History Trivia / TheCrow

* FatalMethodActing: One of the most infamous cases, as lead actor Creator/BrandonLee was accidentally shot and killed due to a prop gun that discharged a piece of blank cartridge that was left in the barrel. The unwilling responsible, Creator/MichaelMassee, took a year off from his career to recuperate and said he'll never watch the film due to the tragedy.

* TroubledProduction: The film had an incredibly troubled shoot, so much so it would have been an example of this trope before its defining behind-the-scenes accident:
** Series creator James O'Barr's first meeting with Paramount executives led to him discovering that they wanted to make the film a musical starring Music/MichaelJackson, and when he laughed thinking it was a joke, they told him they were absolutely serious. Later on, they refused director Creator/AlexProyas' request to shoot the film entirely in black and white.
** There were several more accidents that befell the production crew, leading to a widespread belief that the film was cursed. A carpenter suffered serious burns on his upper body during the first day of filming. A manual worker had a screwdriver get embedded in his hand. An equipment truck burst into flames. A stuntman broke several ribs after falling through a roof, a rigger was horribly electrocuted, a disgruntled set sculptor went beserk and drove his car through the props room destroying it and a hurricane destroyed several of the sets. Just prior to his fatal shooting, Lee cut himself on a piece of breakaway glass (which isn't supposed to be sharp).
** A lot of the trouble was due to cost-and-corner-cutting; one of the crew recalled, "They were trying to make a $30 million movie for $18 million." The film was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, because North Carolina was a "right-to-work" state. This allowed the producers to get away with pay, conditions, and, crucially, production schedules that would have been nuked by unionized Hollywood. They began filming at night outdoors, but the aforementioned hurricane destroyed the sets, so they moved the production indoors - without changing the schedule, as switching a production from nights to days requires a 24-hour turnaround, time the harried production team didn't have. Moreover, it was still so cold that the camera rails had to be de-iced during filming by riggers with blowtorches hiding out of shot.
** On top of all of this, cocaine abuse was rampant on set, according to Empire magazine, with cameramen shooting whilst high, crew going into the toilets to snort between shots, and people cutting around looking like the Got Milk? ads. One crewmember recalls hearing the sound of a sneeze on the set one day, and an annoyed Creator/BrandonLee quipping "someone just lost $50".
** Everything eventually got so bad that one of the neighbouring productions in the EUE studios began taking bets on mishaps...until a fire destroyed several of their sets as well.
** And of course, with eight days of filming left, Creator/BrandonLee was accidentally shot and killed due to a prop gun that discharged a bullet from a dummy cartridge that was left in the barrel. Dummy rounds were needed for a scene of the gun being loaded, so the armourer took some live rounds, pulled the bullets, dumped the powder and reseated the bullets, leaving the live primers. The armourer went home after a scene of the gun being cocked, leaving the props master to put everything away, but he wasn't familiar with revolvers and didn't know how to lower the hammer (the cylinder won't open if the hammer is cocked), so he pulled the trigger, which set off the primer and, not having any gunpowder, lodged the bullet in the bore (known as a squib). Nobody checked the gun after this, so when it came to the scene where Eric is shot, the bullet was still there, and when the blank was fired, it propelled the bullet like it was a standard cartridge. The resulting shot punctured Lee's chest and impacted his spine, and he died in surgery from serious blood loss. The footage showing Lee being shot was destroyed, as was the gun, and the incident caused so much anguish for supporting actor Creator/MichaelMassee (who pulled the trigger on the gun, and was cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident) that he took a year off from his career to recuperate.
** As a result of Lee's death, and Paramount Pictures writing the project off as a result, Miramax finished production of the film via reshot sequences that used a stand-in for Lee. The FX studio Creator/DreamQuestImages (which was already trying to make effects for the entire film on a budget of $15,000) was forced to jury-rig handheld footage of Lee shot earlier in production to finish several effects shots.[[note]]Paramount would eventually regain the rights to the film in 2020 following [=ViacomCBS=]'s minority purchase of Miramax[[/note]]

** In the extended version of the arcade demolition, one of the gang members mentions the Detroit River. Although the film takes place in Detroit, no mention of the city is in the final cut of the film (except for a reference to 'Motor City').

