01x09 - Brandon Lee

[bunniefuu]

Brandon Lee is the son
of Bruce Lee,

who was a Chinese-American
kung fu star.

Brandon was on the cusp
of superstardom.

Brandon was sh**ting "The Crow"

in which he starred
as an undead rock star.

Final scene in "The Crow," action.

He pulls the trigger,
the blank fires.

Let me say, first of all,
I don't think anybody

should ever get hurt
on a film set.

I mean, I'm a professional.

The stunt men are professionals.

That's what movie magic
is all about.

He's actually been shot.

The medical examiner
is actually stunned

to find a .44 caliber b*llet
lodged near Brandon's spine.

- How did that b*llet get there?
- Is it nefarious?

Is this potentially
a criminal act?

Is this just straight
up negligence

leading to an accidental death?

Brandon Lee's death
was classified as an accident.

But a lot of his fans believe
there's more to the story.

How does somebody get shot
and k*lled on a movie set

with all these
safety protocols in place?

The theory is that the Triads
loaded that weapon

that shot Brandon Lee.

When you look back on it,
in hindsight,

it's like, wow,
the set was really cursed.

911 emergency.

The official narrative
doesn't tell the whole story.

But you really have to look
at everything.

Do you still have to go down
that rabbit hole,

still have to go down that path.

When a celebrity dies,
the search for answers

moves online and the truth
may be one click away.

In 1993, Actor Brendan Lee
is just coming

into his own in Hollywood,

and for the first time
stepping out from

under the shadow
of his legendary father,

action movie icon Bruce Lee.

For 28-year-old Brandon,
acting is in his blood.

But it's not until
May of that year

that he finally
gets his big break.

My name is Bridget Baiss,
and I am a journalist.

I'm also the author of "The Crow:

The Story Behind the Film."

In '93, he was cast
in his dream role, "The Crow."

Brandon saw this
as his opportunity

to break into Hollywood
as a leading man with a project

could be really groundbreaking.

And he was very excited
about making a movie

that would be showcasing
his acting talent.

But with only a week
left of filming,

Brandon's career is cut short

when he is
accidentally k*lled on set.

- Approximately 9:00 A.M.
- this morning,

an autopsy was performed
on the body of actor Brandon Lee

at Onslow Memorial Hospital
in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

The detectives are proceeding
with the investigation.

And while the investigation
begins, friends and family

are left scrambling to figure
out what really happened,

how a life so full of promise
could end so abruptly.

Brandon Lee was the son
of martial artist and film actor

and also martial arts guru,
in a sense,

Bruce Lee.

Brandon's father, Bruce,
tragically died

while making a movie in Hong Kong

when he was just eight.

When he was were pre-teen,

he went to the same
martial arts school

that his father started
in Los Angeles.

He was there being taught
by people

who had worked with his father,

seeing pictures of
his father on the walls.

One of his early teachers
said it was...

it was really traumatic for him.

But while Brandon Lee
yearns to be his own person,

his martial arts skills
and his movie star looks

make him a natural to pick up
where his father left off.

Brandon started his career,
actually,

in a Hong Kong film
"Legacy of Rage."

It was largely
a martial arts role,

but that he saw
as a way to start in films.

And then shortly after that,
he did

"Showdown in Little Tokyo"
with Dolph Lundgren.

Then in 1993, Brandon lands
his first leading role

in the film adaptation
of the already

wildly popular graphic novel
"The Crow."

It was an exceptional film
made in exceptional ways.

Equally exceptional, I think,

is all of the sequence of events,

many of them
innocuous and unrelated,

that culminated in the tragedy
of Brandon Lee's death.

Less than 24 hours
after his death,

an official autopsy is released.

The cause of death is listed as
a g*nsh*t wound to the abdomen.

But now, 30 years later,

questions about what really
happened that fatal day

on the set of "The Crow"
still remain.

Even though Brandon Lee's death
occurred before the Internet

was really a thing,

it resurfaced in a big way
after the fatal sh**ting

on the set of "Rust"
involving Alec Baldwin.

In October 2021,

a prop g*n used
by Baldwin misfired,

k*lling the film's cinematographer

and injuring the director.

A ton of people dove
into that story

and came up with Brandon Lee's

mysterious death decades before.

