THE CROW is a 90's GEM! Film Student Reacts!

[@dudermcdudeface3674]

Audiences were spoiled by the artistry of '90s movies. We'd get huge batches of new and awesome movies every few months for over a decade. Took it entirely for granted. Now we live in a cinematic desert where remakes, reboots, and (gag) alternate timelines in "extended universes" are practically the only game in town, all with the exact same look, effects, and pacing. Only a handful of super-successful filmmakers are trusted enough by their bankroll to even let them _try_ anything else.

[@bradjbourgeois73]

The 90's are to movies what the 70's were to music, a golden age! I'm happy to say I lived through both!

[@loftypenalty91]

I completely agree. It's such a shame what Hollywood is doing to all of these fantastic films.

[@isaiahmoungey3193]

the soundtrack for this movie is LEGENDARY

[@deathgrinderb3284]

yes it is.

[@jamiekufner4929]

1000%

[@stanleydavidlepretre4241]

*The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.* -Bruce Lee

[@jamesnorthup7717]

The explosives guy got blown up, the druggie ODed, the knife guy got stabbed, the lady who cut out eyes lost her eyes. Perfect revenge movie..

[@oliviawilliams6204]

The explosive guy named after his car also died in his car

[@naelar13]

I refuse to acknowledge the existence of any remake of this film. It's perfect the way it is. (except for the loss of Brandon Lee, RIP)

[@daveb947]

I stopped at the sequel. It at least kept the similar tone of the first. The "remake" should be treated as a sequel so it stands alone or falls on its face. It might shock us though. :-/

[@gdiaz8827]

The more I hear of the remake the less I want to watch it

[@Moleman0815]

To put in some facts: The movie is based on the comics from James O'Barr who created it to cope with the death of his fiancee who got killed by a drunk driver. They got into a fight and later her called her and asked her to pick him up, and then she was killed on her way to him, he gave himself the fault for her death. Brandon and James became great friends while filming the movie, so he was devastated after Brandons death, the woman Eliza, who was mentioned in the credits was Brandons fiancee, they would marry after filming, whom he was friend too. Alex Proyas, the director, took some freedom from the comic books, but he kept the basic looks of the city, the grim noir looks and the character. The city in which the film is taking place is Detroid. Every thug died of what he liked the most: TinTin by his knifes, Funboy by drugs, T-Bird with explosives only Skank died the same way Eric did by falling out of a window. Eric as the Crow has the ability of shadow melt, thats why he can dis- and reapear so suddenly like in the scene of the final gang shooting. The character in the graphic novel is much more grim, insane and self destructiv in contrast to the movie. His main ability is the immortality, but he can shift his powers. If you are watching closely, Erics outfit changes in the course of the film, he adds more and more tape strips, thats because he is cutting himself (in the comics), also he is loosing his healing powers if he uses his powers for other stuff, like driving out the morphine out of Darla. Wounds he receives without his powers remains, so he's taping them up. I'm glad they didn't portraied him as insane and twisted like in the comics. The person who accidentally killed Brandon Lee is Funboy (Michael Massee), who was traumatised for live after the event and got therapy but never really recovered. Lees stuntman, and the person who covered him up after his deplorable death, was Chad Stahelski, and yes thats the same guy who directed the John Wick movies. He was also the stuntman for Keanu Reeves in the Matrix movies. They become friends, and thats why Keanu stars in the John Wick movies. Every time we don't see Brandons face it's Chad (and a few move, they reconstructed Brandons face via CGI) Also, the guy who played T-Bird is Charlie the "Cleaner" in the John Wick movies.

[@BodyByBenSLC]

What makes this movie so great is that it so dark and grim that the small moments of levity and humor are really elevated.

[@DramaNinja0]

The Crow, Blade and the Matrix = holy trinity of iconic 90's anti heros!

