The Crow

There is a legend that when a soul can't rest, a crow can bring that soul back from the dead, to seek justice and make the wrong things right. In the film which cost him his life, martial arts phenomenon Brandon Lee stars as a superhuman mystical hero who returns from the grave to exact revenge on the killers of his fiancee and himself. With mind-numbing effects, awesome action and a dark, cyberpunk setting which leaves Batman for dead, it's no wonder The Crow has been described as a pulsating and hypnotic fantasy that will leave you gasping.

Review

"The Crow set the standard for dark and violent comic-book movies (like Spawn or director Alex Proyas's superior follow-up, Dark City), but it will forever be remembered as the film during which star Brandon Lee (son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee) was accidentally killed on the set by a loaded gun. The filmmakers were able to digitally sample what they'd captured of Lee's performance and piece together enough footage to make the movie releasable. Indeed, it is probably more fascinating for that post-production story than for the tale on the screen. The Crow is appropriately cloaked in ominous expressionistic shadows, oozing urban dread and occult menace from every dank concrete crack, but it really adds up to a simple and perfunctory tale of ritual revenge. Guided by a portentous crow (standing in for Poe's raven), Lee plays a deceased rock musician who returns from the grave to systematically torture and kill the outlandishly violent gang of hoodlums who murdered him and his fiancée the year before. The film is worth watching for its compelling visuals and genuinely nightmarish, otherworldly ambience." --Jim Emerson