The Death Wish Series: Death Wish V: in the face of death

"Now onto the final Death Wish film and the weakest in the series by far, a 70+ Bronson is up to his shenanigans again."

Plot;


Paul Kersey is back for the 5th and final time, he is now living in New York City again and is using the name Paul Stewart. We see him at a fashion show, in backstage gangster Tommy O'shea played by Michael Parks and his goons barge in. Tommy threatens Olivia (Kersey's girlfriend) who is his ex wife and mother to his child. Olivia later tells Kersey about the fight they had backstage and shows Paul the bruises. Paul then goes to Tommy to talk to him about this and ends up with a gun pointed at him. He hides the gun when he sees his daughter arrive.

 

Generic gang boss....

Two police officers show up at Kersey's house. They know that Kersey is in a witness protection program and is using the name Paul Stewart. The two officers talk about Tommy and say they have been after him for years, they want Olivia to testify against him. In the evening Paul and Olivia are in a restaurant, Paul proposes to Olivia and she accepts. She goes to the bathroom where she is attacked by one of Tommy's goons Freddy Flakes, he grabs her head and bashes it into the mirror which causes her face to be disfigured. 

Disfigured or badly cut? You decide.

Paul gets a good look at Freddy and they go to the hospital. The doctor says she will need reconstructive surgery. Paul is now angry and talks to the police on what will be done, they warn him not to do any of his old tricks. Tommy then goes around the city killing more and more people when one night they end up at Olivia's house and shoot the place up. They shoot Olivia in the back and kill her, Paul jumps from the roof into the rubbish below to escape. 

 

Poster

Tommy is now cleared of all charges of killing her and now wants full custody of his daughter. Paul does not want this to happen so he tells Tommy to leave but he knocks Paul out in his home. Paul now has to return to his Vigilante ways to get justice. He decides to poison one of Tommy's men by putting the poison in a cannoli. Paul then kills Freddy flakes by using a remote control football which blows up. 

 

Your Dandruff problem is cured...

Someone then tells Tommy that Paul is the infamous Vigilante and he is next to be killed. That someone is a police officer which goes to Paul's apartment to kill him but Paul is just too fast and kills him first. Tommy, now paranoid hires three thugs to kill Paul by using his daughter as the bait. Paul goes to the meeting area and saves Chelsea. Paul kills all of the thugs and cuts Tommy's face with a glass bottle to show what he did to Olivia. He then pushes Tommy into a pool of acid. 

Paul then walks away from the scene of the crime for one final time.

Extras;

None, Zero, Ziltch.

0/5


Picture quality;

Soul Media have brought this film onto Blu-ray with a poor encode and from a Pal source which has sped up the film from it's original runtime. The picture quality never impresses but is just OK most of the time. I did notice an error around the 55 minute mark where the screen freezes for 4 seconds.


2.5/5


Sound Quailty;

We just get a 2.0 Dolby Digital english track which sounds poor and not very clear.


2/5




Overall this release is not impressive. The film can be very slow and the action scenes are few and far between. Bronson is really showing his age here and does not appear in the most the scenes. He also is not as hands on as he would have been in the previous sequels. This is what you really call a struggling sequel, really scraping the bottom of the barrel now.




Not Recommended





Andrew

The Death Wish Series: Death Wish 4: The Crackdown

"The first sequel not to have director Michael Winner involved tries to go back to a more serious tone but misses the mark."

Paul Kersey once again played by Charles Bronson returns as the Vigilante. The film starts off in a parking garage when we see a young woman walk towards her car. She looks around and three thugs appear, she gets into the car only to be pulled out. The three thugs start to rape her when Kersey appears and shoots and kills two of the thugs. He then shoots the third and wounds him, the thug tries to get to the exit but Kersey puts down the shutters. He shoots the thug dead and rolls over the body to reveal the face is his own, he wakes up. It turns out to be one of Paul's bad dreams. 

The Face of Death

Paul while at his office has a chat with Erica played by Dana Barron. She is the daughter of the woman Paul is seeing. Erica later goes to an arcade with her boyfriend and they end up buying crack cocaine, she takes the drugs and later dies of an overdose. Paul is now certain that Erica's boyfriend is involved with the drug overdose. Erica's boyfriend confronts the drug dealer and says he will call the police, the drug dealer then kills him. Kersey is witness to this and shoots the drug dealer, the dealers body hits a electrified roof and explodes. 

