Brandon Lee & The Crow (Bonus Episode)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ernie Hudson (00:01):
You're gonna say I shouldn't be in the cemetery in
the middle of the night, right?

Brandon Lee (00:05):
Safest place in the world to be.

It's cause everybody's dead.
I knew you'd come here.

It's really late, Sarah.

You didn't say goodbye.

You're just gonna have to forgive me for that and
you're never coming back.
It's funny.
Little things used to mean somuch to Shelly.
I used to think they were kindof trivial.
Believe me, nothing is trivial.

Remi (00:59):
Nothing is trivial.
Career and tragic death ofBrandon Lee.
Brandon Lee was a talentedyoung actor and martial artist
who was, of course, the son ofmartial arts legend Bruce Lee.
But Brandon's promising careerwas tragically cut short in 1993
during the filming of the Crow,when a prop gun mishap on set

(01:20):
led to his untimely death atjust 28 years old.
Bruce Lee was a legendarymartial artist, actor, filmmaker
and cultural icon whoseinfluence reshaped perceptions
of martial arts and Asianrepresentation in Western media.
Lee combined traditionalmartial arts with his philosophy
of adaptability to create JeetKune Do, a revolutionary

(01:44):
approach to combat which heshowcased in such groundbreaking
films as Enter the Dragon andthe Way of the Dragon.
Lee broke barriers for Asianactors in Hollywood and inspired
generations with hisphilosophies.
He was only 32 years old whenhe died on July 20, 1973, from
cerebral edemia, which is brainswelling caused by a buildup of

(02:07):
fluid leading to increasedpressure within the skull.
It is believed his death wascaused by an adverse reaction to
a painkiller called equagestic,which he had taken for a
headache.
Despite his untimely death, hislegacy continues to endure,
leaving a lasting impact on bothcinema and culture.

Ashley (02:27):
Lee's widow, linda Lee Cadwell, was an American college
student studying to become ateacher at the University of
Washington when she met BruceLee, while he was teaching
martial arts lessons there.
They married in 1964, and justone year later, brandon Bruce
Lee was born on February 1, 1965, at East Oakland Hospital in
Oakland, california.

(02:48):
Their second child, shannonEmery Lee, was born on April 19,
1969.
According to various sources,bruce started teaching Brandon
martial arts as soon as he couldwalk.
By the age of five, brandon'sgrandmother, grace Ho, claimed
he could already break a woodenboard with a single kick.
Growing up, brandon and hisfamily split their time between

(03:09):
Hong Kong and the United Statesbecause of his father's film
career.
Brandon's frequent visits tosee his dad on set led to an
early interest in acting.
The family moved to Hong Kongmore permanently in 1970 or 1971
, shortly after Shannon was born.
Brandon lived there until hisfather died when he was just
eight years old and becamefluent in Cantonese.

(03:31):
After Bruce Lee's death, lindabecame the primary caregiver for
Brandon and his sister,choosing to raise them back in
the United States, away from theintense public scrutiny that
surrounded Bruce Lee's legacy inChina.
In California, Brandoncontinued his martial arts
training under Dan Inosanto, oneof his father's former students
.

My dad started training me as soon as I could
walk.
He trained me while he wasalive, and after he passed away
I just kind of kept at itbecause I didn't really think
about it much.
You know, you get started atsomething, you just continue
with it, and my dad had a circleof students that were close to
him, and so they were friends ofour family, and one of those
men, danny Inosanto, continuedto be my teacher, so it was kind

(04:14):
of a nice unbroken line youknow, as he grew older, brandon
also trained with RichardBastillo, another of Bruce Lee's
students, and Jeff Amada, arenowned stuntman who would
later be the primary fightchoreographer for the Crow.

Remi (04:29):
Through the years, brandon studied a variety of martial
arts, including Jeet Kune Do,wing Chun, eskrima Salat and
Muay Thai.
In his mid-teens, brandonstruggled with his identity,
especially when training indojos that prominently featured
large photos of his father.
This made him uncomfortable andultimately led to him stepping

(04:49):
away from martial arts for atime, choosing instead to focus
on soccer.
Brandon was a bit rebelliousduring high school, occasionally
getting into scuffles with hisclassmates who wanted to make a
name for themselves by picking afight with the son of Bruce Lee
.
Classmates who wanted to make aname for themselves by picking
a fight with the son of BruceLee.
Just four months before hisgraduation in 1983, he was

(05:13):
expelled from Chadwick Schooldue to misbehavior.
He earned his GED that sameyear.
As many teens do, brandondecided to travel for a bit and
hitchhiked across the UnitedStates before choosing his life
path cross the United Statesbefore choosing his life path.

It was great, I'm telling you.
I was just.
I guess it would have beenabout what 1982.
And I just I felt like I justcaught some kind of last wave of
people who were into stuff likethat.
You know, I used to catch rideswith these guys who were older
than me at the time, you knowmen and women, and they'd say,
god, you are going to have thebest time.
I did stuff like this when Iwas your age.

(05:48):
I don't know, it's kind of along, silly story, but I must've
read all the wrong books inhigh school or something.

Ashley (05:54):
After some soul searching, brandon realized that
deep down he always wanted tobe an actor.
He began his training at theLee Strasberg Theater and Film
Institute in New York beforemoving to Emerson College in
Boston where he majored intheater.
While in Boston, he appeared inseveral stage productions and
was part of the Eric MorrisAmerican New Theater.
In 1985, he returned to LosAngeles and worked as a script

(06:18):
reader.
It was during this time that hewas approached by a casting
director and successfully landedhis first acting role in Kung
Fu, the Movie, which premieredon ABC in February 1986.
The movie was a feature-lengthfollow-up to the 1970s TV series
.
According to Jeff Amata, brandonhad to be convinced to take the
role because of its martialarts elements.

(06:39):
At first he wasn't interestedand wanted to distance himself
from the type of films hisfather made.
However, brandon laterexplained it made sense for him
to take the role, especiallysince the movie's TV pilot was
originally conceived with hisfather in mind.
In 1986, he explored Yi ChunTao, a relaxation-based martial

(07:00):
art which he said helped himreduce tension and improve his
focus.
He resumed training with DanInasan in the 80s and often
brought a camera to the trainingsessions to analyze which
techniques would look best onfilm.
In 1986, brandon starred inLegacy of Rage, a Hong Kong
action thriller.
It was his first leading roleand the only film he made in

(07:22):
Hong Kong.
He was nominated for a HongKong Film Award for Best New
Performer.
The film was a critical successin China and at the 1987 Cannes
Film Festival.

Remi (07:35):
The following year he appeared in another Kung Fu
spinoff, the Unsold TV PilotKung Fu the Next Generation.
It aired in June on CBS' SummerPlayhouse, a program that
featured rejected pilots andallowed the audience to vote on
whether they wanted the show tobe picked up.
Unfortunately, it was poorlyreceived and wasn't chosen for a

(07:56):
series.
In 1988, brandon took on therole of the main villain in an
episode of the TV show O'Hara.
Jeff Amata advised against therole due to the character's
nature, but Brandon saw it as anopportunity to expand his
acting range.
In 1990, the home video releaseof Laser Mission marked another

(08:17):
step in his emerging filmcareer From Turner Home.

Entertainment.
Can I ask you a personalquestion?
You carry a gun and you're notafraid to use it.
You can out-drive the best ofthem.
Who are you and who are youworking for?

