How good a career would Lee have had - The Crow (1994) Discussion

[–] Prelude (1443) 6 years ago

He certainly would have had his pick of more action movies, but the Crow was about to be his breakout role to show he could incorporate more. So I think he would have had more options too, after The Crow, had he lived.

This was a very good looking man with - as we saw in The Crow - actually some acting chops too, and he wouldn't be out of place in a romantic comedy as the leading man, a romantic drama, a thriller, a horror, or even a straight-up drama: family drama, corporate drama, etc.

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[–] AP (5288) 6 years ago

He seemed like he wanted to be an action star but I think he could have branched out a la Bruce Willis and tackled other genres.

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[–] Prelude (1443) 6 years ago

I think I remember reading something about his friends claiming that he had expressed wanting to stretch out beyond just action movies. They said he wanted to get to do more serious roles and show he could act. I agree that similar to Bruce Willis he could have gone that similar route.

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[–] TaRaNRoD (1579) 6 years ago

'' I agree that similar to Bruce Willis he could have gone that similar route. ''

Only problem here: Bruce Willis is not a good actor. He is decent at most and have the ability to carry good movies. Plus, he has made some masterpieces, which makes his career seem strong enough to give the impression that he is a ''good actor''. But, just like Tom Cruise (okay, Cruise has a few exceptions, I agree), he managed his career in a smart way by making clever choices and picking great contracts (financially and artistically), which, in my opinion, gives this misleading apparence.

However, let's be real: 90% of times when you see Cruise or Willis in a movie, what do we see exactly? The same guy making the same facial expressions and having the same manerism. Like I said earlier, this doesn't apply to Tom Cruise as much as to Willis, because he has made movies like Mongolia or Born on the Fourth of July where he was outstanding. But, what is the difference between Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction, Die Hard, Fifth Element or The Expendables? The same badass and slighty arrogant guy with little to no different tone at all. He might have toned it down considerably a little in movies like Moonrise Kingdom or The Kid. This being said, I don't think it is enough to really call in range.

By the way, this is my own opinion and I said it without any pretention of knowing better than others. Other people might think that Willis is a good or even great actor and I don't have any problems with that. Just wanted to share my approach on the matter.

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[–] Prelude (1443) 6 years ago

Fair points and I pretty much agree. I think Cruise has the edge over Willis in having turned in slightly more diverse characters, certainly impressive in Born on the Fourth of July.

My favorite Willis performances number only one, and that would be The Sixth Sense. I think he was outstanding in a subtle role in which quiet nuance was important. But for the most part I don't disagree with your assessment that in other roles he's basically just the same guy!

However, I think the point AP was making is that Bruce Willis has been able to play both action roles and some more character based pieces such as in The Sixth Sense (no action at all, lol) and things like Moonrise Kingdom.

I think Brandon Lee could have had the same kind of career in as much as he wouldn't only do action movies but could have been cast for all kinds of other genres, as Willis has managed to be.

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[–] Jones70 (6584) 6 years ago

probably would have yes

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[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I guess it would have depended. I can see him wanting to try different things to try and set himself apart from his father.

Whether that would have worked or not I don't know. He probably would have been in a lot crow sequels.

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[–] HarlemEagle42 (17850) 3 years ago

Remember how Jason Scott Lee was a thing back in the nineties? Maybe something similar to that.

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[–] kuatorises (7467) 3 years ago

Action, sci fi, fantasy - I could see it. Maybe a little horror. He had a good screen presence and there's certainly been enough movies from these genres - starring action guys - that found mainstream success: Aliens, Terminator 2, Robocop, Looper, Total Recall, True Lies, The Fifth Element. Comic book movies too.

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[–] TMC-4 (20179) a year ago

The two big roles that I've often read that Brandon would've or could've absolutely nailed is Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat and Neo in The Matrix. There's also based on his work in The Crow, The Joker, especially Heath Ledger's interpretation of the character in The Dark Knight.

https://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/609555/brandon-lee-fans

As others have said, they could've seen Brandon maybe, take on the roles that Keanu Reeves turned down. Like maybe in alternate timeline, Brandon Lee stars in Speed 2: Cruise Control instead of Jason Patric. Fair Game, which is a pretty crappy movie best known for starring Cindy Crawford, probably would have been offered to him instead of William Baldwin.

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[–] TMC-4 (20179) a year ago

I was just watching this interview with TC Carson and he was talking about his experiences working with Tupac Shakur on what would be his final feature film role, Gang Related.

https://youtu.be/m4-qgk32sqo?t=340

He said that it's also hard for him to watch Black Panther after Chadwick Boseman died. I also feel that way with Brandon Lee's stuff. The Crow is really a film that you have to be in a right frame of mind to watch. It's especially the case knowing full well that Brandon literally died while making it.

Maybe it's because all three of them were still awfully young but as others have said, they were still able to do so much before they passed.

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[–] Cognoscente (2662) 7 months ago

He could have done a film with Michelle Yeoh, who he met in 1986 because they were working for the same film company.

Maybe they would have starred in Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever instead of Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu. The film was initially intended to star Wesley Snipes and Jet Li (who Wesley wanted for the role of the villain in Blade). The screenwriter is the same guy who wrote the screenplay for Brandon's Rapid Fire.

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