8 Facts About Brandon Lee’s Death 20 Years After ‘The Crow’
Via Entertainment Film
You’d be hard pressed to find a movie out there steeped in as much mystery and controversy as The Crow. (Maybe Cannibal Holocaust, but that’s not exactly mainstream fare.) Based on James O’Barr’s comic book, the film was supposed to be Brandon Lee’s springboard to movie stardom, but instead, ended in tragedy.
The Crow — which happens to be available for streaming on Netflix , I might add — came out 20 years ago today, and in that time has spawned sequels, video games, lawsuits, and rumors. Between the anniversary and the inevitable remake in the works , now is the time to go digging into the movie’s mystery.
– Let’s take a look at the false rumors and allegations surrounding Brandon Lee’s death. There have been lots of rumors about how and when exactly Brandon Lee died while filming the movie. So, to hopefully clear some of the smoke surrounding his death, we’ll break it down by the rumors and what actually happened — or at least what those on set said happened.
Rumor A: Lee was fatally shot during the “Big Moby” gun-fight scene. The fatal shooting that killed Lee involved the scene with the rape of Shelly and the death of Lee’s character Eric Draven. The script called for Lee to enter the room holding a bag of groceries that contained explosive blood packs, and for actor Michael Massee to shoot Lee, setting off the blood pack. This is where things went horribly wrong.
EMAIL
Rumor B: Lee was shot in the head. Lee was not shot in the head, but shot in the abdomen with the bullet hitting his spine. Immediately following the incident, a paramedic on site began to administer CPR with Lee being transported to New Hanover Regional Medical Center 30 minutes later. According to a People Magazine profile of the incident, Lee’s doctor struggled for five hours to save the actor.
Dr. Warren W. McMurry began desperately trying to stanch the bleeding, but at the end of the five-hour operation, Lee’s condition had not improved. “There was so much blood loss, ” McMurry says. “It wouldn’t clot. It was oozing from everywhere.”
Rumor C: You see Lee’s death in the movie. Watch this movie with a group of people and somebody will undoubtedly say “dude, he for real died in this scene, look closely and you can see it!” It’s been fueling online movie forums since 1993. There is no actual footage of Lee’s death — or at least none that has ever been found in the darkest corners of the internet. Those involved with the film say the footage of Lee’s fatal shooting was destroyed without ever being developed.
– Brandon Lee’s death was largely due to cost-cutting measures. Gun-play was a common place on the set with Lee telling one interviewer that during a scene he was shot “60 or 70 times.” The scene that took Lee’s life was rather simple compared to the previous action sequences, calling for a .44 Magnum revolver to be cocked and pointed at the camera. To achieve the close-range of the camera shot, the bullets loaded had real brass caps, but no powder.
Via Entertainment Film
The mistake happened when the freelance arms-master, James Moyer, was told by Carolco Studios he would no longer be needed and that the prop-master could finish the remaining scenes. After the closeup shot, the props-master dry-fired the gun , which knocked the slug off an empty cartridge and into the gun’s barrel. The gun was then loaded with powerful blanks that when fired by actor Michael Massee, propelled the slug out of the barrel and into Lee.
– Lee talked about his death and even joked about the movie’s blood. Even before filming started, friends of Lee said that he would talk about death and a premonition that he would die suddenly, like his father. To get into character as a rock star risen from the grave, Lee filled a dozen bags of ice and surrounded his body with them to see how it would feel to be a dead body in the ground. It’s a bit eerie in retrospect, but Lee was also pretty laid back about all the bloodshed during filming.
“[Lee] strolled into the Fitness Today health club and pulled up his shirt, then laughed loudly. “Look at this!” he said to fitness consultant Donna Lamanna, pointing to the fake blood that clung to his rippling, washboard stomach. “This blood is still stuck on me!”
– Actor Michael Massee has not seen the film. After the accidental shooting, Massee, who played Funboy, took a year off from acting, and not surprisingly, has never watched the completed film.
Via Entertainment Film
– A number of serious accidents happened when shooting the film. The Crow had some bad juju associated with it from the beginning and Lee’s death was the standout in a series of accidents. For starters, on the first day of principal photography, a carpenter received serious burns when a scissor lift he was driving came into contact with power lines. Other accidents that plagued the film involved a stuntman accidentally falling through the roof of a set, a crew member driving a screwdriver through his hand, a truck catching fire, and an angry carpenter driving his car into a plaster shop. Filming was also delayed on several occasions because of hurricanes off the North Carolina coast.