James O'Barr (08:39):
Agent Michael Gold has a mission on his mind.

You didn't tell me who he was or why he was, so
important.

The enemy on his tail, alyssa.

You people blew this operation from the start.

And this woman on his back.

You're not my idea of a dream date.

This unlikely couple is out to recover the
ultimate weapon Laser mission.

Ashley (09:03):
That same year Brandon met Eliza Hutton while at Rennie
Harlan's office, where theyboth shared the same agent.
They hit it off immediately andstarted dating.
Before meeting Eliza, brandonhad been a confirmed bachelor
with a history of non-committalrelationships.
In 1991, he asked Eliza to movein with him, and the following
year they got engaged in Italy.

(09:24):
They planned to get married onApril 17, 1993, on a beach at
sunset in Ascendia, mexico, andthey hoped to start a family
soon after the wedding.
In 1991, brandon becamecertified in Muay Thai by the
Thai Boxing Association.
While he always credited hismartial arts skills with helping
him break into Hollywood, heremained eager to explore more

(09:47):
dramatic roles outside of thegeneric action films he had been
typecast into.

I've turned down.
You know, for that reason I wasalways it's not about that.
I mean, that's not whatacting's about, it's not what.
Listen to me this 27-year-oldactor with three films under his
belt telling me what acting'sabout, but I know it.

(10:14):
In my opinion, in my young,uncultured, uneducated opinion,
it's not what it's about.
It's about people and humansituations and that's what's
always affected me about it, youknow.
And if it doesn't have that, Imean if the film, if you don't
care about the characters, youdon't believe in them as people,
it's just kind of a pointlessexercise in blowing things up
you can really tell here that heis just itching for some sort

(10:38):
of more serious role where hecan play a character with depth
yes, you can really tell that hewanted to branch out.

Remi (10:46):
But he was kind of being typecast in these cheesy C-level
action movies and he reallywanted to act.
He wanted to be a dramaticactor.
If it was up to him, I think hewouldn't be in any action
movies.
He would be doing an indiedrama or something like that.
But he had to break in any wayhe could.

Ashley (11:07):
And I think what's really admirable about him is in
all of his movies you can tellthat passion to play a more
serious dramatic role is there,but he doesn't bash on any of
the work or opportunities he'sbeen given.
He's genuinely grateful thathe's being given any
opportunities at all.

Remi (11:26):
I watched a lot of interviews with Brandon leading
up to this to prepare and doresearch and it is really kind
of offensive how many interviewsstart with the exact same
questions about his father.
They always bring it up.
It is the first thing they askhim about in every single
interview and he is so gracious,he is so courteous, he answers

(11:49):
any question the interviewer has, even though it's very clear
this isn't what he wants tofocus on.
He would like to talk aboutother things, but he never is
rude.
He is always well-spoken, he isalways charming and he is never
offensive or snarky or anythingthat he has all the right in
the world to be at all of thesepeople bringing up his dead

(12:12):
father to him over and over andover again when he's an adult
trying to make his own way inthe world.
I mean, I understand his fatherwas one of the most famous
people in pop culture ever, butI think it's kind of sad that he
was trying so hard to make hisown way in the world but he had
to do so by going through all ofthis.

Ashley (12:33):
I can't remember if I heard this in an interview or
read it somewhere, but there wassome sort of interviewer who
said something like if you showpretty much anyone in the world
a photo of Marilyn Monroe, elvisand Bruce Lee, everyone is
going to know who they are.
And that's what this kid he'sstill a kid in my eyes at this

(12:54):
point was faced with.
Everyone knew his dad andwanted to know what it was like
being his son.

Remi (13:00):
And I do remember watching another interview where one of
his co-stars in these filmstalked about how he was Bruce
Lee's son.
If he really wanted to leaninto this and be the martial
arts master movie star that hisfather was, he could have done
it.
But that's not what he wantedfor himself and I think that's

(13:22):
very respectable for himself.
And I think that's veryrespectable.
In April 1991, Brandon Lee wasconsidered a contender by
Universal Pictures to play hisfather in the biopic Dragon, the
Bruce Lee story.
However, he turned down therole, finding it too awkward to
portray his father and beingunderstandably uncomfortable
with the idea of depicting theromance between his parents,

(13:45):
comfortable with the idea ofdepicting the romance between
his parents.
Producer Raffaella DeLaurentiis also expressed doubts
, stating Brandon didn't lookChinese enough for the role.
She even mentioned she wouldhave refused to work on the
project if they had to resort tomaking him appear more Asian,
which is pretty outrageous.

Ashley (14:02):
It is insanely offensive that this woman not only felt
this way, but felt this waystrongly enough to think it was
okay to vocalize it.

Remi (14:11):
Racism in Hollywood was pretty rampant during this time.
Unfortunately, ultimately therole went to Jason Scott Lee, no
relation.
He initially found the roleintimidating, but he overcame
his fear after speaking withBrandon.
Director Rob Cohen alsomentioned that he spent hours

(14:32):
talking to Brandon duringpreparations, valuing his
insights.
Brandon's American feature filmdebut came in 1991, with

(14:56):
Showdown in Little.

Michael Massee (14:57):
Tokyo, though it received largely negative
reviews.
Good job officer.

You know, all that upper body strength that really
slows you down.

I'm not slow.

You didn't hit me.

Well, if I did, you wouldn't be here.

I'm not arguing, but you didn't.

Ashley (15:15):
In 1992, he starred in Rapid Fire.
The film came after producerRobert Lawrence saw Brandon's
potential as a Hollywood actionstar following Legacy of Rage.
Brandon was actively involvedin the story development,
particularly connecting with theplot point where his character
loses his father.
Amada recalled Brandon bringinga book of his father's work to

(15:37):
emotionally prepare for thescene.
It was also the first time bothLee and Amada were credited for
fight choreography, whichblended elements of Bruce Lee's
Jeet Kune Do.

It's an open ballgame, you know you can do
anything that you can possiblythink of and fight.
Choreography to me is just afascinating, fascinating
enterprise.
I mean you can do things thatare so expressive of character.
You can have people expressthings in the action sequence of
a film that maybe they can'texpress in words in the other
sequence of the film, and to meit's so much more interesting

(16:13):
than you know a gunfight or acar chase.
It's so much more balletic.

Ashley (16:18):
Rapid Fire debuted at number three at the box office
and earned over $14 million.
Though critical reviews weremostly negative, many still
found Brandon's charismaundeniable, and he soon signed a
three-picture deal with 20thCentury Fox.
He was now being regularlycompared to other stars of the
time like Steven Seagal andJean-Claude Van Damme.

(16:40):
Though his fame was on the rise, he still yearned for more
challenging acting opportunities.
That same year, while doingpublicity for Rapid Fire,
Brandon was given the news helanded the iconic role that
would ultimately define hisentire career.

It's very noir.
It's about love, death andrevenge and I get to quote Edgar
Allan Poe at length and carry aguitar and kill people and come
back from the dead and it'sjust a freaky film.
It's gonna be.