 

A young life lost...

When Paul arrives home he receives a phone call from a publisher Nathan White played by John P. Ryan. He explains that his wife died and he only has his daughter left. He then tells Kersey she later died because of a drug overdose. Nathan wants Kersey to take out the two major drug gangs of L.A., Kersey accepts and Nathan supplies Paul with the weapons he needs and all the information required to get them.

In need of Vigilante help...

Kersey goes undercover and goes to the first drug dealers mansion where he begins to bug the phones. He then hides in the closet and witnesses the drug lord kill someone. The drug lord notices Paul and orders him to carry out the body and put it in the trunk. A hitman helps him, but just before the hitman goes to kill Paul he slams the trunk down on his head and kills him. Paul then follows more of the drug lords men into a restaurant and gives them a bottle of wine containing a bomb, the bomb explodes and kills everyone in the restaurant. 

Here is your wine, punks...

Kersey then goes into a video store which is actually a drug factory and kills all of the drug lord's men and the drug lord that was part of the second gang. Paul then gets the two gangs together for a deal while he overlooks the whole deal with a sniper rifle. Paul shoots and both gangs start to kill each other, Paul then finishes off the remaining drug lord. When Paul returns to Nathan he is congratulated but when Kersey leaves to get into the car he notices it is rigged with a car bomb. Kersey jumps out and it explodes, Kersey later realizes that Nathan is the last drug lord in L.A and he killed the other gangs so he would have more business. 

A Vigilante ambush.

Nathan finds out that Paul did not die in the car bomb and takes Karen (Paul's girlfriend) hostage. Paul returns to his apartment and grabs his weapons and goes to the meeting place. Paul arrives at the meeting place at the underground car park, Paul rigs his car with a brick to accelerate forward and Nathan's men shoot at the car. Paul then comes out of cover and throws a grenade into goons and kills them. Nathan runs away with Karen into the ice rink where Paul kills more henchmen. Karen tries to escape from Nathan but he shoots her dead, Paul sees the body and is distraught at what he has seen. He realizes Nathan has run out of Ammo and fires the grenade launcher directly into him and blows him up. 

Bang goes the dummy!

A police officer arrives and let's Paul go and yet again Paul is left with nothing and walks away form the scene of the crime. 

Extras;

Only a trailer.


1/5


Picture Quality;

Like Death Wish 2 and 3 MGM have done another great job of releasing on Blu-ray. Grain is intact and present throughout the film, colours and perfectly balanced and no Digital noise reduction has been applied.


4/5


Audio Quality;

The lossless Mono track serves well, dialogue is clear and is never muffled. The soundtrack is clear and never overpowering.


4/5


While this entry marks a departure of Michael Winner as director, it is fun to watch and is not as insanely silly as Death Wish 3. It can have some goofy moments like when Paul goes undercover or when he blows up the main villain with a grenade launcher revealing a dummy, but overall it is a marked improvement over Death Wish 3 and the series feels more grounded.




Recommended to fans only.





Andrew

The Death Wish Series: Death Wish 3

"I have been looking forward to reviewing this one, in my opinion this is the best out of all of the sequels as it is so ridiculous."

The vigilante is back... Again!

 Plot;

Bronson is back as the vigilante Paul Kersey and this time he has returned to New York City after he was banned to see his friend. While Kersey is on his way to the apartment his friend is brutally beaten by a gang. The neigbours near by hear the noise and call the police but it is too late, Paul arrives and his friend dies in his arms. The police burst into the apartment and accuse Paul of killing him, he is then arrested and sent to the police station. When Paul arrives he is questioned by Lieutenant Richard Shriker played by Ed Lauter. LT. Richard said he recognizes him as the vigilante back 10 years ago when he was doing the killings. He warns him that he is the law around here and sends Paul to a holding cell. 

A big mistake...