[@gdiaz8827]

Darkman

[@MRR-my2yl]

If Eric were still alive that message about revenge not being fulfilling would work but Eric was dead he was brought back to put things right... totally satisfying

[@kirasutton1973]

You always follow through with your promises, and we appreciate you for that Elie! The comic book version of The Crow by James O'Barr was released in 1989, and translated into almost a dozen languages selling around 750,000 copies worldwide. Found a trade paperback version in a sale bin and read it probably a hundred times. While people try to sell comics short, implying they're for children I like to remind them of movies like: V for Vendetta, Old Boy, American Splendor, History of Violence and Road to Perdition. An art medium that's sorely underestimated.

[@deathgrinderb3284]

A lot of comic writers are into the occult. Super powers?

[@ezelldaniels6064]

This is my favorite fuckin movie bro and it will forever be iconic!! Let's fuckin gooooo!!!

[@Chilidolff44]

I don't think people need to get worried about the remake! Seriously, you're never going to beat Brandon Lee's version of the crow, ever!! It will always stand on its own. I am looking forward to the new crow because i just love anything the crow! I very much doubt it will be any worse than the sequels, because that isn't hard to be honest! The new one does look good and more and more brutal with every trailer that comes out. Bill skarsgard is great in everything he has done and i don't see him fuckin this up. It will never be Brandon's but im sure this will be an easy second in thw franchise. ❤❤

[@clintkelley1622]

Alex Proyas should be a much larger name than he is currently. His direction made this movie so much better than could've been thought possible. You should check out "Dark City: The Director's Cut" by him as well.

[@deathgrinderb3284]

dark city was a fantastic movie. visually a masterpiece. story great as well.

[@naelar13]

Ernie Hudson is actually 78! And yes, I've seen a recent picture. Looks better than I do, and I'm 25 years younger.

[@toddjohnson5176]

Brandon Lee is the Crow. He is Bruce's son

[@chrisb9891]

Being a fan of Henry Rollins (of Black Flag), seeing his cameo as the driver who runs into Draven/Crow was a treat. Rollins is a beast of a man, so kudos to being able to "knock him out with a single punch" and taking his vehicle, you earned those wheels Draven. The Prophecy and Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions - both from '95 - feel like they could live comfortably in the Crow-verse. You're right though, this is a film that's perfect for Halloween consumption. There's some Trek cameos in here, you mentioned Tony Todd as Grange. But we also have Michael Berryman who's also a big horror film mainstay. Will always remember Bai Ling(Myca) from Wild Wild West as one of the main antagonist's henchwomen; Miss East. She is an unsavory character in this movie, and that "relationship" she had with her step-brother & cutting out people's eyes for ritualistic purposes - definitely don't recommend swiping right if you see her profile. Glad that The Crow did the burning crow image on the ground way before Daredevil did it's weak-sauce DD in 2005. Fearing what the '24 remake will bring, especially with a Skarsgård brother in the leading role since they usually pick their project better. The energy of this film can't be easily replicated, and it's probably going to feel like a carbon-copy attempt. YOU RULE ELIE!! Thanks for dropping this movie for us to enjoy!

[@deathgrinderb3284]

Was rollins the guy driving the car? Who called the guy stupid ass hair.

[@donaldseale2700]

That was Skank that ran into and if that was Henry Rollins I just found out that I've been wrong all these years. I always thought it was Ian Jaklin.

[@aprilknight9240]

@@deathgrinderb3284stupid ass-head is what he says I believe.

[@Chilidolff44]

All these years I've watched the crow! 100's of times, clearly my favourite of all time. And I never knew about Henry Rollins 😮😮😮😢

[@Chilidolff44]

​@@donaldseale2700is it Henry???? Check the credits next time! Because I'm sure I'd of heard about a cameo by now?!!?!! Weird how we both haven't heard of that before!!!

[@princesssookeh]

"call him the lord of the rings" GET OOOOOOUUUUUUUUT!🤣🤣🤣 Tony Todd really didn't need to intervene. They didn't actually disbelieve Gidion; He just kept talking shit. Same thing got his shop blown up.

[@abrahamhernandez1913]

The flashbacks and makeup scenes are his stunt doble work. Brandon had completed almost all the movie.

[@loftypenalty91]

The Darnk Knight movies took a lot of inspiration from this film. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Sting based his appearance on the Crow.

