‘THE CROW’ Celebrates 30th Anniversary With 4K UHD Release [REVIEW]

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the original The Crow starring Brandon Lee, Paramount has re-released the film on 4K UHD Blu-Ray. But is this release a must-have for your collection?

The Audio And Video Transfer For The Crow

The video quality of The Crow in 4K is hit or miss. There are times when the movie looks fantastic and has immense detail. Other times, the movie hides behind a film grain that muddles the upgrade to the video quality. There are some flashes of color that highlight the strengths of the transfer. But admittedly most of the movie takes place in either darkened rooms or in dark and moody outdoor streets. That makes it hard to truly appreciate the strengths of the upgrade to 4K UHD.

The dark lighting and gritty ambience suits the movie thematically and doesn’t stand out as bad per say. If you are coming from owning this on Blu-Ray and expecting a huge jump in video quality, you are likely going to have to taper expectations given the budget nature of the original film and how its dark lighting and film grain muddles that quality upgrade. Although if you’re a huge fan of the film, or don’t own this movie already, you likely won’t discern much in the way of differences. Still, this is obviously going to be the best looking version of the film you can currently find.

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray features the same audio as previous releases. While it’s nothing incredibly game-changing from previous releases, it suits the rock soundtrack and action scenes. But sometimes the audio really didn’t pop like it should and was muddled in particular dialogue scenes.

Special Features For The Crow

If you’re upgrading from the previous Blu-Ray release to the 4K UHD, you’ll find some extra bonus features that will make it worth the upgrade.

On top of the audio commentary from Alex Proyas (Director), this re-release adds a separate commentary with both Jeff Most (Producer) and John Shirley (Writer). There is also a great interview with Edward R. Pressman from Sideshow Collectibles. They’ve also included Shadows & Pain: Designing The Crow, a look at the work production designer Alex McDowell on the film.

Most of the trailers, behind-the-scenes featurette, and other special features are carryovers from the Blu-Ray edition, but there’s enough bonus content here to warrant the upgrade.

Conclusion

While not the biggest audio or visual upgrade we’ve seen in a 4K UHD re-release, The Crow still touts impressive enough visuals and makes for a great watch with the new special features.

If you’re upgrading from a standard Blu-Ray to this, the upgrade may vary in terms of necessity. However, if you’ve never owned this film on Blu-Ray before, or simply are a huge fan, it’s certainly a well-warranted addition to your collection.

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray for The Crow is available on Amazon or at your local retailer.

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