The Crow is a 1994 American gothic superhero film directed by Alex Proyas and written by David J. Schow and John Shirley, based on the comic of the same name by James O'Barr. It stars Brandon Lee, in his final film appearance, with Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, Bai Ling, Sofia Shinas, Laurence Mason, Michael Massee, Tony Todd, and Jon Polito in supporting roles. The film follows Eric Draven, a rock musician who is resurrected from the dead to seek vengeance against the gang who murdered him and his fiancée, all the while being pursued by a sympathetic police officer.
Production on The Crow was struck by tragedy when Lee was fatally wounded by a prop gun during filming. As Lee had finished most of his scenes before his death, the film was completed through script rewrites, a stunt double, and digital effects. After Lee's death, Paramount Pictures opted out of distributing the film and the rights were picked up by Miramax, who oversaw the film's completion. The film is dedicated to Lee and his fiancée, Eliza Hutton.
The Crow opened in theaters in the United States on May 13, 1994, to positive reviews. A sleeper hit at the box office, it grossed $94 million on a $23 million budget, and gained a strong cult following. The success of the film led to a media franchise that includes three sequels and a television series. The sequels, which mostly featured different characters and none of the original cast members, were unable to match the success of the first film.
Plot[]
On Devil's Night in Detroit, police Sergeant Albrecht surveys a crime scene. A young woman named Shelly Webster has been raped and gravely wounded. Her fiancé, rock musician Eric Draven, was killed in the attack, having been stabbed, shot and then thrown from the window of their loft apartment. As he leaves for the hospital with Shelly, Albrecht meets a young girl, Sarah, whom Shelly and Eric look after. Albrecht comforts Sarah when she realizes that Shelly is going to die from her injuries.
One year later, Sarah visits Shelly and Eric's graves before meeting with Albrecht, who now helps take care of her. A crow lands on Eric's gravestone and taps on it, resurrecting him. Upon returning to his now-derelict apartment, Eric experiences flashbacks of his murder, when a gang (T-Bird, Tin Tin, Funboy and Skank) broke in and attacked him and Shelly due to them protesting forced evictions at their apartment building. Eric also discovers that any wounds he receives heal immediately. Guided by the crow, with whom he shares a telepathic connection, Eric sets out to avenge his and Shelly's murders.
The crow helps Eric locate Tin Tin, whom Eric stabs to death. Eric next travels to the pawn shop where Tin Tin had pawned Shelly's engagement ring, forcing the owner, Gideon, to return it. He blows up the shop, but spares Gideon so that he can warn the others. Eric then tracks down Funboy, who is having sex with Sarah's estranged drug addict mother, Darla. Eric kills him and confronts Darla, making her realize that Sarah needs her. In the meantime Top Dollar, the crime boss who controls the street gangs in the city, and his lover/half-sister Myca have become aware of Eric's actions; they kill Gideon after he reports his attack to them.
Eric visits Albrecht, explaining who he is. Albrecht tells him that he watched Shelly suffer for thirty hours before dying. Eric touches Albrecht and feels the pain Shelly felt. Upon leaving Albrecht's apartment, Eric saves Sarah from getting run over by a car, and gives her a clue to his identity before disappearing.
Eric kidnaps T-Bird and kills him in an explosion. The next morning, Sarah and her mother begin repairing their strained relationship, and Sarah visits Eric at his apartment. Grange, Top Dollar's right-hand man, finds Eric's grave is empty. Top Dollar holds a meeting with his associates where they discuss new plans for their Devil's Night criminal activities. Eric arrives looking for Skank and a gunfight erupts; Skank is killed during the meleé. Top Dollar, Myca and Grange escape and Myca hypothesizes that by killing the crow, Eric will no longer be immortal.
Eric, believing his vengeance is over, gives Sarah Shelly's engagement ring. As Sarah walks home, Grange abducts her and takes her to an abandoned church where Top Dollar and Myca are waiting. Through the crow, Eric realizes what has happened and goes to rescue her. Grange shoots and wounds the crow, sapping Eric of his immortality. Myca grabs the wounded crow, intending to take its mystical power.
Albrecht arrives and assists Eric, shooting and killing Grange before being wounded by Myca. The crow escapes Myca's grip and claws her eyes out, making her fall to her death down the Church's bell tower. Eric confronts Top Dollar on the roof. Top Dollar admits ultimate responsibility for Eric and Shelly's deaths, having ordered their murder as part of a scheme to take over their apartment building for his criminal activities. Eric grabs Top Dollar, transferring the thirty hours of pain he absorbed from Albrecht; the sensation causes Top Dollar to fall from the roof, and he is impaled on a gargoyle, killing him.
Sarah accompanies Albrecht to the hospital. Eric stumbles to the graveyard, where he is reunited with Shelly's spirit and returns to the afterlife, his revenge now complete.
Cast[]
- Brandon Lee as Eric Draven / The Crow
- Rochelle Davis as Sarah Mohr
- Ernie Hudson as Sergeant Daryl Albrecht
- Michael Wincott as Top Dollar
- Bai Ling as Myca
- Sofia Shinas as Shelly Webster
- Anna Levine as Darla Mohr
- David Patrick Kelly as T-Bird
- Angel David as Skank
- Laurence Mason as Tin Tin
- Michael Massee as Funboy
- Tony Todd as Grange
- Jon Polito as Gideon
- Bill Raymond as Mickey
- Marco Rodríguez as Detective Torres
Michael Berryman filmed scenes as the Skull Cowboy, Eric's spirit guide, but his scenes were cut from the finished film