predominance of black on black
textures throughout. Fine detail is excellent, especially in close-ups, and the overall image boasts impressive sharpness
and clarity. Some of the
film is still somewhat lurid in terms of color, and that proclivity is only increased by the saturation of this Blu-ray, so
sequences featuring blood
and gore simply look more abundantly bloody and gory. Noise is a non-issue, another impressive achievement considering
the long nighttime
sequences streaked with rain. Grain is still intact and while it may be troublesome in some of the optical shots, it's never
overwhelming to the
point where it devolves into noise. Black levels are sumptuous and superbly gradated and contrast is strong within the
confines of this almost
exclusively dark film.
The Crow's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is also surprisingly effective for such a relatively modestly
budgeted affair. Part of the
immersive capabilities of the mix is due no doubt to the excellent use of source cues which Proyas utilized to provide
underscore, but there are a
number of standout sequences alive with excellent and frequently impressively directional sound effects. The crow itself (as
in the bird, not the
character) is provided with some great foley effects, including everything from its pecking beak to its flapping wings. And of
course the action
sequences are filled with great crashes, smashes and other effects, including some great LFE, that bring the sonic
enjoyment level up
immeasurably. Dialogue is clear and well presented and the overall mix boasts superior fidelity and some awesome
dynamic range.
Feature Commentary by Director Alex Proyas. Perhaps surprisingly, Proyas doesn't dwell in too much
detail on Lee's death, and instead focuses on his challenges trying to do something on a limited budget. He also discusses
changing elements from the original comic book version to make the film more exciting and meaningful, such as altering
Eric's profession to be a musician so that Proyas could feature a soundtrack of rock music Proyas also spends a lot of time
detailing how the special effects shots were achieved.
Behind the Scenes Featurette (SD; 16:33) is an archival featurette which offers clips, storyboards and
interviews (including with Lee).
A Profile on James O'Barr (SD; 33:33) is a circa 2000 interview with The Crow's original author.
If you accept The Crow on its own terms, suspending disbelief while at the same time remaining aware of the
challenges the filmmakers
faced after Lee's unfortunate death, the film is tremendously exciting and is a great example of Proyas feeling his way into
the impressive visual
sweep he would show so brilliantly in his later films. Looked at objectively, the film is a decidedly more questionable affair,
with a slapdash feel
and several underdeveloped plot points. One way or the other, it's both bracing and more than a little sad to see Brandon
Lee doing such a
fantastic job in the title role. This Blu-ray looks great and sounds fantastic, and it has a decent array of supplements.
Recommended.
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