Remi (17:14):
You can literally hear the excitement in his voice.
He is so pumped to do thismovie.
The Crow is a dark,supernatural revenge story about
Eric Draven, a rock musicianwho dresses in goth, paints his
face white like a jester and isresurrected from the dead by a
bird to seek revenge on a gangof violent pyromaniac street

(17:38):
thugs for the horrific murdersof him and his fiancée.
The Crow was an adaptation of agraphic novel written by a man
named James O'Barr.
Many years before the filmadaptation, o'barr's fiancée,
beverly, was killed by a drunkdriver.
Driven in part by the grief oflosing her, o'barr enlisted in
the Marines at 18 years old,hoping military service would

(18:02):
help him cope.
While serving in West Berlin in1981, o'barr began working on
the Crow as a way to process hispersonal tragedy.
The story was further inspiredby a news report from Detroit
about the murder of a youngcouple over a $20 engagement
ring.
The first mini-series of theCrow was published in 1989, but

(18:24):
O'Bar later admitted thecatharsis he had hoped for never
materialized.
In a 1994 interview he said asI drew each page, it made me
more self-destructive.
If anything, there is pureanger on each page.

Ashley (18:40):
I haven't seen the graphic novel.
Don't we have it?
Don't you own it?

Remi (18:44):
I haven't seen the graphic novel.
Don't we have it?
Don't you own it?
I read it for the first timelast year actually, and it is
not really story driven.
It's more of just an episodicthing where it's showing his
revenge and there's an issuewhere it has the backstory.
It is more of an art piece thana story driven graphic novel, I
would say, but it isbeautifully drawn.

Ashley (19:06):
And did he illustrate it as well?

Remi (19:08):
Yes, james O'Barr illustrated and wrote the
graphic novel for the Crow.
In the 1990s O'Barr becameaffiliated with the experimental
metal band Trust Obey, brieflysigning with Nine Inch Nails
frontman Trent Reznor's Nothinglabel.
Briefly signing with Nine InchNails frontman Trent Reznor's
Nothing label.
The band released Fear andBullets Music to Accompany the

(19:28):
Crow in 1993, which was packagedwith a special edition of the
Crow graphic novel.

Ashley (19:39):
When O'Barr first met with a major studio about
adapting the Crow into a film,the proposal was quickly
dismissed as the vision for themovie was a musical starring
Michael Jackson.

Remi (19:47):
Why was Michael Jackson pitched so many movies over the
years?
He was almost in Chicago.
He was almost in Men in Black.
I do not understand why he wasbeing considered for all of
these roles.

Ashley (19:59):
The Phantom Menace.
He was going to be Jar JarBinks.

Remi (20:02):
I'd completely forgotten about that one.
Yeah, what was Hollywoodthinking, even considering this?

Ashley (20:15):
this.
Eventually, Obar agreed toworkshop the project with writer
John Shirley and producer JeffMost, turning down a significant
offer from New Line Cinema inthe process.
I'm not going to lie, Iwouldn't mind to see a musical
version of this with MichaelJackson.
I'm glad that's not what we got, but if there was some sort of
alternate universe where I couldtransport myself and see it, I
would do it.
Obar directly collaborated onthe first two drafts of the

(20:37):
screenplay, but Shirley wasfired after a clash with a
development head at theproduction studio.
Initially, Obar wasn't sureabout casting Brandon Lee as the
lead.
Having only seen him inShowdown and Little Tokyo, he
feared the film might turn outlike a kung fu movie and go
straight to video.
However, all this changed whenhe first met Brandon on set in

(21:00):
full costume and makeup,speaking the exact lines Albar
wrote in his comics.

Still each one of these is a life, a life you
helped destroy.
Come back here.

Don't kill me.

I'm not going to kill you.
Your job will be to tell therest of them that death is
coming for them Tonight.
Tell them.

Ashley (21:35):
Eric draven sends his regards unsurprisingly, the
reasons obar liked brandon werethe exact same ones that he
landed the role in the firstplace.
His deep insight into thecharacter and commitment to the
role were particularlyimpressive to producers and
filmmaker Alex Proyas.

Remi (21:55):
As for production, most noted, Brandon focused on the
brevity and rhythm of hischaracter's dialogue to make his
portrayal sound morethreatening.
To prepare for his fight scenes, Lee and Proyas studied martial
arts movies for inspiration.
Lee convinced the team to hireJeff Amada as the stunt
coordinator and together theyoversaw the fight choreography.

(22:15):
They agreed Draven's movementsshould be unique and avoid
traditional martial artstechniques, since his character
wasn't trained in martial artsbut gained his abilities after
resurrection.
To translate this idea to thescreen, they incorporated a more
fluid and aerobic-inspiredfighting style.
Both Lee and Amada were pleasedthey could include elements of

(22:38):
martial arts without making it adirect part of the story.
Given his background, Lee optedto perform most of his own
stunts, further showcasing hiscommitment to the role and
determination to make the Crowas authentic as possible.
To fully embody the role of EricDraven, Brandon underwent
significant physical and mentalpreparation To achieve a lean,

(23:01):
rockstar-like appearance ratherthan looking like an action hero
.
He went on a strict diet weeksbefore shooting, meticulously
weighing his food.
He focused on cardio, lighterweight reps to elongate and
stretch his muscles, andaerobics to rapidly reduce body
fat.
Depending on the source, helost either 20 or 40 pounds

(23:22):
during this transformation.
For the resurrection scene, heimmersed himself in bags of ice,
believing the freezingsensation would help him connect
with the character's rebirth.
This scene, filmed on the firstnight of production in the
winter, required him to performbarefoot and naked in the cold.
Hairstylist, Michelle Johnson,also shared that in rainy scenes

(23:44):
, Brandon soaked himself inwater before filming to make the
performance more authentic,often acting shirtless in
freezing temperatures.

Ashley (23:53):
This is some mad dedication.

Remi (23:55):
He was all in on this role .
He thought this was afascinating character and he
thought it was important to getinto that headspace during these
scenes so he could perform thescenes as authentically as
possible.
It is really really admirablehow much he went through and how
dedicated he was to this roleand to this film.

Ashley (24:17):
It reminds me of method acting, but like an
individualized mental methodacting Like he wasn't going
around set.
From what I could see, hedidn't do this like acting as
Eric Draven in between takes,but he was doing all all this
stuff on his own to try to getinto the mental headspace of
what his character would bethinking and feeling.

Remi (24:38):
And it really translates on screen in his performance.
It is phenomenal.

Ashley (24:44):
Most accounts suggest Brandon didn't want metaphysical
characters alongside his in thefilm.
According to costume designerRoberta Bile, brandon modeled
Eric Draven after Chris Robinson, the lead singer of the Black
Crows, and he even learned toplay guitar for the role.
Lastly, since he was unhappywith how the makeup department
initially applied Eric Draven'sface paint, lee and Alex Porras

(25:07):
decided it would look moreauthentic if he applied it
himself Each night.
He put on the makeup before bedso it would appear naturally
worn and smudged the nextmorning for filming.

Remi (25:18):
A method that Heath Ledger similarly used when he was
portraying the Joker in the DarkKnight, which had very similar
makeup to Brandon Lee in theCrow.

Ashley (25:27):
Oh, so he did the same, put it on the night before,
slept on it and then filmed.

Remi (25:31):
He would apply his makeup himself.
I'm not sure if put it on thenight before, slept on it and
then filmed.
He would apply his makeuphimself.
I'm not sure if he slept in itthe night before, but he thought
it was important for him to putit on himself because his
character would have put it onhimself.

