The Crow: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Classic Film

by Bridget Baiss

In the thirty years since its release, The Crow has become the ultimate cult movie, with a dedicated worldwide following, three sequels, and a persistent fascination owing to the tragedy that came to define its legacy, in which star Brandon Lee was killed in a strange on-set accident during the last days of filming. In this fully revised and updated edition, author Bridget Baiss tells the full story of The Crow, from the initial adaptation of James O’Barr’s graphic novel, through its production and Lee’s death, to its triumphant release, enduring appeal, and impact on on-set firearms safety. Drawing on unprecedented access to the film’s cast and crew, including new interviews and research conducted since the release of the original edition, this is a fascinating and revealing look at the troubled making of a modern classic.

Genres: Nonfiction

360 pages, Paperback

Published June 4, 2024

Reviews

[Brienprime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone buying this book isn't just a casual reader, it's going to be FANS. So my review will be short.

If you are interested in the movie and know of what happened during filming, this is for you..

It's a good read about an amazing group of people that made a movie that could only have been made in that specific place and time and only with those people. Just see any one of the sequels or the remake to see that it's been failure to launch on every one of them (there was a TV show briefly, I have only heard good things about it, but have never seen it myself.)

I don't think it painted a pretty picture of Ernie Hudson though. But that's just my read on what was in this book.

This book covers everything about the production and I learned so much about their making of the film.

So if you're a person who likes the info you usually get on Bluray, like director commentaries, you'll enjoy this tragic recounting of what happened while making this movie.

Brandon Lee was going to be a phenomenally huge star after this film. You could see it on the screen. Brandon would have become world famous. It was what was going to happen once this film was completed. Unfortunately this film killed him and he became famous anyway.

[Luke Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Crow became a film close to my heart after my girlfriend (now wife) showed it to me on a movie night we had shortly after we started dating, a sweeping dark tragedy not only for its story, but also the real life horror that hangs over the film following the tragic death of its main star, Brandon Lee, on a role that could have propelled him into stardom. I picked up a copy of this book shortly before going to a 30th anniversary screening of The Crow earlier this year: well researched and professionally written, it's a fascinating journey of the story's profession from graphic novel to screen, the amazing work of the creative minds who saw it from start to finish and did so battling their grief at the loss of a talented young man they'd all come to care deeply for...

[Jeffrey Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the original book when it came out over 20 years ago and wanted to read this updated version for some time now. The Crow is a great movie and I've always been an admirer of Brandon Lee. This book is a great insight into both, with tons of detail about the movie, Brandon, and of course the tragedy of his death. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in The Crow or Brandon Lee.

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An in depth analysis of my favorite movie so I can be even more insufferable? Yes please