We rank the entire Crow films, from the 1994 authentic all the best way to the 2024 reboot, which is now in theatres.
I’m considerably bewildered over how outraged folks have been over the brand new model of The Crow (don’t name it a remake!). Many are calling it a stain on the legacy of the late, nice Brandon Lee, who infamously was killed in an on-set tragedy, however by inspecting the franchise as a complete, it’s clear that so far as this stuff go, the franchise has been exploited to dying. There have been a minimum of 5 Crow films at this level, and guess what? We’re going to rank all of them! That mentioned, so far as our Crow films ranked listing goes, they’re all various levels of dangerous outdoors the primary film and the brand new model, which isn’t half dangerous.
Dishonourable Point out: The Crow: Stairway to Heaven
Sure, girls and germs, they as soon as made a TV model of The Crow, and it was abysmal. You’ll find out every thing it’s essential to know in regards to the present within the video embedded above, however suffice it to say nearly each profitable style film acquired a foul TV model made in Canada within the nineties. There was Poltergeist: The Collection, F/X: The Collection, Highlander: The Collection (really, that one wasn’t so dangerous) and The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. Regardless of starring the good Mark Dacascos and incomes surprisingly OK evaluations, this present solely lasted a single season of twenty-two episodes earlier than the model of Eric Draven was allowed to relaxation in peace.
A few of it’s possible you’ll be scratching your heads over this title, because the fourth Crow sequel barely acquired any launch earlier than being dumped to video. However, in 2005, The Weinstein Brothers resurrected the collection by their Dimension Movies label, basing the brand new film on a graphic novel by Norman Partridge. With cult director Lance Mungia of Six String Samurai on the helm, the hope may need been that this scrappy sequel would win again followers of the unique, however it was not meant to be. Whereas star Edward Furlong does a tremendous job within the early scenes of Depraved Prayer, as soon as he turns into The Crow, he comes off as slight and laughable, and Mungia’s pseudo-spaghetti western tone feels much less like Sergio Leone and extra like a (dangerous) Robert Rodriguez riff. No less than David Boreanaz is round to have a whale of a time because the film’s villain, Luc Crash (his lover, performed by Tara Reid, is called Byrne – get it – Crash & Burn?), and Dennis Hopper performs a satanic priest named – and I’m not making this up – El Niño.
In contrast to Depraved Prayer, this was at all times supposed to be a serious theatrical launch. However, on this period, The Weinstein Bros had a behavior of shelving films indefinitely or releasing them direct-to-video if check screenings weren’t good. This went the DTV route, and the director, Bharat Nalluri, didn’t direct one other film for eight years, later reinventing himself as a director of status fare corresponding to Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day and The Man Who Invented Christmas. As such, it is a fairly dangerous entry into the franchise, with some laughably dated facets, corresponding to a foul riff on The Matrix’s bullet time, which was all the fad in 2000. However Eric Mabius delivers an honest tackle the titular character, with him extra of a demonic prankster than a heroic avenger. Plus, there’s Kirsten Dunst in an early function I’m certain she’d like to neglect.
Like all the opposite sequels, this one went by a tortured post-production course of, with Harvey “Scissorhands” Weinstein having director Tim Pope’s movie reduce right down to a mere eighty-four minutes. Pope went on report saying that he tried to make a sequel in contrast to the primary film, just for the Weinstein Bros to alter the method on the eleventh hour, leading to a disastrous theatrical model that ended a couple of careers. After this, star Vincent Perez gave up on a Hollywood profession, returning to France, the place he remained an enormous star. Like the opposite films, although, it does have some good components, such because the yellow-coloured visible palette, a cool efficiency by Iggy Pop as one of many villains, and a killer soundtrack. Possibly at some point, Pope can reconstruct his authentic model of the movie.
The Crow (2024)
Whereas followers have been sharpening their knives ever since Invoice Skarsgard’s look because the title character was revealed, it’s actually not that dangerous. Have been it not for the horrible pacing and lacklustre story beats, I feel followers would react extra positively to this new tackle the character, with Skarsgard and villain Danny Huston delivering memorable performances.
The Crow (1994)
After all, the one film on this listing I’d really say is legitimately good is Alex Proyas’s authentic. Enjoyable reality: I used to be a goth child a few years in the past, and all of us wished to look precisely like Brandon Lee on this film. Whereas the truth that he died is an unimaginable tragedy, his legacy lives on like somebody like James Dean or Heath Ledger does, as he’ll at all times be frozen in time because the romantic avenger Eric Draven. Alex Proyas directed a stunning film with probably the greatest soundtracks of all time (The Remedy’s ‘Burn’ is a specific favorite), plus Michael Wincott performed one of the memorable evil villains of the ’90s, Prime Greenback. If you happen to love this film, and I doubt you’d be studying this column should you don’t, you owe it to your self to take a look at the attractive new 4K disc from Paramount.
How would you rank The Crow films? Tell us within the feedback!
