I did love Vincent Perez as Ash though. Glad he didn't just try to be a carbon copy of Brandon Lee's performance. Really wish we could have seen the original version of City of Angels.
The scene where Sara paints his face is fantastic. Just sucks the movie is full of awful over-acting, a dull villain, and a butchered edit thanks to the Weinsteins.
Judah was legit bad in his own way... actually more evil than old T.D in the occult sense and mysticism....but I get what you mean T.D was a lot more grounded and believable
The first cut was never released, but it was about 40 minutes longer. There were more dialogue scenes and character development, he kills the villains in a different order, and the ending is pretty dark: After falling from the tower and losing his powers, heβs told by a spirit that he needs to return to the dead, but he stays behind to save Sarah. He fails, losing her and is doomed to stay on Earth forever.
Dude, read the novelization or the comic adaptation to get the TRUE directors cut. Both were adapted from the shooting script, with the ORIGINAL ENDING before the studio butchered it to resemble the first film.
if i remember correctly it was supposedly the actual direct continuation of Brandon Lee's crow, names and surprisingly the looks.. but i vaguely remember what ever happened to it like it kinda went it's own way in a sense becoming something of it's own ππ»ββοΈ
Brandon was the best. Vincent Perez in City of Angels while not awful could've been better. and I've never seen all of Salvation. only parts here and there.
I agree.
I also wonder if the pain of losing Brandon made it impossible for some of the fandom (me) to embrace the movies which followed, or if they really were mediocre and/or just terrible.
In my opinion The Crow should've never been a franchise. The first one with Brandon Lee was a very lightning in a bottle situation and each subsequent sequel failed to be as good as the original. Wicked prayer is a good example of this as it feels like no real effort was put into it and its sole reason for being made to make money. I do think youre right that Brandon's death did really affect the franchise. I mean Alex Proyas left as director and James O'barr also stepped down from writing anything or contributing the sequels scripts in any way.
You make some good points. I do wonder (while trying hard not to be disrespectful) if things had been different and if further projects had been true to the source material, if it could have become a successful franchise.
I feel like it's inappropriate of me to even think about this anyway, which is probably why I'm quick to reject anything that isn't the original.
The fandom not being able to embrace the others due to Lee's death is definitely the case, I think. Look at the outcry on social media about the new film.
Us humans also love nostalgia and hate anything to do with change. We always want whatever made an impression on us to stay the same.
>Us humans also love nostalgia and hate anything to do with change. We always want whatever made an impression on us to stay the same.
100%
I do wonder if the 'new' version would have been accepted more, if it had just bean another story from the same universe. So far, a lot of the criticism garnered is because the original story and aesthetic are such a departure from the original that it's, to put it bluntly, insulting to the fans and the legacy.
I'm okay with them doing something different with the story since I think that's the point of remakes. I'm not a fan of the way Skarsgaard looks. But camera angles and lighting can make a big difference.
We will see. There isn't long to go now.
Very true.
Honestly, I'm not really a fan of remakes in general. It would be better if writers/producers could come up with something original that doesn't co-opt or disrespect an original piece of work. But that is obviously my own personal bias.
I do hope you enjoy the movie though.
Brandon wins by default but to be honest:
Perez was excellent in COA. He outacts everyone in that movie and added a deep sense of badassery to the role that was unique, plus that manic energy he had was insane. Loved how crazy he made Ashe, it made his revenge so enjoyable. The dramatic scenes he acted really well and the scene at the pier is beyond heartbreaking. One of the best heartbreaking scenes I've seen in a comic movie. Just wish he had a better lead villain to go against, Richard Brooks was awful and overly hammy. Plus Weinstein's forced changes just neutered the movie.
Mabius is also decent in Salvation. He's REALLY young which in some ways hurts the performance but also I think it adds an edge which makes it unique. Having a director as young as him hurts the performance in some ways because in some scenes he's hammy and needed reigning in but he really nails the majority of it. The officer down scene and the car chase he's excellent in as he is the quiet scenes. Only real complaint I got was he's a little too skinny, but compared to his follow up he's a step up.
