Movies - The Crow

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	Movies - The Crow

The Crow is a 1994 film adaptation of James O'Barr's comic book of the same name (see The Crow). It was directed by Alex Proyas and starred Brandon Lee, gaining instant notoriety even before its release when Lee was accidentally killed during filming.

Plot

A man named Eric Draven was murdered along with his fiancée, Shelly, who was also raped, by a gang of street thugs who broke into their apartment on "Devil's Night" (October 30). One year later, he is resurrected by a crow and seeks out vengeance on his murderers, killing them one at a time. He is able to defeat his enemies because the crow that brought him back to life has given him the power of invulnerability - nothing can kill him, and all injuries he takes are healed almost instantly, no matter how serious they are.

Changes from the comic book

Eric is given the last name Draven (possibly drawn from a scene in the comic revealing Eric's last initial as either 'C' or 'D') and is portrayed by Lee as a guitarist, while Shelly is portrayed as an artist. 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), a street urchin Eric doesn't meet until after his rebirth, was recast as his and Shelley's surrogate daughter, played by Rochelle Davis; Top Dollar went from a low-level drug dealer to a powerful crime lord, played by Michael Wincott; and Officer Albrecht, from a beat cop unimportant to the story to Eric's main (non-supernatural) ally, played by Ernie Hudson.

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 Mafia-like crime syndicate that unofficially runs the city and orders them to kill the two lovers.

Gabriel the cat originally belongs to an old lady whom Tin Tin (one of the murderers, portayed by Laurence Mason) murders at the beginning of the story. Eric later gives the cat to Officer Albrecht. However, in the movie, Gabriel already belonged to Eric and Shelly.

Soundtracks

The Crow original soundtrack featured songs from the movie and was a chart-topping album. In included work by The Cure, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine 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".

Later films' soundtracks were less successful, despite also having famous artists (including PJ Harvey, the Deftones and Hole) on them.

Awards

The 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 Best Male Performance (Brandon Lee).

Cast

Brandon Lee
- Eric Draven
Rochelle Davis - Sarah
Ernie Hudson
- Sergeant Albrecht
Michael Wincott
- Top Dollar
Ling Bai - Myca (as Bai Ling)
Sofia Shinas
- Shelly Webster
Anna Levine - Darla (as Anna Thomson)
David Patrick Kelly
- T-Bird
Angel David - Skank
Laurence Mason - Tin Tin
Michael Massee - Funboy
Tony Todd
- Grange
Jon Polito
- Gideon, Pawn Shop Owner
James O'Barr - Robber (uncredited)

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