Some people felt that 1994’s The Crow never should have been released. That wasn’t due to any problem with the subject matter, though the film’s dark take on revenge after death clearly wasn’t for everyone.

Instead, the movie had obtained a negative aura due to the unfortunate demise of star Brandon Lee during the production. Lee died because a projectile came from a gun that intended to fire blanks.

Deaths on movie sets aren’t a tremendously rare occurrence, as they happen a few times a year. However, it is very unusual for a film’s star to pass on during the making of a movie.

The combination of the tragic manner in which Lee died and the grim subject matter of The Crow led many to feel that the film should probably never see the light of day.

However, I believe the producers did the right thing when they decided to release The Crow. From all reports, Lee was very excited about the project, and it sounds like he would have not wanted it to be suppressed.

Ironically, the real-life tragedy that occurred actually accentuates the strengths of the film, as Lee’s death makes the movie all the more creepy and eerie.

Not that it would have been forgettable without that terrible accident, as The Crow manages to offer a reasonably interesting experience. The film tells the story of musician Eric Draven (Lee).

At the start of the film, a local gang kills Eric and his fiancée Shelly (Sofia Shinas) because Shelly attempted to block their takeover of her apartment complex. One year after this incident, Eric comes back from the dead as the Crow, a powerful being who seeks revenge for these events.

Essentially the film offers little more than a series of stalkings and killings, as Eric hunts down his assailants and offs them one-by-one. At times, there’s not a lot of suspense because Eric has become impervious to harm.

Of course, the villains eventually find a way to hurt him. However, this aspect doesn’t play all that important a role in the movie, so the tale succeed based on our interest in Eric’s activities.

The Crow does fairly well for itself because of the somber aura it creates. Director Alex Proyas shows a dark and dismal vision of Detroit and plays up the atmosphere for all it’s worth.

At times this may seem like little more than music video artistry, but I think it works nicely for the spirit of the piece. Really, it’s the strong visual aspects of The Crow that make it memorable, especially since they integrate nicely with an appropriately-grim rock soundtrack.

As for the actors, The Crow features a decent supporting cast that includes names like Ernie Hudson and Michael Wincott. The latter does quite nicely as the villainous Top Dollar, as Wincott’s gruff appearance and whiskey voice work well in the part.

Hudson’s acceptable as good cop Albrecht, but it’s an underwritten and semi-superfluous role, so there’s only so much he can do.

It can be hard to judge Lee’s performance because of all that happened since he made the film. Although I think he does fairly well, I don’t believe his work deserves all of the accolades it garnered, as his death appeared to influence some opinions.

Lee offers a strong physical presence as Eric, and he handles the fight scenes well. He encounters more trouble with some of the emotional moments, and he lacks much style or panache at those times. Nonetheless, he performs acceptably well, and I have no great problems with his work.

As a whole, The Crow doesn’t thrill me, but I think it delivers a fairly compelling and well-made flick. The moody and atmospheric style of the piece clearly makes it more memorable than it could have been.

The film offers a generally interesting experience. The Crow never becomes a classic, but it ends up as a solid enough revenge fantasy.

The Crow appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. I felt pleased with this consistently positive Dolby Vision presentation.

Sharpness worked well. Next to no softness appeared, so clarity remained solid, as the movie felt crisp and concise.

Moiré effects and jagged edges presented no concerns, and edge haloes remained absent. Grain seemed natural, and print flaws were non-existent.

The Crow featured a stylized color palette, one that essentially went for a monochromatic look much of the time. The film brought out reds and oranges as well within its otherwise nearly black and white appearance.

Those hues looked solid and vivid, and I saw no problems related to bleeding or noise. HDR gave the colors added impact and punch.

Blacks seemed deep and rich. Shadow detail looked appropriately heavy but never excessively thick, as all low-light situations - and there were many - offered clear, well-defined imagery.

Whites and contrast got a boost from the disc’s HDR. All of this added up to a solid “A-” presentation.

For the most part, the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack seemed to offer a nicely broad and engaging experience. The audio used all five channels to a good degree, and I found that both effects and music cropped up from all around frequently in the film.

Sounds moved reasonably well between channels, and at times panning could sound smooth and realistic. Other than a few vaguely-defined sequences, the soundfield provided a well-placed experience.

Audio quality generally sounded good as well. Dialogue displayed a few concerns, as some speech seemed mildly edgy and rough.

However, most of the lines were acceptably natural and distinct, and I detected no problems related to intelligibility. Effects could be a bit thick at times, but they usually seemed clear and accurate, with reasonable dynamic range and no distortion.

The film’s musical soundtrack combined a score from Graeme Revell and a variety of Goth/metal rock songs, and these are reproduced well. The score seemed acceptably clean and crisp, and the tunes showed appropriately sludgy and dense qualities.

I found that low end usually seemed strong. While The Crow didn’t provide a stunning auditory experience, it worked fairly well for the material and it earned an overall grade of a “B”.

