DVD STANDS FOR "DiVideD"

It sounded, at first, like an overdue good idea: A reissue of the DVD for The Crow featuring commentary and input from the director, Alex Proyas. This would seem like not only a good thing, but a no-brainer; Crow fans have been waiting for Alex's blow-by-blow on the original film for years, now.

Supplemental material for a remastered Crow disc would be the purview of a company called Three-Legged Cat, whose pedigree was first-class—they'd piloted the reissues of The Exorcist, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Dancer in the Dark, the superb two-disc Se7en set, and Proyas' own Dark City.

The essence of the Crow franchise, for fans, is the emotional connection to Brandon Lee. The original film was chased by a series of supplementary comic books, a line of derivative novels, a laughable TV series and two sequels, one a smash-flop, the other a direct-to-video write-off. Given the acceleration of augmented DVD releases since 1994, it became time for Miramax Films to license a boxed set of the three Crow features to date, and provide enough supplementary jazz to permit the original film to "tow" its two followups. The primary interest of Crow fans is still in the original movie—countless Crow websites still in operation endlessly attest to this—and the fiscal strategy was basically sound: To get new stuff on the original, fans would have to pop for all three.

Alex Proyas had never gone on the record with commentary for the previous Crow releases on laserdisc and DVD, and Three-Legged Cat main man Mark Rance proposed that he do so, at long last, for this new release, which was hoped to encompass a definitive version of the original, fundamental movie. To secure his participation, Proyas entered into an agreement with Miramax Films that any and all supplementary material on the new disc was subject to his approval—and veto power. Otherwise, no deal. Based on his positive experience working with Mark Rance on the Dark City DVD, Proyas recorded a comprehensive audio commentary track, which was later expanded to include the input of cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, production designer Alex McDowell, art director Simon Murton, and yours truly.

The footage shot for the EPK—electronic press kit—during principal photography in 1993 was unearthed and reedited to include Proyas, myself, and most of the actors, including Brandon Lee. What began as the EPK was polished into a 22-minute documentary charting the movie's development and filming. On previous videotape, laserdisc and DVD releases, the Brandon Lee interview was appended in its entirety under the rather necrophiliac banner "Brandon Lee's Last Interview"; on the new disc, for the first time, that interview was edited, excerpted, and interpolated into the featurette, to be seen in the context originally intended in 1993.

Then Mark Rance approached me about previously-unseen photographs to spice up the still files with images apart from the same-old. I had shot several hundred stills in black and white and color, one of which appeared in the studio-sanctioned "Making of" book on The Crow, others being currently available on the new website for Proyas' production company, Mystery Clock (www.mysteryclock.com). I had also videotaped over sixteen hours of footage documenting the actual filmmaking, from pre-production through to the day prior to the accident that killed Brandon. Mark suggested we edit this material into some kind of behind-the-scenes tour, and the result was the 90-minute Crow Chronicle.

Writing for the A Boy and His Bird website ("Around the clock Crow news"), on February 21st, 2001, L.L. Cruize made the following assessment of Crow Chronicle:

This 90 minute "behind the scenes" video was shot by Crow scribe David Schow. Chronicling the pre-production and production of The Crow, it starts off a few days prior to production. It shows the cemetery and partial church back being constructed. David walks through the city lot, giving us a never-before seen view of the buildings and shops we have come to know, in the daylight! (They look totally different in the light). Day One of principal photography shows the production shooting of the famous alley scene where Brandon, as Eric Draven, walks through it with nothing on but a pair of pants. We see Brandon perform take after take in the wet and cold (It is mentioned that the temperature is 20 degrees!!). Other scenes being shot on this day are the confrontation between Eric and Gideon inside the pawnshop, as well as exterior scenes of Tin-Tin shutting the pawnshop up for the night. During a break in action on the first day, the crew takes time out to celebrate Brandon's 28th birthday. He is given a huge cake that has the Crow likeness on it. Video footage such as this makes "behind the scenes" much more personable. The rest of the video documents production up to Day 42, a few weeks before Brandon's death (sic). The images we get to see are insightful and intriguing. We get to see how much hard work it takes to make a film. Especially one filmed at night and in the temperature and conditions that were prevalent in North Carolina during the filming. We also get to see the infamous Skull Cowboy scenes being staged and shot. A lot of that lost dialogue is captured here, giving insight into what might have been had the Skull Cowboy character been left in the final cut. What I found interesting was how different many of the scenes turned out, in comparison to how they are shown being staged and shot. An example of this is the car chase through the downtown area. Eric was originally on top of the car. We get to see Brandon's stunt double, Jeff Cadiente perform this and other much harder stunts. All in all, this is a gem for Crow fans.