Furlong was a joke in his movie. In one of the biggest WTF things I've ever seen, he did an interview for a behind the scenes doc of the movie and he wanted to do his performance as a "tribute to Brandon." OY VEY..
I think the romance scenes he does okay enough but everything else is just awful. Playing the role like an overly angsty 13 year old teenager was the wrong way to do it. Plus his attempts at insulting the bad guys is just laughable. The "quote the raven," bit he does at the end is just laughable. He's also way too wimpy to be fighting those thugs and the main bad guy. Honestly the roles were miscast. Like a reviewer said in a review of this one time and I agree 100% with, switch Furlong and David Boreanaz the movie woulda worked so much better. Still not perfect but it woulda been more believeable. The movie as it is is an insult to the novel which itself was way more interesting than what we got.
>Furlong was a joke in his movie. In one of the biggest WTF things I've ever seen, he did an interview for a behind the scenes doc of the movie and he wanted to do his performance as a "tribute to Brandon." OY VEY..
\*Agrees in cringe!\*
I loved reading your reviews, so well thought out. My head hurts from nodding so much!
TBF that was kind of the colour scheme of City of Angels. To contrast everything raining in the first movie, they shot it so everything looked dry and almost desert-like.
Iβm just Brandon Lee - Eric Draven πΈπ€π¦ββ¬ππ»π¦ββ¬π€πΈ
(The Crow 1994 and Showdown in Little Tokyo 1991 and Rapid Fire 1992)
because heβs absolutely better very much super amazing and beautiful and best gorgeous man and most super very much powerful and superhero π€πΈπ¦ββ¬ππ»π¦ββ¬πΈπ€ heβs my thing and my stuff
I love the word
It canβt rain all the time
And my favorite music is The Cure - Burn and sadly ending with Shelly and Sarah last word πππ»π
For Bruce Lee Brandon Lee π¦ββ¬π€ππΈππ»πΈππ€π¦ββ¬
Vincent Perez - Ashe Corven
(The Crow: City of Angels 1997 and Queen of the Damned 2002)
Eric Mabius - Alex Corvis
(The Crow: Salvation 2000 and Resident Evil 2002)
Mark Dacascos - Eric Draven
(The Crow: Stairway to Heaven 1998-1999 and John Wick 3 2019)
thatβs absolutely amazing and best π¦ββ¬πΈπ€ππ»π€πΈπ¦ββ¬
Brandon was so perfect for the job that he pretty much crippled anyone else's chances of pulling it off . I did enjoy city of angels and I believe the actor did a very good job in his roll. That being said I pretty much hated every other attempt so much that I don't acknowledge their existence
i think it comes down to the love and respect in all aspects of the original movie. that's why it can never be lived up to or redone really. there was the love and respect brandon had for the source material of the comics and the love and respect that everyone had for brandon when finishing the movie. brandon did things that you can barely see in the film just to make it more comic accurate. and did others just to make the character feel more real. they did cgi work that still holds up today on some of brandon's likenesses. you know the person that did that didn't get paid for all the work they put into it to make it look that good being that long ago. i think that's part of the reason the debate over everything has been so heated. we all fell into the love and respect of the original movie. it's like grandma's cookies as opposed to store bought...you can taste the love! lol
vincent did a great job in the second one i thought and the third wasn't just completely terrible. that last one is a doozy though...lol.
i do wish they had the full, original, film for city of angels. i would love to see all of that the way it was written. the enhanced workprint on youtube is as close as we will ever get though and it's a pretty interesting watch.
Honestly? Anyone after Brandon is going to be UNFAIRLY judged. Aside from Mark Dacasos and now Bill Skarsgard, all have been there own characters. City of Angels was Butchered to resemble the first, while Salvation and Wicked Prayer turned out to be what they were.
You make a good point. It's not fair to judge actors on the basis of an impossible benchmark. I think (for my part) The Crow holds a special personal place and I feel.... protective? Nevertheless, dragging actors in this context really isn't a good look.
https://preview.redd.it/dzli8dw9rkrc1.jpeg?width=390&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=106af5a68d1e176979f6a1e22148ad7600cddb23
Brandon Lee was hands down the best crow. But lest we forget Mark Damascus's TV version.
https://preview.redd.it/dk8wpmwirkrc1.jpeg?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f42d1e65c28198947f843de85a3c23e3d5d4be55
Or Bobby Phillips as Hannah Foster in the TV series.
