#011 - The Crow (1994) - 30th Anniversary Screening Reaction

The Crow (1994) turns 30 this year, we were lucky enough to see it in a theater for the first time ever after being way too obsessed with it as angsty teens. It was also the first time Tom had been back in the theater that was OUR theater growing up in about 20 years. 

We came to know this movie from VHS copies and DVDs, but never got to see this doom-obsessed teenager's wet dream of a movie on the big screen — we were only 11 ffs. One of the best things about dying movie theaters is that most of them show old movies now, usually for one or two nights, often marking an anniversary of some kind. The Crow was amazing for a lot of reasons, especially when you were around 14.

It had violence, it was dark, it existed in a comic-booky cinema world that forgave so much, it had a rogues gallery of villains, it was a revenge story, it was a love story, and it had tragedy built into it because its lead actor, Brandon Lee, was tragically killed on set near the end of filming. The movie stands as a tribute to him, but also as a tonally and visually unique film that is truly incredible given its budget and the lack of interest in comic book adaptations in the early '90s. 

With an already maligned remake inbound from an idiot Hollywood, it seemed like a good time to dig into the good one before we get yet another awful installment. Look, we all know it's a business and studios are going to cash in wherever possible, but could someone at least put a little effort into understand WHY people who love the original do so? Alienating fans of the OG while also not appealing to younger audiences seems, I don't know, stupid.

Anyway, put all that aside and dive deep into the always excellent The Crow (1994) starring Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, and Earnie Hudson, directed by Alex Proyas, and based on the graphic novel by James O'Barr.