The Crow: Salvation

The Crow: Salvation

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bharat Nalluri
Produced by Edward R. Pressman
Jeff Most
Written by Chip Johannessen
Based on The Crow 
by James O'Barr
Starring Eric Mabius
Kirsten Dunst
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe
Fred Ward
Music by Marco Beltrami
Cinematography Carolyn Chen
Edited by Howard E. Smith
Production
company
Distributed by Dimension Films
Release dates
  • January 23, 2000 (2000-01-23)
Running time
 102 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $10,000,000

The Crow: Salvation is a 2000 American supernatural action film directed by Bharat Nalluri. Starring Eric Mabius as Alex Corvis, the film is the third in a series based on The Crow comic book by James O'Barr. After its distributor cancelled the intended wide theatrical release due to The Crow: City of Angels' negative critical reception, The Crow: Salvation was released mostly directly to video.

Plot summary

In Salt Lake City, Alex Corvis (Eric Mabius) is a death row convict framed for the murder of his girlfriend Lauren Randall (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). Three years later, he is sentenced to death in the electric chair. When he is asked for his last words, he says he still loves Lauren and that he is innocent. However, the guards ignore his plea to live, and the switch is pulled. The generator is struck by lightning during the electrocution, overriding the electricity, and Alex suffers a painful, excruciating death. Soon after the execution, Alex is resurrected by a mystical crow and gifted with supernatural abilities, so he can clear his name and avenge Lauren's death. Alex follows the crow to the Salt Lake City police department's evidence room, where he discovers that Lauren was killed by a group of corrupt cops. Alex has a vision of one of the killers, who has a scar on his arm matching one he saw just before his execution. Alex finds the knife that was used on Lauren, and then goes to her grave. There, he meets with Lauren's sister Erin (Kirsten Dunst), who believes he is guilty. He tells her that he will prove his innocence, and disappears.

Alex finds Tommy Leonard (David Stevens), a witness at the trial who was paid to give perjured testimony about Alex. Leonard tells Alex that the cops who murdered Lauren were Madden (Bruce McCarthy), Martin Toomey (Tim DeKay), Vincent Erlich (Dale Midkiff), Stan Roberts (Walton Goggins), and Phillip Dutton (Bill Mondy).

Alex kills Erlich in a car crash, but inadvertently drops the list of names of the cops he's after, and Roberts and Toomey find it. Later, Alex gives Erin a piece of paper found in Erlich's car, proving to Erin that he is innocent. She then finds out that her father, Nathan Randall (William Atherton), is in business with the corrupt cops who killed Lauren, and was thus indirectly responsible for her death. Nathan swears he did not intend for Lauren to die, but Erin nevertheless runs from him in horror.

Alex goes to the place where Lauren died and talks to her. Erin goes home, and finds that her father has committed suicide. Later, Alex meets with his lawyer, Peter Walsh, who tells him that Nathan owns a company called Westwind Building, which owns D.E.R.T., a company that serves as front for a drug smuggling operation. Lauren had witnessed John, the police captain (Fred Ward), killing a man at the Key Club; John then had Lauren killed.

Madden kills Walsh, and John kidnaps Erin. Alex starts a shootout at the Key Club in which he impales Roberts with a pipe he breaks off the ceiling, and kills the remaining police. Madden shows up, and tries to kill Alex. Madden accidentally shoots a pipe, which ignites a gas leak; the explosion kills Toomey. Alex walks out of the fire and sees an arm hanging out of the rubble with the scar on it.

The next day, Alex finds out that the man with the scarred arm faked his death, and is still at large. Alex goes to the police station to kill John. However, he is no longer invulnerable, as he "fulfilled his duty" after finding the arm with the scar. John stabs Alex several times. Before Alex dies, he starts to believe he is the one who murdered Lauren. Madden, John, and John's secretary (Kelly Harren) pull Alex into John's taxidermy room, where Erin is tied up with her mouth stitched shut. The crow picks up her locket and drops it next to Alex, who comes back to life. Alex sets Erin free and kills Madden, and she runs out with John in pursuit.

Alex and Erin take John to the same electric chair that Alex died in, and strap him onto it. Alex tells John how much voltage will pass through him when the chair is activated, and John vows to return from his grave and kill both him and Erin. Alex covers John's face with the mask while Erin throws the switch, and they watch him scream in agony as he is electrocuted. After a few minutes, John bursts into flames and dies while Erin and Alex leave his body to cremate on the chair, and exit the facility. Alex disappears in a whirlwind, and Erin puts the necklace that bound him to her on his headstone.

Cast

Controversy

After the film’s completion, Miramax gave it a week in a single theater in Spokane, Washington to see if the film would warrant a full theatrical release. Concerned that the film would intentionally go mostly direct-to-video, several Crow fan sites called for a boycott of Miramax films and for users to write to Miramax to demand for a wide theatrical release for the film. Those leading the boycott made the case that Miramax set the film up to fail by the afore mentioned short single screen release, no advertisement except for a “dinky”[1] newspaper ad for the event, caving under political pressure for less violent films, and shopping the film to cable channels. However, the ban was unsuccessful. One of those sites even announced the end of the ban by promoting a Crow DVD box set.[2]

Re-release

On September 9, 2014, Lionsgate re-released the film on DVD.[3]

On October 7, 2014, it was released on DVD by Lionsgate in a triple feature edition with the other Crow sequels, The Crow: City of Angels and The Crow: Wicked Prayer.[4]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.crowfans.com/other/spokane/
  2. ↑ http://www.crowfans.com/other/boycott/
  3. ↑ http://www.lionsgateshop.com/product.asp?Id=31218&TitleParentId=9636&View=ProductDetails
  4. ↑ http://www.lionsgateshop.com/product.asp?Id=31438&TitleParentId=10009&View=ProductDetails

External links

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