When Paul arrives at the cell the leader of the gang who attacked and killed his friend is there. The gang leader threatens Paul and attacks him, the gang leader is then released from the cell but before he goes he says he will kill him. The latest police reports show that crime has sky rocketed and they need Paul's help to kill the thugs to keep the crime rate down. They let him do this in exchange of information he hears about the gangs. 

Paul moves into his friends apartment, where he is greeted by the neighbours. After Paul witnesses a few muggings he decides to purchase a car for bait. The bait car works and while Kersey is having dinner with his neighbours he excuses himself from the table. Two gang members are trying to steal the car, Paul walks up to them and kills them both with his revolver. In the following days a neighbour of Paul's is repeatedly harassed by the gang until one day when Paul is not around she is assaulted and raped. She then dies from her injuries in the hospital.

"That's my car."

Kersey decides he needs more firepower and orders a 457 Wildey Magum. He spends most of the day loading the gun with ammunition. He decides to use a camera as bait to get one of the gangsters to steal it. The giggler of the gang steals the camera and Paul kills him. The neighbourhood applaud Paul for doing this and LT. Shriker takes the credit. Paul then meets with a public defender named Kathryn Davis (Deobrah Raffin). They form a romantic relationship, she then says she has to move out of the city. Kersey invites Kathryn to dinner, she accepts.

 

Wildey is here.

While she waits in her car Kathryn is knocked out by the gang leader and pushes the car into oncoming traffic where the car explodes. LT. Shriker gets worried for Kersey's safety and puts him in protective custody. One of Kersey's neighbours tries to kill the gang with his MG42 but the gun jams and he is assaulted by the gang. LT. Shriker takes Paul to the hospital to see the neighbour where he tells him about the heavy machine gun in the closet. Kersey escapes to go get the gun. Kersey then finds the browning gun and with the help of another neighbour starts to shoot the gang. They kill many of them until the ammo in the gun runs out, the gang leader then sends in more reinforcements and the neigbourhood decides to fight back against them. 

Machine gun showdown...

Kersey then proceeds to run down the street with his Wildey Magnum and kills as much people as he can. LT. Shriker then shows up to help Kersey they then kill the remaining gang members. Kersey goes back to his apartment to get more ammo where he is greeted with the leader of the gang. The leader goes to shoot Kersey but LT. Shriker arrives in time to shoot the leader. They assume he is dead but they are wrong and he shoots and wounds Shriker. While LT. Shriker is in pain he distracts the leader while Kersey picks up his LAW rocket launcher and blows him up. The entire wall caves in and the burnt remains is what is left of the gang leader.

Good Cop, Vigilante...

The neighbourhood cheer and thank Kersey. Paul then walks away from the warzone seemingly not worried about the chaos he has done.

Extras;

Only a theatrical trailer.

1/5


Picture Quality;

The picture quality is great. A nice layer of grain throughout the entire film, detail is great and colours are nice and vibrant.

4/5


Audio Quality;

The DTS HD master audio 1.0 mono track is very good. Most of the film is very clear to hear and the soundtrack is easily heard. Some instances of dialogue can my muffled though. 

3.5/5


This is a film not to be taken seriously, if you are in the right frame of mind you will enjoy this. This also starts the recurring theme of Kersey's love interests being killed in each sequel following this. This is far from reality and so many scenes will make you laugh out loud, also an early appearance by Alex Winter who went onto to Play Bill in the Bill and Ted films.



Recommended!





Andrew

Thursday UPDATE

"Another Eastwood classic arrives along with a B movie."

"So as you can see I have been in a Clint Eastwood mood recently so I went with another western classic High Plains Drifter. A great film where he famously goes into a barely populated town and brings bad company with him and paints the tow "red". The film is looks stunning on Blu-ray as I skimmed through it before writing this, it looks like it has had a fresh scan."

Time to paint the town red in HD.

"The last release that arrived today is the B movie vigilante classic The Exterminator. A great little film that rips off the Death Wish series and adds a lot of gory deaths to the mix. Definitely a film to check out if you are into 80s low budget B movies."

Extermination time!

"Don't forget my review of Death Wish 3 will be up tomorrow, stay tuned!"