Ashley (25:42):
And he's not a professional makeup artist, so
it would look more sloppy andlike what any person would do.

Remi (25:48):
More real.
Any person would do More real.

Ashley (25:50):
While talking about the Crow to the media during
production, Brandon often spokeabout how the role was his big
break, a chance to step out ofthe shadow of Bruce Lee and
establish himself as a seriousactor with his own distinct
identity.
He was particularly proud ofhow the film balanced its
supernatural elements with rawhuman emotion, believing it

(26:12):
could resonate with audiences ona deeper level.

It poses some really interesting questions.
If you died and then somehow, ayear later, you had one day,
two days to come back, whatwould you do?
I mean, first of all, would youtell anyone?
First of all, would you tellanyone, you know, because you
got to think, like you've gotpeople you left behind, right,

(26:40):
but I mean they've had a yearnow to cope with it, right,
they've had a year to deal withhaving lost you.
They've had their grief.
We hope they've.
They've gone on in some way.
You know they found a place tokeep that and hold it.
And now you're back for twodays.
But I mean, tell me you couldsit someplace, and you know you
just want to pick up the phone.
So I thought about it and Ithought about it for a long time
.
I thought the first person I'dwant to call would be Eliza, my

(27:03):
fiancé, right, but of course inthis piece she's gone, you know,
and so that's another pressureon the character, and he's just
got the whole concept of havingcome back from the dead in the
first place, uh, to deal withit's.
It's a very interestingcharacter, for me.

Ashley (27:21):
Uh, that clip just kills me because there was probably
so many times eliza wish shecould just pick up the phone and
talk to him one last time.

Remi (27:29):
I specifically picked that clip because he gave a lot of
interviews, while doingpromotion for the Crow, of
course, but this was one of theearly interviews and it's the
only one where he mentions Eliza.
After that it goes intosomething it seems like he's
said many times before, but thisis more genuine.

(27:50):
It seems like he wascontemplating the character and
really looking into it andhauntingly, yeah, it is
something that his fiance wouldhave to bear not long from this
point.

Ashley (28:02):
Remy, I did not see the Crow until well after we started
dating.
I think you mentioned it onenight and I said I've never seen
this and you were like we'rewatching it right now.
I loved it when I saw it and Iknow you saw it much, much, much
earlier.
So what, if anything, did theCrow mean to you?
What was your reaction afteryou saw it for the first time?

Remi (28:24):
if you can remember, I did not see it in theaters I was a
little young when it had comeout but I saw it a lot
throughout high school.
It made the rounds.
I remember seeing that posteron a lot of my friends' walls
where he is walking through theshadows with the logo above him,
and it had this cult-likeunderground feel to it when I

(28:45):
was in high school.
It wasn't something that seemedmainstream and it was cool.
It was raw, it was edgy andeveryone thought it was fucking
awesome.
And it was cool.
It was raw, it was edgy andeveryone thought it was fucking
awesome because it was.
I remember I was also awrestling fan growing up, as I
am today, and there was even astoryline where one of the
characters had brightly coloredface paint for a long period of

(29:08):
time and then a tragedy happenedto this character and he got a
new look.
His character's new look wasBrandon Lee's look from the Crow
.
It was the exact same thing.
This was just presenteverywhere.
I remember seeing people withthe shirts.
I remember seeing the posters.
Like I said, it was not aphenomenon, but it was just
something that you always heardrumblings about, Even when I

(29:31):
went off to film school.
It was often discussed in thisgothic fairy tale type regard,
and it's a great film.
It's one of those films thatnot a lot of people have seen
surprisingly, that I've run intolater in life and I take joy in
showing them this film.
Ashley, you are not the firstperson.

(29:51):
I have shown this film for thefirst time and I remember many
people telling me after seeingit wow, what other films are
like that, what other movies arelike this?
Like they wanted more of this.
But this is one of those.
Once in a blue moon, all thestars just happened to align to
make this film and it's allwe're ever going to get of this

(30:13):
type of thing, I think.

Ashley (30:14):
It really is the definition of a cult classic.

Remi (30:18):
On March 31st 1993, just eight days before filming of the
Crow was set to wrap, onlythree days of which Brandon was
required for the cast and crewassembled for a scene that
depicted Brandon's character,eric Draven, being shot by his
co-star, michael Massey.
It was a flashback scenedepicting the moment Draven was

(30:39):
murdered.
Originally, funboy, played byMassey, wasn't supposed to be
shown shooting Draven, but thedirector changed it last minute
to show a bullet being fired 12to 15 feet away.
After the director called cut.
No one initially had any ideasomething had gone wrong.
Although Brandon fell backwardinstead of forward and didn't

(31:01):
get up right away, the crewthought he was still acting or
joking.
Stunt coordinator Jeff Amataquickly checked on Lee and found
him unconscious and breathingheavily.
An onset medic shook Brandon,believing he might have hit his
head, since there was no visiblebleeding.
His pulse was regular at first,but it slowed within minutes

(31:22):
before stopping entirely.
He was rushed to New HanoverRegional Medical Center in
Wilmington, north Carolina,where he underwent six hours of
emergency surgery.
Despite their efforts, he waspronounced dead at 1.03 pm.
So how in the world did thisall happen?

(31:43):
Well, brandon's death was theresult of a firearm
malfunctioning caused by aseries of preventable errors and
a lack of adherence to basicfirearm safety protocols that
started weeks earlier, turningwhat was intended to be a simple
night shoot into a devastatingtragedy.

Ashley (32:03):
Due to time and budget constraints, the crew didn't
purchase professionallymanufactured dummy cartridges
professionally manufactureddummy cartridges.
Instead, the special effectsteam made their own dummy
cartridges and blanks bydismantling real ammunition and
modifying the components acommon but dangerous practice in
film production at the time.
The live rounds had theirgunpowder removed, but the

(32:26):
primer was kept inside tosimulate a real bullet.
That would create a loud soundand some smoke.
The dummy cartridges were usedfor distant shots, while blank
rounds, which still had the livepowder, charge and primer but
no actual bullet, were used forclose-up shots.
This way, the gun can be firedwithout the risk of anything

(32:49):
actually shooting out of it.
Several witnesses laterrecalled seeing an unsupervised
actor pulling the trigger of theactual revolver while it was
loaded with the powderlessbutt-primed round.
It's not entirely clear whetherthis played a direct role, like
I couldn't find if it hadn'tbeen touched for two weeks or if
it was used earlier.

(33:10):
I think I heard that it hadn'tbeen touched since then, but I'm
not entirely sure.
Either way, it's worthmentioning, as it does speak to
the lack of strict gun safetyprecautions taken on set During
an earlier scene, either the onewith the actor pulling the
trigger or something closer tothe actual day, one of the dummy
rounds was fired.
Closer to the actual day one ofthe dummy rounds was fired when

(33:32):
the primer was struck.
It created enough pressure todislodge the bullet from the
casing and pushed it partwayinto the barrel, since there
wasn't any gunpowder to fullypush it out after it stayed
stuck inside.
Given the film's tight budgetand rushed environment, the
production company sent thefirearm specialist home early.

