- Aspect Ratio: 1:85:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles: English and Spanish
- Region: A (locked)
- Rating: R
- Run Time: 101 Mins.
- Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray + 1 x Digital Copy)
- Studio: Miramax (distributed by Lionsgate)
- Blu-ray Release Date: October 18th, 2011
- List Price: $19.99
[amazon-product]B005EY2XFC[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase The Crow on Blu-ray+Digital Copy at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:4/5]
The Crow is one of the finer efforts from Director Alex Proyas. Proyas, known for such efforts as the highly excellent Dark City and the highly underrated Knowing, directs the late Brandon Lee in his final role as Eric Dravert. An aspiring musician, Dravert and his fiancee are murdered on the eve of their Halloween wedding. Exactly a year to the date, Eric is risen from the grave by a mysterious crow in order to seek revenge and make his killers pay for their crimes. What results is a true film classic, one that tells a haunting story with beautiful style.
The verdict on The Crow seems to vary as you have those who claim the film is a classic because of Lee’s sudden death. Then you have those, like myself, who love the film for its visual style, stunning and awe inspiring at times. What exactly makes The Crow so good? Well, first off you have the elements of how the movie was physically made. Proyas and DP Dariusz Wolski shot the film in a manner that uses elements from the comic book. This results in a very dark, almost surreal mix of fantasy and reality. The kind of elements we now see in The Dark Knight. Elements like swooping camera movements that show us wide shots of the hellish world contained within. Then Proyas and Wolski occasionally just show Dravert standing by himself in order to let us examine him as a being. These different styles all help us examine the story, the characters, heck even the dialogue from multiple angles, from multiple perspectives.
Speaking of dialogue, Lee’s deliver of his lines, delivery of death, revenge and the like, got me thinking. Did Lee know his ‘time’ had come? It’s amazing to listen to his dialogue then think about it. Disturbing yet almost containing a kind of beauty that shows how fragile life is, how suddenly it can end.
In the end, I could go on and on speaking of different aspects of what makes this movie great. The Crow has lasted over time, some 17 years now, not just because of Lee’s tragic death, but more because it showed us what was to come. That being Proyas and his keen, visual eye would go on to continually wow us over and over again. Simply put, if you haven’t seen this, scoop up this Blu-ray. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Let’s be straightforward here, The Crow is a dark film; no make that a VERY dark film, however, the AVC MPEG-4 transfer found within (one of which takes up roughly 19.5GB) is still quite good. With that said, even though a majority of the film is dark in nature, the transfer handles this with no real problems. Detail isn’t ever lost, shadow detail is spot on, noise is kept to a minimum, grain levels are intact and accurate and blacks are inky. Flesh tones do have a somewhat bronzed look to them, but are accurate, especially in the numerous character close ups. All in all when you take into account the budget Proyas filmed The Crow on, this transfer looks great.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Ah! Now this is excellent. I was hoping the provided DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track would be solid, but I was surprised to find the track as effective as it was. Dialogue, while somewhat low at times, is well reproduced via the front channels. Dynamic range is what the track really excels. What is so effective is how Proyas uses subtle effects to create atmosphere. Whether it be the rain drops falling to Earth or the screeching of the crow, the 360-degree sound field really lights up. Adding to the already active range is the film’s LFE, which is deep and immersive at times creating a truly great aural experience.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
The supplements included with this release:
- Audio Commentary with Director Alex Proyas
- Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
- A Profile of James O’Barr
- Extended Scenes
- Deleted Footage Montage
- Original Poster Concepts
- Storyboards
- Theatrical Trailer
- Digital Copy
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
The Crow is one of Proyas’ best films, and I’m damn glad it’s finally on Blu-ray. With solid video, fantastic audio, a good amount of features and a rock bottom MSRP, this one comes highly recommended!
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B005EY2XFC[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase The Crow on Blu-ray+Digital Copy at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
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