[@patrickhurley5604]

I watched this movie on opening day in 1994, I was a teenager back then, and at the time, I thought it was the greatest movie ever made😎it was the first film I ever saw multiple times in the theater, because it just blew me away 😎tons of movies today still borrow from it, and it was hugely influential over the years 😎I still consider this one of my top 5 movies that I've ever seen in the theater 😎👍 there was just nothing else ever made at that time that was anything like it 😎👍rip Brandon Lee ❤️

[@mparantha]

The Crow: Stairway to Heaven is a very fun (though cancelled way too early) tv series set in the same continuity of this film. It's not nearly as dark as the film and they had to depower Eric a lot to make the show interesting, but it was a lot of fun. The sequels are all pretty garbage though. Edit: I was mistaken that it was part of the same continuity. It was actually a reimagining of the same source comic, so the same characters and similar storyline.

[@travisworthington525]

I'd recommend you watch some more movies with Brandon Lee such as Rapid Fire & Showdown In Little Tokyo. Brandon was well on his way to becoming one of Hollywoods elite actors. Especially love his performance in this movie...R.I.P. Brandon!

[@AnotherFacelessDigitalNoOne]

Brandon was the joker at the big boys table 14 years before heath ledger ever was 😂

[@JFrazer4303]

Speaking of games... From Viva la dirt League, see "overpowered from side quests". Then "death knight does side quests" and "empty end-game feelings" (sort of a very short 2 parter) Then their short movie "Baelin's Route" deserves a reaction video. Their videos about self-aware NPCs are good.

[@Chilidolff44]

90% of the film was already filmed!! Its just the bits where Eric is putting on the makeup and getting dressed. Plus some of the roof top scenes too. Oh and the lightning scene where his face is shown in the window is super imposed aswell. ❤

[@proy14]

To be fair, the roof top combat had probably been heavily inspired by the one in Metropolis. A lot of movies have references to Metropolis.

[@Latinomicz]

Ernie is like 78. He's remarkable for his age.

[@ReymundoCortez]

Their remaking it because after GenX people were no longer were born with the ability to come up with original ideas. Thats why they try to copy all of our movies.

[@Mqttmatt]

It was the actor who played funboy that accidentally shot Brendon Lee

[@sharkey25uk]

With regards to the FX shots to fill in the gaps after Brandon's death, there is one thats quite easy to spot after a few views, as Eric first re-enters the apartment, the shot of him at the door is the same footage from the alleyway when the crow guides him to the boots. All they did was mask off Brandon from the alleyway footage and overlay it into the door way

[@AnotherFacelessDigitalNoOne]

Alex proyas set the tone for dark for the next 30 years. Gritty af. One of my favourite movies of all time ❤❤❤

[@BodyByBenSLC]

This movie made goth mainstream, Disney even has goth stuff now. This movie was so good that when it came out me and all my friends all painted ourselves white and wore all black.

[@jamiekufner4929]

FYI, The y are releasing this movie in theaters for a 2 day showing only to mark the 30th anniversary!!!

[@robasant2844]

The Crow only brings you back to take revenge on those who wronged you and your loved ones but it is still just a regular Crow and can be harmed..

[@judybelanger2176]

There hasn't been a movie like The Crow before or SINCE

[@guyfalcurious762]

The fact that they even CONSIDERED doing a re-make of this movie shows how bankrupt Hollywood is in the area of imagination. With all the focus on re-makes for "the modern audience," the focus turned from storytelling and craft to checking boxes. Villians are no longer evil but misunderstood. Heroes are actually oppressors, and the ending is unfulfilled because it serves the "message" rather than the story. Hollywood has become the joker, and it is taking aim squarely at the target in the mirror.

[@mathewnavarro1152]

You said it. This film has no reason for a remake when the "The Crow" itself is a graphic novel with other protagonist at the lead in the graphic novels, so the whole Eric and Shelly Webster redo is an insult to Brandon's legacy. He IS The Crow and by extension, Eric Draven. The Skarsgard film is going to bomb and count me in for the theatrical re release both the 29th and 30th this month.