That set off a whole new round
of conspiracy theories.

My name is Justin Ling.

I'm an investigative journalist.

I worked for "Foreign Policy,"
"The Guardian," Wired,"

a whole bunch
of major publications

covering misinformation,

national security,
conspiracy theories,

and a whole bunch of other stuff.

There's a lot of talk
on the Internet.

It's not so much chatter
in the sense, like,

it's not happening in between
two users on some Web forum.

It's it's happening on, like,
conspiracy blogs.

It's happening in books
that people have written.

My name is Deanna Thompson.

I have a degree
in information technology.

I've been in the tech world
for over 20 years.

I am an analyst by day
and a Web sleuth by night.

I have this, like,
neurodivergent quests

for fairness and justice.

Online, people are investigating
the possibility

that Brandon's death
was a mafia hit.

They're also looking at the idea
that there was

a Lee family curse
that has been plaguing

the Lee family for generations.

Generational curse or not,

it's clear that something very bad

went down on the set that day.

A lot of people look
at this and say,

how could a blank k*ll someone?

That question ignites many
conspiracies online.

And the deeper the dive, the
stranger, and darker they get.

Some of the theories around
Brandon's death

get pretty out there.

Some of the crew members
reported seeing ninjas

in the rafters of the studio
immediately prior to his death.

Robert Lee, Bruce's brother,

actually told
The Washington Post in 1993

that, "I don't know
if our family is curse,

but I'm seriously starting
to think about it.

It seems like a never
ending story."

One of the best ways to separate
good information

from total nonsense is to look

at who's actually
making the claims.

Are they an expert?

Do they have a stake in the story?

Do they even have any knowledge
what they're talking about?

Do they have the evidence,
the actual proof

to back up their claims?

And if no, go check out somebody
who actually does know

what they're talking about.

Do they agree or are
they calling it bullshit?

I've been digging into this
and there are definitely

some red flags here.

There has got to be more
to this story

than what's on
the official narrative.

It's clear just from the outset

that there were safety violations

that went on
in terms of this weapon.

I teach forensics in criminal
justice at the university level.

I head up our university's
volunteer cold case team,

and I'm a true crime author.

Inevitably, because I was
in the Army,

I was trained on various
firearms through the years.

The crew is preparing
for the key scene in the film

when Lee's character is k*lled

and before resurrecting
as The Crow.

So on March 31, 1993,

Lee is in Wilmington, North
Carolina, sh**ting "The Crow."

That day, Lee was supposed
to be sh**ting a scene

where he walks through a door

and is immediately shot
multiple times

by another character
played by Michael Massee.

Massee is about 15 feet away
with a .44 Magnum.

They rehearse the scene.

Stunt coordinator came in, okay.

Brandon, you know, rehearsed it
a couple of times.

He was going to fall forward
after the blank was fired.

Everybody's ready to go.

They call action.

The character of Funboy
whips around

when he hears the door open.

Just like in rehearsal,
Michael Massee

raises the g*n at Lee
and pulls the trigger.

But everyone who was
watching noticed

that instead of the choreography
they had rehearsed

before Brandon falling forward,

Brandon fell backwards
against the wall

and kind of slid down the wall.

And they initially think
he's kind of like joking around.

Several people told me
it felt like an eternity.

And finally they realize,
oh, my God, he's not getting up.

This was not a prank.

The medic quickly realized
that the he had been penetrated

by some sort of a projectile,

and he asked the costume
person who was there.

He said, "Was this intentional?"

And the costume person said,
"No."

Paramedics arrive
and rush Lee to hospital

where he undergoes a marathon
five-hour surgery

to try and repair
the internal damage

that's been caused by the
accidental misfire of the g*n.

Ambulance got there,
they pumped him

full of fluids
and they gave him blood.

Enough for, like, five people
in the course

of the different surgeries
to try to stop the bleeding.

But it's too late.

At 1:03 P.M.
on March 31, 1993,

Brandon Lee is pronounced dead
at the age of 28.

It appears that Wilmington
police seized the footage

and that they introduced that
into evidence.

- I'm Dr. Michael Arntfield.
- I'm a professor

and criminologist
at Western University

where I founded
the Cold Case Society.