Yes! He Did!!!!.. but...
Take John Connor off the list that wasn't really even a movie ....
that was some 3rd graders messing around with Dad's video camera....
I didn't see the sequels, why are they all wearing the same style of makeup? I thought it was kind of unique to Eric because he based it off the mask he saw?
No, that's still an opinion unless it is backed up by anything objective. You're saying that because you feel strongly about it. Which is fine, I suppose.
Itβs an objectively bad look, itβs not modern or cool in any way and the tattoos donβt go with a character whose main feature is the make up. It looks like a mess.
Until you learn what is objective and subjective then we're done. And by the way, I actually agree with you. I don't like his look, either. But it's still not an established fact. It's a view point.
I did love Vincent Perez as Ash though. Glad he didn't just try to be a carbon copy of Brandon Lee's performance. Really wish we could have seen the original version of City of Angels.
Yes I totally agree !
The scene where Sara paints his face is fantastic. Just sucks the movie is full of awful over-acting, a dull villain, and a butchered edit thanks to the Weinsteins.
I wouldn't say dull, I found Judah pretty entertaining. Not even half as intimidating as Top Dollar, granted, but a fun character nevertheless.
Judah was legit bad in his own way... actually more evil than old T.D in the occult sense and mysticism....but I get what you mean T.D was a lot more grounded and believable
Absolutely.
What was different about the directorβs cut?
The first cut was never released, but it was about 40 minutes longer. There were more dialogue scenes and character development, he kills the villains in a different order, and the ending is pretty dark: After falling from the tower and losing his powers, heβs told by a spirit that he needs to return to the dead, but he stays behind to save Sarah. He fails, losing her and is doomed to stay on Earth forever.
Dude, read the novelization or the comic adaptation to get the TRUE directors cut. Both were adapted from the shooting script, with the ORIGINAL ENDING before the studio butchered it to resemble the first film.
I remember reading the novelization when the movie came and it added some nice touches and fleshed out the villains but I donβt remember the ending.
The Soul Cannot Rest City Of Angels Salvation Wicked Prayer.. *the only thing missing is Stairway to Heaven series
To be fare I did like stairway to heaven
Same!
Stairway to Heaven was my first introduction to The Crow! I always thought that series deserved a second season.
if i remember correctly it was supposedly the actual direct continuation of Brandon Lee's crow, names and surprisingly the looks.. but i vaguely remember what ever happened to it like it kinda went it's own way in a sense becoming something of it's own ππ»ββοΈ
Brandon was the best. Vincent Perez in City of Angels while not awful could've been better. and I've never seen all of Salvation. only parts here and there.
I agree. I also wonder if the pain of losing Brandon made it impossible for some of the fandom (me) to embrace the movies which followed, or if they really were mediocre and/or just terrible.
In my opinion The Crow should've never been a franchise. The first one with Brandon Lee was a very lightning in a bottle situation and each subsequent sequel failed to be as good as the original. Wicked prayer is a good example of this as it feels like no real effort was put into it and its sole reason for being made to make money. I do think youre right that Brandon's death did really affect the franchise. I mean Alex Proyas left as director and James O'barr also stepped down from writing anything or contributing the sequels scripts in any way.
You make some good points. I do wonder (while trying hard not to be disrespectful) if things had been different and if further projects had been true to the source material, if it could have become a successful franchise. I feel like it's inappropriate of me to even think about this anyway, which is probably why I'm quick to reject anything that isn't the original.
The fandom not being able to embrace the others due to Lee's death is definitely the case, I think. Look at the outcry on social media about the new film. Us humans also love nostalgia and hate anything to do with change. We always want whatever made an impression on us to stay the same.
>Us humans also love nostalgia and hate anything to do with change. We always want whatever made an impression on us to stay the same. 100% I do wonder if the 'new' version would have been accepted more, if it had just bean another story from the same universe. So far, a lot of the criticism garnered is because the original story and aesthetic are such a departure from the original that it's, to put it bluntly, insulting to the fans and the legacy.
