had he lived? The Crow was based on a smaller cult comic book and had an untested actor in the lead role. While it did have good supporting actors, there were no really hot people at the time. In a sad, and ironic twist, it's easy to say that had Brandon not died, the movie likely wouldn't have been as big as it was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxQGdN6T-Tg
I remember there being hype surrounding this movie before Brandon died. It had a unique look and a killer soundtrack. People were interested.
shareIt’s not history, its a prediction. It can not be proven or disproven, so you can have your opinion. I suspect that if he had not died the movie would be long forgotten.
shareI think it would had done well enough.
shareThere's a good possibility, but breakouts are NEVER guaranteed for an actor, no matter how charismatic or talented they are.
Yes, he was terrific, but for all we know if he'd lived he might have gone down in film history as a one-hit wonder.
I remember there being a good buzz for this movie even before word spread of Brandon Lee's death. Remember this was pre internet, so a lot of people probably saw this movie not knowing about what had happened. Add in a great mid 90's soundtrack, and this movie would have been a hit regardless of Brandon Lee's death.
Lee would have come out of this movie a much bigger and more recognizable star. But it's impossible to know what his career would have looked like after. It would depend on what roles he took, and how much he wanted to work, and how much he really dedicated to his craft.
It's impossible to know for sure, of course; that's as factual as it gets. That said, we can speculate (and therein lies the fun!)
Lee turned in a brilliant performance here. What's wild is the rest of his filmography doesn't read like a greatest hits, but here he clearly shows himself to be a capable actor. There's a tonne of depth to his performance, and I think that would have been noticed.
On top of that, the movie did a great turn at the box office, especially considering its cult comic origins, dark tone, and R rating.
So, with all that in mind, I'm thinking Lee would have been one big step closer to A-list action hero, BUT he would have needed at least two more hits (or one mega-hit) to solidify his career for the next decade or so. If he chose some Van Damme type junk project, he'd have hit the B list and probably had a reasonable career as a Van Damme/Lundgren/Chuck Norris/ Segall type actor. But if he chose well and got in on some art house picture or mainstream movie, yeah, he'd have been huge.
Batman Forever came out in 1995...imagine Brandon Lee as Bats?
I've read comments online that Brandon would've made a great Joker based on his performance in The Crow. The scene in which his character, Eric Draven first confronts the main bad guy, Top Dollar and his crew is comparable to the scene in The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger's Joker confronting the mobsters.
https://youtu.be/r_GZJD95JhU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDvhGi59j-s&pp=ygUTdGhlIGNyb3cgdG9wIGRvbGxhcg%3D%3D
I believe he could've done that role really well. With his martial arts background, we might have (for the only time, really) seen a Joker who could believably stand toe-to-toe with Batman, too...
shareWho knows what would have or could have happened?
I liked him but he had one major obstacle to overcome and that was the fact that he would always be compared to his father. I mean, Bruce was a screen and martial arts legend by the time Brandon became old enough to give Hollywood a chance.
Odds are he would been like the Julian Lennon of Hollywood. Anyone remember him? He was John Lennon's son.... had one hit song and was pretty much forgotten after that.
I would have wished him well but not likely he would have become a mega star like Bruce.
I kind of think of Brandon as sort of the Magnum TA of Hollywood. If you don't know who Magnum TA is, he was a professional wrestler (his real name is Terry Allen), who rose to prominence in the National Wrestling Alliance in the mid-'80s. He was called Magnum TA because of his resemblance to Tom Selleck, who of course, was the star of the show Magnum, PI.
It has long been suspected that before Magnum TA's career ending car accident on October 14, 1986, he was being set up to become the World Champion. Like Brandon Lee, Magnum was a good looking, athletic, super charismatic guy who had not realized his full potential before fate tragically intervened.
I think that like Magnum, Brandon had this magnetic vibe where women liked him (like I said, Brandon was admittedly a really handsome guy) and could buy him in romantic scenarios but guys could like him too because of his effortless ability to kick ass on screen.
I suppose so, TMC-4.
I think Brandon would have had some roles offered to him but it's hard to say just how bankable he could have been. He might have been a better actor than action star. But again, we'll never know for sure.
What's funny is that if Brandon Lee weren't an actor, then I could've seen him as a professional wrestler. He if you look at something like Rapid Fire, did have that I suppose, white meat babyface aura about him (think Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat or Sting, who of course, later borrowed a lot form Brandon with is Crow inspired persona for example) that made you immediately want to get behind him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x8p6F4LyLY
Hardline's "I'll Be There" (which is played during closing credits of Rapid Fire) might as well have been his "wrestling theme" tune.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOsiexvgjuo
That of course isn't to say that Brandon wasn't capable of playing darker or more emotionally complex roles. I think that one reason why Brandon was so drawn to The Crow was because it wasn't a simple "beat up the bad guys" almost B-level martial arts movie like Rapid Fire and Showdown in Little Tokyo.
Even in the adverts for Rapid Fire, Brandon is immediately compared to Bruce:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4PEyQFSMtQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPFhbWV58Cs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tgl1rYBE58
Another opinion that was written here is that Brandon could've been like Dale Earnhardt Jr. in NASCAR, where fans of his father would become fans of him as a way to root for both of them:
https://moviechat.org/tt0109506/The-Crow/58c75d396b51e905f67d8df3/How-long-would-have-Brandon-Lees-career-have-lasted-if-he-had-lived?page=4
Basically, people had a "soft spot" for the kid and wanted to see him succeed considering his father's impact and tragic death. I'm guessing that the same sort of thing happened to a lesser degree with somebody like Freddie Prinze Jr. when he was coming up in Hollywood.
I just came across this Reddit post that argues that Brandon during his tragically brief career was a more charismatic and wide-ranging actor than his dad, Bruce was.
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/m3ibyf/brandon_lee_was_the_better_lee/