Actor Brandon lee was shot and killed on a set, by a faulty blank round, as well as Jon-Erik Hexum, who was also killed by a faulty blank round from a self inflicted wound,
Actually, no; Brandon Lee was not killed by a faulty blank round. I'm intimately familiar with the
real facts of the case. The Prop-Master/Armourer was beyond incompetent. One, all the guns on the set were real. Two, it became well-known that all the actors on set played with the guns as if they were harmless NERF toys. Three, Prop-Master should have been tossed into prison for at the very least, gross negligence. Here's what occurred....
Director wanted some close-up shots of the handguns being pointed at the camera. Prop-Master made up some pewter loads (ammo that looks Live on the outside. But has no powder charge on the inside, and a spent primer is used. Real bullet is seated on top. But is harmless). Well, somehow that "genius" accidentally seated a live primer into the shell casing. So, live primer, no powder charge, real bullet. Actors were told to point the guns at the camera, and pull the triggers. (Gunshot sounds and effects added in during post production.)
The actor who got the round with the live primer, pointed the .44 Magnum handgun at the camera, and pulled the trigger. He then immediately realized that something was wrong. But wasn't sure what. He felt something. But it felt odd. The actor then immediately went to the Prop-Master and said that something was wrong with the gun. So the Prop-Master simply opened up the revolver, saw 6-spent primers, and dismissed it as nothing.... The incompetent idiot didn't bother checking the bore.
He saw 6-spent primers because when the actor pulled the trigger on the live primer, it then became a spent one! Meanwhile, without a powder charge in the casing, the live primer only had enough power to propel the bullet half-way down the barrel. Where the bullet got stuck. Had the Prop-Master checked the bore, he would have seen an obstruction in it, the bullet. Had he ejected the pewter rounds into his hand, he would have realized,
"Hey! There's a bullet missing! Where is it?"
Again, none of that took place. The gun was left alone for a couple of days as it was not needed. Then came time to film the scene where Lee's character gets shot and killed. This time, a different type of load was used. What most folks refer to as blanks. (Live primer seated in the shell casing, powder charge placed inside the shell casing. Now all you need for a live round is the bullet. But for a blank, a tiny paper mesh screen circle is carefully wax-sealed over the opening where the bullet would normally go. Pull the trigger, get a BANG! some smoke, but harmless.... Unless there's a bullet stuck half-way down the barrel! That bullet was all that was needed to turn that .44 Magnum blank, into a full-on live round!
That's what Brandon Lee took to the chest. There was nothing faulty about that blank round at all. It worked the way it was supposed to. The problem was a moronically incompetent Prop-Master's actions led to a real bullet being placed in front of that blank round.