The Crow – DVD Review

The Crow is a film that has been in my DVD collection for sometime. Having recently upgraded the disc I had for the R2 Scandinavian 2 disc Limited Edition steel-book version I thought that I would review a film that is amongst my favourite movies.

Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) and his fiancée Shelly (Sofia Shinas) are murdered on the eve of their Halloween Wedding by T-Bird and his gang of delinquents sent over there on the orders of Top-Dollar (Michael Wincott).

Legend has it that when someone dies The 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. Sometimes the Crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.

So at its basic level it is a story of revenge and Let’s face it, that storyline isn’t exactly over spilling in the originality stakes but don’t let that put you off as Director Alex Proyas and director of photography Dariusz Wolski     have created a wonderful visual feast of entertainment that sets The Crow apart from other movies of its ilk.

On watching this movie again recently I was reminded of Blade Runner; The depressing look and feel of the locations. The seemingly endless rain that falls down on the filth of the city but at the same time it is filmed in a graphic novel style not a million miles away from the more recent film noir Sincity. But on top of this if anyone remembers the Max Payne PC game from way back in 2001? This is how I imagined the real life world of Max Payne to look like.

The casting is spot on in all areas but special mention needs to be made for Brandon Lee. He is absolutely fantastic in this, his look is very much the Batman’s joker and I could really believe that his look influenced the make up in Heath Ledgers character. Another similarity between Ledger and Lee is that they both died young and in tragic circumstances, Lee was actually killed by a faulty prop gun during the making of this very film and his face was digitally superimposed on another actor in several shots. The tragic scenes that were filmed when the accident occurred were destroyed without being developed and are not in the movie at all. But I think this would have been the movie that would have propelled him onto bigger things.

His acting is spot on here. Take the opening scenes for example when we see him emerge from the grave and make his way back towards the now deserted apartment that he shared with his fiancée I could feel the pain and confusion of what was happening to him and the initial difficulty he has in coming to terms with what was going on.

Ernie Hudson plays the humane policeman Sergeant Albrecht, he is a shining light in what is mainly a sea of filth, he attempted to pursue the case when Shelly and Eric were killed but was stonewalled at every turn and eventually demoted. But when he sees Eric again he tries to help (after getting over the bewilderment of seeing a dead person alive). He even manages to get a few light hearted moments.

Sarah is a streetwise kid mostly abandoned by her barmaid/whore mother Darla (Anna Levine) and fends for herself most of the time; she was good friends with Shelly and Eric and misses them both very much. I thought she played her role very well, she seemed natural in the role and not wooden at all, I am surprised that she has not acted since.

Michael Wincott has always come across as a good bad guy, or shady character in a number of movies that I’ve seen him in, he just has that bad guy face and his gruff voice lends an air of malevolence that is on par with John Malkovich at his most evil. In fact in one scene we see him with a samurai sword on his back and for some reason I thought that he would have looked very good in “Highlander”.

For me the film has everything, stunning visuals, a great soundtrack, decent bad guys and some pretty good acting, if that doesn’t get you going then I am at a loss of what will.

Audio/Video:
I listened to this via a DTS soundtrack and it was awesome. The soundtrack was punchy and loud, bass rippled through my front room with that satisfying low noise. The haunting music suits the images on screen so well.

The dialogue was clear and concise too, never being overshadowed by the soundtrack. Surrounds were used nicely too with various effects panning the room.

Visually I found the transfer to be stunning, it is a very dark movie but I never felt there was a lack of detail, there was no detectable damage, it was a joy to behold.

Extras:

Disc 1:
Audio Commentary with Producer Jeff Most and Screenwriter John Shirley:
I was wondering why it wasn’t the director giving the commentary; Saying that the dialogue is quite interesting in explaining the dynamics of the story.

Disc 2:
A Profile on James O’Barr:
This is the guy that wrote The Crow graphic novel. A fairly interesting look at the creator of the comic, he seems like a fairly nervous guy and we find out about his life and the sad things that happened in his life that went on to influence his drawings.  We get excerpts of his drawings but the camera work when he is on screen is terrible, way too close and shaky. However I was enthralled by it and had to watch it till the end.

Brandon Lee’s Final Interview:
Watching this interview you can’t help but be amazed that he didn’t live to see the end of the movie. It is only a short interview but he obviously has a passion for the role, I think he would have gone on to great things.

Extended Scenes:
We are presented with 3 extended scenes that were shortened for the theatrical release. I enjoyed watching the scenes but I think that the idea to shorten them was ultimately a good one.

Deleted Footage Montage:
A collection of deleted scenes to music, not much in the way of dialogue accompanying it. I like the haunting music to the film so I found it a decent watch.

Original Poster Concepts:
A few still pictures on potential posters for the film, some better than others.

Production Design:
Another set of still on drawn production ideas.

Storyboards:
Another set of drawings depicting certain areas of the film.

Overall:
I think that this is a superb release, the steel-book itself feels like very good quality, the film is a superb gothic tale which was a great transfer and punchy audio. It is a well acted film with high production values and was of course the last film Brandon Lee made, a superb example of the genre.

Film:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Overall:

Reviewers set up:
32” Sony Bravia
Harman Kardon AVR7300 through KEF Q Series Speakers
PS3 via HDMI Connection (Video) and Optical connection via the AMP (Audio)