Well, it would have been, had the process not come to a screeching halt once producer Jeff Most protested Proyas' exclusion of him from any and all supplementary material for the original movie.

The dilemma: Not only was Crow Chronicle feature-length, and never-before-seen; it also provided the perfect excuse to house supplements on a bonus disc available only in the boxed set, hence, a strong motivator for Crow fans to pop for something they, in all probability, already owned, either in whole or in part, just to score the extras. Chronicle's rarity was a given, as a selling point.

Miramax representatives found themselves between two rocks, legally and ethically: They had signed an agreement giving Proyas complete approval over the supplements for The Crow, yet they were in mid-negotiation with Jeff Most for yet another sequel and did not wish to queer the deal. This project began the year as The Crow: Lazarus, to star DMX, currently on view in Exit Wounds, as the franchise's "first black Crow." The punchline to this will come in a moment; be patient.

Most was already adequately represented on the other two discs in the boxed set—the two sequels—but personal hostilities prevailed and Miramax ultimately caved in Most's favor.

The audio tracks and EPK footage were appropriated from Three-Legged Cat, along with TLC's assembly of a 20-minute interview conducted at the home of James O'Barr, creator of the comic. It is, on its own, a personal and revealing piece, one which Mark Rance suggested O'Barr might not have endorsed unless he knew this was for a Crow release that was to include Alex Proyas, at last.

The Proyas/Wolski/McDowell/Murton/Schow track was scrapped and replaced with one by Jeff Most and John Shirley (the original adaptor of the comic). The still gallery was replaced with conventional stuff and Crow Chronicle was dumped on the basis of Proyas' unilateral approval, now denied (that is, Proyas was heavily featured in Crow Chronicle, would have to approve it, and certainly would not approve it, since Jeff Most had protested being omitted from the peripheral matter on the first film.) When Miramax was questioned by Crow fans as to whether Proyas would be featured on this new disc, Miramax's response was that he "declined to participate," which is legally true but spiritually evasive. Proyas did participate—at length—with the understanding that his participation was governed by the signed document he had from Miramax, guaranteeing his approval. When Miramax waffled on that agreement, Proyas maintained a firm stance...and so once again, The Crow is not illuminated on DVD by many of its most fundamental contributors, and the only people who really lose out are the fans, who have kept the franchise alive with their dedication.

Since some of the participants in the featurette had signed interview releases, they remained on the re-cut. The omission of Proyas (and me) reduced the running time from 22 minutes to about 16. It's not particularly earth-shattering material, but fans will probably raise an eyebrow at the deletion of the director from even this innocuous "making of" short, the kind you see on HBO every day.

The supreme irony of the politics involved in this lamentable circumstance is this: At almost the same time the DVD boxed set was released, Lazarus—the proposed third sequel (no relation to the Poppy Z. Brite Crow novel, The Lazarus Heart)—morphed into a "non-Crow" project, mostly due to its acquisition of Grammy-winning pop artist Eminem as a bad guy, at a rumored cost of four million bucks. Hence, Miramax's legal dilemma technically ceased to exist, the moment the film had nothing to do with The Crow. A couple of weeks either way, and the originally-proposed supplements might still be part of the set.

Fans should beware of the supplements enumerated on the Amazon.com listing for the boxed set—it is based on an early menu, and unreliable.

Fans should know that the history of one of their favorite movies has been truncated again. There's lots more to see...but they may never see it.

And the fans are the ones who will pay for the boxed set, the sequels, and all the other Crow fallout devised in the name of franchisement. Whether what they gain is worth what they lost is a matter for Crow followers to decide for themselves.