A big thank you goes out to SciFi Mafia members who logged in for our first Mob Rules DVD Viewing Party. For those of you who missed it, we collectively watched the cult classic “The Crow” (1994) on our DVD players at home and convened in the SciFi Mafia chat room with our special guest, James O’Barr, the creator and artist behind “The Crow” graphic novel.
O’Barr hung out with our Mafia members and answered questions and provided insights into behind-the-scenes moments of the film adaptation of his graphic novel. Here are some excerpts from the Mob Rules chat with James O’Barr (these are quotes from O’Barr’s end of the chat):
On “The Crow” on Blu-Ray:
“I’d like to warn everybody not to buy the Blu-Ray copy of the film. Everyone tells me that it is of really poor quality.”
Reaction to opening shot of the church stolen for “Daredevil”:
“I think it’s flattering. And the burning Double-D shot- everyone knows where it came from!”
Sentiments on the late Brandon Lee:
“The little black thing around his wrist is a bracelet I gave Brandon. Brandon gave me one, too. And I wore it till it rotted off! And it smelled terrible, but I wouldn’t take it off.”
“This (scene in the pawn shop) is my favorite scene because it is like word for word from the book. This is the first time where Brandon was actually scary on the set [contrary to his nature in real life].”
“This sequence (between Albrecht and Eric talking in apartment) is mostly how Brandon was in real life- real gentle and calm.”
Why Eric has electrical tape on his arms:
“There was a big fight with that razor between Fun Boy and Eric that was cut out. That’s why he has electrical tape on his arms in the next scene.”
On Alex Proyas’ creative choices and a director’s cut of the film:
“Detroit police cars are really blue, but the director eliminated blue from the colors of the film. So they made them gray. He was trying to keep it close to black and white as possible [like the comic]. Originally, everything was to be filmed in black and white and only the flashbacks in color.”
“The director’s cut that has [an additional] 11 minutes in it and the director is the only one with a copy of it, but Pressman Films screwed him so it’s sitting in a vault in Australia somewhere. I think eventually it will come out, but it’s just a shame that the last footage of Brandon is sitting in a vault somewhere.”
“Both Proyas and I are not on the commentary track on the DVD because they wouldn’t allow us to talk uncensored, to be truthful.”
Along those lines of the last quote, a very special treat that James O’Barr made available to our members is now extended to everyone – O’Barr has kindly offered his own audio commentary of “The Crow” for free download, exclusively on SciFi Mafia!
This audio commentary was originally recorded onto two CDs by O’Barr for his fan club in 2003, to be played while watching the the movie. We have it here in four parts (each disc divided in half for smaller download size). Download them below and enjoy!
Part 1 of 4, Part 2 of 4, Part 3 of 4, Part 4 of 4
Credits for the commentary –
- Recording: Chris Hartman
- Mixing and Mastering: Matt Gillmore.
Note: The third of the four parts coincides with the movie timestamp at 1:02:17
The winner of an exclusive prize from James O’Barr himself was SciFi Mafia member, Nick Moore from Ireland! Nick will receive a set of limited edition art prints signed by O’Barr. Congrats to you, Nick!
We would like to thank our members for making our first SciFi Mafia – Mob Rules DVD Viewing Party a success! We hope that everyone had fun watching “The Crow” together and chatting with the man behind this cult classic. Last but certainly not least, we’d like to extend our sincerest thanks to James O’Barr for joining us for this online event. It was a delight and an honor, sir!
Stay tuned for announcements of our next SciFi Mafia Mob Rules DVD Viewing Party. If you have suggestions of what we should watch next, feel free to post your suggestion up in the Members Forum!