(33:54):
They didn't want to pay himanymore.
This left an inexperienced propassistant responsible for the
critical gun safety checks.
Although the individual lookedat the gun, they didn't really
know how to check it thoroughlyand missed the bullet lodged
inside the barrel.
So a blank was put in for thescene.
When the blank was fired, itexpelled the previously lodged

(34:16):
bullet from the barrel withnearly the same force as a live
round.
It struck Brandon in theabdomen, rupturing a major blood
vessel.

Remi (34:26):
I could not even imagine the confusion and chaos and
worry going on set during thistime, and all of this was so
avoidable.
Basic safety protocols were notdone here and it's a reason why
today most movies do not usethis type of ammunition or

(34:48):
blanks.
They prefer to do CGI orsomething like that for safety
reasons, and it is completelyjustified.

Ashley (34:56):
There's so many things that could have gone differently
that in the end in my mind allboil down to production trying
to finish this as quick as theycould, as cheaply as they could.
They could have spent the moneyfor the properly made dummy
cartridges and blank.
They could have paid the extraday, the properly made dummy
cartridges and blank.
They could have paid the extraday or two salary to have the

(35:16):
weapons specialist whose wholejob is to check the guns and
make sure that there's nothingstuck inside that could kill
someone.
But because they wanted to savea couple bucks, a couple
hundred bucks, this happened.
Someone died.
The star of the movie died.

Remi (35:34):
Despite these movies costing millions upon millions
of dollars.
That is the case with most filmsets they are looking to pinch
a penny and cut costs anywherethey can and as a result, people
can get hurt.
Brandon Lee was laid to restbeside his father at the
Lakeview Cemetery in Seattle,washington.
A private funeral was held inSeattle on April 3, 1993,

(35:58):
followed by a memorial servicein Los Angeles the next day,
which was attended by 200 familymembers, friends and business
associates.
In the weeks following hispassing, interest in Lee's
earlier work surged.
In the weeks following hispassing, interest in Lee's
earlier work surged, with hisprevious films experiencing a
significant rise in video salesas fans sought to honor his

(36:19):
legacy.
After Brandon's death, the Crowproduction team was faced with
a difficult decision Abandon theproject entirely or find a way
to complete it without Brandon.
Ultimately, alex Proyas choseto finish the film as a tribute
to Brandon's passion anddedication, a choice which was

(36:39):
supported by his fiance andmother.

Ashley (36:42):
Paramount Pictures, the original distributor, pulled out
of the project due to delaysand concerns over its violent
content.
Following Brandon's accidentaldeath, merrimack's film stepped
in to save it and contributed anadditional $8 million to
complete production.
Writers were brought in torework unshot scenes, relying on

(37:03):
flashbacks, voiceover narrationand pre-existing footage of
Brandon to fill the narrativegaps.
The opening sequence and a keyapartment scene were completely
rewritten and reconstructed.
The cast and crew took atemporary hiatus following the
tragedy and during the rewritesMany were deeply affected by
Brandon's passing, making thecompletion of the film an

(37:25):
emotional experience.
Brandon's stunt double, chadStahelski, who would later go on
to direct the John Wick filmsmore on our thoughts about this
later was used as a stand-in forhis remaining scenes.
Initially, the production teamplanned on using a mask made
from a mold of Brandon's facefor the doubles.

(37:45):
However, it was destroyed afterthe cast and crew found it too
unsettling, and rightfully so.
That would be so just unnerving.
I can't imagine the mold lookedthat great.

Remi (37:58):
I can't believe that was even considered.
I feel like that's one of thosethings that you put on in the
dressing room and you realize,yeah, this is not gonna work at
all.

Ashley (38:09):
Thankfully, filmmakers instead utilized CGI to
superimpose Lee's face ontoStahelski, using a technique
developed by an effect shopcalled DreamQuest Images, which
previously worked on JamesCameron's the Abyss.

Remi (38:25):
And Total Recall.

Ashley (38:26):
The film's use of CGI in this way was groundbreaking,
opening doors for futureprojects to innovate in similar
circumstances.

Remi (38:36):
They utilized this technique during the Fast and
the Furious film, where PaulRocker had passed away.

Ashley (38:42):
They do face swapping like this all the time now.
It is crazy that they wereusing it back in 1993.

Remi (38:50):
They used rotoscoping and I watched a video on it.
It is insane.
It looks like they are using aMicrosoft Paint doing this sort
of thing.
It is very, very, veryimpressive that you can watch
this film and there is not onescene, in my opinion, where you
think that it's not Brandon Lee.
The Wilmington DA office did aninvestigation into the cause of

(39:14):
Brandon's death.
In the end, the shooting wasruled accidental due to
negligence.
No charges were filed sincethere was no evidence of
criminal wrongdoing.
On August 9, 1993, brandon'smom, linda, filed a negligence
lawsuit against 15 entities andpeople, alleging their

(39:35):
negligence was responsible forher son's quote agonizing pain,
suffering and untimely death.
Among the defendants were theproduction companies and various
producers.
The director and firstassistant director the special
effects contracting company.
Visual effects consultant.
Assistant.
Property Assistant Director theSpecial Effects Contracting

(39:56):
Company.
Visual Effects Consultant.

Ashley (39:58):
Assistant Property Master and Stunt Coordinator,
Jeff Amata.
That last one made meparticularly sad to hear.
I get why she did it.
It just must have been so hardfor him to be named in this
lawsuit as responsible for thedeath of someone that he trained
and has such a closerelationship with.

Remi (40:20):
They were friends, I don't think that he would have done
anything that he knew would beunsafe for Brandon.
One of Linda's lawyers, jamesNeal, successfully defended
director John Landis againstmanslaughter charges in
connection with the 1982 deathof actor Vic Morrow and two
child actors during the filmingof a helicopter scene in the
Twilight Zone movie, which wewill be covering in a future

(40:41):
bonus episode.
The lawsuit was settled out ofcourt two months later for an
undisclosed amount.

Ashley (40:49):
The corner-cutting and cost-saving efforts turned what
should have been Brandon'sbreakout role into a devastating
loss for his family, friendsand fans.
Co-star Ernie Hudson recallseating dinner with Brandon on
the eve of the accident.

Very, very nice to her.
And then he and I got into aconversation.
I'm like I've been doing thisstuff for so long and I'm like
I'm just, you know, I mean I'vedone everything I know to do and
I'm not getting.
I was just in one of thosespaces and he was saying, ernie,
hang in.
He said I'm, you know, I'm notjust starting this, I just
signed a three picture deal.
You know, I'm getting married,we just bought a house, life is

(41:25):
good and I'm sure it's going tohappen for you.
Just just hang in there and yoube like me.
You know, we flew to Minnesotathe next day and as I was
walking in the house, I got aphone call that he was dead.

Ashley (41:38):
James O'Barr, author of the Crow, later remarked that he
felt guilty promoting andprofiting from the project after
Lee's death, even going so farto say that there were times he
wished he never even wrote it.

I'm like you know, it's just kind of like after he
, after Brandon, was killed,after he died, um, um, I don't
know, I had, I had a lot of like, um, residual guilt over it,
like somehow I was responsible,um, you know, even though that's
like dog logic, it doesn't makeany sense.

(42:11):
I mean, I wasn't even therewhen it happened.
So it was, you know, but Istill kind of felt like, well,
this is his moment to shine, youknow, and I'm getting all the
glory from it.
You know I'm getting wealthyfrom it.
And you know, it's, like youknow, entertainment tonight's
fucking parked outside myapartment, you know, it's just

(42:34):
like.
You know, it didn't seem rightto me.