As an investigator,
in terms of narrowing down

what exactly happened,

you're going to have to consult
a firearms expert

who can explain how
this could happen to determine

whether this was a criminal act

or whether it's just
a series of tragic events.

The Hanover County medical
examiner, Leon Andrews,

conducted an autopsy
on Brandon Lee's body,

and he was actually stunned
to find a .44 caliber b*llet

lodged near Brandon's spine.

- There were blanks in that g*n.
- How could there be a b*llet?

Those were 100% blanks for sure.

The autopsy concluded that Lee
died of a single g*nsh*t

wound to the abdomen.

When they performed the autopsy,

they actually found
a piece of the b*llet

lodged in one of his vertebrae
in his spine.

The twist to this theory,

there were several people
in the chain of events

who had an effect on the outcome
and on Brendan's death.

What chance in a billion

can it be that all of the mistakes

made could have culminated
in this tragic accident

if somebody had just done
one little thing different?

Brandon's death sent shockwaves
through the film industry.

How does somebody get shot
and k*lled on a movie set

with all these
safety protocols in place?

And if some of these theories
are correct,

then this was a planned hit.

If investigators
reasonably thought

that this was an act of foul play,

they would have to ask
who gains from this.

Who would want
Mr. Lee dead?

"The Crow" was supposed to be
the triumphant launch

of Brandon Lee's career.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't live
to see its release.

on March 31, 1993,
Brandon Lee dies on set.

Within hours of his death,
fans worldwide start to question

how a man shot
with a blank round could die.

Speculation begins
to spread that his death

was not an accident,
but a carefully

orchestrated conspiracy
to commit m*rder.

If some of these theories
are correct

and this was a planned hit,

someone did a very good job
of covering it up.

If investigators
reasonably thought

that this was an act of foul play,

they would have to ask
who gains from this.

Who would want
Mr. Lee dead?

One of the most popular
theories in online chat rooms

is that both Brandon and his dad,

Bruce, were targeted by Triads,
the Chinese mafia.

I know there's rumors that
from the rafters

there was a Chinese mafia
trying to get rid of him

because there was a grudge
because of his father.

And that sent me down
this huge rabbit hole of, okay,

was Bruce actually in danger
in some way?

The theory is that Bruce Lee,

because the autopsy said
died for misadventure,

was secretly m*rder*d
by the Triads.

The Triads are an organized
crime syndicate

who have ties to the film
and entertainment

industry in Hong Kong.

My name is Jay Albanese.

I am a criminologist.

I study organized crime
and corruption.

It's been speculated
that Bruce Lee's death

was due to relationships with
the Triads that had gone bad.

There are those who believe
that Bruce Lee's transition

from making films in Asia
for an Asian audience

and making money for people there

that that revenue stream would end

once Bruce Lee's career
started taking off

and Hollywood was pursuing him
to make Hollywood movies

and that this was a motive
behind his death.

Organized crime in China

is often referred
to as the Chinese triad,

but triad is more of
just like an umbrella term

for organized crime in general.

It's not just one specific group.

Word is that members
of organized crime syndicates

had infiltrated the
Hong Kong film industry

and were using it
to launder money.

You know, they kind of control
the game in China

when somebody is doing
a production in China.

I'm imagining like, you know,
you would have to pay the Triads

a fee to film in certain locations

and they would provide
security of some,

you know, typical
Mafioso stuff, right?

What if there
are some sort of, like,

Chinese kind of, like,
revenge rule, right?

Like, we're going to k*ll you

and all of the sons
that come after you.

The Triads have a notorious
and bloody history

within the Hong Kong
film industry.

They are known
to threaten, kidnap,

t*rture and m*rder producers

and actors who do not comply
with their extortion demands.

Bruce Lee reportedly wanted
no part of that activity

and wanted no connection to it.

So the theory goes
that Chinese organized crime

actually had him m*rder*d.

In 1973, Bruce Lee
mysteriously died.

And back then, there was
speculation that he was k*lled.

And people looked at his mistress

and people harassed her
for years and years to come.

But then the thing
that really took off

was that he was k*lled
by the Chinese mafia.

Fast forward to Brandon Lee.

So, Brandon Lee also filmed
movies in Hong Kong,

so that production
would have been, you know,

giving money to the Triads
as part of filming in Hong Kong.