!!The film series:
* ''Trivia/TheCrowCityOfAngels''
* ''Trivia/TheCrowWickedPrayer''

** Skank is later seen with a bandage on his arm and limping. This is the result of a deleted scene where two kids rob the store he went to get smokes and road beers and shot him in the arm and leg.

** A lot of the trouble was due to cost-and-corner-cutting; one of the crew recalled "they were trying to make a 30 million dollar movie for 18 million dollars". The film was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, because North Carolina was a "right-to-work" state. This allowed the producers to get away with pay, conditions, and, crucially, production schedules that would have been nuked by unionized Hollywood. They began filming at night outdoors, but the aforementioned hurricane destroyed the sets, so they moved the production indoors - without changing the schedule, as switching a production from nights to days requires a 24-hour turnaround, time the harried production team didn't have. Moreover, it was still so cold that the camera rails had to be de-iced during filming by riggers with blowtorches hiding out of shot.

** And of course, with eight days of filming left, Creator/BrandonLee was accidentally shot and killed due to a prop gun that discharged a piece of blank cartridge that was left in the barrel. The resulting shot punctured Lee's chest and impacted his spine, and he died in surgery from serious blood loss. The footage showing Lee being shot was destroyed, and the incident caused so much anguish for supporting actor Creator/MichaelMassee (who pulled the trigger on the gun, and was cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident) that he took a year off from his career to recuperate.

** As a result of Lee's death, and Paramount Pictures writing the project off as a result, Miramax finished production of the film via reshot sequences that used a stand-in for Lee. The FX studio Creator/DreamQuestImages (which was already trying to make effects for the entire film on a budget of $15,000) was forced to jury-rig handheld footage of Lee shot earlier in production to finish several effects shots.

* DeletedRole: Scenes featuring Michael Berryman as the Skull Cowboy were cut. Contrary to popular belief, they were cut ''before'' Brandon Lee's death, because everyone on set had thought the costume and look of the cowboy character clashed with the rest of the film.

* FollowTheLeader: This was one of a number of darker and highly stylized comic based films to be made after the big success of Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/Batman1989''.

* Music/StoneTemplePilots originally planned to contribute the song "Only Dying" to the soundtrack; The song was one of their earliest compositions, and they had demoed it in 1990 but had never officially recorded or released it. When Brandon Lee died, the band decided the song's title was HarsherInHindsight and instead contributed "Big Empty", which was released as both the first single from the soundtrack and from their second album ''Purple'', which was released a few months later.

* StuntDouble: Chad Stakelski got his start as a stunt double on this movie, doubling for Brandon Lee, whom he trained with at the Inosanto Academy. After Lee's lethal accident Chad was picked for his stunt/photo double because he knew Lee, how he moved, and looked more like him than any other stuntman.

** The scene in which Brandon was accidentally shot in real life was changed - the original footage has been destroyed or is in police hands as evidence. The gun used is no longer wrapped in a grocery bag, and Eric (now Brandon's stunt double) is shot in the back instead of in the abdomen. Scenes showing his face were altered with digital effects and makeup, or reshot from different angles.

** The scene in which Eric dies was changed - the original footage has been destroyed or is in police hands as evidence. The gun used is no longer wrapped in a grocery bag, and Eric (now Brandon's stunt double) is shot in the back instead of in the abdomen. Scenes showing his face were altered with digital effects and makeup, or reshot from different angles.

