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| Charles Bronson | Paul Kersey |
| Hope Lange | Joanna Kersey |
| Vincent Gardenia | Frank Ochoa |
| Steven Keats | Jack Toby |
| William Redfield | Sam Kreutzer |
| Stuart Margolin | Aimes Jainchill |
| Olympia Dukakis | |
| Stephen Elliott | Police Commissioner |
| Chris Gampel | Ives |
| Hank Garrett | Andrew McCabe |
| Jeff Goldblum | Freak #1 |
| Edward Grover | Lt. Briggs |
| Christopher Guest | Patrolman Reilly |
| Marcia Jean Kurtz | |
| Robert Kya-Hill | Joe Charles |
| Eric Laneuville | |
| Floyd Levine | Desk Sergeant |
| Christopher Logan | Freak #2 |
| Helen Martin | Alma Lee Brown |
| Gregory Rozakis | Spraycan |
| Fred J. Scollay | District Attorney |
| Kathleen Tolan | Carol Toby |
| Jack Wallace | Hank |
| Michael Winner | Director, Co-producer |
| Joseph G. Aulisi | Costumes/Costume Designer |
| Bernard Gribble | Editor |
| Robert Gundlach | Production Designer |
| Herbie Hancock | Score Composer |
| Hal Landers | Producer |
| Wendell Mayes | Screenwriter |
| Charles Okun | Asst. Director |
| Arthur Ornitz | Cinematographer |
| Bobby Roberts | Producer |
| James J. Sabat | Sound/Sound Designer |
| Hugh Strain | Sound/Sound Designer |
,"Death Wish" is a genuine curiousity: a terrible movie that provokes a flood of intelligent discussion. The theme of the film is justice, or rather the lack of it, and the subsequent rise of vigilateism as a curative. Based on a novel by Brian Garfield, the film (originally to have been shot by the intriguing pairing of director Sidney Lumet and Jack Lemmon) belies the depth of it's thematic implications by aiming at the sewer; a regular affliction of films by the woeful (and woefully misnamed) Michael Winner. Charles Bronson, an actor of considerable resources was forever typecast in putrid clones of this surprising box-office hit. Portraying an architect whose wife is murdered and daughter is raped into a state of catatonia, and conveniently given the gift of a gun which he uses to gun down every street-level wrongdoer who crosses his path, Bronson walks through the film with a sense of exhaustion, letting his moustache do all the heavy lifting. Vincent Gardenia, as the detective leading the investigation of the killings, spends most of the film noisily blowing his nose, as if violent nasal expulsion could rid the film of Mr. Winner's pervasive lack of taste. (An example: the rapists/murderers are portrayed in such an obnoxiously obvious fashion, they might as well be wearing circus clown outfits and yet we are to believe no one notices them; even an entire grocery store full of people they spend an entire sequence terrorizing!) Winner spends so much time grapically depicting the rape/murder, it offends every moral sense when the offenders are never confronted. Surely a case could be made that this is the point: that violence is random and justice often powerless, leading to the inevitable vigilate, but then how to explain the rest of the picture: police investigations comically depicted as being so stupid that the very hint of a vigilante could be concealed from a city, Bronson dispensing death far in excess of the attempted crimes against him which he himself sets up, or the disgraceful denouement where the police excuse Bronson's crime spree and callously ship him off to another city to be their problem? Leading to an endless series of depressing sequels, Winner's grimy little opus is basically the world's first box-office hit snuff film. DVD depiction is ugly and grainy, perfectly portraying the original theatrical experience and perhaps reflecting director Winner's own callous psyche.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
Bronson lives up to his reputation as a legend of the silver screen and delivers a masterful performance as Paul Kersey, an architect turned vigilante when his wife is viciously murdered and daughter brutally raped by street thugs in his own home. Bronson defies his 53 years in fast paced action, intense drama and 'what will happen next?' suspense. A must see for any action buff.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 1, 2010
I don't remember too many films that earned an OP/ED piece in the New York Times, but this one did. Not only did this film make Charles Bronson a superstar it fully unsettled a nation's urban fears and more than a few people imitated what they saw on screen. The tag line was very memorable: ''Paul Kersey is going to kill 3 muggers tonight. One for his murdered wife, one for his raped daughter and one for you!'' The film worked and perhaps a bit too well because it spawned countless imitators and 4 sequels that were idiotic. The tragedy is DEATH WISH became a parody of itself. Skip the wannabes and cheer Bronson each time he wacks a bad guy here.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 29, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
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