The Crow is a American superhero film directed by Alex Proyas, written by David J. Schow and John Shirley, released on May 13, 1994. It stars Brandon Lee in his final film appearance as Eric Draven, a murdered musician who is resurrected to avenge his death and that of his fiancée. The film is based on James O’Barr’s comic of the same name. Production on The Crow was struck by tragedy when Lee was fatally wounded 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. The Crow is dedicated to Lee and his fiancée, Eliza Hutton. After Lee‘s death, Paramount Pictures opted out of distributing the film and the rights were picked up by Miramax who oversaw The Crow‘s completion.
The Crow received positive reviews from critics, who praised its tone, visuals, Dariusz Wolski‘s cinematography, the production design, and Lee‘s performance. It also grossed $94 million worldwide, on a $23 million budget, and has gained a strong cult following. The film’s success 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.
The soundtrack to the superhero film The Crow was released in March 29, 1994. The album featured covers, including Nine Inch Nails who covered Joy Division‘s Dead Souls, Pantera who covered Poison Idea‘s The Badge, and Rollins Band who covered Suicide‘s Ghost Rider, which is about a Marvel Comics character. Rage Against the Machine re-recorded their 1991 B-side Darkness of Greed and renamed it Darkness for this soundtrack. My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult re-recorded their original song, Nervous Xians and re-titled it, After the Flesh for this film. They were also the band onstage during the nightclub shootout scene.
The Cure also wrote the song Burn for the movie. Stone Temple Pilots originally intended to re-record a song off their Mighty Joe Young demo, titled Only Dying, but instead chose to submit the track Big Empty to the project when Brandon Lee was accidentally killed on-set during production. Medicine re-recorded their song Time Baby II for the film’s soundtrack album as Time Baby III, which featured guest vocals by Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, although the original version is performed by Medicine in the film. It Can’t Rain All the Time was co-written by Jane Siberry and the film’s composer Graeme Revell, performed by Siberry. An orchestral version of It Can’t Rain All the Time can be heard in the film multiple times.
The inclusion of songs written by The Cure and Joy Division are notable because the influences of both bands are present in the original comic book. James O’Barr, the creator of The Crow, reprinted the lyrics to the song The Hanging Garden by The Cure on an entire page, and some chapters of the comic book are named after Joy Division songs Atmosphere and Atrocity Exhibition, for example. In one panel, Eric even quotes a lyric from the song “Disorder” from the album Unknown Pleasures. O’Barr was a big fan of both bands when he was creating the comic book.
The other music in the film which is not included in the soundtrack is instead on The Crow: Original Motion Picture Score of original, mostly orchestral music, with some electronic and guitar elements, written for the film by Graeme Revell. Peaking at the top of the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart, the album has sold 3.8 million copies in the United States, and has been certified 3x-Platinum by RIAA.
Tracklist:
- Burn (The Cure)
- Golgotha Tenement Blues (Machines of Loving Grace)
- Big Empty (Stone Temple Pilots)
- Dead Souls (Joy Division cover) (Nine Inch Nails)
- Darkness (Re-recording of Darkness of Greed) Rage Against the Machine
- Color Me Once (Violent Femmes)
- Ghostrider (Suicide cover) (Rollins Band)
- Milktoast (Also known as Milquetoast) (Helmet)
- The Badge (Poison Idea cover) (Pantera)
- Slip Slide Melting (For Love Not Lisa)
- After the Flesh (My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult)
- Snakedriver (The Jesus and Mary Chain)
- Time Baby III (Re-recording of Time Baby II) (Medicine)
- It Can’t Rain All the Time (Jane Siberry)
Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993).