Remi (42:37):
I feel bad for James.
He lost his Beverly long agoand it seems like he and Brandon
were actually pretty chummytowards the end of things.
After at first not feeling thatBrandon would be right for this
role, they actually becamefriends on set and would
communicate, and I read a lot ofarticles about how they had

(43:00):
become buddies throughout all ofthis.

Ashley (43:04):
It's particularly sad because this comic was birthed
out of a tragedy the death ofhis fiance and was supposed to
be some sort of catharticexperience for him.
And even he said it didn't dothat for him and he was
reluctant to turning it into amovie and agreed to do it and
was excited about it and thenthe star died.

(43:24):
So I understand his point ofview when he says I feel guilty
for even ever have written this.

Remi (43:32):
And the part where he's speaking about this was
Brandon's moment, and it's amovie that he would be proud of.
It's something he wanted peopleto see, but feeling that guilt
of profiting from it at the sametime, I can understand feeling
very conflicted about that.

Ashley (43:51):
Michael Massey, the actor who fired the prop gun
that accidentally killed Brandon, was deeply affected by the
tragedy and carried theemotional weight of the incident
for the rest of his life.
He couldn't bring himself tocome back to set after filming
resumed, never watched the finalproduct and stopped acting for
a year.
His next film was a small rolein Seven.

(44:12):
In later interviews he said hehad nightmares about the
accident and struggled to copewith what happened.
He rarely spoke about it andwhen he did he reflected on the
immense guilt he still carried,like during this 2005 interview
with Extra.

And I've never talked about this on camera, and
it was shooting of the crow andBrandon died during it.
And Since then I am veryconscious of the dangers of
making a movie and it is adangerous Proposition where you,
we, throw ourselves out therewith, at least me, with very

(44:52):
Little regard for my body whenI'm doing it and you're using
different props.
That can be really dangerous,especially if they're not
treated well.
I mean, what happened toBrandon was a tragic accident
and it's something that I'm,that I'm going to live with.

(45:15):
It's taken me, took me the timeit took to be able to not so
much put it in perspective butto be able to move on with my
life, and I never felt the theneed or the obligation to talk
to anybody about it other thanhis fiancée at the time and his

(45:36):
mother, who I called.

Ashley (45:40):
I cannot imagine how difficult of a phone call that
was to his family.

Remi (45:45):
I do feel for the guy.
I mean, he was just an actorshooting a prop gun.
He didn't know what was goingto happen at all.
It was not his responsibilityto know and he has to live with
what happened for the rest ofhis life and it clearly has
affected him.
You can tell in the voice clearwhere he's just talking about

(46:08):
it that it still is somethingthat deeply affects him.
The Crow was released on May 13,1994, and debuted at number one
in the US box office, earning$11.7 million during its opening
weekend.
It went on to gross $50.7million worldwide against a $23

(46:31):
million budget, making it themost successful film of Brandon
Lee's entire career.
The movie later became a cultclassic and is widely celebrated
for its gothic aesthetic,emotional depth and Lee's iconic
performance.
Critically acclaimed, the Crowholds an 87% score on Rotten

(46:52):
Tomatoes, with critics praisingit as filled with style and dark
, lurid energy.
The Crow is an action-packedvisual feast that also has a
soul in the performance of thelate Brandon Lee.
The film was dedicated to Leeand his fiancée Eliza Hutton,
further cementing its legacy asboth a cinematic achievement and

(47:13):
a heartfelt tribute to Brandon.

Shannon Lee (47:16):
His sister, shannon Lee, had this to say about her
experience seeing the film whenthe movie came out I was really
on the fence about whether to gosee it because, you know,
obviously it was a veryemotional time for me and my
family.
But I had to go see it becauseI knew that Brandon would be so

(47:38):
proud of his performance, he wasso proud of this movie and so I
went to go see it.
In a nice big movie theater Ipicked the biggest, fanciest
movie theater that I could findand went to go see it and I'm so
glad I did, because he wasphenomenal and the movie was a

(48:00):
great movie and I'm just reallyproud of him, really proud of
him.

Ashley (48:09):
That was one of the clips I had not seen before and
I got choked up during it.
It is heartbreaking hearing hertalk about that.
The only reason she saw it isbecause she knew how proud her
brother was of the movie, howproud he would have been of the
final cut so excited for thisfilm.

Remi (48:35):
Every interview I saw with him.
I watched a lot of interviewswith Brandon preparing for this
podcast and there is adifference in the way he's
speaking about his projects.

Ashley (48:43):
I was going to say that, even the ones I watched for
this that you showed me.
When he's talking about hisearlier films, he's going
through the motions andanswering the questions, but
when he's talking about the Crow, his face lights up.

Remi (48:56):
And it's one of the few times when interviews were not
centered around action scenesand his father.
He got to talk about hischaracter, he got to talk about
the film and he loved that.
He had the opportunity to playthis complicated, unique,
intriguing character.

Ashley (49:18):
It's what he wanted, what he said he wanted in his
earlier interviews of I justwant to get cast in a role where
I can play a character and showthe emotional depth that human
beings have.

Remi (49:33):
And I think he knew that this was the film that could
break him out of his father'sshadow.
It could differentiate him fromwhat had been done before.
He did not want to be makingthe types of movies that he was
making previously, and when thiscame along, he saw it as such

(49:53):
an opportunity to show what hecould do and explore a
complicated character andportray depth and emotion on
screen, instead of just doingfight scenes and being asked
about his father.
It is so sad, because he wouldhave gone on two amazing things
if this tragedy had not occurred.

Ashley (50:16):
We've talked about this before Remy, but there was a lot
of rumors.
We can't find anything likesubstantiated by people involved
with the project, but it ispretty widely known that he was
tapped to play Neo in the Matrixand that the whole movie was
written with him in mind as thestar.

Remi (50:38):
We were discussing this previously, like you said, but I
honestly feel if Brandon hadn'tpassed away, he would have had
the career that Keanu Reeves hastoday.
From everything that I hadresearched and read again, I
couldn't find concrete evidenceabout this, but there was a lot
of stuff speaking about how theWachowskis had written the

(51:01):
Matrix specifically with Brandonin mind.
Because of his martial artsbackground, he would have been
perfect for the role of Neo, andin later years, with the John
Wick films, they were made bythe stuntman for Brandon from
the Crow films.
So it's pretty natural to thinkthat if he was around, he would

(51:23):
have been John Wick, and itjust makes it so much more
tragic thinking about all thatcould have been.
He was so excited about thismovie and that it was his chance

(51:45):
to do something new, and thisBrandon's death sparked calls
for stricter gun safety onsets.

Ashley (51:52):
The accident highlighted the dangers of mishandling of
firearms, even when they areprops, and reportedly led to
product teams becoming morediligent about inspecting the
guns and ammunition used.
However, from time to time,productions revert back to
budget-cutting and time-savingmeasures, leading to continued
tragedies like what happened onthe set of Rust in October 2021.

(52:16):
The industry now has stricterrules for dummy and blank rounds
, in that no active primer orgunpowder is used.
The dummy and blank rounds areoften marked or designed
differently to avoid confusionwith live rounds.