Well, Brandon also was filming
in America

and doing things in America.

And therefore maybe the Chinese
organized crime syndicate

had Brandon m*rder*d as well.

So the theory is that because
they had been filming for

so many days in a row and the
crew was just so tired...

that the Triads loaded
that weapon with a real b*llet

that shot Brandon Lee.

When you pass away young
unexpectedly,

there's this mystique around it.

Bruce Lee actually made
a comment at some point

that he didn't think Brandon
was going to live very long,

that he actually thought
he would die at a young age.

So did he have some
sort of premonition?

And if so, where did that
come from and why?

I mean, it's a bizarre
coincidence.

"The Crow" was said to be
Brandon Lee's breakout role,

the kind that turns a relatively
unknown actor

into a household name.

But during filming,
Lee mysteriously meets

his character's fate when he dies

by a g*nsh*t wound to the stomach.

As online investigators
look into the case,

the story about a Lee family
curse rears its head

and is spread across
all forms of media,

including blogs,
podcasts and YouTube channels.

All you have to do is plug in
how did Brandon Lee

die in Google,

you're going to find
a lot of people speculating

that the entire family
has been visited by a curse

that has k*lled
both father and son.

So the origin of this idea
that the Lee family was cursed

starts with Brandon's
grandmother, Bruce Lee's mom.

She lost a child not long
after his birth

for reasons that remain unclear.

It convinced her that the males
in her family were cursed.

Bruce Lee's mother was
so convinced of this curse

that she started referring
to him as Bruce Xi Feng,

meaning little Phoenix,

the idea being that giving him
a feminine name

might help him escape that curse.

So, Bruce Lee in 1973 died,
like, rather suddenly.

It's reported that he died
from a drug allergy.

Brandon was just eight years
old when his dad died,

and there's actually a lot
of speculation

surrounding Bruce Lee's death,

even though it's been
decades since then.

But the official line
is that Bruce Lee died

because he had this pressure
that built up on his brain.

The problem is that the medical
examiner said he died

due to misadventure.

So that led to speculation

on what happened to Bruce Lee.

Of course, when an icon dies
before their time,

the conspiracy theories will
endure long after they are gone.

Brandon's heartbreaking death

and the unexpected death
of his father 20 years

earlier helped cement
the idea of a Lee family curse.

The conspiracy theories have
been around since Bruce Lee died

while making a movie in China.

There's a website called
Unexplained Mysteries,

and this website is a bunch
of conspiracy theories

about all kinds
of different things.

They talk about the similarities

between Bruce Lee's death
and Brandon Lee's death

and why there's no way
it's a coincidence, alright?

For one, they were both born
in the Year of the Dragon.

They both died relatively young.

Brandon in his late 20s,
Bruce in his early 30s.

When you pass away
young unexpectedly,

there's this mystique around it.

Supposedly, Bruce Lee even
predicted his own death,

claiming that he would only live
to be half his father's age.

His father died at 64
and Bruce Lee died at 32.

Bruce Lee actually made
a comment at some point

that he didn't think Brandon
was going to live very long,

that he actually thought
he would die at a young age.

So, did he have
some sort of premonition?

And if so, where did that
come from and why?

In his biopic,
there's even a scene

where his son Brandon is being
chased by a demonic spirit.

I think some of the parallels
that exist

between Bruce Lee's death
and Brandon Lee's death

probably hold people's attention
to two tragedies in one family.

The most astonishing parallel

is within a scene
from Bruce's final film.

So in the fall of 1972,
Bruce Lee was sh**ting the movie

that he wrote,
directed and starred in

he called a "Game of Death."

Like, there's a scene
where Bruce Lee's character

is filming a movie.

And in the movie he's filming,
his character

accidently get shot
for real on set.

So it's like foretelling what's
going to happen to his son.

And the irony is that
Bruce Lee's character

in that movie
is actually an actor on a set

and is supposed to get shot,
but shot with blanks.

The storyline of the movie
is that one of those blanks

actually gets replaced
with a life b*llet

and he gets shot and k*lled
for real on the set.

Conspiracy theorists
believe it is not just

an eerie coincidence.

