I thought I'd be the first to review this classic vigilante film "Death Wish" starring Charles Bronson as I noticed it has not been reviewed on Ciao yet.
INTRO Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a successful architect who turns vigilante after his wife and daughter are ferociously attacked by a gang of violent thugs in their New York city apartment.
Set in the mean streets of New York city, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) plays a man completely overcome by the horrific assault on his family,with that his comfortable professional life comes to an abrupt end. When the police are slow to respond, Paul Kersey (Bronson) takes the law into his own hands and sets out seeking revenge by himself with a revolver, prowling for muggers on the crime ridden mean city streets at night. It's not long before he becomes a well known vigilante in the city by both the cheering residents and the sympathetic police who funny enough actually see the urban crime rate start to fall in the city.
MY VIEWS Being a fan of the late, great Charles Bronson I enjoyed "Death Wish" very much with it's exciting quick pace and engaging music by Herbie Hancock, builds the tempo for a great powerful 70's classic thriller. Charles Bronson, is extremely well cast in this film as he plays a gentle professional family man Paul Kersey who is driven to complete despair when his family is set opon by savage thugs. There are at times some very graphic and violent moments, but this being directed and co-produced by Michael Winner is to be expected. The atmosphere when Bronson is prowling on the streets, subways of New York stalking the thugs is both chilling and enthralling.
Death Wish was the film in my opinion that made Charles Bronson shine at his best and that would also spark off 4 "Death Wish" sequels 3 of which were directed by Michael Winner, but sadly none living up to the engrossing original. Also watch out for a young Jeff Goldblum (The Fly) on his debut playing one of the key violent thugs.DVD INFO Film : 93mins Widescreen : 1.78 Sound : Mono Subtitles : English, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish Rating : 18
SUMMARY A violent but yet powerful film "Death Wish" is the best vigilante film ever made in my opinion. With the help of great directing from Michael Winner this film will captivate you for the full 93mins, as the good guy (Charles Bronson) seeks revenge on the city streets stalking the muggers and thugs. You'll find yourself cheering in a strange sort of way when he blasts the bad guys to kingdom come. Death Wish is NOT just another brainless shoot-em-up but a classy well made top notch thriller and the fact this film was made back in the 1970's is a plus, as it just gives it more style. I would thoroughly recommend this film although it will not be to everyone's taste it's still one not to be missed. 9/10
At the time I purchased my copy of "Death Wish" on DVD (last year) it was difficult to find, but managed to buy secondhand on Ebay for around £5. Also don't forget to look on Kelkoo to compare prices www.kelkoo.co.uk.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Michael Winner directed some fairly good films starring Charles Bronson before Death Wish (The Mechanic and also Chato's Land, for example). Yet, I agree that this is definitely a classic.
plod591 27.08.2008 16:29
Good actor, good film and a good review.
greenierexyboy 23.03.2008 23:28
It's got a level of skill to it (it can be watched either as a straight thriller or a pitch black comedy) that Winner has never managed since: well worth a look for anyone who hasn't seen it (who can take it!).
In this explosive story of revenge and urban violence, Charles Bronson plays Paul Kersey, ... more
a bleeding-heart liberal who has a change of opinion after his wife and daughter are violently attacked by a gang of thugs in their apartment. His daughter is sex...
![Death Wish [DVD] [1974]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78475249.jpg "Death Wish [DVD] [1974]")
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