Photosensitivity Warning: The opening sequence and several throughout the film include either flashes of light or strobing that may be triggering for photosensitive viewers.
There are certain phrases, certain references, one can make that will elicit a specific response within both the receiver and speaker: “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world,” “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley,” “1+2+2+1,” “It can’t rain all the time.” That last one has the power to call forth emo kids of all ages, but is most powerful in Generation X, Xennials, and older Millennials who were able to watch the Alex Proyas-directed The Crow when it released into theaters 30 years ago, the final film for actor Brandon Lee (Showdown in Little Tokyo) who tragically died in an on-set accident. It’s a line in the film used so that the character Sarah (Rochelle Davis) immediately identifies that her friend Eric (Lee) has returned from the grave and serves as the inspiration for Jane Siberry’s “It Can’t Rain All the Time,” a ballad that plays over the credits — an emotional gut-punch to those that hear and recognize it. Imperfect at times, but never false or unafraid to get raw, Proyas’s (Dark City) adaptation of James O’Barr’s The Crow remains a significant piece of cinema history and is regarded as one of the highlight comic book films in the modern era. Now, in honor of its 30th anniversary, Paramount Pictures released The Crow on 4K UHD for the first-time, complete with a brand-new three-part featurette and a series of legacy features, available in two physical and one digital format editions.
Brandon Lee as Eric Draven in THE CROW. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
On the night before their wedding, Eric Draven and Shelly Webster (Sofia Shinas) are murdered by a gang on the orders of Top Dollar (Michael Wincott) as the couple were fighting eviction from their apartment. A year later, Eric rises from his grave, imbued with power via a seemingly normal crow, so that he may track down each member of Top Dollar’s gang and provide justice where the law failed. Clad in black and wearing white makeup, Eric pursues each member with steadfast focus, unaware that, with each kill, he’s becoming a target himself as Top Dollar seeks to remove any chaos and mayhem not of his own design.
L-R: Michael Wincott as Top Dollar and Bai Ling as Myca in THE CROW. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
First published by Caliber Press in January 1989 (IDW Publishing wouldn’t get involved until 2012), James O’Barr’s The Crow is a tale of tragedy and love that lasts into the eternal space. Though others tried to adapt it, with Proyas at the helm and Lee in the lead role, it finally started to come together at a time when comic adaptations were in production, though not at the levels audiences are expecting in the present day. By the time of its release, The Crow was predated by adaptations of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dick Tracy, and Darkman (all 1990), The Rocketeer (1991), and two Tim Burton-directed Batman films (Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992)). Each of these listed films have their fanbases and each, one can make a case, are of varying quality despite their absolute charms. Unlike those other films, The Crow is a film that shouldn’t work because of all the things that occurred during filming from comparatively small things like battles for music, larger things like repeated crew member injury, and then, of course, the on-set death of the lead. But rather than release a film that’s a discordant mess, Proyas delivers a film that’s as much a showcase of Lee’s talent as it is a sincere tale of love and loss and the ways in which violence is cyclical. Wrapped in all black, The Crow could easily be written off as a product of its time (which it absolutely is from the way it’s anchored in 1994 due to the soundtrack), but the story itself combined with an seemingly impossible earnestness elevates what could be schlock into a transcendent cinematic experience. Watching it now, one can tell where many of the cowboy switches take place to hide Lee’s body double, but one would never know that the story was adjusted to accommodate the necessity of shooting around the late actor. So tight is the editing, so compelling the story, and so well executed that audiences still come away feeling like they got to experience a complete story and at no point does it seem like a strange honorarium for the actor. Whether you come to this film for the first time 30 years post-release or this is your umpteenth screening, there’s no doubt that it will move you, even surprisingly so, and it’s not because the film is dour or morose; rather, despite its emo and goth trappings, Lee brings an optimism and heart to Eric, a soulfulness that centers hope, love, and connection, creating the opportunity for positive affirmation in the aftermath. Or, as we come to know, “it can’t rain all the time.”
