Brandon Lee had a short-lived career as an action star. He began with modest movies like Rapid Fire and moved on to more serious fare. He also made the straight-to-video Laser Mission. But the movie that really put him on the map was The Crow. This film has a morbid reputation because of the death of its lead actor.
1. Rapid Fire (1992)
The American-born son of legendary chopsocky hero Bruce Lee acquits himself well in this paint-by-numbers actioner. The movie features a good plot, solid characters and high production values for a low budget actioner. Director Dwight H. Little expertly handles implausible but entertaining action sequences that keep the pic lively despite the schlocky story and cardboard characterizations.
In this thriller, Jake is a Los Angeles art student embittered by the Tiananmen Square massacre who is forced into a life of violence when he helps police nail two drug-running Mafiosi gangsters—one a stereotypical pasta-eating Italian Mafioso played tongue in cheek by Nick Mancuso and the other a sophisticated Asian supplier (played by Tzi Ma). The crime movie boasts a ton of sweeping and exciting martial arts fights. I particularly enjoy the scene where Jake is surrounded by four mobsters and must fight them all at once. The climactic brawl in the Chinese laundry warehouse is particularly impressive with Lee going toe-to-toe with stuntman Al Leong, famous for his work in Die Hard.
Rapid Fire is an unsung action classic that shows what Brandon Lee could have been as a hero and action star. It’s definitely worth watching.
2. The Crow (1993)
The Crow has a morbid reputation, not just for the subject matter of a bloodthirsty antihero but also because the film was hampered by the on-set death of its star. Brandon Lee – son of Bruce – was shot dead by an improperly loaded stun gun just eight days before the completion of filming.
The movie is based on James O’Barr’s comic book series and was directed by Alex Proyas. It features a rock musician (Lee) murdered by a gang of vicious and unredeemable thugs. Then he is brought back to life guided by a large black crow. It’s essentially Death Wish played out in a stylish Gothic version of Detroit. The costumes of the thugs are inspired by Iggy Pop’s Curve character.
Lee is great as Eric Draven but the best performance comes from Michael Massee as a mentor who urges him to put his thirst for revenge aside. This is a must-see for any fan of Brandon Lee. It is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
3. Legacy of Rage (1986)
Despite the bleak story, Legacy of Rage (which is Brandon Lee’s only Hong Kong film) is pretty entertaining. Ronny Yu’s direction, Lee’s reverting presence and Hoi Mang’s impressive action scenes make up for some of the more melodramatic aspects of the movie.
Michael is a true villain – he betrays his friend Brandon and keeps him in prison while climbing the ranks of the triads. He also rapes his girlfriend May and has her hunted down by his mooks. But Brandon won’t stop until he gets his revenge.
Legacy of Rage is a fast-paced, well-shot thriller that features real explosions and plenty of bloody violence. Although it doesn’t feature much kung-fu, Lee proves he was more than just an action robot by conveying his emotions and acting in the drama scenes (and fighting scene with gorgeous Bolo Yeung). Plus, the finale’s crazed hail of bullets is pure hero-bloodshed heaven. A very good entry in the genre and a solid start to Lee’s tragically short career.
4. Laser Mission (1989)
The son of Bruce Lee, Brandon forayed into acting after his father’s death. Like many other actors, he struggled at first to get his foot in the door before establishing himself as a serious actor with movies such as Rapid Fire & The Crow.
In Laser Mission, he stars as a rebellious government agent sent to Africa on a top-secret mission to discover a laser weapon of mass destruction. The production quality is so low that the film feels more like a straight-to-video curio than a feature film.
Despite the low budget, Lee still manages to shine through. His charisma helps him power through a cheesy script with one-liners that fall somewhere between Stallone & Schwarzenegger. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast fails to live up to their talent. The plot is silly, characters rotate nationalities, and attempts at slapstick humor abound, including an embarrassingly chauvinistic attempt to disguise the agent in brownface. Thankfully, the action is a welcome respite from the film’s tedium. Featuring a sexy female assassin, a bunch of nameless bad guys for Lee to mow down with his arsenal of guns, and a song by Dire Straits co-founder Mark Knopfler, Laser Mission is at least mildly enjoyable.
5. Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)
After his movie debut in Legacy of Rage and a couple of low-budget direct-to-video action movies, Showdown in Little Tokyo finally made Brandon Lee into the American action star he was meant to be. He teamed up with Dolph Lundgren in this buddy cop-action film about a man who witnesses a mob killing and gets revenge against the criminals who did it. The film has all the hallmarks of an early ’90s urban martial arts flick, including a fight in a chicken coop and a shootout that’s Scarface worthy. Brandon Lee is excellent as a cop with a Samurai’s mind and spirit, while Dolph Lundgren is hilariously over-the-top as his partner. Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa is the slimy villain, and he did such a good job here that he spent his career playing this character in straight-to-video action movies throughout the ’90s.
Despite being full of all the cliches you could expect from a bad action B-movie, this movie is still a lot of fun. Watch it for Dolph and Brandon, who make the most of their mismatched partnership. And for the action, which includes plenty of classic moves like throwing people through shop windows and into bar shelves.