How did this 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray from 2011? Both came with identical DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio.

As for the 4K’s Dolby Vision image, it showed clear improvements, as it seemed better defined and also showcased more dynamic blacks and colors. Though the Blu-ray worked well, the 4K became an obvious step up in quality.

The 4K mixes old and new materials, and we find two separate audio commentaries. Also found on the Blu-ray, the first comes from director Alex Proyas.

In his running, screen-specific chat, Proyas discusses visual effects, cast, characters and performances, themes and story, costumes and makeup, sets and visual elements, influences, stunts and action, and related areas.

Proyas covers the film in a satisfying manner. He touches on a broad mix of topics and does so in a full, involving way. All of that adds up to an informative commentary.

Found on the 2001 DVD but left off the Blu-ray, we also get a track from producer Jeff Most and screenwriter John Shirley. They deliver their own running, screen-specific chat.

To my surprise, Most strongly dominated this affair, as he offered the majority of the remarks. Shirley chimed in on occasion, but it was really Most’s baby.

Although this seemed a little unfair to the writer - who appeared to want to say more but had trouble getting in his statements - I nonetheless thought the commentary was a solid piece that nicely illuminated a variety of aspects related to The Crow. While a variety of production issues were discussed, the emphasis more strongly stuck with character development and story points, plus we learned about how the whole “Crow” legend fit into this movie.

It’s clear that the crew gave a lot of thought to the material, and this commentary ably lets us in on their ideas. It’s a very compelling piece that I really enjoyed.

After this we find a Behind the Scenes featurette. This program lasts 16 minutes, 33 seconds and it appears to come from around the time of the film’s original release, as all of the information seems to have been culled during the production.

With the odd exception of Proyas, we hear from all the production’s main players. We get remarks from Most, producer Ed Pressman, art director Simon Murton, production designer Alex McDowell, author James O'Barr, stunt coordinator Jeff Imada, and actors Brandon Lee, David Patrick Kelly, Ernie Hudson, Tony Todd, and Bai Ling.

Despite the absence of Proyas, I found the “BTS” program to be a generally decent little featurette. It works best due to its immediacy and the focus on a variety of aspects involved in making the movie.

It also could be rather creepy to hear Lee discuss the movie’s subject matter and death in general. Oddly, the show makes virtually no mention of Lee’s demise other than a minor bit at the very end.

Actually, you’ll find very little coverage of that topic anywhere on the disc. I figured there’d at least be some sort of tribute to Lee, but the mentions of his sad fate are very few and far between, which comes across as vaguely tacky.

His death was so well-known that I felt it had to be addressed in the package, but the disc’s producers prefer to largely ignore it. I would like to hear about the controversies that surrounded the release of the movie.

Nonetheless, the “Behind the Scenes” featurette is a pretty interesting show, as is A Profile on James O’Barr. This 33-minute, 26-second program offers an October 2000 interview with the creator of the Crow comic, and it’s a fairly compelling piece.

O’Barr clearly led a messed-up life, and his discussion of these events was brutally honest. I was able to get a good insight into the origins of the comic and quite a few other details in this strong interview.

The Extended Scenes area provides three lengthened segments. Viewed as a whole, these run 11 minutes, 32 seconds.

For the most part, I found that the restored material did little to enhance the scenes. Really, the extra footage essentially just made the pieces more violent than they previously had been.

Along with the film’s trailer, we find a Deleted Footage Montage. This five-minute, 26-second section offers a variety of trims from scenes, some unused footage - including the “Skull Cowboy” - and a few outtakes.

It’s presented in a semi-music video style, with tunes in the background. Despite that addition, I could hear the appropriate audio from the shoot when necessary.

I thought this presentation provided a good way to provide a mix of material not long enough individually to merit inclusion as deleted scenes.

Two new additions exclusive to the 4K follow. Shadows & Pain splits into three chapters.

These fill a total of 24 minutes, 10 seconds. Across the segments, we hear from McDowell.

Across all three, McDowell discusses his career and work on Crow. He gets into a mix of issues related to the movie's visuals in this engaging collection of clips.

Sideshow Collectibles spans 13 minutes, 24 seconds. “Sideshow” host Paul Hernandez chats with producer Edward R. Pressman.

Here we learn about the film's legacy, aspects of Pressman's career, and some Crow toys. This turns into a gushing "interview" that seems to exist mainly to promote those Crow figures, so don't expect much from it.

Note that the 4K loses some still frame materials. It drops 300-plus storyboards as well as poster concepts and production design photos.

This steelbook edition includes the same 4K disc as the standard release. It adds the expected snazzy steelbook case as well as a unique slipcover.

I like The Crow and think it displays real style and verve. It’s a good flick that generally works well. The 4K UHD offers excellent picture plus fairly positive audio and a nice mixture of extras. Due to its dark subject matter, The Crow won’t be for everyone, but fans of this kind of grim material will want to give it a look.

To rate this film visit the prior review of THE CROW