Killer set: from Brandon Lee to the stunt pilot of “Top Gun”, when the cinema becomes … dangerous

The scene remained in everyone’s mind, with the criminals shooting from all directions at Lee standing on a table in the center, remained in the memory also because it was the last shot by the actor: one of the weapons was not loaded with blanks and killed him. The tragedy in the 1993, Brandon Lee was 28, andThe son of martial arts star Bruce Lee. According to the investigation, he was hit by a .44 caliber bullet that lodged near his spine. A Twitter account run by Lee’s sister Shannon said: “Our hearts are with the family of Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza and everyone involved in the ‘Rust’ incident.

No one should ever be killed by a gun on a movie set. ”But Lee’s, the most famous, is not the only death of its kind in tragic incidents on the set. In 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum died after shooting himself in the head with a blank gun while pretending to play Russian roulette with a Magnum 44 on the set of the television series ‘Cover Up’.

While in 1983 three people, including two children, they died during the making of the film ‘At the edge of reality’. Vic Morrow and child actors Myca Dinh Le (age 7) and Renee Shin-Yi Chen (age 6) died in an accident involving a helicopter used on the set. The helicopter was flying at an altitude of only 8 meters, too low to avoid the explosions of the fireworks used on the set. When the explosions severed the tail rotor, the helicopter lost control and crashed, decapitating Morrow and Le with its blades and running over Chen.

‘Top Gun’ also recorded one victim on set: stunt pilot Art Scholl, 53, he was hired to do in-flight filming work for the film. During an aerobatic flight scene Scholl lost control of his Pitts S-2 and crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the southern coast of California. Top Gun was dedicated to his memory.

In 2008, in the sci-fi thriller ‘Jumper’ starring Samuel L. Jackson, a mixture of frozen sand, earth and ice was used for the special effects. Production Designer David Ritchie he was pronounced dead at the scene after a large chunk of frozen sand and gravel fell on him from the top of a wall.

In the action movie of the 2002 ‘XXX’ with Vin Diesel, Harry L. O’Connor, Diesel’s stunt double, he was killed in an accident during filming, in a scene where he had to descend a steep slope and then parachute into a submarine. When O’Connor failed to abseil fast enough, he hit a bridge and was killed instantly.

Even the kolossal ‘Troy’ it was not free from accidents. Ironically, Brad Pitt, who played Achilles, tore his left Achilles tendon during filming. While the actor George Camilleri, an extra, broke his leg in one scene. He was treated in the hospital, but days later he had a heart attack due to a blood clot in his leg. Shortly after, a second heart attack was fatal.

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