Andrew

The Death Wish Series: Death Wish 2

"Here is my review of the Cannon films produced sequel, Death Wish 2. Michael Winner and Charles Bronson team up again."

"Bronson's on the loose again!"

 Plot;


Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) now lives in Los Angeles and has moved on with his life since the violent crimes his wife and daughter endured. Kersey is now dating a news reporter Geri Nichols (Jill Ireland). Kersey goes to the hospital to pick up his daughter, the doctor gives some positive news despite the catatonia Carol can now speak. They all decide to go to the carnival and have a day out but while Paul is waiting in line to buy ice cream he is pick pocketed by 5 thugs from a gang. Paul runs after one of them and catches him but the gangster denies stealing his wallet, he lets him go.

 

A day at the carnival.

Geri then has to leave to go to an interview so Paul and Carol decide to go on a boat ride. While this is happening the 5 thugs that stole Paul's wallet has found his address. They knock on the door and the maid opens it, they break into the house and brutally assault the maid. They take turns in raping her and they then kill her. They wait for Paul to arrive back home, Paul then arrives back with his daughter and one of the thugs knock him out. They kidnap his daughter and take her to the gang's hideout where they attempt to rape her. Carol tries to get away and jumps out the window but is then impaled by a spike on the railing.

Paul then awakes to find Geri has returned home and the maid's body lying in the living room. The police arrive and question Paul about the muggers and they need his help to identify them. The police officer then gives Paul the bad news that his daughter has been murdered, he then says "what is the point?". 

Paul yet again takes the law into his own hands and takes his handgun which was hidden in his closet. He then goes to a lower part of town and rents out a cheap apartment where he can change into his vigilante clothes and keep his guns. The next night Paul spots one of the muggers and decides to follow him back to an abandoned house, where he spots a drug deal happening. Paul shoots and kills one of the men and orders the rest to leave and kills the mugger.

Justice is served.

The next night Paul is on the streets yet again. He hears a scream and spots muggers attacking a man and a woman. Paul recognizes one of the muggers that he chased at the carnival. The muggers try to rape the girl but Paul then shoots two of them and wounds the mugger he saw a few days before. The mugger runs away and Paul follows the blood trial until he is at an abandoned warehouse and shoots him dead.

The Los Angeles police hear about these murders and so does the New York police department. Detective Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) is called to help, as Kersey is their number 1 suspect. Detective Frank fearing Paul might talk about their earlier experience together when caught, the NYPD decide to send him to get Paul. Detective Frank arrives in L.A and breaks into Geri's apartment, he then decides to tell her about Paul's vigilante past. Geri later confronts Paul about his past and he denies it and says Frank is just joking around.

Detective Frank then starts to follow Kersey when Paul sees the 3 remaining muggers who attacked him and killed his daughter. Kersey starts to follow the gang while detective frank is on his tail. Paul then waits in the bushes while the drug deal happens, then detective frank runs out to protect Paul and gets shot a few times. Paul kills everybody on the scene except for one last mugger that gets away. Detective Frank then explains why he sided with Paul and dies, Paul runs away from the scene. 

The police then set up a sting to catch the remaining mugger and it is successful, only after the mugger kills several police officers while on PCP. The doctors then examine him and say he is found criminally insane and is sent to a hospital. Paul and Geri visit the hospital and request an interview with him but are denied access. Paul then steals the doctors ID. The next day Paul takes Geri out for dinner and proposes to her and she accepts. During the night Paul goes back to the hospital and pretends to be a doctor to get access to the mugger. They get into a violent struggle and Paul throws the mugger into an electric shock machine which kills him.

Shocking!

An orderly witnesses this but does not sound the alarm straight away and lets Paul go because he sympathizes with him. Geri then goes to Paul's apartment to find a copy of the doctor's ID and sees the murder of the mugger on TV. She throws away the ring as she realizes Paul is the vigilante. A few months later Paul is back to work, at the end scene we see a silhouette and then a few gun shots are heard which tells us that he continues to walk the streets.

Extras;


Only a theatrical Trailer.


1/5


Picture Quality;


The picture quality is great and true to the source. As this is a low budget film grain is visible through every scene. Detail is amazing and there is no digital manipulation.