Instead, the scene
is a premonition

that Brandon Lee's death
was destined to happen

at the hands
of the Lee family curse.

Many people have picked up
on the fact

that one of Bruce Lee's movies
that he himself wrote

became basically a predictor
of how his son would die.

It's incredibly ironic
looking back on that movie.

I mean, it's a bizarre
coincidence.

Those who believe in things
like demonic curses

tend to also be on the lookout
for really ominous coincidences

or eerie foreshadowing

or even premonitions
about one's own death.

So all of this stuff really adds
to the idea that there

is something supernatural
about the Lees' deaths.

In "The Crow,"
Brandon plays Eric Draven,

a man who was m*rder*d,
but comes back to life to avenge

the brutal k*lling of his fiancée.

This scene is like
the pivotal scene

where the character is k*lled
in the beginning of the movie

and then he's resurrected
as The Crow

and the rest of the plot unfolds.

Sadly, Brandon Lee does not
resurrect like his character

in the film, but the intrigue

surrounding his death lives on
and continues to fascinate.

Given that "The Crow"
is such a cult classic,

there's many people
who are still obsessed

with how Brenda Lee died.

And Brandon Lee is actually
shot when his character is shot.

When you add up those pieces,
it's remarkable.

After Lee's passing,
the supernatural storyline

in the film bleeds
into conspiracy theories online

about the making of the movie.

As the production of "The Crow"
comes under scrutiny,

more tales of bad omens
come to light.

And while some theories point
to a family curse,

others believe the film itself
is cursed.

"The Crow" started
pre-production in Los Angeles,

and they did get a phone call
to the production offices

saying that you should not make
this movie, this anonymous call.

This this will be very, very bad.

Then the biggest hurricane
to hit North Carolina

in years rips through the set.

Everybody's evacuated.

People have to go away
from the beach.

Roofs are coming off houses
and everything

they had set up
in the cement factory

was just decimated

and then they had to set up again.

So that was a rough, rough,
rough evening.

The anonymous phone call starts
to make sense, and theories

about the film set itself being
coerced begin to take hold.

One of the producers on the film

recounted a story to me that,
again, took on significance.

The producer was sitting
in his office

and Brandon Lee waved to him

and he said he was on the phone
talking to somebody

and he said, "It's weird.

Brandon still has several days
left on the set,

but he just waved at me.

It seemed like
he was saying goodbye."

I think what's interesting with
Brandon Lee's death

is the number of things that had
to go wrong on set that day

in order for that g*n to fire
and sh**t and k*ll the star.

The set of "The Crow"
is undeniably

haunted by misfortune.

But as Internet investigators
examine the days and weeks

leading up to the sh**ting,

it becomes increasingly clear
that Brandon Lee's death

is less mystery
and more incompetence.

When I first started learning
more about Brandon's case,

it became immediately apparent

that there was negligence
involved in his death.

I think what's interesting
about Brandon Lee's death

is the number of things that had
to go wrong on set that day

in order for that g*n to fire
and sh**t and k*ll the star.

A lot of people looking
at this would ask,

how can a blank k*ll someone?

So while some theories online
point to a Lee family curse,

rumors about several mishaps
on the set of "The Crow"

start to come to light.

From the very beginning,
"The Crow" seemed

plagued by bad luck.

On the first day of filming,
one of the crew got second

and third degree burns
after a live wire caught fire.

A carpenter on the backlot
of Krakow Studios

was up on a cherry picker
right next to power lines,

and sadly, he was lit on fire
and he was seriously burned.

By day three, prop trucks
randomly combusted.

One stunt man fell and broke
several of his ribs.

Another point a crew member
got so irate

that he drove his car
through part of the soundstage.

One crew member would later say
that nothing ever seemed to go

right when they were
sh**ting "The Crow."

On top of just the mishaps
during filming,

"The Crow" was also way behind
schedule and way over budget.

People were getting sick
left and right

because they were sh**ting
long hours.

They were working nights,
and it was extremely cold.

While filming a scene where
Brandon Lee's character crashes

through the door of a pawnshop,

the actor suffered several cuts
on his body from the prop glass.

You look back on it in
hindsight, it's like,

wow, this set was really cursed.

