Classic 70s vigilante movie...sparks fly when Bronson is pushed one time too many by thugs....you actually root for him cleaing up the streets..cathartic and fun. even if a bit warped...
The first of the Death Wish series. This film sees it's main character loose his wife in a violent gang attack and promptly decides to take matters into his own hands when the cops refuse to do anything. Some great one liners are hidden within this classic gem.
A classic from the mid 70's. I consider this one to be Mr. Bronson best. It's dark and when the story is about personal justice and vengeance... I'll be watching!
Charles Bronson equals bad ass. Paul Kersey is an awesome character and Charles Bronson does a fantastic job of actually making us care about what happens to him and then about what he does around the city of New York. Definitely a kick ass movie.
Paul Kersey's string of bad lucks starts in the 1974 movie Death Wish. Charles Bronson plays Kersey, a New York architect whose pacifist mindset is shattered with an attack on his wife and daughter. His rage is kept pent up until he finally explodes and goes on a vigilante killing spree. Death Wish is one of the 1970's exploitation films. It exploits the fear of out of control crime rates in the 1970's especially in New York City. It touches all the bases: gun control, an over burdened police department, and a city that just doesn't give a damn anymore. Bronson is in one of his signature roles as Paul Kersey, who he would play in four mediocre sequels that followed. The rest of the cast is so-so, though Vincent Gardenia does a good job as the detective assigned to the vigilante case. This film also shows some early work of Jeff Goldblum and Christopher Guest. Death Wish is one of those films that you kind of feel guilty about watching, but is actually an good film that's had its reputation soiled by the poor sequels that followed.
A movie that was basically put out of style by many movies that did the same thing, only better, this movie still deserves some merit for being one of the first of its kind. And lo and behold, Jeff Goldblum makes a very young appearance as a lowly street-thug rapist! Though the sequences were a little off, this movie wasn't so bad.
Our hero Paul Kersey (Chuck Bronson) is given a gun as a gift after his wife is killed. He literally gets sick after his 1st vigilante killing,but quickly gets over his nausea to slaughter criminals for 4 more films. Excellent 70's era action!
This movie wasn't very exciting, interesting, or action packed. It's okay if you like Bronson, but otherwise, it's not interesting. Also, the ending is disappointing.
After his wife is killed and daughter raped by mean old Jeff Goldblum, gun shy Charles Bronson takes on the vermin of New York, Punisher style (minus the crappy Thomas Jane flick). I was interested when he first showed up with a sock full of quarters but then he quickly switched a plain ordinary gun. Not as exciting as you would think.
I give this an above average rating simply for being one of the first great Vigilante films. I can see how alot of today's took a little something from this series. The only gripe I had were the effects; I know it's 1974 when this was made, but Taxi Driver, though not as action packed, had better effect shots. I really enjoyed the very last frame with Bronson giving the gun finger to some punks though, it made his character more likeable for me. I'm a sucker for these types of movies, and even though I don't like it as much as Taxi Driver, or say... The Brave One or Death Sentence, I still feel it paved the way for those films. It's a great watch. Thumbs Up.
Very violent film, at least the beginning. Paul Kiercy goes about killing NY scum after his wife is murdered by a home invasion. Great story line. Spawned many sequels.
I can't really say I get this film or even really enjoy it. It's not that it's a bad concept or even a badly executed one. This movie just has neither any real insight or it doesn't even have any real entertainment value. I know those who love this movie will get pissed off at me for saying this but the number one problem with this film is Charles Bronson. To make a movie like Death Wish work you need a great actor that can make you understand what the person is going through and root for them. Bronson is just not the actor who this film. He's so wooden it wouldn't be hard to mistake his as a puppet from Team America. I give credit for trying to have social content but Death Wish has nothing to offer besides high body counts.
Very violent film, at least the beginning. Paul Kiercy goes about killing NY scum after his wife is murdered by a home invasion. Great story line. Spawned many sequels.
Perhaps "Death Wish" is unquestionably the best vigilante film ever made. It's not the action-packed thrill-fest that movies like "Kill Bill" or "The Punisher" seek to be, instead it's a haunting, sometimes intoxicating look at our society's views on justice.
Charles Bronson is Paul Kersey, a New York architect whose wife is killed by a group of muggers ransacking their apartment, an attack that also leaves his daughter catatonic. The killers are never caught, and Kersey is left shattered.
He takes a job working for a land developer in New Mexico to get his mind off his troubles, and while there his long dormant fascination with guns is renewed when his client Ames Jainchill (Stuart Margolin) shows off his personal collection and lets him crack some shots off. He also witnesses a live reenactment of an Old West shootout, where frontier justice was administered at the end of the gun.
Kersey soon arrives back in New York, livened up a bit from his visit and ready to resume his life. But the streets are still filled with thugs, and Kersey knows that Manhattan is not the best place to be at night. He discovers that Jainchill has given him a .32 revolver as a present, and subsequently uses it to kill a man trying to mug him. Kersey soon realizes the cathartic release of enacting vigilante revenge as the media reports his killings and other private citizens take action, all while police officer Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) leads a task force to capture the vigilante and stop future violence.
"Death Wish" was a product of its day -- a Nixon-era knee jerk reaction to rampant crime that turned out to be quite a hit. But to dismiss it simply as that would be to deny the film its true power. It asks the question of whether or not vigilantism can be used as a social good, and just how can a citizen properly defend himself from criminal attacks. More importantly, to the movie's credit it does introduce the downside of vigilantism, with Ochoa worrying that people will be whipped into such a frenzy that they'll start attacking anyone who looks suspicious.
