Conference bookie::movies

    Yep. He was working on a film based on the comic-book character, "The
    Crow". Apparently, there have been assorted other more-serious-than-
    usual accidents on the set; investigations will doubtless ensue.
    
    -b

    Oh my God!  THAT'S the Lee that the radio was talking about yesterday
    ... he just finished a movie that's being previewed lately: "Dragon" or
    something like that; it's about his father's life story.
    
    What a tragedy ...
    
    Leslie

    Actually, Brandon Lee was NOT doing the movie about his father, that
    was somebody else Lee (no relation).  
    
    I'm curious how non-blanks would manage to work themselves into a gun
    being used for a stage prop, but no doubt, we'll hear more about it in
    the media.  
    
    kim

    >I'm curious how non-blanks would manage to work themselves into a gun
    >being used for a stage prop, but no doubt, we'll hear more about it in
    >the media.  
    
    Apparently even 'blanks' can cause injury or death.  Several years
    ago, actor John Erik Hexxum was fooling around during filming of
    a TV series and pointed a gun with blanks to his temple. He never
    regained consciuosness and ultimately died.
    
    Jodi-
    

I've seen Brandon in one martial arts movie (don't remember the name)
He's wasn't his father, but he wasn't half bad either as an actor or a
martial artist. Wonder how long it takes before the tabloids come up
with the curse of Bruce Lee (rumors of his death not being an accident but
because of revenge for revealing Kung Fu secrets etc.) stories especially
with Dragon about to premier?

Regards
Barry 

    The movie Brandon Lee was in recently was RAPID FIRE. It wasn't too bad
    for a martial arts-type of movie.
    
    Catherine
    

Laser Mission (1990)
Rapid Fire (1992)
Showdown in Little Tokyo (1992)

They pulled a .44 slug out of Brandon's tummy today. 

Law folks are treating this case as a "may not have been an accident".

This is big news here in NC.  They were filming the movie in Wilmington,
which has been quite the Hollywood hot spot since the endless supply of
qualified-set-people-without-union-cards was discovered.

Lisa

    Is this a wind-up.
    
    Grant

    re: blanks
    
    Yeah, I know about the John Erik Hexum thing, but I didn't get the
    impression Brandon Lee was a) shot with a blank or b) shot close range
    (like, in the temple as JEH was).
    
    kim

    Last nights Entertainment Tonight had a representative from his curentt
    movie "CROW" or THE CROW.  They didn't provide many details and aren't
    sure how they will handle the movie since there was still one week's
    worth of shooting (pardon the grim pun) left.  I missed the 1st part 
    of the story but Mary Hart (or whoever on ET) mentioned the prop gun 
    rumor and said that wasn't true.  He was shot with a .44
    
    Joyce
    

    It was the CIA, just like with Bruce Lee.
    
    All I can say is that Mark Bode' better watch his tush.
    
    Ray

Hi,
	I do not know diddly about making movies so maybe I am wrong but I
do not see any reason to ever have real bullets on a movie set. In fact
when I was in California I went to Universal Studios to see how they make
movies and they showed that the sound was added after the movie is filmed,
so I do not know why they would even need blanks if that was the case, empty 
shells would be enough.
		Bob

  As someone said earlier, they had originally called it an accident but
now they are not so sure.

  The implication is that it may not have been an accident. Maybe it was
murder.

  George

    Actually the bit about Curse of Bruce Lee may not be so far off since
    it has been twenty years, this year, since Bruce Lee died and it is not
    that far a stretch of the imagination to consider the possibility that
    some nutty fan may have commited this act in an effort to give credence
    to the old rumour/legend.  Or perhaps it was some nut-case fan who
    couldn't stand the possibility that the son might become more
    successful than the father, considering the fact that Brandon's
    non-martial arts moves are better than his father's as are the
    production values of his films, and his martial arts aren't as stupid
    looking on film.  IMHO
    
    Lot's of sickos out there,
    
    Andrew
    

    RE: some nutty fan...
    
    If this "fan" really wanted to make an impression, 
    he should have waited until July 20th, the 20th 
    anniversary of Bruce's death.
    

  ... but how would a fan have access to the gun?

  Crazy fans normally lie in wait to ambush their victim.

  George

	Maybe he's not even dead!  This did happen on April 1st (Fools
	Day) after all.  It could be a studio generated hoax to generate
	publicitiy for the next film.

    Blanks are used on movie sets to provide a visual cue as well as an
    audio cue regarding the firing of weapons so that a) actors can react,
    b) sound folks know exactly where to add sound, c) actors firing can
    have a concrete feeling of actually doing something and adds the flinch
    factor which stands in for recoil.  Actually, blanks have been used in
    movies such as the Star Wars series to make the "blasters" look like
    they were doing something.  Blanks are also critical in making semi-
    and full automatic firearms operate realistically in continuous filmed
    shots.  This is necessary in these firearms because the energy (gas
    pressure) from a fired cartridge is what causes the action to cycle,
    ejecting the spent cartridge. loading the next cartridge in preparation
    for firing, and cocking the hammer.  Blanks are not necessary to do
    this in revolvers, which have a simpler action, but they definitely add
    the proper feel.    
    
    Long answer.   
    