Rochelle Davis as Sarah in THE CROW. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
It’s difficult to speak with objectivity on The Crow, even now, some 30 years later. There are several significant memories tied to the film, from a camper-led rebellion to change our option for movie night to the sounds of the soundtrack floating into my ears on a rainy afternoon at summer camp. Yet, the stories of Eric Draven and Brandon Lee remain of great significance, tales of love and pain, of vengeance in the absence of justice, and the real-world tragedy that enshrouds it all. Truthfully, the first time I watched this film, it was likely due to the rumors that Lee’s death was captured on camera and left in the film (it wasn’t), but this was the VHS era when cult classics could form through word of mouth and worn out cassettes rented from mom and pop stores or your local Blockbuster rather than the myriad of channels by which a film can find its audience now (a truth that I’d argue has shifted what it means to be a “cult classic” within the modern era). The point, if you will, is that when describing The Crow, specifically this version and not the other films and the television series that followed, it is of a time that’s harder to replicate or conceive in the modern era of rapid access to information versus the slow trickle of yesteryear. Thankfully, despite it being in the zeitgeist for 30 years, The Crow remains an incredible watch, a true wonder of a film that one would not realize had to endure such heartache or undergo such cinematic magic to complete. With a haunting and dynamic performance from Lee, the magically somber Graeme Revell (The Craft) score, Alex McDowell’s (Fight Club) gothic and German expressionistic production design, and a soundtrack that almost never was (read the unbelievable history here), The Crow is a near impossibility that continues to inspire awe, melancholy, and, strangely, love and hope, despite the story’s terrible tragedy and the horrific trauma behind the scenes.
If, like this reviewer, the film means a lot to you, then the concept of a modern remaster in the form of a 4K UHD edition is an absolutely exciting proposition. So, let’s get into your options before getting to the remaster itself.
Paramount Pictures is providing three editions to choose from: two physical and one digital. The physical editions are a standard 4K UHD Blu-ray with digital copy and a limited edition 4K UHD Blu-ray steelbook with digital copy. The regular edition features the traditional design of Eric Draven walking toward the viewer in the rain with the figure of the crow flying upward (this time in white, not black) behind him. It’s a more stylized version of the cover for the more recent Blu-ray edition, available on home video. As Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment provided the steelbook edition for this home release review, more details can be provided on that edition. To begin with, the steelbook design is more elaborate, making using of a plastic O-Ring (plastic slipcover) that features the crow in flight (side profile) with Eric Draven looking toward us, his upper torso and head visible so that, when the steelbook case is removed either from the top or bottom, it reveals Eric standing in profile, guitar in hand and gargoyle wings appearing to come out of his back. The quote “Real Love is Forever” is printed in white above him. On the back, the typical Eric Draven pose appears, hints of rain visible, but no crow. The words “Victims Aren’t We All?” written in white at the top. While the first quote is as much a line of dialogue as it is theme of the film, the second is the chilling last words uttered by Eric before stabbing Laurence Mason’s (Hackers) Tin Tin with the knife-wielder’s own blade. The inside of the case contains a single disc holder on the right side and a clear plastic lining so that the overview design of the crow with the eyes visible across the whole interior. Between the two, the steelbook is going to be more cost prohibitive, but for longtime fans and/or steelbook collectors, you’re not going to regret picking up this edition, should physical formats be your preference.
L-R: Rochelle Davis as Sarah and Ernie Hudson as Albrecht in THE CROW. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
But the packaging is only part of the experience. What you want to know is whether or not the remaster is worth the investment, and it absolutely is from a visual perspective. Meaning, this remaster includes no new audio mix, but the 4K UHD with HDR video is a beauty. Not only are the blacks darker, but the contrast of colors is wider, enabling more detail to come through in the frame. With so much of the film cast in darkness, in moments like Eric responding to being shot in the palm by Funboy (Michael Massee), there’s more clarity in Eric’s face with the white contrasting in the scene as Eric turns toward the camera as he performs the pain of having been shot. Soon after, when Eric drags Funboy into the bathroom, you can see differing shades of color on the walls near the tub, browns and greys, giving the space shape and dimension. So much of the film feels grander due to what we can see and within the new framing brought on by the HDR. Even Albrecht’s (Ernie Hudson) home comes off with a warmer energy, rather than just being bathed in brown, giving the calm and quiet interaction between he and Eric more bittersweet melancholy than was already present. This also means that the white in the flashes is brighter, so photosensitive folks should take caution with the camera flashes, lightning, and memory flashes that make up the bulk of the first 20 min, but also anytime Eric processes a memory. Another slight downside is that we can notice more detail in the miniatures used to make up the city in which the story takes place, as well as the external shots for the car chase sequence (these are good things), but we can notice the difference in the photo projected flames on the cityscape in the opening shot compared to real fire later when Gideon’s explodes, that Eric is projected within the window of his apartment as the camera pulls back, or, while a great gag, that it’s a fake hand healing after Funboy shoots Eric’s palm. Some of this can be equated to being remnants of the period in which it was made and, though they are more noticeable now, are no less affecting or enjoyable (cinematically).
