Brandon
Lee was killed while shooting the flashback scene
in which he walks into the room and discovers Shelly
is being attacked. Funboy (Michael Massee) was to
shoot Eric as he walked into the room. The gun he
was supposed to be using was loaded with "blanks".
Eric walked in and was shot as scripted. However,
a bullet penetrated Brandon's abdomen and lodged next
to his vertebrae (had he lived there was a good chance
he may have been paralysed). Brandon was rushed to
hospital where he died 13 hours later after attempts
to stop the bleeding with surgery failed. An investigation
later into his death discovered that the gun had earlier
been loaded with "dummy" bullets for a close
up shot (a dummy is a shell and slug, but no gunpowder).
In this particular case real bullets were used, bought
from a local gun shop. The slugs were removed from
the casing and the gun powder was removed, and then
the slugs were placed back in the casing. This was
a huge mistake as real ammo should never be used to
make a dummy bullet, but due to budget and time constraints
the production crew did what they thought best.
The
dummy bullet was meant to be used for head-on, close-up
shots so that the slugs could be seen in the chamber.
According to the investigation, during the scene where
the gun was loaded with dummy rounds one of the slugs
came loose and stayed in the chamber after it was
unloaded. The gun was then reloaded with blanks, ready
for the flashback scene. Blank bullets, however, have
double the amount of gunpowder in them than a normal
bullet so that a loud sound is made and a discharge
is seen. When the gun was fired the slug that remained
in the chamber was pushed through with double the
force and hit Brandon.
It
was later discovered that there had been a huge lapse
in safety other than live ammo being used to create
the dummy. Earlier that evening the weapons expert
had been sent home to save money, and a couple of
prop assistants were left in charge. This oversight
led to Brandon's death, and his mother consequently
sued the company for negligence, and won an undisclosed
settlement.
For
the record, the actor Michael Massee was deemed not
responsible for Brandon Lee's death and no criminal
charges were ever brought against him.
The
irony was that this was to be the last scene in which
guns would be involved, and the final eight days of
shooting were to be fill-in scenes and flashbacks.
It is also sad that in just twelve days time Brandon
was due to be married.
Other
reports on the death of Brandon Lee exist, including
one that says that the bullet in the gun was simply
a live one, instead of a blank... whatever happened,
his death will probably always be shrouded in mystery.
All
the above information was taken from official reports
on the accident and from interviews with gun experts
and Brandon Lee's mother.
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•
The accident happened at 12:30 am on March 31st
1993.
• The
shot had perforated Lee's stomach, tearing several
vital organs and causing an internal haemorrhage.
•Brandon
Lee died in hospital at 1.03 pm on 31st March
1993 (12 1/2 hours after the accident).
• Cause
of death is listed as G.S.W. (gunshot wound)
of the abdomen.
• Brandon
is buried with his father, Bruce Lee, at Lakeview
Cemetary, Seattle, Washington, near the Seattle
Asian Museum.
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•
On the very first day of filming (Feb. 1st),
a young carpenter suffered serious burns on
his face, hands and chest. He had been sitting
on a metal girder that collided with high tension
power lines.
•
A sculptor lost his pedals and was slammed into
the steering wheel of his car. (Other reports
say that a 'disgruntled sculptor' drove his
car through the studio's plaster shop - well,
something happened, anyway).
•
A manual worker got a screwdriver embedded in
his hand.
•
A lorry full of equipment mysteriously set on
fire.
•
The production's press attache was a victim
of a traffic accident.
•
A stuntman fell through a roof, breaking several
ribs
•
A hurricane destroyed several of the film's
sets. (March 13th)
•
Thanks to Entertaiment
Weekly for this report.
(Published April 2nd, 1993
issue-forty-eight hours after Brandon Lee's
death)
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