Laser Mission (1990)

aka: Soldier Of Fortune

Mercenary Michael Gold (Brandon Lee) is sent from the CIA to seize the laser expert Professor Braun (Ernest Borgnine) in Cuba before the KGB catches him. A recently stolen giant diamond could be used together with Braun’s knowledge to construct a laser cannon which could bring power over the whole world. Who will succeed: CIA or KGB – or neither of them? Also with Debi Monahan.

On the set of The Crow, the film crew shot a scene in which it was decided to use a gun without consent from the weapons coordinator, who had been sent home early that night. They handed Michael Massee the gun loaded with full power blanks and shot the scene, unaware a bullet head from an inert round had accidentally been lodged in the barrel. Even though the gun was pointed away from Brandon Lee, the force from the blank curved the flight of the bullet head and it shattered his spinal cord. The doctors worked desperately for five hours, but it was no use. After his spinal cord was shattered, he had no chance of survival. He was pronounced dead at 1:04 pm the next day (March 31, 1993). He was supposed to marry Eliza Hutton on April 17. His body was flown to Seattle to be buried beside his father in Lake View Cemetery.

On July 8, 2012, Ernest Borgnine died of renal failure at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and children at his side. He was 95.