Remembering Brandon Lee

[Alaskandude]

On this day (yesterday for most of you) 19 years ago in 1993, we lost actor Brandon Lee to what I believe to be a tragic accident on the set of his last film, "The Crow". Brandon Lee, as most if not all of you know, was the son of the man... the myth... the martial arts legend, Bruce Lee. Needless to say, Brandon was a spectacular martial artist himself. Brandon Lee was best known for his roles in Kung Fu The Movie (1986), Showdown In Little Tokyo (1991), Rapid Fire (1992), and his final film, and my personal favorite, The Crow (1994).

The Crow was, and still is one of my most favorite movies of all time. I was pretty disappointed in the the 3 or 4 sequals that followed, and the TV series was not the greatest either. They just never captured that whatever it was that made the original film so awsome. Perhaps they were simply missing the man that made the original movie as great as it was... Brandon Lee

I remember this quote from the last interview with Brandon Lee that was done during the filming of The Crow. It is said that this was passage that Brandon took from a book by Paul Bowles called "The Sheltering Sky". It can also be found engraved on Brandon's memorial where he is buried next to his father in Seattle, though it is not attributed to Bowles.

"Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet, everything happens a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you cannot even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty, and yet it all seems limitless."

-Brandon Lee/Paul Bowles...whatever.

I was 17 when I watched that movie for the first time. I'm 32 now, and I still think about those words all the time. They remind me that my time here is limited, and that I should live each day as if it were my last, because you just never know.

Aside from being a great martial artist, Brandon Lee was a also a fabulous actor, dare I say even better than his father. (Nothin but love for Bruce.) I miss then both!

Much love and respect to the entire family.

[bushido_man96]

I remember Showdown in Little Tokyo. I enjoyed it, and Rapid Fire, as well. Never really got into The Crow, though. RIP Brandon.

[jaypo]

You know, everything happens for a reason. When I was in my teens, I finally was able to start training in martial arts, and I continuted thru 1991 (when I was 16). I had to quit because of school and work, but my obsession with the martial arts never quit. I had been a fan of Bruce since I was a toddler. So naturally, I followed Brandon's career as well. I remember like it was yesterday- I laid down to go to sleep, and on his way to his room, my dad stopped in my room and said "Did you hear about Bruce Lee's son?" I thought he had gotten another role or something. He told me he died, and I got numb. And when I researched the similarities between his and his father's deaths, it made me wonder. Both were young, talented stars on the verge of making a HUGE splash in the movie world. Both were taken way before their time.

Coincidentally (or maybe not), around the end of March of this year, I was finally able to start training in martial arts again. I went in my attic to find my gi, belts, and ranking certificates. And in the box, I found 2 magazines from 1993. Both focused on Brandon and Bruce, and both issues were tributes to them both as a result of Brandon's "recent" death. Now that you've reintroduced me to the anniversary date of his death, it makes me realize that it probably wasn't a coincidence that I found the literature about Brandon around the same date.

Anyhow, RIP, Brandon.

[pittbullJudoka]

It doesn't that it was that long ago when he was taken from us. I remember that I had just started watching his films thanks to my older brother shortly before he passed. But I remember being at my grandparents house for dinner and it came on some entertainment new show my grandmother was watching. I also remember going to see The Crow in the theater when it came out. I still have The Crow movie poster hanging at my parents house from the theater I watched the movie at and the last I checked I still had my ticket stub.

But anyway R.I.P. Brandon Lee

[sensei8]

RIP Brandon!!