[@MaybeRelative]

No body suit… just duct and electrical tape. My hero. P.S. Thank you for your reaction, bromigo. Entertaining and agree with “hellraiser vibes”. Keep on keeping on and Gritos from Tejas.

[@ravissary79]

I think what actually happens in the film is he starts out with just black fitted shirt and his funeral tux pants and boots... then he kills tin tin and gets the trench coat... he he's shot a few times, wear and tear... and between scenes, off camera I think he's doing costume fixes with electrical tape... then getting cut or shot again then the tape sort of holds the outfit together. Eventually his whole abdomen and wrists/hands are all taped up.

[@MaybeRelative]

@@ravissary79 very concise. Thanks. I saw what happened in the movie. It was good.

[@jaymel4691]

My absolute favorite movie of all time and also my favorite movie soundtrack! And from what I've seen, the remake didn't even come CLOSE to topping this, it sounds like that everything that they possibly could've done wrong, they did. They had some good actors but even they couldn't save it, and I have no idea how they were convinced to do the movie unless they hadn't seen the script before signing contracts. It was a giant stink bomb. They basically ripped the entire soul out of the original (and made it boring too!) and it was not well received.

[@neldablanco1663]

❤ this movie.. it's his movie...always will be. 2 was good also...dome same actors...GREAT REACTION...

[@BodyByBenSLC]

The only place you see another face for Eric is when he is in back of Tbirds car.

[@tidepride86]

Oof madon' kaypootz. 80 views in 3hrs? Where's all the subs at? Get this man some views on this vid folks. Great reactions Elie. Enjoying all the content

[@justiceblue.fenris5790]

The shoot when Brandon was kill was on camera again.. They rooling again with other actor. Some shoot when he is in back it is not Brandon 😢 we have in this movie the original photo Brandon with Eliza when Eric change his look into the Crow.. Eliza give this photo to the director so we have them in movie.. I was bor in 84 so this movie is for me very important and watch it all year near Halloween to honor Brandon.. Miss him so much.. You must watch Rapid Fire with him and of course Enter the dragon with his dad.. Btw . Brandon after Crow had role in Mortal Combat and Neo in Matrix.. As you seen the run of the roofs is from Crow this is exactly the same vibe.. He will be amazing in this role if he will be with us... This is so sad..

[@sasapetroski981]

Was watch this movie in cinema 1995 when was 15 years old 😊😊

[@MadMattInc1]

The movie was about 85 to 90% done when Brandon was shot. I think at least all of his lines, and close ups were already done if anything ya, the easy to, or already planing to body double shots were left if anything. All of the important parts for Brandon were done by the time of the axident.

[@6li8storm40]

If I recall correctly, the only major changes were the elimination of the Skull Cowboy, and changes to the scenes of Eric and Shelley. I think they were going to film more flashback sequences and maybe not do them in the choppy way they ended up with. Eric’s death scene was redone with the double, because that’s when Brandon Lee died. I think the only other major scene with the double was T-Bird’s death.

[@Glennwulf]

YES!!! This is still my all time favorite movie! glad you liked it!! The remake was, meh. It wasn't terrible but...they NEVER should have called it a remake. They should have given them new names and just called it another sequel. That was So not Eric and Shelly.

[@Mqttmatt]

I got a whole wall of rare merch of this film me n my girl love it

[@YNergy]

Thanks for doing this reaction. Re how and why they are remaking this - because Hollywood is WAY too greedy. There are other crow stories they could do (while paying respect to Brandon Lee, I mean. They need to leave Eric Draven to Brandon. He was OUTSTANDING in this and they need to leave it alone.)

[@Mqttmatt]

Yessss brilliant movie love ya vids since ya buffy reactions

[@eliemoses]

❤️❤️❤️

[@davisanaiz6742]

Alex Proyas is Australian and you should watch his other movie Dark City.

[@hybridenigmacorvus1460]

You said about john wick....well...the person who did the crow when Brandon lee died is the one who directed john wick.

