Posted on 01/14/2008 7:07:40 PM PST by lowbridge
This drama about a man who takes the law into his own hands was wildly controversial upon first release, sparking much debate about the perceived pro-vigilante stance of the story, and established Charles Bronson as a major box office draw in the United States. Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a liberal architect living in New York City. One day, a group of drug-crazed thugs break into his apartment while he's gone, killing his wife Joanna (Hope Lange) and brutally raping his married daughter, leaving her comatose. When the police are unable to find the culprits, Kersey arms himself and begins patrolling the streets, killing muggers and thieves as he encounters them. While his obsessive search for street justice sickens him at first, in time Kersey begins to enjoy it and becomes a hunted man himself, as Police Detective Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) tries to find the man who is doing the police's job for them, and a bit too well. Jeff Goldblum made his screen debut as one of the lunatics who attacks Joanna.
— Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
http://schedule.amctv.com/movie?showID=MV000010660000&pageNav=synopsis&title=Death%20Wish
And tomorrow they're having Death Wish 2!
Paul Kersey's (Charles Bronson) self-appointed one-man vigilante squad goes bi-coastal in Michael Winner's sequel to his Death Wish. Kersey has taken up residence in Los Angeles, but lunatic violence follows him across the country like toilet paper sticking to his shoe. Kersey's Spanish cook is immediately gang-banged and killed, while his daughter, still suffering from a catatonic stupor after her brutal rape in the first film, finds herself raped yet again. Vincent Gardenia as New York detective Frank Ochoa, reprises his role from the first film here -- traveling to Los Angeles to locate Kersey but finding death waiting for him off a LA freeway ramp. After all this mayhem, Kersey cannot cringe in hiding for long, and once again he loads up his tube socks with rolls of quarters and goes hoodlum hunting.
— Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
http://schedule.amctv.com/movie?showID=MV000080320000&pageNav=synopsis&title=Death%20Wish%20II
Look for Jeff Goldblum in his first film appearance as one of the thugs.
Happened to see a few minutes of it at the local bodega while getting a couple of slices of pizza.
Man, we've all aged.
And Christopher Guest as a cop (close to the end of the film)
Oh, and Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs (best known as Freddie Washington in the tv series Welcome Back Kotter) as another thug at the end of the film. His line: “Give us the money, honey”.
great flick
Here is a (new) very good review on it.
http://www.libertyfilmfestival.com/libertas/?p=6573
Stallone is going to do a remake.
http://www.libertyfilmfestival.com/libertas/?p=7225
I love all the Death Wish movies. I think Death Wish III is the weakest but Marina Sirtis has a small part in it.
I also like the Death Wish movie with with Vincent Price and the airship. That might be the best one.
It’s a very good flick. A little sparse on production values but delivers a strong theme and powerful message. Love the part at the end where the detective makes it clear that if he had too, he would kill Dr. Kersey himself to get him off the streets.
That would be Stuart Margolin
Thanks!
Watching it now on the west coast.
I don’t like Bronson. He’s such a strong guy.....that when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, he took off for several months. Oh. He did come back. What a guy.
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