1994 contained numerous epoch-defining pop culture events: the death of Kurt Cobain, PULP FICTION winning the Palm d’or at Cannes, the inception of Green Day’s debut album DOOKIE and the May 13 release of THE CROW. A grunge-fueled adaptation of the1989 underground comic book saga by James O’Barr, THE CROW was notorious for the fact that on March 31, 1993, its leading man Brandon Lee (the son of Bruce) was killed during filming by an improperly cleaned prop gun. Lee’s death has overshadowed the film, a Paramount production was acquired by Miramax (which added a reported $8 million worth of reshoots). Three sequels followed in 1996, 2000 and 2005, and a reboot in 2024, with the original film being the best of the lot by far.
THE CROW 1994 (Trailer)
The setting is a BLADE RUNNER-ish Detroit where, as the opening narration states, “People once believed that when someone dies, a 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. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.”
Enter Eric Draven (Lee), a guitarist who together with his fiancée Shelly (Sofia Shinas) is killed by a gang of punks on Devil’s Night—the name Detroit’s residents give to the day before Halloween, when Eric and Shelly were scheduled to wed. Instead, a crow alights on Eric’s gravestone, causing him to return to life and claw his way out of the earth. Taking a Marcel Marceau mask as his inspiration, the undead Eric gives himself a pasty facial makeover with black lines emanating from each eye. He then heads off to avenge himself on the scumbags who killed him, claiming “They’re all dead, they just don’t know it yet.”
Starting with Warmer (Jon Polito), a sleazy pawn shop owner who’s in touch with the scumbags, the undead Eric methodically tracks down and kills his prey, more often than not with smart-assed Arnold Schwarzenegger-esque quips and slick martial arts moves (Brandon Lee having partially choreographed the fight scenes himself). Eventually he guns down several of his enemies, including their leader Top Dollar (Michael Wincott), John Woo style in a building with a sign on its roof reading, appropriately, “TRASH.” Along the way Eric befriends the purehearted Officer Albrecht (Ernie Hudson) and helps Sarah (Rochelle Davis), the young daughter of a crackhead (Anna Thomson), and eventually joins his beloved in the afterworld.
The James O’Barr authored CROW comic was a poetic and only partially linear evocation of loss and grief (as evoked by its issue titles: PAIN, FEAR, IRONY and DESPAIR), inspired by the death of O’Barr’s fiancée. Adapting the comic to an action movie format didn’t occur without some major hiccups, with the script by horror scribes John Shirley and David J. Schow suffering from a galumphing obviousness. There’s no layering or shading, with the characters (Eric included) drawn in the broadest and most one-dimensional manner imaginable, and the narrative constructed in paint-by-numbers fashion.
Not that director Alex Proyas, whose first feature this was, seemed too invested in such things. As with so many nineties directorial wunderkinds, Proyas had little interest in storytelling, with his attention on the noirish visual design, which is admittedly impressive (albeit with a few too many crow POV shots).
The performance of Brandon Lee is what keeps things afloat. He had little to do character-wise and never got to fully hone (or complete) his performance, yet the man cuts quite a striking figure; Lee reportedly administered his own facial makeup, and it looks striking and character appropriate. He also demonstrates excellent vocal control, with suitably menacing intonations.
Brandon Lee
The music is nearly as important. The soundtrack album, featuring original songs by bands like The Jesus & Mary Chain, Rage Against the Machine and Stone Temple Pilots, was a hot seller in its day, and those tunes were used by Proyas for mood enhancement and punctuation (with the moody instrumental score by Graeme Revell barely registering). The most effective song in my view is the industrial rock tinged “After the Flesh” by My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, which is played over the climactic shootout.
“After the Flesh” by My Life
The film, unsurprisingly, often feels like an extended music video, and one that strains way too hard for hipness. As a nineties nostalgia piece, however, THE CROW has plenty to recommend.
Vital Statistics
THE CROW
Miramax
Director: Alex Proyas
Producers: Edward R. Pressman, Jeff Most
Screenplay: David J, Schow, John Shirley
(Based on a graphic novel by James O’Barr)
Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski
Editing: Dov Hoenig, M. Scott Smith
Cast: Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, Rochelle Davis, Bai Ling, Sofia Shinas, Anna Thomson, David Patrick Kelly, Angel David, Laurence Mason, Michael Massee, Tony Todd, Jon Polito, Bill Raymond, Marco Rodriguez, Kim Sykes, Rock Taulbee, Norman Max Maxwell, Jeff Cadiente