Brandon Lee
Ranked #4,363 in Entertainment, #48,279 overall
Brandon Lee 1965-1993
Brandon Lee The early years
Being the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee was not easy!
When Brandon Lee was eight, when his father died suddenly from cerebral edema. After her husband's death, Linda Lee moved the family (including daughter Shannon Lee) back to the United States. They lived briefly in his mother's hometown of Seattle, Washington, and then in Los Angeles, where Lee grew up in the affluent area of Rolling Hills. According to his mother, he was "a handful... either the teacher's pet, or the teacher's nightmare." Brandon had a hard time growing up. He moved around from place to place, and he struggled with other kids because his dad was a martial arts legend and movie star. As a teenager, he got into a lot of trouble at school and dropped out several times. He attended high school at The Chadwick School, but was asked to leave for insubordination three months before graduating. He received his GED in 1983, and then went to Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts where he majored in theater. While college wasn't for him, acting was definitely his passion. After one year, Lee moved to New York City where he took acting lessons at the famed Lee Strasberg Academy and was part of the American New Theatre group founded by his friend John Lee Hancock. The bulk of Lee's martial arts instruction came from his father's top student, Dan Inosanto.Initially staying away from martial arts films, Lee eventually embraced his heritage. He made his first feature film, Legacy of Rage (1986), in Hong Kong, which was in Cantonese, a language he knew since childhood.
The Crow Starring Brandon Lee
The Crow (1993) - Brandon Lee
"People once believed that when someone dies a crow carries that soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes something so bad happens that terrible sadness is carried with it. And the soul can't rest. And sometimes the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right." Quote from Eric DravenWith his career on an upswing, Lee signed on to play Eric Draven in The Crow based on the comic books of James O'Barr. In the film, his character is a murdered rock musician who comes back from the dead to take his revenge on the gang that killed him and his girlfriend. Unfortunately, there were a series of mishaps during the course of shooting, starting with the first day when a crew member was almost electrocuted. Toward the end of production, Lee was performing his death scene for the film when he was struck by a bullet that had been lodged in the prop gun-it was only supposed to be a blank. The bullet pierced through his abdomen and ended up near his spine.
Lee was taken to the hospital where surgeons tried to stop the bleeding and repair the damage, but they were unsuccessful. He died on March 31, 1993, from his injuries. Before this tragic accident, Lee had planned to marry his fiancee on April 17 in Mexico. Instead, he was buried next to his father in Seattle on April 3, 1993. For months stories swirled around about whether or not the shooting was intentional. There was an investigation, which determined that his death was an accident-the result of the prop gun not being properly checked between uses.
The Crow was released the next year after additional scenes were shot to complete the film. Audiences turned out in droves to see Lee's haunting final film.
The Crow (Miramax/Dimension Collector's Series)
Amazon Price: $6.47 (as of 02/13/2012)
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The Crow set the standard for dark and violent comic-book movies (like Spawn or director Alex Proyas's superior follow-up, Dark City), but it will forever be remembered as the film during which star Brandon Lee (son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee) was accidentally killed on the set by a loaded gun. The filmmakers were able to digitally sample what they'd captured of Lee's performance and piece together enough footage to make the movie releasable.
Release Date: 03/20/2001
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The Crow - Chair T-Shirt
Great gift for any Brandon Lee Fan or The Crow Fan
The Crow - Chair T-Shirt
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The Crow - Bloody Logo Zip Hoodie
Great gift for any Brandon Lee Fan or The Crow Fan
The Crow - Bloody Logo Zip Hoodie
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The Crow - Logo Keychain
Great gift for any Brandon Lee Fan or The Crow Fan
The Crow - Logo Keychain
Amazon Price: $3.99 (as of 02/13/2012)
Kung Fu: The Movie - Brandon Lee
Brandon Lee plays an assassin in Kung Fu: The Movie
In Kung Fu: The Movie, Lee played Chung Wang, the suspected son of Kwai Chang Caine (played by David Carradine). This seemed ironic at the time as Brandon's father Bruce Lee was originally intended to have played the leading role in the Kung Fu TV series as he had also come up with the original concept for the TV series, but in the end he was turned down for playing the lead in favor for Carradine.
Legacy of Rage starring Brandon Lee
An early film Brandon Lee starred in!
Legacy of Rage
Amazon Price: $27.95 (as of 02/13/2012)
I watched Legacy of Rage after I saw Brandon's final film, The Crow, and I was literally blown away. Unlike most dubbed films, Brandon's sheer presence and force of character made the film very watchable--I never had a sense that I was missing a part of his performance (although of course I was) because of the intense physical acting of his character.
Laser Mission starring Brandon Lee
Brandon Lee starred in Laser Mission in 1990
It was released on VHS in Europe in 1990.
Laser Mission
Amazon Price: $0.49 (as of 02/13/2012)
This movie was made close enough to the 80s when all the best action movies were made, and it shows. Brandon Lee fans don't have a large list of movies to choose from, so I was pleased to find out that in this movie he doesn't disappoint. He shows a lot of his good natured personality and sense of humor in the film, which is great to see.
Showdown in Little Tokyo starring Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundgren
Brandon Lee had become a lot better actor by this film!
The two were made for each other - Kenner (played by Dolph) doesn't appreciate American culture, while Johnny (played by Brandon)doesn't much like Japanese culture. One thing they both enjoy are the martial arts, of which they are both experts.