[@Latinomicz]

You can imagine the influence this movie had when it dropped. You mentioned Sting. That's one. How about The Dark Knight? I feel like Heath Ledger based a lot of his joker on the Crow. From some of the laughs and smiles, to that scene where he walks in on the goons sitting at the table. Similar to Brandon walking in at the end on the goons with Top Dollar. Not to mention the look of it. It does have some Gotham vibes but in a more sinister look. I think Gotham just looks more pleasant because of Tim Burton's vision of it back in the 80s. If you asked me which city I'd prefer to live in compared to The Crow, give me Gotham, lol.

[@deathgrinderb3284]

great movie and great soundtrack.

[@stephenseay3878]

I also questioned the bold move to redo this movie. If they do manage to top it that would be so impressive but the balls to attempt it -- man I just have questions.

[@finbarwhite9989]

The crow a brilliant 90s gothic looking film that DC and marvel couldnt recapture the look or sound of epic soundtrack. Sad that Brandon died during the table gunfire scene .

[@shanti3310]

He died just before Eric Draven was pushed through the window. He gets shot first and then pushed and brandon “ died” in that scene.

[@anthonyzarate9807]

Hey Elie, I know you are a fan of Buffy & Angel TV shows. I was wondering if you ever seen "Heroes" and if so, what did you think of it?

[@eliemoses]

never have

[@darcye7629]

I love this movie so sad Brandon Lee died young. Like his father, Bruce Lee. Both were so talented 😭.

[@ReymundoCortez]

The reason Brandon's death hit us so hard was because his dad Bruce also died while making a movie. So the first thing everyone thought it was that it was connected. You should see him in Rapid Fire

[@redwolf6407]

Right after this movie was released Sting the wrestler based his make up up off of this movie

[@jakubfabisiak9810]

Wasn't Sting in WCW, not WWE? Used to wear colorful facepaint, then The Crow came out, and he went all Brandon Lee. Remember the drama when Hogan turned Heel with his NWO phase (before that it was Hogan vs Rick Flair). Just a side note.

[@ReymundoCortez]

Everyone wanted to be the Crow after this on Halloween. Hell you even had Sting the wrestler changed his outfit and makeup to look like the Crow

[@TheJinjo75]

Brandon Lee died on reshoots in the Funboy scene.

[@6li8storm40]

It wasn’t the Funboy scene. It was when he walked in on them brutalizing Shelley. They redid it with TinTin throwing a knife at the double, instead of having him shot by Funboy.

[@frankplasencio3672]

look in to james o'barr for the origin of the crow

[@edwinrollins142]

You're right, the new one doesn't even come close to this, and its "reboot" was unnecessary and unsuccessful. Even if this one is a bit dated, it had not only a particular aesthetic, but also a certain creative verve and a thematic soulfulness that the new one utterly fails to recapture.

[@kevinsisler9379]

Based on a black and white comic, far more emotional than the movie. Has the same look as the comic, skipped a fer small subjects, and the end was altered for more conflict, and suspense.

[@TARAdubbleyuu]

dude. they didn't hypnotize that girl...they killed her and cut out her eyeballs. sheesh

[@mejestin]

the crow 2024 movie.. why event mentioned it.. it'll be forgoten in no time

[@daveb947]

It might be good if it were done as a straight up a sequel. But having it be a remake? I'll wait a few years to watch it.

[@finbarwhite9989]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5urgIp3qt-ImLcfeature=shared Behind the scenes etc of the crow

[@AnthonyGonzalez-lw1ek]

# RAPID FIRE with Brandon Lee as well

[@stevenwasserman9729]

Read the graphic novel by James O'Barr. I want to at least give the reboot a try, but my heart is not in it... I don't think anything could equal or exceed this.

[@6li8storm40]

I was thinking about seeing the reboot in the theatre, until the trailer dropped. Then, I decided to wait for streaming.

[@DavidReigia]

People will always remember eric draven as the crow but he wasn't the only one but the only character from book to movie the rest of the crow movie characters where made up for those movies

[@ReymundoCortez]

Did you get a patreon?

[@eliemoses]

Nope

[@bolo34lx]

27:27 Wrong! Vengeance is the answer!

[@ReymundoCortez]

Okay about time. Here we go great choice.