    Andrew
    
    By the way, there is no reason in hell that real ammunition should be
    anywhere near a film soundstage, especially when firearms may be found
    around the set for filming purposes.  Also, any firearms used as props
    on set should be guarded to prevent tampering and to prevent theft.
    
    

    The latest word:
    
    There are two types of stunt bullets:  dummies and blanks.  Dummies
    look like bullets, but don't fire.  Blanks "fire" (having gunpowder)
    but nothing is propelled.  The gun was loaded with dummies for a shot;
    then it was emptied and loaded with blanks.  It appears that part of a
    dummy was lodged in the gun, and was expelled by the blank.
    
    Gotta wonder what the actor who fired the gun is feeling.

    Nothing is expelled when firing a blank? You should ask John Erik
    Hexxum's ghost about that!
    
    Ken

    If you put a gun with blanks to your head, the force of the gasses
    shooting out of the muzzle can kill you, ala Hexum.  (He put the
    gun directly on his temple, I believe)

    Blanks are relatively same at distance, unless there is a piece of
    lead lodged in the barrel, then the "blank" turns into a "bullet".

    Blank is the energy (gun powder, cap), without a projectile.  Add
    a projectile...

    Not to beat this into the ground but...a "blank" ceases to be a "blank"
    at extremely close range. (like when the muzzle is against your head)
    At that extremely close range,the "bullet" is not lead but rather the
    "wad" which is the hunk of cardboard holding the powder in the
    cartrdge. It was this "wad" that was propelled into Hexxum's brain that
    did him in.
    
    Ken 

    
    
    I need to setle my curiousity....was it originally Brandon Lee who was
    slated to make the movie Dragon the Bruce Lee story?  Or was it always
    Jason Scott Lee?
    
    Also is JSL another son of Bruce Lee?
    
    Thank you,
    Serena
    

    JSL is no relation to Bruce Lee

    Actually, according to all the reviews I've seen so far, Jason's full
    name is "Jason Scott Lee (no relation)".
    
    :-)
    
    - Skip (no relation)

    My wife told me she read this,
    
    The movie Bruce Lee was making when he died, was about an actor that
    gets killed while filming a movie, and his double must step in to finish.
    
    There was even a scene where the prop man tells the actors to: "check
    their guns."
    
    Now, his son gets killed in a movie, and they are going to use a double
    to finish his film.
    
    
    She read this somewhere, but anyone that has the material to research
    it's validity can put in that info.
    
    -James
    

    There is an article in the current issue of Premiere magazine about
    the circumstances surrounding Brandon Lee's death.  The negligence on
    the movie set was absolutely disgusting.  The account of the incident
    is very grim and really quite horrifying to read.  It's horrible to
    think that he was killed like that just because of the carelessness and
    greed of the people making the movie.  Hopefully, his death will at
    least lead to better working conditions in North Carolina.
    
    If that movie is ever released, I know I don't want to see it.
    
    In fact, after reading the article, I found myself hoping that his
    mother, or *somebody* sues the people who were making that movie for
    whatever they're worth.  I hope they never get to make another movie.
    
    Lorna
    

    
>    The movie Bruce Lee was making when he died, was about an actor that
>    gets killed while filming a movie, and his double must step in to finish.
    
    -James,
    
    The Movie Bruce Lee was filming was "Game of Death".  It was about a
    martial artest that was sent to rescue "something" from the top floor
    of a guarded pagoda - each floor was guarded by a different martial
    artist.  That's as much of the plot that Lee had worked out, he
    intended the movie to be a showcase of the different martial arts
    systems.  When he died only three of the fight scenes were on film.
    
    After his death, the film was rewritten to capitolize on the
    circumstances of his death and to allow another actor to fill oput the 
    other 90% of the film.  The story was about an actor (Lee) who was
    shot in the face while filming "Return of the Dragon".  (They used
    clips from that movie here.)  He doesn't die and has plastic surgery that 
    makes him unrecognizable so that he can track down his killers.  (They 
    did this because the guy who played Lee in the movie didn't look anything
    like him.)  Later in the movie, he has his face changed back and Lee's
    fight scenes were used for the climatic ending.
    
    So in a way your wife was correct, but when Lee was filming "Game of
    Death" it was an entirely different movie then the completed version.
    
    I feel really bad for Linda after losing her husband and now her son.
    
    Don
    

    
    Thanks, Don.
    
    "Enter the Dragon" was just on TV last week. I'm not a big fan of this
    kind of movie, but I love watching Bruce Lee. Especially his facial
    expressions.
    
    Is "Game of Death" on video?
    
    -James
    

    
    "Game of Death" is on video.  The footage of Lee is interesting - it
    was shot before "Enter the Dragon" was filmed.  Looks like lee was
    trying to find a balance with his expressions while fighting.  In
    "Enter the Dragon" he has that balance and appears as a fighting
    machine.  In "Game of Death" he comes off as overbearing and caustic
    and makes you think "Boy, he has an attitude problem!".  This is
    because they used as much of the Lee footage as they could and included
    some cuts that he never would have used.  The fights are more drawn out
    than the norm - Lee was brutal with editing out anything that didn't
    look perfect.  So the fights aren't up to the same standard as the
    others.
    
    But except for those small nits, as a whole the movie's pretty stupid. ;^)
    
    Don