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The Crow is a 1994 American film adaptation of the comic book of the same name by James O'Barr (who himself makes a cameo in the film). It was directed by Alex Proyas and starred Brandon Lee, and gained instant notoriety even before its release, when Lee was accidentally killed during filming.
PlotSpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Image:Eric-draven.jpg Brandon Lee as Eric Draven
SettingIt is never explicitly stated in which city the film takes place, and almost all aerial shots are actually miniatures overlaid with CG elements. Several clues and references throughout the film point toward its being set in Detroit: Devil's Night is culturally associated with the Detroit area; in an early bar scene T-Bird refers to his gang as "Motor-city motherfuckers" and Detroit is commonly known as "The Motor City" due to its main industry of car manufacturing. T-Bird mentions that "Lake Erie caught on fire once from all the crap floating around in it." Detroit is located at the western end of Lake Erie. Changes from the comic bookEric is given the last name Draven (possibly drawn from a scene in the comic revealing Eric's last initial as either 'C' or 'D', though it is also possible that it is a pun on the words, "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe, from which he also recites a few lines, or Eric de Raven) and is portrayed by Lee as a rock guitarist, while Shelly is portrayed as an artist and a lawyer. The two are murdered during the violence and chaos of Devil's Night, the day before their wedding on Halloween, in their home by a gang of criminals working for a larger crime syndicate, who ordered Shelly's death in retaliation for fighting tenant eviction in a neighborhood it controlled. Some characters were changed: Sarah (Sherri in the comic), played by Rochelle Davis, is a street urchin Eric doesn't meet until after his rebirth in the comic, was recast as his and Shelley's best friend and surrogate daughter; Top Dollar, played by Michael Wincott, went from a low-level drug dealer to a powerful crime lord; and Officer Albrecht, played by Ernie Hudson, went from a beat cop unimportant to the story to Eric's main (non-supernatural) ally. Also, Eric and Shelly's murderers went from being just a gang of vicious thugs who committed the murders for fun to members of a crime syndicate that unofficially runs the city.
The physical appearance of the character Gideon in the comic was based on Jon Polito, who subsequently played the character in the film adaptation. In the original screenplay, there was a character called the Skull Cowboy who acts as Eric's guardian angel, telling him exactly why he has come back, what he must do, and played an integral part in the final story line. According to the original screenplay, the reason Eric lost his powers is because he had finished what he came to do: get revenge on Shelly's and his own death. The Skull Cowboy tells him this when he returns to his grave, and stands on the steps of the church before he enters warning him he is now vulnerable. However, they decided to cut the character, and put more emphasis on the bird as a power link. Spoilers end here.
Brandon Lee's death
On March 31, 1993, the 52nd day of the 60-day shooting schedule for The Crow, Brandon Lee was killed while filming a scene in which his character was to be shot. A dummy bullet was lodged in the barrel of a handgun. The dummy bullet was not noticed and the gun was loaded with a blank cartridge. When the blank was fired, the dummy bullet shot out and hit Lee in the abdomen.[1] After Lee's death, a stunt double, Chad Stahelski replaced Lee in some scenes. Special effects were used for digitally compositing Lee's face onto the double. SoundtracksThe original soundtrack album for The Crow featured songs from the movie, and was a chart-topping album. It included work by The Cure, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pantera. The Crow Score consisted of original, mostly orchestral music, with some electronic/guitar elements written for the motion picture by Graeme Revell. The bands Medicine and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult also make small appearances in the film, on the stage in Top Dollar's 'headquarters'. AwardsThe film won the 1995 BMI Film Music Award, from the BMI Film & TV Awards. It also won the 1995 MTV Movie Award for Best Movie Song ("Big Empty" by Stone Temple Pilots). It was nominated for the 1995 MTV Movie Awards for Best Movie and posthumously to Brandon Lee for Best Male Performance. Cast
See also
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