L-R: Brandon Lee as Eric Draven and Rochelle Davis as Sarah in THE CROW. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
If bonus features are important to you, for the 30th anniversary edition, Paramount pulls out two items listed as new on the release and all the previously available legacy features. The first worth mentioning is a 13-minute sit-down between Sideshow.com host Paul Hernandez and producer Ed Pressman as they discuss the Premium Format Figures that released in 2021. The full video is available on the Sideshow Collectibles YouTube channel, so when it’s advertised as “New to Disc,” they mean that it’s been available elsewhere until now. What *is* new and absolutely worth checking out is the three-part featurette “Shadows & Pain” in which, for 24 minutes, McDowell breaks down everything from his journey to working on the project, the inspirations for the look of the film, the use of models/miniatures and the advantages they provided, Proyas’s limited use of interior stages (and McDowell’s favorite shot/moment among them), and more. Amid everything, we get to see storyboards and behind the scenes still photos, several of which are then followed or juxtaposed with footage from the film. A particular treat comes in the first part, “Angels All Fire: Birth of the Legend,” when pains are taken to show us scenes from the comic and then the scenes from the film which were almost identically. If you haven’t read the comic, many details differ, so it’s nice to see that the choices made in the film, while not authentic to the story, do capture the essence, the mark of a truly successful adaptation. Notably, the Blu-ray edition already in my collection does not include the audio commentary by producer Jeff Most and screenwriter Shirley, so either this is from an alternate edition or mislabeled, but I’m considering it another item to get excited about the inclusion.
Brandon Lee as Eric Draven in THE CROW. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
If The Crow is the sort of film for which you, too, have an emotional connection and you prefer to have your films in the best format possible, then snagging this remaster is likely a foregone conclusion. To that end, take comfort in knowing that this is a really strong one. It’s evident that great care was taken to create the best looking version of the film without sacrificing aspects (like grain) which help ground it from when it was made. As solid as the video elements are, one doesn’t lament the lack of a remastered audio track to accompany it. At which point, the choice is between the limited edition steelbook version or the regular edition — a choice that may largely come down to price point or design preference. However, if this is a sight-unseen purchase, I may recommend waiting for it to be on sale or to check out the film first as its “lightning in a bottle” nature may not translate as well to audiences without the connection to the period or material. That said, this 4K UHD remaster is a win-win for all of us, especially for those who continue to “Burn.”
The Crow 4K UHD Special Features:
- *NEW* Shadows & Pain: Designing The Crow (24:11)
- Angels All Fire: Birth of the Legend
- On Hallowed Ground: The Outer Realm
- Twisted Wreckage: The Inside Spaces
- *NEW* Sideshow Collectibles: An Interview with Edward R. Pressman (13:25)
- Audio Commentary with Director Alex Proyas
- Audio Commentary by Producer Jeff Most and Screenwriter John Shirley
- Behind the Scenes Featurette
- A Profile on James O’Barr
- Three (3) Extended Scenes
- Deleted Footage Montage
- Trailer
Available on 4K UHD limited edition steelbook, 4K UHD Blu-ray, and digital May 7th, 2024.
In select theaters May 29th and May 30th, 2024.
For more information on the film, head to the official Miramax The Crow webpage.
For more information on an upcoming screening, head to the official Paramount Pictures The Crow webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Recommendation
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