Remi (52:30):
There are also stricter rules when using blanks,
including ensuring that thefirearm barrels are completely
clear of any obstructions beforeloading if there is ammo,
because there was a law passedthat states that any time
someone is handed a gun on amovie set, they are required to

(52:58):
check and see if it is loaded inany way, even if they are
filming a scene.
So look out for a lot ofdifferent times, especially on
television shows.

Ashley (53:07):
If someone passes a gun off, they will covertly have to
put it down and check to makesure that there's nothing in
there, and that's before it'sshot and after it's shot, right,
so it leads to double eyeslooking at it each and every
single time it passes hands.

Remi (53:25):
Basically, it's a requirement that anytime you are
handed a gun, you need to check.

Ashley (53:32):
Productions are also now required to have a licensed and
trained weapons handler on setwhenever guns are present.
This specialist is responsiblefor storing, inspecting and
maintaining all firearms,preparing dummy and blade
grounds and ensuring properhandling by actors and crew.
Guns shouldn't ever be directlypointed at another person, even

(53:56):
during a scene.
Instead, angles, editing or CGIare used to simulate direct aim
.
A full safety briefing with allcast and crew is conducted
before any firearm is used.
Brandon's sister, mom andfiance have all advocated for
stricter gun safety protocols.

Remi (54:16):
The success of the Crow spawned several sequels and
adaptations, though none matchedthe acclaim or success of the
original.
These included the Crow City ofAngels in 1996, the Crow
Stairway to Heaven, a 1998Canadian TV series.
The Crow Salvation, a 2000direct-to-video release, and the

(54:38):
Crow Wicked Prayer, which had alimited one-week premiere in
Seattle before heading directlyto video-on-demand in 2005.
There was another plannedsequel titled the Crow 2037 in
the late 1990s, with Rob Zombieattached to write and direct,

(54:59):
which thankfully never came tofruition.

Ashley (55:02):
Did you ever see any of these sequels or spinoffs?

Remi (55:05):
No, actually, I think I may have seen parts of the
sequel, the Crow City of Angels,which was, I think, one of the
only one of these that wasreleased in theaters at the time
.
But beyond that, yeah, I wasn'tinterested in seeing the Crow
without Brandon Lee, and none ofthese films had the same feel

(55:27):
and aesthetic as the originaldid.
It just didn't feel the same,you know.

Ashley (55:33):
It feels like a cash grab.

Remi (55:35):
Yeah, it feels like these were literally just being made
to piggyback on the name of theoriginal Crow film.
Discussions of a reboot for theCrow began in 2008, with
Stephen Norrington announcingplans to write and direct a
reinvention of the Crow graphicnovel.
However, the project lingeredin development hell for years,

(55:59):
with numerous actors rumored orattached to the leading role,
including Mark Wahlberg, BradleyCooper, Channing Tatum, Ryan
Gosling, James McAvoy, TomHiddleston and Alexander
Skarsgård.

Ashley (56:13):
I also read Nicholas Holt, and some of these names
are absolutely wild ChanningTatum, channing Tatum, magic
Mike.

Remi (56:29):
I could not see it, but this seems like a project that a
lot of actors in Hollywood wereinterested in, but it never
felt right.

Ashley (56:32):
Mark Wahlberg was actually attached to it at two
separate times.
I think a lot of people werereally interested in doing this,
but because it was justlanguishing and it would be on
and then it would be off, andthen it would be on.
These are all very, very, veryfamous actors, if not at the
point when they were tapped forthe role, certainly afterwards.

(56:53):
Famous actors, if not at thepoint when they were tapped for
the role, certainly afterwards.

Remi (56:59):
And I can see that they just couldn't be sitting around
waiting to get the green light.
They just couldn't get thestory together.
It's not a complicated story.
It seems like something that ifyou wanted to make this you
could get it together, but Idon't know.
The stars aligned perfectly forthis original version and it's
hard to beat it.

Ashley (57:18):
It's not a complicated story, but the events
surrounding it are certainlysomething that need to be
considered and respected whenmoving forward, and I think
that's the primary reason why ittook so long.

Remi (57:33):
Agreed.
That in and of itself doescomplicate the story.

Ashley (57:37):
And as it should.

Remi (57:39):
In 2013, the Crow creator, james O'Barr, was named as a
creative consultant for a newfilm, and in October 2014,
o'barr discussed his involvementin co-writing the script and
emphasized his goal ofrespecting the original film and
source material.
That November, obar appeared atWizard World Tulsa Comic-Con,

(58:02):
confirming his collaborationwith screenwriter Cliff Dorfman,
with Luke Evans now attached asthe lead.
Evans was forced to leave theproject shortly after due to
scheduling conflicts, and by2018, jason Momoa became
attached to the project, withCorin Hardy being brought on as
director and out there thatJason Momoa is going to be.

Ashley (58:35):
Eric Draven.
What do you think?
Can you see it?
He seems a little buff.

Remi (58:40):
I can't really see it.
I don't know what version theywere going with on that, but,
honestly, many of the actorsthat they named I couldn't
envision in this role.
It is a very iconic part and Idon't know.
It's hard to see someone elseplaying this role besides
Brandon.

(59:01):
Well, regardless, Jason Momoaand Corin Hardy would both drop
out due to creative differencesand production delays sometime
after.

Ashley (59:11):
Throughout the development of the Crow reboot,
the project was largely met withunanimous disapproval from the
cast and crew of the original,With many voicing criticisms it
would be disrespectful toBrandon's legacy.
Director of the original film,Alex Proyas, dismissed the idea
of a reboot as a cynical cashgrab, while actress Rochelle

(59:34):
Davis, who played the littlegirl Sarah in the original,
refused to watch it for similarreasons.
Actress Sophia Shinnes, whoplayed Shelley in the original,
also expressed dissatisfaction.
Ernie Hudson, who playedSergeant Albrecht, had mixed
feelings regarding the project.
The Crow reboot began gainingtraction again in January 2020,

(59:57):
with Rupert Sanders and ZachBalin announced as director and
writer.
By April 2022, Bill Skarsgårdwas officially cast in the lead
role of Eric Draven.

Remi (01:00:09):
Years after his brother had been cast in the role at one
point.

Ashley (01:00:14):
We've talked about this before.
Now that Alexander Skarsgård isa little bit older, he's kind
of been around the block a bitplaying the sex symbol big buff
guy.
He's kind of more than willingto let his younger brother take
on the action shirtless roles.

Remi (01:00:31):
And, honestly, this seems like a role if changed is
something that he could havetackled.

Ashley (01:00:37):
Director Rupert Sanders described the reboot as a dark
romance focused on themes ofgrief and morality, with the
tone inspired by the cure.
To honor Brandon Lee, and inresponse to concerns following
the Russ tragedy, sandersprohibited live firearms on set
instead, opting for airsoft gunswith visual effect muzzle

(01:00:59):
flashes being added in later.
Production began in Prague inJuly 2022 and wrapped in
September.
Skarsgård mentioned that thefilm's ending was altered by the
filmmakers to leave room for asequel, a decision he disagreed
with as he preferred a moredefinitive conclusion.
He also stated that the rebootwas purposefully crafted to be

(01:01:21):
entirely different from theoriginal so to not tread on
Lee's legacy.