The movie does play it safe when it comes to Kersey's "victims" however. Every one of them is clearly a mugger, threatening his life or just wanting his money. But the movie does enter into ambiguous territory by looking at the actual actions Kersey takes. At first he just stumbles into traps set up by muggers or happens on a crime taking place; later on the other hand it's clear that he's actually inviting attacks by making himself a target. And the self-defense aspect of his actions becomes equally cloudy when he kills muggers that are already fleeing. He wants to punish them for their crimes, which itself can be morally troubling.
But to understand "Death Wish" you had to understand the times. Murder rates were very high in New York City, and many muggers had little problem killing their victims. The criminals in the film are not overly sympathetic either, most of them clearly hippies or other social undesirables, probably hooked on drugs from their "free love" days and now stuck in the bitter reality of narcotic dependency now that the good times are over. It's hard to feel sorry for someone willing to kill you just for a couple hours worth of pleasure. I'm sure the movie's audiences in New York, and probably across the country, enjoyed living out their revenge fantasies vicariously through Kersey.
It should be said that Bronson, normally criticized as a wooden actor, gives a remarkably strong performance. This may be due to his friendship with director Michael Winner, who also helmed several of his other films. But it's probably due to the fact that the movie was not written as an action hero vehicle, and because of this the story demanded a character more grounded in reality. Kersey is not a superhero -- he's just one man trying to make a difference in the world.
Also, he's not all there, either. The movie makes it clear that Kersey is a little deranged as well, and one wonders just how far he might go to do what he thinks is right. The sequels were more interested in making him out to be an infallible crusader against evil, abandoning any pretext of social commentary and just offering body counts, but here at least the movie shows that someone willing to go on a shooting spree isn't quite right in the head, regardless of the guilt of his victims.
Supporting roles are excellent as well. A very young Jeff Goldblum nails his performance as one of the muggers who invades Kersey's apartment, immediately scary and repellent. Gardenia is a nice foil for Bronson, making Ochoa an intelligent officer not unsympathetic to Kersey's crusade, especially when he sees how the crime rate plummets following the killings. Christopher Guest, who would go on to star in hit mockumentaries like "This is Spinal Tap," "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind" has a small but memorable role as a police officer towards the end of the movie. In fact, everyone does a good job.
Ultimately, your enjoyment of "Death Wish" will probably rely both on your politics and views toward crime. It's a movie where the critic is judged based on his review, which is just as well I suppose. It's at once fascinating, and still very timely.
Nine out of ten stars. Bronson's best solo movie and certainly a very thought-provoking piece, which is lost on both people who only want to watch it for the mugger killings and those who just dismiss it a fascist trash.
Some young punks step out of line and it's up to Chuck to take out the trash. Bronson plays Paul Kersey very well, portraying a liberal turned executioner to maximum effect. He pulls off the nervousness Kersey feels when he takes on the task of vigilante and his eventual feeling that it's his responsibility to rid the world of criminals. In the novel he apparantly goes completely insane to the point where he is killing people he believes might be criminals, and there are hints of that in Bronson's characterization. Excellent film that started a very entertaining series.
Directed by Michael Winner and starring the late Charles Bronson in the lead role, this is a gritty inner city revenge film which comes off as a competent and effective social statement.
Paul Kersey (Bronson) is a liberal architect living in a not so nice, crime ridden area of the city. He lives with his wife and daughter, who are brutally attacked whilst at home by 3 sadistic street trash thugs (a young Jeff Goldblum is one of them) while he is out. The wife is beaten into unconsciousness before later dying in hospital, and the daughter is sexually assaulted and goes into a catatonic state as a result of the shock.
It is this terrible event which changes Kerseys perception of law and order. He starts to change his way of thinking, starts to change his way of acting. He sees an overstretched police force struggling with the city's crime and social decay, and feels he, just one man, can make a difference. Kersey soon enough takes to the streets, never to look for trouble, but to let trouble come to him, and deal with it directly in his own way! He is tired of being the decent citizen who shakes their head at the morning paper, talks amongst friends but does nothing to change what he sees. The film becomes better still as the police find themselves under pressure with the recent vigilante killings, and the media report that once helpless victims are fighting back against their attackers inspired by this new rebel.
This is one of those films that has had a lasting effect on me, and I remember being quite shaken after watching it when I was in my early teens. It seems so real as Kersey could just as easily be a next door neighbor or uncle, he is no hulking giant with an arsenal of weaponry or superpowers, no fearless warrior who can't be scratched...he is just another man trying to make a living. Cleverly directed, well acted and graphic when it has to be, this is a great film and serves its purpose well. Gripping, raw and impactive, this is one of Bronson greatest films, and stands as a classic.
The perfect example of the "good man turns vigilante" Bronson fits this role to a tee, and without a doubt made me never want to try and mug anyone...especially an older guy with an overcoat and a moustache.
The one that started it all,made Bronson a star in America and typecast him for the rest of his career.This one is actually pretty decent,especially compared to the sequels.Bronson actually shows a bit of a softer side here(well before he goes on a rampage).
A pretty disturbing way to open but this movie is another classic tale of us against the world. Been a few years passed since 1974. I pray they don't have a thought to remake it. More crims could be dealt with this way in my opinion.
i think this movie is awesome i am a charles bronson fan for his movies . he is a great actor. i useto own this movie in vhs tape now i want to get it in dvd when ever i can >
Another one of those movies meant to throw in gratuitous sex and violence on the screen without any meaning. Bad enough that I had to sit through two offensive rape scenes. This movie is just bad. It puts the revenge genre to shame.
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