But many cyber sleuths believe
it goes beyond any

kind of curse,
and the root cause of the issues

on set comes down
to the production.

So they're sh**ting 50 days
in a row.

The crew at this point,

they have eight days
left of sh**ting.

The script calls for a prop g*n

and a single blank to be fired.

On a movie set,
the person responsible

for g*n safety
is called an armorer.

My name is Dave Brown,
and I'm a professional

firearms instructor.

And also in the film industry,

I'm what we call it in armorer.

An armorer is the person on film

sets who handles the firearms.

They're the ones
who hand the firearm

directly to the cast member.

But the most important job
of the armorer

is the safety of the set.

There's never live
ammunition on set.

It's not allowed.
It just simply wouldn't exist.

The first mistake, in my opinion,

that was made on
the set of "The Crow"

is that live a*mo
was introduced to the set.

At one point,
a stunt coordinator discovered

a box of .44 Magnum
ammunition on set,

and apparently the golden rule
of filming is never,

ever have live ammunition on set.

The weapons expert saw this box
of live a*mo

and he immediately confiscated it

and put it in the trunk of his car

where the box stayed
for the next two weeks.

In another shocking breach
of safety protocol,

the crew also decide to make
their own dummy cartridges.

Mistake number two,
the crew took the live rounds

and they modified them.

They simply went to a g*n store.

They bought a box of cartridges

and they found a way
to knock out the b*llet.

The crew on set believe that
modifying live b*ll*ts

by knocking out the gunpowder is
enough to create a safe round.

This is what we call
a b*llet puller.

It simply works off the inertia.

Hit it hard,
it will cause the b*llet

to fly out the end of the case.

And here is what we have,
an empty case.

A b*llet and gunpowder

because they obviously
don't need the gunpowder.

The gunpowder would have
simply been discarded.

Insert the b*llet back
into the case.

And now they have what they
think is a dummy cartridge.

So in theory, it's safe because
there's no gunpowder

that will ignite
and create the gases

that push the b*llet
down the barrel of the g*n.

What they don't realize is that
the primer is still in place,

the primer is still intact
and the primer is still live.

So because the primer
still active,

there's not going to be a sound
because there's no gunpowder

but there is going to be a spark,

and that spark is going to propel

whatever b*llet is
in that chamber forward.

So now they're inserting what
they think is a dummy cartridge,

six of them into all the chambers.

Somebody said, I'm making
my own dummy cartridge.

I would just say, "Thank you
very much for coming.

Please go home.

I don't want you anywhere
near my set."

Both dummy cartridges
and blanks were used

during the making of "The Crow."

It's very important that that
expert can tell the difference

between a blank, a dummy
cartridge and live ammunition.

A blank is a case
that contains gunpowder

designed to create a big, bright
flash at the end of the barrel.

A dummy cartridge is
sort of the opposite.

It's a case that has a b*llet
in the end,

but the case itself is
completely empty of gunpowder.

But that primer also has to be
either missing entirely,

or you're going to have
a fake primer in the back,

something that's completely inert.

With a live primer still attached.

The crew has actually created
an armed cartridge,

another in a series of mistakes
made on set

that ultimately lead to tragedy.

So about two weeks
prior to Lee's death,

they accidentally lodged one of
the b*ll*ts inside the barrel.

They pull out the same firearm,
load the blank in it,

hand it to the actor and say

point it directly at Brandon Lee.

They could have pointed
that firearm a good three

or four feet off
to the side of Brandon Lee.

Even one foot, even six inches,
would have saved his life.

Immediately following Lee's death,

conspiracies began to circulate.

But as police investigate,

it becomes apparent
that the real cause

is a series of preventable
mistakes made on set.

The tragedy of Brandon Lee
started two weeks

before the shot
was actually fired,

and it began with the fact

that they were sending
the firearms expert home.

It appears that the reason
the weapons expert was sent home

early is because the production
wasn't planning to film

the scene of Brandon
walking through the door with

and getting shot by the intruder.

Actors and the production
staff often told me

that things did change.

Yes, there was a script,
but it was evolving.

Originally, the script had
called for him to be stabbed.

And then they changed their mind.

They decided,
let's use the revolver,

let's fire a g*nsh*t.

The director wanted
the full flash bang

so that there's enough power
to get a really loud

and bright flash
from the barrel of the g*n.

