Death Wish (1974)

 “Nothing to do but cut and run, huh? What else? What about the old American social custom of self-defense? If the police don’t defense us, maybe we ought to do it ourselves.” – Paul Kersey

Number of Times Seen – 1 (13 Jul 2014)

Brief Synopsis – After his wife and daughter are viciously attacked by gang members, an architect decides to single handedly try to stop muggings in NYC.

My Take on it – Before the world was introduced to the likes of Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme or Segal, we had Charles Bronson.

He looked like an aversge joe, but was one of the meanest badasses when it came to revenge movies.

This movie is obviously the one which most people refer to when discussing his films dealing with vigilantism.

Although relatively short, this movie does a wonderful job showing us how a typical architect could plausibly turn into a feared and applauded vigilante who could help lower the crime wave of muggings in NYC and make it safer for its citizens.

Look for two familiar faces among the criminals in this movie. Denzel Washington and Jeff Goldblum can both be missed in their small roles if you dont pay attention.

This movie’s view on vigilantism isnt one many would perscribe to today, but it seems to work quite well in the center of Manhattan 40 years ago.

Bottom Line – Bronson is one of the first and best actors to take the law into his own hands and make the audience root for him. Not the most PC view on vigilantism but it works well. Recommended!

Rating – Globe Worthy

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