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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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?".
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| 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
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