The Crow DVD: Review By Twisted Smile (The Untold Smile)

The lightning sets the sky on fire as breaking wood and wind sing a lullaby in the night sky. A grave begins to open and a corpse arises and lets out a painful scream...Eric has returned.

The Crow is a dark and gloomy tale of love lost and the fight to regain it. The film stays faithful to the source material from the comic of the same name published by Caliber Comics in 1988-89 and written by James O'Barr,but does change a few minor details that do not really impact the story.

The film follows Eric Draven (just Eric in the book) who exactly one year after the brutal murders of he and his fiance Shelley,returns to extract justice on their murderers. The film is shot with an emphasis on darkness which helps to set the depressing mood of the city and of the hero that the story follows. This atmosphere is given even more depth through the amazing soundtrack and the haunting score from Greame Revell. None of this would matter though if it was'nt for the great performances of the cast that help give the film just that much more feeling. The stand out of course is Brandon Lee not because he is the lead of the film,but because Lee does such a great job of making the audience feel for the Eric charcter and the pain going through him. Alex Proyas crafted a film that captures the emotion and the overall feel of the the book it was based on and brings the pain of loss to the surface. For these reason's The Crow is a must see.

The special features on the 2-disc DVD are a good set. There is a deleted scene montage and a brief glimpse behind the filming of The Crow. A poster gallery feature gives you an idea of some of the concept posters that they came up with,but later would reject. Some of these I personally wish they would consider for release to purchase. There is also a good length doc*mentary interview with the creator of The Crow,James O'Barr. The DVD has other features aswell includeing commentary and three extended scenes. My only big problem with the package is that there is supposedly more features that where to be included in the release,but a disagreement between Proyas and producer Jeff Most,caused these features to be shelved, includeing a commentary track from Proyas. Whether this is true or not I am uncertain,but there does seem to be additional footage floating around the internet that supports this.

The Crow is a great movie and an even better DVD. You can purchase it on it's own or in a box set with The Crow:City of Angels and The Crow:Salvation. The set comes with a nice booklet with a small history on the series.