4/5


Audio Quality;

The audio track is a 1.0 mono lossless track. The sound is clear and no audio drop outs are present.


3.5/5



While this sequel had a lot to live up to due to the first being such a classic it does a good job of continuing the story of the vigilante. It is definitely far from being the worst that Cannon has produced and the magic is still there between director Michael Winner and actor Charles Bronson. Overall the film does not go too far from reality but some scenes will get you thinking "how is that possible?" This may only be the true sequel to Death Wish as the others to follow get more crazy, outlandish and wackier which most have come to see from the Cannon Group during the 80s.



Recommended!





Andrew

Tuesday UPDATE

"Today 6 films have arrived, 2 are Eastwood films, 3 are Richard Pryor films and 1 is a Mel Gibson film."

Western Double Bill.

"First up are two lesser known Eastwood Westerns, Two Mules for sister Sara and Joe Kidd. I have never had the chance to see two mules for sister Sara but it does sound interesting. Joe Kidd I have seen before, it is a Hollywood remake of the man with no name trilogy. They failed to catch the same spirit as those films."

2 greats, 1 stinker

"Next is the American releases of See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Stir Crazy and The Toy. The first two are well known classics which pair up Pryor with Wilder and they get into all sorts of hilarious trouble. The Toy you may not have heard of and for a good reason as it is a forgettable unfunny comedy film which wastes good talent from Pyor and Jackie Gleason."

Welcome to 'Nam!

"Last but not least is the war epic, We were soldiers starring Mel Gibson. A great war film capturing the harsh realities of the Vietnam war. It is based on the true story of Lieutenant colonel Hal Moore and his 400 men get ambushed and surrounded by 2000 Vietnamese soldiers in the Valley of death. Definitely a film to check out if you are a fan of the Vietnam epics like The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now."





Andrew

The Death Wish Series: Death Wish

"Alright another series of films to review! I will be reviewing all of the Death Wish films, from Death Wish to Death Wish V: In the face of death."

It is hard to believe that at one time Death Wish was taken seriously as a film. The sequels then took advantage of the film name and character and turned them into one big joke. Before that happened Death Wish was relevant to the time period, during the 70s crime was at an all time high. The film shows how unsafe it was to walk around unfamiliar parts of New York or even in your own home.

The original Vigilante

Plot;


Charles Brosnan plays Paul Kersey, an architect living in New York with his wife and daughter. One day while he is at work, his wife and daughter shop for groceries. When they walk home they attract a group of thugs, they then follow them home. While they unpack their groceries the thugs knock on the door and pretend to be deliverymen. Suddenly they burst into the apartment and desperately try to search for money but when they find none they turn violent and rape and beat the two girls.

Before Brundlefly there was generic thug!

Then Paul's son in law plucks up the courage to call him and say that both girls are in the hospital and are in serious condition. Paul arrives at the hospital and is told that his daughter survived the attack but his wife has died. Paul in shock tells the officers what are the chances of finding the killers, they reply small. The next day Paul's boss gives him an extended business vacation, during this vacation the client shows Paul his gun club. Paul shoots the target with almost perfect accuracy and reveals he was a combat medic in the Korean war. 

Right on target...

After Paul and the client come to an agreement the client gives Paul a leaving present.  When Paul arrives he hears that his daughter is a catatonic. He goes back to his apartment in upper Manhattan and opens his luggage. He then opens his gift from the client to find that it is a gun, a .32 colt revolver to be precise. He loads the gun with bullets, puts on an overcoat and conceals the weapon. He goes outside by this time it is near midnight, he goes for a walk around the city until a mugger sees him and tries to rob him at gunpoint. Paul then shoots and kills the robber.

A Vigilante is born...

When he realizes he has shot and killed a person he runs home and throws up. Kersey gets a taste of revenge and starts to kill more criminals. Kersey on purpose goes into a bad neighbourhood where he is ambushed by three muggers, he kills all 3 of them. Then when Paul is on a train he is confronted by two muggers with knives and shoots one through the newspaper and the other at close range.

You are in for a surprise...