[@slavyo636]

Why a remake?? - 💵💵💵💵💵

[@Mqttmatt]

The 1st guy he kills is in prison break season 3 by the way please do a reaction to prison break

[@Mqttmatt]

The lighting shot on his face was cgi when he 1st put the mask on and most the shots in the apartment was a double and most of the shady scenes are to

[@kevinsisler9379]

I am I think the new movie would be trash compared to this. Skywalker returns compared to the original trilogy.

[@toddjohnson5176]

You are welcome. The Crow is Bruce lee son

[@oliviawilliams6204]

The new movie seems more a reboot than a remake. But yeah it won’t be good

[@RealDrunkenMaster]

I do not understand why they are remaking it either. It is an insult to both Eliza and to Brandon.

[@ReymundoCortez]

Ernie is 78

[@kylegacy]

Madone! 🤌 Man, I could discuss this film for days. The director Alex Proyas really set a high bar for comic book movies, and this was his first feature. His next was Dark City that took it all a field even higher, so I recommend that. A few bits of fun filmmaking trivia I can recall though: - Yeah, that's Brandon Lee's double when you can't really see his face, along with the flashbacks, when he's killed, as those were the scenes where Lee was in fact shot. Lee actually badly sliced his hand on glass in the pawn shop scenes and Jon Polito was scared he was gonna bleed out on set. And then, well... Lee performed most of his own stunts, too. - With not being able to shoot in B&W (to make it look like the comics) Alex shot most of the film in a monochromatic colour theme mixed with red and dark grey. - He also made Lee apply his own makeup before bed, so when they shot the next day it gave him a naturally worn-out look. - "Yo, why's this badass?" - The music is in fact Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (Nine Inch Nails) covering 'Dead Souls' by Joy Division. Reznor & Ross wrote the scores for all of David Fincher's films, as well as Soul, Bird Box, Waves, and the Watchmen TV series. Joy Division was the band writer James O'Barr listened to a lot of whilst writing, basing Eric's facial features on singer Ian Curtis in the comics. The make-up is inspired by Robert Smith of The Cure (another band he had on repeat), and it's their song 'Burn' which plays as he applies the make-up. Epic soundtrack. - Alex had an absolute five-star nightmare fighting with producers, who would constantly cut corners and costs: a hurricane wiped out several sets one night so they moved exterior scenes indoors but didn't change the schedule to accommodate, and then they switched filming from nights to days, which requires a 24-hour turnaround, alas the crew weren't given that, and suffered. - Speaking of hurricanes, lots of equipment suffered from the extreme cold, Alex had to have the camera rails de-iced during filming by riggers with blowtorches hiding out of shot. - The car chase scenes were all miniatures. Same with the opening shots, all miniatures and projections. - Hudson and Lee ad-libbed a fair bit if I recall. - Before Alex came on board and created his vision, writer O'Barr had a meeting with studio execs who wanted the film to be a musical. With Michael Jackson as Eric. I shit you not. James actually wrote the comics as a way to deal with his grief over the unexpected death of his fiancée. - There's no actual crows in the film, they used ravens - easier to train. - During the boardroom fight scenes, Lee - as he choreographed the fights - used a lot of moves that his dad Bruce Lee used in his films, notably Enter The Dragon, which was the film Bruce collapsed on, and tragically passed some months later. - Eric's four killers in fact die as retribution to their own sins: T-Bird/explosion, Funboy/overdose, Tin Tin/knives, Skank/window (just like Eric). The three other main villains aren't actually named on screen, which I hadn't realised until years later (they're Top Dollar, Myca and Grange). - A lot of dark shit happened on this production - obviously Lee passing, but leading up to that - along with the hurricane - several crew members had several accidents landing them in hospital - falls, electrocutions, fires, impalements. Someone even drove their car through a shop front because they were having a bad day. Cursed, truly. - Also, I wouldn't call the new version of The Crow a remake, it's just a retelling of the comics. Even the look is based off an illustration. A lot of what's in this film isn't actually in the comics. Just like any other adaptation of a comic book film. When they were going to adapt it with Jason Mamoa back in '17/18 - they looked like they were trying to actually remake this version, which would've been sacrilege. Edit: spelling.