The big picture

• Brandon Lee died during the filming of
  The Crow
  because of an accident involving a prop weapon that could have been completely avoided.
• In conclusion
  The Crow
  During filming, the production used a double and digital face mapping with unused footage of Brandon Lee.
• The tragic death of Brandon Lee sparked discussions about safety practices in Hollywood and on set. The conversation was revived following the accidental death on the set of.
  rust
  in 2021.

When we arrived Rupert Sanders‘ Remake of The Crowwith Bill Skarsgard And FKA branchesit is only natural that we return to the 1994 version with Brandon Leeand recognize how important it is that they remake the film at all. Sanders himself has acknowledged Lee’s legacy and how synonymous The Crow is with him, in an interview with Vanity Fair. “Brandon was an original voice and I think he will always be synonymous with The Crow and I hope he’s proud of what we’ve done and how we’re bringing history back to life. His soul is very much alive in this film.”

Til today The CrowThe production remains one of the most devastating stories in Hollywoodas it claimed the life of its main star Brandon Lee. The remake, in which the main role Bill Skarsgard in the lead role, will appeal to a whole new generation who may not know what happened on the set of the original film and the work that went into completing the film after the tragic and untimely death of Brandon Lee. How exactly did Brandon Lee die on the set of The Crow? What was the impact of his death? And how did the filmmakers finish the movie afterward?

Brandon Lee died while filming some of the final scenes of “The Crow”

On March 31, 1993, Brandon Lee shot a scene for The Crow in which his character Eric Draven enters his apartment and is shot by a group of thugs. During the scene, he comes in to find his fiancée being brutally attacked when a thug named Funboy (Michael Massee) fires a gun at him and kills him. This scene would ultimately prove fatal, as negligence in the prop department resulted in a blank cartridge being left in the gun’s barrel. Before filming, the weapon used in the scene, a real revolver, was loaded with improperly manufactured blank cartridges made from live ammunition with the powder charges removed. This was done so that close-ups of the revolver could be used to show how normal ammunition is loaded and used. However, the crew forgot to remove the primers from the cartridges, so when one of the bullets was fired, even though there was no powder, the energy of the ignited primer was enough to separate the bullet from the case. This caused the bullet to get stuck in the barrel of the gun andwhich creates a highly dangerous ignition charge.

When it was time to shoot the actual scene, the blanks were replaced with blank cartridges that contained a powder charge and primer, but no bullet. This allowed the gun to be fired and allowed sound and flash effects to be created without any actual risk – or so everyone thought. Before the scene, the gun was not properly checked and unloaded, which meant that no one noticed the blank cartridge lodged in the gun’s barrel. The scene required the gun to be aimed at Lee from a distance of about 12 feet, so the gun was fired during the scene, the practice bullet that was stuck in the barrel was ejected and shot into Lee’s stomach with about the same force as a live bullet. After the shot was fired, Lee fell backwards instead of forwards as he should have, causing the director to yell “Cut!” Only Brandon Lee did not move. The cast and crew thought he was just joking or still acting, but the stunt coordinator Jeff Imada immediately noticed that something was wrong and pointed out Lee was unconscious and breathing heavily. The paramedic on set initially thought he had hit his head when he fell, but his heart rate began to slow rapidly, so they rushed him to the nearest hospital. After six hours of emergency surgery, all attempts to save him were unsuccessful and Brandon Lee was pronounced dead at the age of 28.

How was “The Crow” completed after Brandon Lee’s death?

At the time of Brandon Lee’s death, the majority of The CrowFilming was completedexcept for a few key scenes. In fact, there were only three more days of shooting planned, which made the whole situation seem all the more heartbreaking since it was so avoidable. But after the tragedy, the crew had to decide whether to continue with the film. With the end of filming so close, it was hard to call off the project, but continuing without Lee just felt so wrong. Eventually, the cast and crew decided to continue with the project in honor of Brandon and hired a stunt double Chad Stahelski to help them.

With only three pivotal scenes left to complete the film, Stahelski was used as a body in which to act out the scene. The visual effects team, Dream Quest Images, then took unused footage of Lee and digitally transferred his face onto Stahelski’s body so his scenes could be completed. It’s surprisingly seamless, although it doesn’t take up much screen time to really stand out anyway; It allowed Lee’s legacy to live on through the film and that he became, albeit posthumously, the movie star he deserved.

Brandon Lee’s death had an impact on the handling of props in Hollywood

Brandon Lee’s death had a huge impact on many people. First of all, the cast and crew of The Crow naturally had difficulties getting back into filming, with Actor Michael Massee in particular was traumatized by the incident as he was the one who fired the gunHe was convinced he had been given a properly checked and safe prop, but that was not the case. In 2005, he spoke to Extra TV and explained the impact Lee’s death had on him.

“What happened to Brandon was a tragic accident. I’m going to have to live with that. I needed the time I needed to not only put it in perspective, but to be able to move on with my life. We’ve all had tragedies in our lives and we all have to find our way through them to get to the other side and move on, because otherwise you can’t move on with life. That’s how I’ve had to deal with this experience. Like I said, it’s very personal.
I want to ensure in my work that this never happens again.
.”

Lee’s death sparked a larger discussion about better safety practices on film sets, a topic that has been brought to the fore in 2021 following the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of rustShe was killed after a gun belonging to the actor Alec Baldwin fired live ammunition during a rehearsal, which led to a justified uproar, why real weapons are used on set. The Crow director Alex Proyas spoke out in favor of this cause because he himself had experienced a similar tragedy first hand.

“Real weapons should have been banned on set after
The Crow
. Why they are still being used is completely inexplicable. I am filled with sadness for the victims and at the same time so angry about it.
Ban functioning weapons on film sets now!
I will add my voice to the choir in the hope that this time something might change.”

Despite his early death, Brandon Lee is undoubtedly a movie star. His performance in The Crow was praised by audiences and critics alikeand the film itself lives on as a cult classic. As unfortunate as it is that Lee never experienced the rapid career boom that followed the release of The Crowhe is undoubtedly a legend in his own right and a timeless one at that.

The Crow can be streamed on Prime Video in the US

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