– Actor Jon Polito was concerned about Brandon’s well-being after an on-set accident. Breakaway glass in movies is used because it’s safe for actors to smash through without injury. Lee sustained an injury from the glass though during his first scene with Jon Polito, and it worried the veteran actor :
“I remember my first scene with him was his breaking through the glass to come into my shop at the end of the fight. And I remember him breaking through the sugar glass and his body got cut. I remember one of the first things I said to that man was, “Don’t pull a Vic Morrow on this film. Don’t endanger yourself in any way.” Vic Morrow was still fresh on our minds at that time.”
(Vic Morrow died while filming Twilight Zone: The Movie.)
– Brandon Lee wasn’t the first choice for Eric Draven. James O’Barr wasn’t thrilled about the casting of Lee for the film adaptation of his comic book. If Barr had gotten his way, Johnny Depp , Christian Slater or River Phoenix would have been playing the lead role.
Via Entertainment Film
– Lee’s scenes were completed using revolutionary CGI technology. The film began under Paramount Pictures, but after the shooting, the company quickly abandoned the project. It was actually Entertainment Media Investment Corporation that decided to buy the film and finish it using newly developed CGI technology and body doubles.
For example, effects team Dream Quest Images superimposed Lee’s face on a body double in the scene where we see Eric Draven’s face in a smashed mirror. In total, the team spent between 500-600 hours on effects to bring Brandon Lee “back from the dead.”
By: Conrad LK
05.13.2014 @ 10:33 AM
This movie changed my life. I’ve seen this movie probably 100+ times. Darker than The Bat, indeed.
By: LudwuigVanBor
05.17.2014 @ 8:54 PM
I just gσt pαid $18784 wσrking σff my lαрtσр this mσnth. I’ve been doing this for almost two years now, and have made over $300k using this sγstem. It’s really user friendly, tasks simple and fun. Here’s what I’ve been doing…DollarGazette­­.­c­­o­­m
By: Biff
05.13.2014 @ 10:40 AM
Its probably because I saw this as a teenager, but I still like this movie. I watched it a couple of months ago after not seeing it for years, and still felt the same way the first time I saw it. Still like the soundtrack, too.
That is one term I wouldn’t want to hear on a production with lots of guns/gunfire: “freelance arms-master”. Its probably standard on movies, but it still just sounds like it was some guy off the street.
By: TBW
05.14.2014 @ 11:29 AM
The real problem was someone dismissing the guy that knew what he was doing and letting the prop master finish out the shooting scenes.  Cheaper should never be better than safer.
By: The Jersey Devil
05.13.2014 @ 10:54 AM
I still love this movie, pull it out and watch it again probably 2 or 3 times a year.  I actually really like the soundtrack as well . . . Rollins Band, NIN, Pantera, good stuff.
By: III
05.13.2014 @ 11:00 AM
Had a party during high school where I was just starting to fit in, then single handedly shut the door on that when I announced I would be screening The Crow in the other room without the Keystone Light & Salem 100’s. Yes, I was that kid.
By: Jek_Porkins
05.13.2014 @ 11:02 AM
One of the best soundtracks of all time, a great performance by Lee, and Michael Wincott at his creepiest.  I remember thinking when it came out that this kid would have been a star after this movie.  He seemed like a good man, too.  Very tragic.
By: Vice4Life
05.13.2014 @ 11:38 AM
Comic nerds can rave about The Dark Knight and The Avengers all they want. This is one the best comic book movies ever made (easily in my top 10), and it still pains me to think of what Lee’s future as an actor would’ve been. Sure he wouldn’t have ever been an “A class” actor, but I know he would’ve held his own with all the other action stars like Van Damme and Seagal.
By: TBW
05.14.2014 @ 11:31 AM
Agreed.  He would have put several actors on the back burner and probably have had a few action franchises.
By: Erswi
05.13.2014 @ 11:39 AM
Shit I’m old. Took off to see this opening Friday with half the damned class for our 6th and final senior skip day.
By: Taco_Jones
05.13.2014 @ 11:52 AM
I told everyone I wasn’t going to the junior prom because I had to see this opening night (but it was really because I was too scared to ask any girls out).
By: zuelly
05.13.2014 @ 1:03 PM
By: MarvelBoy
05.13.2014 @ 1:31 PM
This film wasn’t cursed- it was simply dangerous.  Pressman cut costs left and right, shooting in a non union town with an exhausted crew working 20 hour days.  Accidents were happening daily.
The Prop Master had no experience (aside from setting out spoons on another film) and the “Arms Master” made HIS OWN blanks.  He emptied powder from bullets using pliers and then put them back together.  But there was enough primer in one to lodge the bullet inside the barrel after the trigger was pulled.  When the PropMaster emptied the gun, it never occurred to him why one shell came out EMPTY and had he looked in the barrel, this never would have happened.  Instead, he put a full powder load in behind the bullet lodged inside the barrel and created a live round.
