How The Crow (1994) Changed the Movie Industry Forever

Before the reboot of The Crow is released next week, I have more to say about the dark prince of 90s Cool.

In my “best of 90s Cool” video, I skimmed over how The Crow (1994) led us into the black trench coat era of action movies. To me, this fact was always obvious. There was nothing like The Crow before its release. The only movies that came close were Batman Returns and Darkman, but they had their differences. After the Crow, there was an influx of dark action movies featuring all-black, dark, and mysterious anti-heroes, doing gun fu, martial arts, and sword fighting. There’s an entire generation of movies and TV shows that all owe something to The Crow. The Matrix (1999), Blade (1998), Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1999), Underworld (2003), and Daredevil to name a few.

This influence led to a domino effect. Wrestling had The Crow Sting, and from there you had characters like Jeff Hardy who was just The Crow without the makeup. The Crow gave us the action style that was expanded by Blade and the Matrix, which led to Devil May Cry and Max Payne. Even though The Crow is loved by many people, I think it’s cultural impact is still a little underappreciated, so I’m hoping that this video will both educate a new generation, and spark conversation again about what the Crow did for entertainment. And by extension, I want to celebrate what an awesome and forward thinking star Brandon Lee was. From his interviews, you could tell that he just got the culture at that time, and played Eric Draven in a way that no one else could. I’m sure I will get people who agree, and disagree with this stance. Either way, thanks as always for watching.