The Crow (1994)
88%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: 5 wins & 7 nominations
Filled with style and dark, lurid energy, The Crow is an action-packed visual feast that also has a soul in the performance of the late Brandon Lee
The Crow is like a goth kid’s dream come to life, with its dark and moody atmosphere and Brandon Lee’s brooding performance. It’s the perfect movie to watch when you’re feeling angsty and want to pretend you’re a vigilante seeking revenge on the world. Plus, the soundtrack is killer. Just don’t blame us if you start wearing all black and listening to The Cure on repeat after watching it.
Production Company(ies)
Hecht-Lancaster Productions, Steven Productions,
Distributor
Summit Entertainment, Miramax Films, Buena Vista Home Video (BVHV)
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
EUE/Screen Gems Studios – 1223 N 23rd Street, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for a great amount of strong violence and language, and for drug use and some sexuality
Year of Release
1994
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo DTS
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 40m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 11, 1994 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 20, 2001
Genre(s)
Action/Fantasy
Keyword(s)
starring Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, David Patrick Kelly, Angel David, Rochelle Davis, directed by Alex Proyas, written by John Shirley, David J Schow, action, fantasy, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Anderson Jones, Terrence Rafferty, Desmond Ryan, Jay Boyar, Peter Rainer, Michael Wilmington, R MPAA rating, supernatural, revenge, gothic, inner-city gang, musician, fiancée, murder, resurrection, avenger, thugs, Top Dollar, macabre mission, Summit Entertainment, Miramax Films, Buena Vista Home Video (BVHV), Surround, Stereo, DTS, Dolby, Jeff Most, Edward R Pressman, James O’Barr, comic book adaptation
Worldwide gross: $50,693,227
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $102,558,754
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,003
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 11,184,161
US/Canada gross: $50,693,129
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $102,558,556
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 733
US/Canada opening weekend: $11,774,332
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $23,820,950
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 567
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $23,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $46,531,884
Production budget ranking: 844
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $25,057,419
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $30,969,451
ROI to date (est.): 43%
ROI ranking: 1,182
Ernie Hudson – Sergeant Albrecht
Michael Wincott – Top Dollar
David Patrick Kelly – T-Bird
Angel David – Skank
Rochelle Davis – Sarah
Director – Alex Proyas
Producers – Jeff Most, Edward R. Pressman
Writers – John Shirley, David J. Schow
Director(s)
Alex Proyas
Writer(s)
John Shirley, David J. Schow
Producer(s)
Jeff Most, Edward R. Pressman
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
5 wins & 7 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (61) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (10)
The film is haunted by a reworked script that may be weighed down by Lee’s memory, making it a bit of a morality play and a little faux sentimental.
April 26, 2022 | Rating: 2/4
Anderson Jones
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
Alex Proyas’s pulp revenge fantasy, based on a comic-book saga by James O’Barr, is dark, moody, and seductively overwrought; it’s an amazingly pure expression of morbid adolescent romanticism.
April 10, 2013
Terrence Rafferty
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
It’s a pleasure to welcome The Crow — a bird of a very different feather.
April 10, 2013 | Rating: 3/4
Desmond Ryan
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
As exploitation pictures go, I’ve seen a whole lot worse.
April 10, 2013
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
The Crow, starring the late Brandon Lee, is like one long fright night. Even though it was photographed in color, the edge-of-darkness atmosphere descends on the audience like a shroud.
April 10, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/5
Peter Rainer
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
What’s scary about The Crow is the story and the style itself: American Gothic, Poe-haunted nightmare, translated to the age of cyberpunk science fiction, revenge movies and outlaw rock ‘n’ roll, all set in a hideously decaying, crime-ridden urban hell.
April 10, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/4
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
…still a shockingly effective movie, one that plays with mythic ideas while also depicting a gone-to-hell world…
February 1, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Eddie Harrison
film-authority.com
Very impassioned in sharing deep devotion.
October 2, 2021
Don Shanahan
25YL (25 Years Later)
Despite its hardcore demeanor, there’s also a surprisingly sensitive streak weaving throughout the film.
August 24, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
I will say that I rewatched it for this project, and was surprised to see how well it holds up. It might be perhaps the most early 90s movie ever made, but unlike, say, Reality Bites, it’s in a way that’s still cool and stylish.
February 18, 2021
Gena Radcliffe
The Spool
A first-rate revenge fantasy and a thrilling adaptation of the comic book series on which it’s based.
September 11, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
From heartbreak, rage, pain, love, and even brief moments of humor, Brandon Lee brings all the pathos to the table.
May 24, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Sezín Koehler
Black Girl Nerds…
Plot
A poetic guitarist Eric Draven is brought back to life by a crow a year after he and his fiancée are murdered. The crow guides him through the land of the living, and leads him to his killers: knife thrower Tin-tin, drugetic Funboy, car buff T-Bird, and the unsophisticated Skank. One by one, Eric gives these thugs a taste of their own medicine. However their leader Top-Dollar, a world-class crime lord who will dispatch his enemies with a Japanese sword and joke about it later, will soon learn the legend of the crow and the secret to the vigilante’s invincibility.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film The Crow on Fresh Kernels.
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