Welcome to the first blog in a new series. How often it’ll appear, I’m not sure. But I’ve been thinking about this movie a lot recently, and I just got a Blu-Ray player this past Christmas. This is a movie I can’t wait to see in High-Def. Sometimes I might review discs here, other times I might use this area just to talk about what movies I’m looking forward to seeing in the format. I hope you enjoy it!
When’s “The Crow” Coming?
Now that Lionsgate owns the distribution rights to the old Miramax catalog, it’s high time we begin seeing some of these older properties released on Blu-Ray. Most fans no doubt have their “wish lists” (be it “Pulp Fiction,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “The English Patient,” “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair,” or the just-announced “Scream” trilogy). My “wish list” has one surefire selection…”The Crow” films. Okay, the sequels all kind of suck, but I will gladly put down for all four in a box-set, especially if it’s done right this time.
You see, back in 2001 when “The Crow” and its two sequels (at the time) were released in a Collector’s Edition box set, a controversy hit the ‘Net that made the set, especially the 2-Disc CE of the original film, a compromised property. Anyone who followed the franchise’s release on DVD back then knows the story: according to “Crow” screenwriter David Schow, a deal had been made between the studio and director Alex Proyas to allow him veto power over the extras on the original film, including getting him to record his first-ever commentary (along with key collaborators like Schow and cinematographer Darius Wolski) for the film. What we would have gotten included a 20-minute “behind-the-scenes” with cast and crew interviews and a 90-minute “Crow Chronicles” documentary created from hours of footage Schow had shot of the production. Sadly, studio politics won out when series producer Jeff Most cried to Miramax, who was working on getting a fourth “Crow” film (which would have starred DMX) off the ground, about his lack of recognition on the bonus features Proyas and co. had put together. The fallout resulted in Proyas’s betrayal by the studio, and a shelving of Proyas’s commentary and the “Crow Chronicles” as well as other features being trimmed-down, as well as the recording of a commentary with Most and co-screenwriter John Shirley that leaves much to be desired for fans. The excised features still have yet to see the light of day. It’s time for Lionsgate to do what it can to make sure these bonuses are available to film fans at last; they already pulled off a major coup with their superlative, and definitive, “Apocalypse Now” Blu-Ray set. Plus, with his “Dark City” a genuine modern classic and two (admittedly flawed) hits in “I, Robot” and “Knowing” under his belt, Proyas has more leverage to assure he won’t be screwed again.
Speaking of screwed, let’s talk about 1996’s “The Crow: City of Angels”. It’s not a good movie, but real “Crow” fans know why. Again, we have pesky studio politics to blame. You see, the suits weren’t happy with the darker, more paradoxical turn the film (written by David S. Goyer and directed by Tim Pope) took. They wanted a film similar to the first hit film. This led to much trimming and reshooting a “happier” ending. (If you want to find out what the film was originally like, either find the out-of-print Chet Williamson novelization, or check it out on the Collector’s Edition DVD.) The result is a compromised film, and although the DVD released in 2001 was billed as the “Director’s Cut,” it doesn’t do enough to change the nature of the story to what could have been. If the cut footage still exists somewhere, the best thing Lionsgate can do is track it down and try to get either Pope or Goyer to reintegrate it into the film, and bring in Graeme Revell to rescore the film accordingly. Of course, releasing the presently-available cut for comparison goes without saying.
Come on Lionsgate. Do right by the “Crow” fans who, like me, have been hoping for definitive treatments of the franchise (and films) they know and love for going on 17 years. It’s time.
Sincerely,
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