So they had a Smith and Wesson
model 2944 Magnum revolver.

And in that particular scene,
they wanted to fire the blank,

and he was going to be
on camera, as well as the g*n

that was firing, well,
would all be on camera.

And that was basically the scene.

It was very, very simple scene,
one g*nsh*t.

The risk then on the film
set itself would be the blanks.

When we're firing blanks,
can be potentially

dangerous at very short range.

So one of the things
I always tell crew

and I always tell the cast
is distance is your friend.

If you need to fire a g*nsh*t
at a very close range,

don't have the actor in the scene,

which is by far
the most common way of sh**ting

a blank on a film set.

So, what went wrong
during the scene?

Number one, sending
the firearms expert home.

Number two, there was a b*llet

still in the barrel
that nobody could see,

nobody realized was there.

So they should have checked
the barrel

for obstructions
before they loaded the blank.

That's common, common practice.

And then to me, the number one
biggest fatal thing

that they did at the very end

of this long chain
of contributing factors

don't point it
directly at Brandon Lee.

And they could have pointed
that firearm a good three

or four feet off
to the side of Brandon Lee.

Even one foot, even six inches
would have saved his life.

After the prop g*n was fired,

no one on set knew
what had hit him.

He was supposed to come
into his apartment.

There was a couple of people
in the apartment

that were attacking,
and he was going to come in

with a bag of groceries
and he was going to be shot.

Lee is supposed to activate
a squib

inside a grocery bag he's holding.

Now, a squib, in movie parlance,

is basically
a small expl*sive charge

meant to simulate
the striking of a b*llet.

So the grocery bag was supposed
to explode

after he fired the revolver.

I actually suspect
that when Brandon

was taken to the hospital
that they initially thought

the damage or the injury
was because

of whatever fake expl*sive
was in that grocery bag.

The investigation was difficult
because you're confronted

by a situation
in which there's an actor

that's been fatally shot
with a real b*llet.

So your first initial impression
is somebody must have loaded

a live cartridge
and fired it at them.

And they were confronted by
the fact, well, this is a blank.

How could a blank fatally k*ll
somebody at that distance?

It took months to determine

that chain of events
that led to this.

I was talking to some other
professional firearms

instructors,
and we started comparing notes

on how could this possibly
have happened,

knowing live ammunition
would never be allowed on set,

knowing that he had been struck
by a real b*llet.

And we all came
to the conclusion that it was

what we call a primer pop.

And we kind of looked at each
other and we said,

primer pop, yes.

A primer pop is simply a cartridge

that was incorrectly loaded.

When you pull the trigger,

that firing pin is going
to strike that primer.

But the primer has enough energy
just in the flame

to push that b*llet
maybe an inch or two forward.

So on the set, while they were
firing off some of the primers,

the pressure pushed a live b*llet

into the barrel of the g*n.

So the b*llet would have ended up

completely invisible to everybody.

Hammer it out of there.
It's stuck in there so tight.

Now, end of that day,
they simply took the firearm,

a different props assistant
was unloading it.

They didn't remark on the fact

that now they've got
five dummy cartridges

and one empty case
because they weren't the person

who loaded it in the first place.

So they thought that was normal,
put the firearm away,

didn't clean it, didn't check it.

Although no one was injured,

the g*n was now more dangerous
than ever.

Let's bring this forward
two weeks.

They want to do the scene
with Brandon Lee

actually being shot
with the blank.

So they pull out the same
firearm, load the blank in it,

hand it to the actor and say

point it directly at Brandon Lee

when he comes through that door.

While sh**ting that scene,
the blank

dislodged the very real b*llet,

sh**ting it out of the barrel

and hitting Brandon Lee
in the stomach.

And unfortunately, we have
a live b*llet in the barrel.

We have a blank in the revolver.

The two connect, and that's
ultimately what k*lled Brandon.

The b*llet struck him
with enough force

that ultimately would prove fatal.

He fell down.

The crew didn't realize
for the first few seconds

that he'd actually been shot.

This was the watershed event.

This is what caused the film
industry to really stop

and take a look at itself and say

we need to be doing things better.

And that's why this was such
a significant event

for everybody
in the film industry.

