Alex Proyas’ The Crow is celebrating a pearl anniversary and Paramount Pictures has rewarded fans with a special edition! Enough has been said about the film, and what’s great about this latest rerelease is that there’s new material included. Collectors who love to own every single release will like the fact there’s also a look at the Sideshow Collectables market featuring this title character.
Although some may consider this work as a simple bleak revenge fantasy, there’s more to it than just that. Not everyone is familiar with this film’s origins: comic book creator James O’Barr, came up with the idea as a way to cope. His fiancée died because of a reckless drunk driver. She was the love of his life, and to channel his angst into a medium and make a statement must have been tough. To adapt it to film, however, must mean understanding what he went through. After creating a character Batman might be afraid of, to keep ongoing is tough. Although Tim Burton’s take was released in 1989, both works influenced later comic book films still to come.
Although I haven’t read all the subsequent series that followed (Amazon link), I suspect the indigenous folklore that inspired The Crow gets delved into a lot more. The featurettes offered in this home video release touches on this aspect a bit, but to know more really means just reading the original source material (or consult the wiki).
This release isn’t too different from previous, but to watch it all in glorious 4K is something! I adjusted my television settings to view how much better the blacks look, and the sound design isn’t too over the top. The big reason to own this edition over the other is for the new bonus features, namely “Shadows & Pain: Designing The Crow.”
This three-part piece has production designer Alex McDowell recall all the work put into crafting this film thirty years later. Not only does he reflect upon working with Alex Proyas but also shares fond memories. This piece doesn’t dwell too much regarding the accident that took this actor’s life, but it’s there.
This segment is broken down into:
Angels All Fire: Birth of a Legend—This comes in at 7-minutes and focuses on the noir aspects of the film, the music, and the stylization and production design.
On Halloween Ground: The Outer Realm—This segment clocks in at just over 8-minutes and is the best of the group. It compares this film to others which would later come to fruition, and as for who did it better, that wouldn’t be fair to say.
Twisted Wreckage: The Inside Spaces—The focus here is that we know about what it’s like working with Lee. Through archival footage, we get to hear from him too. Although the material doesn’t get too deep, I can’t help but wonder what he could have been had he lived. Brendon wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, and it’s sad someone screwed up in setting up the props that fateful day. I’m not sure when this segment was filmed and edited, but had it said more concerning the fatal Rust fatality, it would’ve been a lot more powerful.
Also brought over to this collection are all the familiar pieces.
- 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
- Extended Scenes:
The Arcade Bombing
The Funboy Fight
The Shootout at Top Dollar’s - Deleted Footage Montage
- Trailer
For anyone who missed catching the theatrical re-release of The Crow, thankfully this release recaptures the magic that is with all its bonus features. That happened in May, a few months before the August screening of the new work. While I don’t have any expectations for what’s upcoming as it vastly changes up what’s to come, all I can hope for is that it’ll live up to the legacy that creator James O’Barr fashioned.
The Crow Movie Trailer
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