In the next night Paul gives money to the cashier to pay for food, two muggers see the amount of money in the wallet and start to follow him. They go to a subway where the muggers attempt to rob Kersey, Kersey shoots one of them while the other stabs him in the shoulder. Kersey relentlessly runs after the other one and shoots him dead too. 

Now all of these killings are getting press attention and the "Vigilante" is getting positive reactions from the people of New York. LT. Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) is investigating these murders, he comes to the conclusion that these killings have to be connected with a family member being killed so he draws up a list of recent family members killed by muggers and who are war veterans.  LT. Frank is onto Kersey and suspects it is him, but before he arrests him he is told by a higher authority not to and to let him loose. 

U.S Poster

Paul then starts to serve out more of his own justice on two muggers until he is shot by the third mugger in a warehouse. At the scene Paul's gun is picked up by a young officer for evidence but before he can hand it in LT. Frank takes it and tells the young officer to forget about it. LT. Frank tells the officer he was only another mugging victim, Paul is then sent to the Hospital. While Paul is in the hospital LT. Frank tells Paul to leave the city and never to return, Paul's smart reply is "By sundown?". 

Got ya.

Paul leaves New York to go to Chicago, we see him getting off of the train and entering the subway. A young girl being harassed by thugs catches Paul's eye, he helps her. The hoodlums flip the bird and Paul points his hand like a gun and smiles to the camera. 

Extras;

Only a trailer.


Picture quality;  

The picture quality is nothing short of amazing. The film looks perfect, grain may be heavy at times but it is supposed to be there sue to the film being low budget.


Audio Quality;

The audio is DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio Mono. The audio sounds clear and never muffled. The film score sounds great and the dialogue is always easy to hear.


Death Wish is an unsettling film to sit through as it is realistic. All of this could happen in real life and Michael Winner never takes it upon himself to make anything unrealistic. Perhaps during the 70s the character Paul Kersey was seen as a hero cleaning up the streets from muggers and rapists. It is a great film and should be considered a classic from Brosnon Fans. The film was a box office hit and while the first film was made in 1974, it would take nearly 10 years for the next film to be made by the infamous Cannon Films Group.


Highly Recommended!



"Look out for my review of Death Wish 2 on Wednesday!" 




Andrew

Quick Blu-ray review: Bullet to the Head

"I have decided to review this film because it's a first time viewing and I would like to share my thoughts on it."

 

Plot;

Stallone plays hitman Jimmy Bobo, one day after a hit they go to a bar. While Jimmy Bobo (Stallone) is in the bathroom his partner is murdered by Keegan (Jason Momoa). He then goes to kill Bobo but he is too fast for him and gets away only after destroying the entire bathroom.

Bathroom brawl!

After this takes place Jimmy Bobo wants to get revenge, so after a DC cop called Kwon (Sung Kang) comes looking for him in connection with the murder they both reluctantly come to an agreement, only after Bobo saves Kwon's life when he gets attacked by corrupt cops. 

Some quality time.

Bobo and Kwon go through the mobsters looking for Keegan until eventually they find him but only after they take Bobo's daughter. This results in Bobo making a deal with Keegan's employer for the flashdrive which was stolen earlier from one of the gangsters. Bobo gives it and the deal is done, they almost escape when Keegan goes crazy and kills his employer and his bodyguards. This leads up to the final fight with fire axes, yes fire axes! Kwon then earns Bobo's respect and daughter when he saves his life just before Keegan was going to lunge at him.

Axe attack!

 

Extras;

The only extra inlcuded is a lackluster featurette which shows some of what goes on behind production and some interviews, it just isn't enough.



2/5



Blu-ray Picture Quality;

The picture quality is excellent most of the time, at some places it can be very grainy and dark (I know grain isn't a bad thing but sometimes it can be very distracting when it is heavy).



4/5



Blu-ray Audio Quality;

I only used the uncompressed 2.0 audio track due to not having a surround sound setup. The uncompressed track while being very clear and having good bass, it can also be very low at times.



4/5 



While this may not be one of Stallone's normal character's he is used to playing and the character may not be likable and have many redeeming qualities. The film does bring the action and Stallone still does his own stunts at age 65, which I might add are very fun to watch. It is also a great 80s action throwback.



Recommended to fans only.




Andrew