The two set out to take down the Yakuza Clan and bust the leaders. Finding out it wont be easy, they set out to use their fighting skills to bring down the clan one by one!
This is a great movie to watch and Brandon really shines in this movie! A must have in your collection of Brandon Lee movies.
Showdown in Little Tokyo
Amazon Price: $11.95 (as of 02/13/2012)
Showdown in Little Tokyo is a 1991 martial arts action-comedy that, in pitting Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee as L.A. cops against Japanese drug dealers, plays like a B-movie Tango and Cash or Lethal Weapon 2 (both released just two years before). Between career highs in Rocky IV (1985) and Universal Soldier (1992), Lundgren looked as if he might make it big at the box office, and clearly wanting to be the new Schwarzenegger he is here directed by Mark L Lester, who had earlier helmed Ah-nold's Commando (1985).
Brandon Lee visits the International Wing Chun Academy
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Rapid Fire starring Brandon Lee and Powers Boothe
Rapid Fire (1992) - Brandon Lee
Rapid Fire
Amazon Price: $4.30 (as of 02/13/2012)
Brandon Lee's penultimate picture isn't much on paper--a dour college kid, bitter over his activist father's death in Tiananmen Square, is targeted by a Chicago mobster after witnessing a gangland killing and reluctantly joins forces with brooding, obsessed cop Powers Boothe--but then who was watching this for the story? Consider this his screen test for the superior The Crow. Lee bites off bad dialogue with surly sneers, swaggers through scenes with the confidence of a movie veteran, and moves... well, his moves are the real reason to see the film.
Links to Brandon Lee information
- The Death of Brandon Lee
- Brandon and Eliza were going to get married right after the filming his latest movie, The Crow, was completed.
Brandon supposedly believed that the males in his family were cursed because his grandfather angered some Chinese merchants. Some say that Brandon was so obsessed with death, that he took to driving around LA in a hearse, and visiting Jim Morrison's grave in Paris. Sounds pretty normal to me. He told friends that he would never live to see 30. Guess what - he was right.
The set of The Crow was plagued with problems from the get go, including one worker that was severely burned by a live electrical wire, another flipped out and drove through the studio's plaster workshop, and another carpenter accidentally drove a screwdriver through his hand. There was one particularly disturbing incident in which an actor was double-checking the gun he was supposed to shoot a person with, and found a live bullet instead of blanks. These things probably happen all the time, but in retrospect they become very important to this story's mystique.
Brandon and Bruce Lee Gravesite
Lake View Cemetery, Capitol Hill, Seattle
This quote is inscribed on his tombstone...
"Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. And yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you cannot conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four, or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless..."
He had planned to marry his fiancé, Eliza Hutton, in Mexico, but he died 17 days before his wedding.
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goo2eyes
Feb 5, 2012 @ 3:46 pm | delete
- who is to blame for the death of branon lee? the prop-master should have checked the gun before releasing it for the rehearsal. *blessings* from a squid angel for this lens.
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YellowHammer
Oct 22, 2011 @ 8:33 pm | delete
- If you want to see some really good interviews with the actor you should really get the Crow DVD.
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SquidooProductReviews
Sep 18, 2011 @ 4:11 am | delete
- Nice lens.
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Erin Young
Jul 29, 2011 @ 9:52 pm | delete
- Brandon, Chinese New Year. Chinese child. Erin
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Erin Young
Jul 29, 2011 @ 9:51 pm | delete
- Brandon, Create a dream with my pictures? My outdoors picture: http://i51.tinypic.com/ogapm9.jpg My indoors picture: http://i53.tinypic.com/33d886g.jpg Kisses Erin
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Erin
Jul 29, 2011 @ 9:15 pm | delete
- Brandon, Enter the dragon and the crow are at tv at the same time. I sleep on the couch everynight. Create a dream for me, and I will talk to you here. Erin
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christopherlee Jul 4, 2011 @ 3:50 pm | delete
- Nice Len Bino good work.
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glenanail
Jun 16, 2011 @ 5:28 pm | delete
- I love your bruce lee lenses! way to go!
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Chris-H
May 31, 2011 @ 11:07 am | delete
- Thank you!
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vicioussss
Apr 22, 2011 @ 10:20 am | delete
- nice lens :D
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dawnperkins
Jan 23, 2011 @ 3:44 am | delete
- I really iked this lens :) Brandon Lee is soooooooo cool!!
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Ladymermaid
Jan 5, 2011 @ 4:18 am | delete
- An excellent tribute to a very great actor. Best of wishes for 2011.
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sugunalinus
Jan 2, 2011 @ 7:46 pm | delete
- Well I would rate Kung Fu as the best one. Anyways it is my personal opinion. Very nice lens and a rare one too. Good effort
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Faythe
Dec 3, 2010 @ 5:44 am | delete
- wow, I never really know about Brandon Lee, but he was really gorgeous :"> haha~ Thanks to this lens:)
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italianizeyourself
Sep 22, 2010 @ 7:20 pm | delete
- Rapid fire is my favorite Brandon Lee film. I think the scene where he's fighting that one Asian guy that played the villain in every 80s action movie is one of his best. The musics good, the choreography is good, everything came together great. Great lens.
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by bino007
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Hello everybody. I am a big fan of Bruce Lee. So big in fact I study the style (is it really a style?) that he developed called...
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The Crow (Miramax/Dimension Collector's Series)
Amazon Price: $6.47 (as of 02/13/2012)