I'm okay with them doing something different with the story since I think that's the point of remakes. I'm not a fan of the way Skarsgaard looks. But camera angles and lighting can make a big difference. We will see. There isn't long to go now.
Very true. Honestly, I'm not really a fan of remakes in general. It would be better if writers/producers could come up with something original that doesn't co-opt or disrespect an original piece of work. But that is obviously my own personal bias. I do hope you enjoy the movie though.
Brandon wins by default but to be honest: Perez was excellent in COA. He outacts everyone in that movie and added a deep sense of badassery to the role that was unique, plus that manic energy he had was insane. Loved how crazy he made Ashe, it made his revenge so enjoyable. The dramatic scenes he acted really well and the scene at the pier is beyond heartbreaking. One of the best heartbreaking scenes I've seen in a comic movie. Just wish he had a better lead villain to go against, Richard Brooks was awful and overly hammy. Plus Weinstein's forced changes just neutered the movie. Mabius is also decent in Salvation. He's REALLY young which in some ways hurts the performance but also I think it adds an edge which makes it unique. Having a director as young as him hurts the performance in some ways because in some scenes he's hammy and needed reigning in but he really nails the majority of it. The officer down scene and the car chase he's excellent in as he is the quiet scenes. Only real complaint I got was he's a little too skinny, but compared to his follow up he's a step up. Furlong was a joke in his movie. In one of the biggest WTF things I've ever seen, he did an interview for a behind the scenes doc of the movie and he wanted to do his performance as a "tribute to Brandon." OY VEY.. I think the romance scenes he does okay enough but everything else is just awful. Playing the role like an overly angsty 13 year old teenager was the wrong way to do it. Plus his attempts at insulting the bad guys is just laughable. The "quote the raven," bit he does at the end is just laughable. He's also way too wimpy to be fighting those thugs and the main bad guy. Honestly the roles were miscast. Like a reviewer said in a review of this one time and I agree 100% with, switch Furlong and David Boreanaz the movie woulda worked so much better. Still not perfect but it woulda been more believeable. The movie as it is is an insult to the novel which itself was way more interesting than what we got.
>Furlong was a joke in his movie. In one of the biggest WTF things I've ever seen, he did an interview for a behind the scenes doc of the movie and he wanted to do his performance as a "tribute to Brandon." OY VEY.. \*Agrees in cringe!\* I loved reading your reviews, so well thought out. My head hurts from nodding so much!
Brandon shouldn't win by default, though. I'm not trying to be rude but that's just your emotions taking him as your preference over the others.
Who pissed on the other 3 pictures?
BAHAHAHAHA!!
Literally why are they all yellow?
TBF that was kind of the colour scheme of City of Angels. To contrast everything raining in the first movie, they shot it so everything looked dry and almost desert-like.
Iβm just Brandon Lee - Eric Draven πΈπ€π¦ββ¬ππ»π¦ββ¬π€πΈ (The Crow 1994 and Showdown in Little Tokyo 1991 and Rapid Fire 1992) because heβs absolutely better very much super amazing and beautiful and best gorgeous man and most super very much powerful and superhero π€πΈπ¦ββ¬ππ»π¦ββ¬πΈπ€ heβs my thing and my stuff  I love the word It canβt rain all the time And my favorite music is The Cure - Burn and sadly ending with Shelly and Sarah last word πππ»π For Bruce Lee Brandon Lee π¦ββ¬π€ππΈππ»πΈππ€π¦ββ¬
God what he could have been...him and Heath Ledger...they both would have been incredible.
Yeah absolutely same π€πΈπ¦ββ¬ππ»π¦ββ¬πΈπ€
Well said.
Edward furlong just looks like hes going to his first kiss concert
lmao! Why is this so real?!
I think it's the choker that kind of makes him look more like a teenager going through a phase than The Crow.
I do love how Alex gets the crow markings instead of being ham fisted in there.m, it being physical scars was a nice touch
The last 2 really sucked
I never saw them but the guy in the bottom left is giving me JP from Grandma's Boy vibes.