30 years later,
they're still talking about it.

I was working with an actor
named Robin Williams

we're all very familiar with.

On our very last day
of working together,

he looked at me and he said,

"Every single time
you show me the firearm,

you show me that it's empty,

and you always pull
the trigger eight times."

And he said,
"There's only six chambers.

Why do you pull the trigger
eight times?"

And I said,
"The first six trigger pulls,

those six are for you.

The seventh one is for me
because I'm a perfectionist,

and the eighth one
is for Brandon Lee."

On March 31, 1993, the onset
sh**ting of Brandon Lee

brings a shocking end
to what may have been

a long, promising career.

And while theories of a mafia hit

and curses swirl around
the online world,

the answer to what happened
seems much more likely

to be rooted in the real world.

And there is plenty of blame
to go around.

Who's responsible
for Brandon Lee's death?

Here's the thing.

If an organized crime syndicate
wants a person dead,

there's a lot less
complicated ways to go about it.

Could they have had an infiltrator

that ensured a projectile
was left in this weapon

when shot at Brandon?

No... way.

Let's talk about
that Lee family curse.

There's a more likely explanation

for Brandon Lee's death,
other than his family is cursed.

Let's start by looking
at the movies set.

Was this an act of sabotage

or is this criminal
negligence causing death?

Or is this just straight up
negligence

leading to an accidental death?

Is it nefarious?

Is this potentially
a criminal act?

Or is it something else?

If this was considered
seriously at the time

to be an act of foul play?

I mean, this is tremendously
elaborate.

This is like super villain
type of stuff.

I don't understand how somebody
could not have cleared that g*n

before giving it
to Michael Massee.

Somebody hands me a g*n.

I am going to check the barrel.

If you don't follow
safety protocols,

if you don't check the weaponry,

if you do have live ammunition
on set, someone could die.

And that's what happened.

- The North Carolina D.A.
- ultimately ruled that he felt

the death was due to negligence
and not foul play,

meaning there was no intent
on behalf of anybody on the side

to actually k*ll Brandon,
and therefore no criminal

charges were ever brought.

The production company
of "The Crow"

was fined $77,000
for workplace violations.

Two months after shutting
down production,

"The Crow" resumes filming.

Lee's fiancée, Eliza Hutton,
gives her blessing,

telling the L.A. Times,
"Brandon told me that he thought

the film was his finest
performance yet.

I know he would have wanted it
to be completed."

Producers ultimately chose
to finish the film "The Crow,"

but that decision
was obviously controversial.

And there was a lot of mixed
feelings from the cast and crew.

You know, it was a tragedy,
but not too long after,

there was a consensus that
they wanted to finish the film.

They decided that it would be
an homage

to Brandon's performance,

which was so charismatic,
so brilliant.

So he poured so much of his heart,

and all of them had poured it
into creating this film.

They thought he would want it
to be finished.

There were a handful of scenes
that still needed to be shot

after Brandon Lee passed.

They came back and shot
the rest of it

with the help
of some very early CGI.

They all were absolutely gung-h*,

and the film ended up
being released.

The film did get released,

but only after another incident
almost doomed it again.

In January 1994, "The Crow"
was finally completed.

All that was left was
for the laboratory

to make the first print.

It just so happens the same day
they were supposed to do that

was the infamous
Northridge earthquake.

It shook Los Angeles at 6.2
on the Richter scale

and actually destroyed
that first print of "The Crow."

Now, they managed to salvage
the movie,

but it was very close to
destroying the movie for good.

Three decades, nearly
after the production in '93,

and there's still a fascination
with "The Crow," the movie,

not only for the tragic accident

that happened on the set
with Brandon Lee,

but because the film itself
was stylistically remarkable

and the first one of its kind.

The film did very well.

And even today, it's kind of
like a cult classic.

There's been several sequels,

but the original film
to this point

has grossed over $100 million.

It's an evergreen classic.

The character The Crow

has continued
to inspire new generations.

I think that is part
of the legacy of "The Crow"

is that Brandon, this guy
was like on the cusp of stardom.

You see how eloquent he speaks
and how handsome he is

and how excited he was to
be doing what he was doing

and how much he loved his dad
and whatnot.

He was like on the cusp
of stardom.