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A breakthrough film for the career of Brandon Lee. He never got to see its success after his accidental death on set. There is a large cult following for this film, and now finally UK fans have a special edition DVD that's far superior to the old release. But it could still have been better.
TECHNICAL FEATURES
Picture Wreathed in gothic overtones, this dark film transfers to disc with detail and clarity.
Sound There's a choice of Dolby or DTS 5.1 mixes, and both are tremendously exciting. Work has clearly gone into using all the speakers with a slew of effects. The music score benefits too ,with gorgeous bass detail that lends stunning power to tracks from such bands as Nine Inch Nails.
DISC 1 SPECIAL FEATURES
"The Crow" producer Jeff Most and co-writer of the first film John Shirley get together for an interesting commentary that's dominated by contributions from Most.
Most discusses differences between the film and the comic books, revealing that the Devil's Night idea was his. It came from when he lived in the Lower East Side of New York in the 80s when buildings were regularly burnt down during a crime wave.
Jeff also talks about the decision to press ahead with the production and release the movie after Brandon Lee's death. Lee's mother Linda, and his girlfriend Eliza, were both keen to see the film realised. The insurance company did offer the filmmakers the chance to bail out and shelve the project. But with the support of those close to Lee, Proyas and the crew focused on completing the picture.
Deleted Scenes Five minutes of deleted snippets have been edited together with a music backing to create a stylised video that certainly looks good, but offers little in the way of any substance.
Extended Scenes Three extended scenes are on offer here. But the differences from the actual film are small.
DISC 2 SPECIAL FEATURES
"The Crow" Want to see the film in pan and scan 1.33:1 with 2.0 sound as on the old EiV DVD release? Of course bloody not. Some things just shouldn't be. But, the movie is available to you in this format should you pine to see it poorly presented.
Featurette This 16-minute featurette is a little short given the unusual nature of the production. But it does look at the conceptual art, the comic strip, and production design of the movie. The strict colour palette, which omits nearly all use of green and blue in the film, is also touched upon.
Profile of James O'Barr Creator of "The Crow" comic book series, James O'Barr talks for over half-an-hour about his life and work. The camera angle, lighting, and James' restless nature make this quite difficult to watch. But after a while you realise perhaps why, as this piece reveals a truly tormented man.
After a difficult childhood, he fell in love with a seemingly perfect girl, who three years later was killed by a drunk driver. Everything he'd worked for was toward their relationship, and her being ripped away from him is clearly still very painful. His rage and anger remains, but after a self-destructive few years he created The Crow, and seems to manage his demons through this vengeful character. As an advert against drink driving, this is powerful material.
Brandon Lee Interview This was the last on camera interview conducted with Brandon Lee. Running at six minutes, the focus is on his character for the movie. There is little to learn here but his enthusiasm for the project is without doubt. You get the feeling that he could see this would be his breakthrough film.
Art Galleries Also on disc two is a poster art gallery, which suffers from poor resolution shots. The quality of the production design gallery is better, but could sorely do with captions to explain what we're looking at. Finally, five scenes are available to view in storyboard format.
WHAT'S MISSING
There is not a single subtitle on either disc, which is lamentable. The quality of this DVD set is good but Brandon's career, although short, was interesting and could have been documented on DVD. It's a classic case of distributors not realising an opportunity that pleases fans and makes more money. That aside, the movie has never looked or sounded better.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Region: 2
Chapters: 15
Ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1
Audio Tracks: English
Subtitles: None
Captions: None
Menus: A classy 3D animated menu system guides you through the options with bass-riddled 5.1 sound
Special Features Subtitles: There are no subtitles on either disc
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.