Ed Pressman was sued and found completely liable for this accident.  Not only did he pay a substantial sum to Lee’s fiance and mother, but as a provision, added a significant amount of money back into the film.  But it’s a good thing this movie was a success and Pressman made numerous sequels, tv shows and now trying to relaunch it.  Good for him.
By: Jonathon Shingoose
05.13.2014 @ 3:16 PM
he had so much potential to be THE action star of the 90’s..looks, fighting skill and acting ability..tragic.
By: El Superbeasto
05.13.2014 @ 3:59 PM
This movie really holds up. It had a great cast, an awesome soundtrack, moving score, and a compelling story. The writers did an excellent job taking the themes of the graphic novel and working it into a more cohesive, traditional, story structure.
The sequels…not so much. Although the original script for the sequel kind of advanced the story, it’s a shame they went more for a carbon copy of the original. Also, Iggy Pop was an awesome villain.
By: TheMuffinman1234
05.13.2014 @ 4:08 PM
By: bloodandmetal
05.13.2014 @ 8:03 PM
this movie is a true classic and one of the best comic book movies .. theres great acting the music fits the movie perfectly and ads to the look of the movie ..the sets and costumes are awesome..its got ernie muthafuckin hudson ..just a masterpiece ..ill tell you guys a story I have whit this movie that I really don’t tell anyone..none of the homies wanted to go see this movie whit me I was the only “gang banger” whit a nerdy side to me I was in my early teens so I ended up going by myself to watch this movie and in the theater there was this hot chick whit a fat loud friend around the same age there to I was hanging out waiting for the movie to start and me and the hot chick would make eye contact and smile and flirt but her friend was kinda cock blocking so it turns out there goin in to watch the same movie as me so im in there and they come sit in the same row as me but not right next to me but I can still kinda hear them so im enjoying the shit out of the movie and hot chick will look over at me every once and a while and the movie is about to end and im getting ready to make my move when I hear her fat friend say loudly ,..well if hes so cool why is he at the movies by himself !!!  ..and im like fuuuuuuck …needless to say as soon as the movie was over I was gone ..ha ha..
By: Will_Solo
05.14.2014 @ 12:15 PM
I know this is me being a jerk, but you constantly misspelled the word with, “whit” 4 times! SERIOUSLY?!?!?
By: Roddy Piper
05.14.2014 @ 7:09 AM
Not so sure about Johnny Depp or Christian Slater, but I bet River Phoenix would have been a really good Crow.
By: TBW
05.14.2014 @ 11:33 AM
River Phoenix is another person we lost way too soon.  He would have been much more broody, if you can imagine that.  But I don’t think the make up would have looked as good.
By: assneck
05.14.2014 @ 9:28 AM
Gotta disagree with the sentiment that this movie still holds up.  It came out when I was a junior in H.S. and for a while I thought it was the greatest movie ever, and remembered it that way.  I ended up rewatching it hoping to capture that nostalgia again a couple years ago, and sat there thinking “how the hell did I ever think this was a great movie?”
Sountrack is still legit though.
By: TBW
05.14.2014 @ 11:37 AM
This is a tragedy that should have never happened.  I’ve been on a set with a dry fire f*ck up and I LOST IT.  There is no substitute for safety.
Brandon Lee was the next big thing.  He would still be kicking around today, probably on some HBO show or something and we’d all take for granted all the action movie franchises or the completely different Matrix we would have had.
I always get a little sad when someone decides to rehash this story.  I’m glad we still have The Crow to remember him by.  If you’re comic book movie isn’t at least this good, you’re not doing it right.
By: John Barrett
02.03.2015 @ 1:34 AM
I was the GM of the Holiday Inn , 4903 Market St. , Wilmington NC and housed the Majority of he crew and cast  of  The Crow at my 234 room full service Hotel. in 1993 .. I believe that Brandon Lee was Murdered by Asian MOB . I had a guest the night before the shooting on the set that acted suspicious and refused us to enter room 203 ,his unit , to retrieve his room service dinner tray . The next day the tray  was left outside and he never came down to check out . Call me paranoid . But to this day nobody  has investigated any of my inquiries… Safe to say the Studio and City of Wilmington NC did not  want this to Mar or hinder any business from making it the WILLYWOOD it is today .
By: John Barrett
02.03.2015 @ 1:37 AM
Forgot to mention the guest was Asian and did not speak English well and Paid Cash. And Back then we did not require Id to rent a room . Or a deposit or Credit Card on file .
By: Katie Clary
11.02.2015 @ 4:02 PM
I know when he die and it was on camera.he die when fun boy shot the second time. You can tell by the blood slatter.