Bill Skarsgård (01:01:26):
An iconic performance, a tragic, a tragic
thing that happened with Brandonand for me it was just.
I approached this like I'd doany other job, where it's just
like what's this story?
How can I do this story justice?
This movie is so different, soI didn't.
It wasn't, we were not remakingthat movie and that was never

(01:01:48):
the intention.
The movie and his performanceis iconic and shouldn't be
tampered with at all.

Remi (01:01:53):
I think you can tell in the interview that he felt
strongly that this was somethingdifferent than what Brandon had
done.
He's a smart guy.
He likes to invest himself veryfully into these characters and
I even remember readinginterviews with him where he was
talking about how he didn'tlike the fact that the studio

(01:02:14):
made him get buff for this film.
He felt that his characterwould be thin, he would not be a
character that was going to thegym, but the studio made him do
that.
It sounded like he was tryingto approach this as an actor
would approach a character, andin no way was he trying to
emulate anything that Brandonhad done before.

Ashley (01:02:36):
Everything I've seen and read about Bill Skarsgård is
that he is very aware and itseems to me that going into this
role he was very well awarethat he's going to be compared
to Brandon Lee and that the Crow2024 and the Crow 1994 are
going to be compared and somepeople are going to be pissed.

Remi (01:02:58):
It really is unavoidable and it's almost a no-win
situation with this type ofthing.
James O'Barr's directinvolvement with the most recent
reboot was reportedly minimalto non-existent In the final cut
.
He was only credited inrelation to his original comic,

(01:03:19):
not as an active contributor tothe reboot's development or
production.
The Crow reboot wastheatrically released in the
United States on August 23, 2024.
With a budget of $50 million,it went on to only gross $24
million worldwide.
On Rotten Tomatoes, itcurrently has a 22% approval

(01:03:42):
rating.
The critical consensus readsdreary and poorly paced.
This reimagining of the crowdoesn't have enough personality
or pulse to merit itsresurrection.

Ashley (01:03:55):
Oof 22% is so low, I don't necessarily agree with the
22% approval.
Remy, what are your thoughts onthe remake?

Remi (01:04:06):
It's a controversial opinion, but I liked the remake.
I don't view it as the samething as the original Crow at
all.
It is very different.
I think that the rules of theCrow are different.
I think that the story isdifferent.
I think it is different enoughto be viewed as something
entirely separate from thatoriginal film.

(01:04:28):
I love that original film and Ialways will, but I do think
that the reboot does have a lotof things that are really really
worth seeing.

Ashley (01:04:40):
One of the biggest differences was that the two
main characters, their lovestory, wasn't something that was
this deep, passionate, truelove story.
They were young kids that weredrug addicted and just kind of
together for a short while outof really convenience.

Remi (01:04:58):
And there was an aspect to the story of if Eric questioned
his love he would lose hispowers, and just toying with
different concepts like that Ithink was really interesting.
Another thing was, anytime hewas shot or injured he felt the
pain and I thought it wasoriginal.

(01:05:19):
I thought that they did enoughto differentiate it and,
honestly, the entire time I waswatching it I was not thinking
of the original.
Not at one point was Icomparing what I was viewing in
this reboot to what Brandon Leehad done in the original.
This is a totally, totallydifferent reimagining of

(01:05:40):
everything about the Crow.

Ashley (01:05:42):
I remember we threw it on TV one day, I think on just a
lazy Sunday, and thought likewhatever, we'll just put this on
, have very low expectations forit, and we were both intrigued
and watched the whole thingbecause it was so much better
than what we were hearing andexpecting.

Remi (01:06:02):
I went in expecting it to be bad.
In all honesty, I don't thinkit disrespects Brandon's memory
at all.
I think it is a completelyseparate thing, based on the
idea of the crow reimagined intosomething entirely different
and, in my personal opinion, Ithink, besides the ending, I do

(01:06:24):
agree that a more final endingwould have been better.
I think the film is not bad andI think it was overly
persecuted because of theoriginal, because the original
will always be so loved and soiconic and is ingrained in so
many people's lives.

(01:06:45):
It's hard to deny that, but Ido think that there is a place
for this one somewhere.
It's not on the same level, butI don't think it's a bad film.

Ashley (01:06:56):
Well, and with that ending, you know the producers
changed it in case it was asuccess.
It's probably not going to havea sequel now with how it was
received and bombed at the boxoffice, but they left it open
for that, and you can tell thatBill Skarsgård was like no, this
doesn't need a follow up, it isa contained story and it should

(01:07:16):
stay that way.

Remi (01:07:17):
I believe that Bill Skarsgård was approaching the
role the same way that BrandonLee was approaching the role.
I think he was given thischaracter it was a different
character in both films and Ithink he was really trying to
get into the mindset and tryingto understand that character,
trying to see what thatcharacter would be conflicted

(01:07:39):
with and facing.
And again, it's very, verydifferent and I think that is an
important thing to emphasize.
This is not a reboot of thatoriginal.
This is a reimagining of theconcept.

Ashley (01:07:53):
In my opinion, and it's kind of a double-edged sword,
right.
Like, all of the people thatwere involved and deeply loved
the original were upset aboutthe remake because they thought
it was going to be just that aremake, and that it was going to
try to replace the original.
And then you have all the fansof the original that went into

(01:08:15):
this one expecting it to be aremake, and it wasn't that.
So you had people on both sidespissed at what they got.

Remi (01:08:25):
It was a no-win scenario, and Hollywood has a tendency of
attaching names of loved andwell-known projects like the
original Crow to other films.
That, if need be, it could be aseparate thing entirely, but
they attach a name like the Crowto it and people have certain

(01:08:45):
expectations as a result, and Ithink this is something that
could be viewed separately, butwith that name, the Crow, it
never will be.

Ashley (01:08:56):
Brandon Lee wanted to be remembered as more than just
Bruce Lee's son and although hislife undeniably ended far, far
too soon, he did achieve thatgoal.
When you say the name BrandonLee, most think about his
performance as Eric Draven inthe Crow, a performance so
legendary that he became theCrow.

(01:09:16):
After listening to this episode, we hope when you hear his name
, you also think about more thanjust his last acting role.
You also think about more thanjust his last acting role.
We hope you think about what hestood for, what he inspired in
everyone who knew him and whathis death meant to the world.
We're going to let Brandonclose this episode himself with

(01:09:36):
a passage from Paul Boyle's bookthe Sheltering Sky.
He quoted it during the lastinterview before his death.
He chose it for his weddinginvitations and it is inscribed
on his tombstone.
Rest in peace, brandon.

Brandon Lee (01:09:51):
There's this wonderful quote from the book
Sheltering Sky where he saysBecause we do not know when we
will die, we get to think oflife as an inexhaustible well.
Because we do not know when wewill die, we get to think of
life as an inexhaustible well.
And yet everything happens onlya certain number of times, and
a very small number, really.
How many more times will youremember a certain afternoon of

(01:10:15):
your childhood, an afternoonthat is so deeply a part of your
being that you can't evenconceive of your life without it
?
Perhaps four or five times more, perhaps not even that.
How many more times will youwatch the full moon rise?
Perhaps 20.
And yet it all seems limitless.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

24/7 News: The Latest

Crime Junkie

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Brandon Lee & The Crow (Bonus Episode)

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}On Purpose with Jay Shetty

24/7 News: The Latest

Crime Junkie

All Episodes

Brandon Lee & The Crow (Bonus Episode)

On Purpose with Jay Shetty