** According to former Music/JoyDivision and Music/NewOrder bassist Peter Hook, New Order was approached to provide the film's score, which included providing a re-recording of "Love Will Tear Us Apart". The idea was intended as a nod to the fact that, paralleling Draven's resurrection, New Order themselves were formed in the aftermath of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis' 1980 suicide, not to mention the fact that James O'Barr was a BigNameFan of Joy Division and named two characters after Hook and guitarist/New Order frontman Bernard Sumner. However, Sumner turned down the soundtrack offer, citing that they were too busy working on their album ''Music/{{Republic}}''; the album would be released in 1993, a year before the film. As something of a compensation, the band allowed a Music/NineInchNails cover of the Joy Division song "Dead Souls" to be featured in the movie.

** According to former Music/JoyDivision and Music/NewOrder bassist Peter Hook, New Order was approached to provide the film's score, as a nod to the fact that, paralleling Draven's resurrection, New Order themselves were formed in the aftermath of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis' 1980 suicide, not to mention the fact that James O'Barr was a BigNameFan of Joy Division and named two characters after Hook and guitarist/New Order frontman Bernard Sumner. However, Sumner turned down the soundtrack offer, citing that they were too busy working on their album ''Music/{{Republic}}''; the album would be released in 1993, a year before the film. As something of a compensation, the band allowed a Music/NineInchNails cover of the Joy Division song "Dead Souls" to be featured in the movie.

** James O'Barr originally wanted Creator/JohnnyDepp to play Eric. Creator/RiverPhoenix and Creator/ChristianSlater both turned down the role.

** And of course, with eight days of filming left, Creator/BrandonLee was accidentally shot and killed due to a prop gun that discharged a piece of blank cartridge that was left in the barrel. The resulting shot punctured Lee's chest and impacted his spine, and he died in surgery from serious blood loss. The footage showing Lee being shot was destroyed, and the incident caused so much anguish for supporting actor Michael Massee (who pulled the trigger on the gun, and was cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident) that he took a year off from his career to recuperate.

* TroubledProduction: The film had an incredibly troubled shoot, so much so it would have been an infamous example of this trope before its defining behind-the-scenes accident:

** With eight days of filming left, Creator/BrandonLee was accidentally shot and killed due to a prop gun that discharged a piece of blank cartridge that was left in the barrel. The resulting shot punctured Lee's chest and impacted his spine, and he eventually died from serious blood loss. The footage showing Lee being shot was destroyed, and the incident caused so much anguish for supporting actor Michael Massee (who pulled the trigger on the gun, and was cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident) that he took a year off from his career to recuperate.
** As a result of Lee's death, and Paramount Pictures writing the project off as a result, Miramax finished production of the film via reshot sequences that used a stand-in for Lee. The FX studio Creator/DreamQuestImages (which was already trying to make effects for the entire film on a budget of $15,000) was forced to jury-rig handheld footage of Lee shot earlier in production to finish several effects shots.

* DeletedRole: Scenes featuring Michael Berryman as the Skull Cowboy were cut.

** According to screenwriter David J. Schow, who hung out with Brandon Lee before and during filming, Brandon thought Sir Creator/PeterUstinov was a perfect fit to play Gideon, the sleazy pawnbroker (an idea he got after watching ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'' late one night).

** According to screenwriter David J. Schow, who hung out with Brandon Lee before and during filming, Brandon thought Sir Peter Ustinov was a perfect fit to play Gideon, the sleazy pawnbroker (an idea he got after watching ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'' late one night).

* CreatorBacklash: According to the example on that page, James O'Barr later regretted that he "glorified revenge".
--> '''James O'Barr''': I wish I had never written the goddamn thing.
** However, the Special Edition released in 2011 shows that now, O'Barr has come to terms with the work, seeing it as about true love and the importance of self-forgiveness. This is thanks in no small part to Brandon Lee's fiancée Eliza Hutton, with whom O'Barr became close.

* OldShame: James O'Barr said that he regretted the comic now, both due to what he now feels is a glorification of revenge, as well as the death of Creator/BrandonLee due to the movie adaption. He only spoke positively of it many years later.
** Sadly, aside from Sundown, it's one of his few works that most people find awesome.

* FatalMethodActing: Creator/BrandonLee's famous and accidental death on the set of the first film.