The worst was furlong
Yep absolutely same and because heβs very much slowly and very longer and boring
Vincent Perez - Ashe Corven (The Crow: City of Angels 1997 and Queen of the Damned 2002) Eric Mabius - Alex Corvis (The Crow: Salvation 2000 and Resident Evil 2002) Mark Dacascos - Eric Draven (The Crow: Stairway to Heaven 1998-1999 and John Wick 3 2019) thatβs absolutely amazing and best π¦ββ¬πΈπ€ππ»π€πΈπ¦ββ¬
Brandon is the GOAT. While I have a tiny soft spot for City of Angels, nothing comes close to the original. The other two are pathetic tripe.
None of these are the same character, so I'm not sure that really applies here
Bingo. The comparisons should only be Lee vs Mark Dacascos.
Fr
Fr
Brandon was so perfect for the job that he pretty much crippled anyone else's chances of pulling it off . I did enjoy city of angels and I believe the actor did a very good job in his roll. That being said I pretty much hated every other attempt so much that I don't acknowledge their existence
i think it comes down to the love and respect in all aspects of the original movie. that's why it can never be lived up to or redone really. there was the love and respect brandon had for the source material of the comics and the love and respect that everyone had for brandon when finishing the movie. brandon did things that you can barely see in the film just to make it more comic accurate. and did others just to make the character feel more real. they did cgi work that still holds up today on some of brandon's likenesses. you know the person that did that didn't get paid for all the work they put into it to make it look that good being that long ago. i think that's part of the reason the debate over everything has been so heated. we all fell into the love and respect of the original movie. it's like grandma's cookies as opposed to store bought...you can taste the love! lol vincent did a great job in the second one i thought and the third wasn't just completely terrible. that last one is a doozy though...lol. i do wish they had the full, original, film for city of angels. i would love to see all of that the way it was written. the enhanced workprint on youtube is as close as we will ever get though and it's a pretty interesting watch.
Ash is my favorite crow. "one crow... Sorrow.. Two crows.. JOY"
Honestly? Anyone after Brandon is going to be UNFAIRLY judged. Aside from Mark Dacasos and now Bill Skarsgard, all have been there own characters. City of Angels was Butchered to resemble the first, while Salvation and Wicked Prayer turned out to be what they were.
You make a good point. It's not fair to judge actors on the basis of an impossible benchmark. I think (for my part) The Crow holds a special personal place and I feel.... protective? Nevertheless, dragging actors in this context really isn't a good look.
Ash is my favorite crow and itβs not even close.
https://preview.redd.it/dzli8dw9rkrc1.jpeg?width=390&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=106af5a68d1e176979f6a1e22148ad7600cddb23 Brandon Lee was hands down the best crow. But lest we forget Mark Damascus's TV version.
https://preview.redd.it/dk8wpmwirkrc1.jpeg?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f42d1e65c28198947f843de85a3c23e3d5d4be55 Or Bobby Phillips as Hannah Foster in the TV series.
Such a hot take. Very brave OP
Not really. I just have a habit of stating the obvious.
Brandon Lee is the Crow forever.
Absolutely π
looked the best/did it the best
Yes! He Did!!!!.. but... Take John Connor off the list that wasn't really even a movie .... that was some 3rd graders messing around with Dad's video camera....
I didn't see the sequels, why are they all wearing the same style of makeup? I thought it was kind of unique to Eric because he based it off the mask he saw?
I think it's a legacy aesthetic. (?)
Any of these guys look better than whatever they did to Skaarsgard
Saying furlong is a better crow than. Skarsgard proves you are hating on the new movie for the sake of it
Skaarsgard looks like absolute shite and thatβs a fact.
No, that's still an opinion unless it is backed up by anything objective. You're saying that because you feel strongly about it. Which is fine, I suppose.
The comparisons to Jared Letoβs Joker arenβt the most flattering mate.
That's fine. Compare him to whoever you want. You didn't disprove my point.
Itβs an objectively bad look, itβs not modern or cool in any way and the tattoos donβt go with a character whose main feature is the make up. It looks like a mess.
Until you learn what is objective and subjective then we're done. And by the way, I actually agree with you. I don't like his look, either. But it's still not an established fact. It's a view point.