| |||||
Death Wish - The Vigilante Collection
BOXSET/APPROX. 452 MINS/1974 to 1993/USA R18+
BOXSET/APPROX. 452 MINS/1974 to 1993/USA R18+
9
| All written material is © from 2006 to Present at DVD Resurrections. This website is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The opinions which are expressed within these pages are solely those of DVD Resurrections. No copyright infringement is intended or implied. |
| ||||||
Death Wish (1974)
Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a very mild mannered Architect living in New York City. He has a lovely wife Joanna (Hope Lange) & daughter Carol
(Kathleen Tolan) and everything is going good for him. Until one day when his wife & daughter a followed home from the supermarket by a group
of thugs one of which is (Jeff Goldblum from the movie The Fly in his first movie appearance). At first they just want cash, but not finding any they
batter the shit out Joanna & rape Carol before spray painting them and fleeing. Joanna later dies of her injuries, while Carol just turns into a
vegetable and is committed.
After all this happens Paul’s boss sends on a working vacation to Arizona, where he meets a new friend who is a gun enthusiast, going as far as to
give one to Paul. On his return to New York he is disheartened to find out the cops haven’t done much in there search and goes out on his own
seeking revenge. But Kersey also takes the time to blast away a few muggers, to which the locals in the area see him as some sort of vigilante
hero. Obviously the police aren’t too fond of this idea but don’t really try to stop him, even after he is being seen as a local hero, because he is
doing a better job than the NYPD.
Death Wish II (1981)
Trying to forget his past Paul has moved to LA. He has a new woman in his life Gerri Nichols (Jill Ireland) and his Daughter Carol (Played by Robin
Sherwood this time) is finally starting to break out of her shell, until one night when they are out on the town & Paul is mugged by a group of
street punks. Paul tries to fight back, but they just leave. However they still want more from Mr. Kersey. After looking through his wallet & finding
his address they go there only to find him his not home, but Carol & the house keeper are. The house keeper is brutally raped by the gang and
then murdered, while Carol is kidnapped, and taken to their hideout where she too is raped before escaping, jumping out a window and impaling
herself on a fence. Paul has decided he has to return to his old ways due to lack of police help again and starts to clean the street of LA.
Death Wish III (1985)
Finding himself back in New York, Paul goes to see an old friend, Charlie. However just before he arrives, a member of the local street gang, who
keep terrorizing all the folk who live in the same apartment block as Charlie, has broken into Charlie’s apartment and has beaten him to death. The
cops show up just as Paul has entered the room and he is found standing over his body. Paul is arrested and thrown into jail cell, which is also
housing the leader of the gang, but is let free after striking a deal with a crooked cop who wants Paul to clean up the streets.
Paul returns to Charlie’s apartment, hooks up with the other local residents and teaches them to fight back.
Death Wish IV (1987)
Paul is back in LA, again with a new missus Karen Sheldon (Kay Lenz) and her teenage daughter Erica (Dana Baron). Erica goes out with her
boyfriend to the local arcade where all the drug pushers hang out. Erica is given a freebie by one of the dealers in the form of cocaine, which she
promptly uses & dies of an overdose. Paul is then hired by an unknown person to take out a vendetta on all the high up drug dealers in the LA
area, turning both gangs onto each other.
Death Wish V (1993)
And for the final entry in the series Paul is once again back in New York. Yet again a new missus, fashion designer Olivia Regent (Lesley Anne
Down) with a daughter Chelsea (Erica Lancaster), problems arise with her ex husband Tommy O’shea (Michael Parks) who is one of the biggest
mobsters in the area. At a fancy restaurant one night Olivia goes into the ladies room. But Tommy and his goons are at the same restaurant & one
of them is a cross dressing master of disguise who also goes into the ladies room & permanently disfigures Olivia’s face with the mirror. With Olivia
in hospital Tommy takes control of Olivia’s clothing factory, laundering money through the joint and so on, and just generally being a badass until
Paul comes in for one last showdown all guns blazing.
In celebration of all 5 Death Wish movies finally coming out on DVD in one box set, I sat through the whole series in one weekend. And what a
weekend it was! First off Death Wish 1 is a classic film. Rape/Revenge films were all the rage at the time, playing in all the New York grindhouse
cinema’s on 42nd st. It was only a matter of time before the big studios wanted a piece of the action. However it is nowhere near the bleak
nastiness of films like Last House on the Left, but a fairly polished effort that came out just at the right time as muggings were running rampant in
NY at the time and the idea of a vigilante made a lot of people think.
Death Wish 2 followed in 1981 and has by far the most brutal rape scene off all the films and is every bit as good as the first flick.
Death Wish 3 came in 1985 and is my personal favorite of the set. A bit more action orientated with out going over the top (like the last 2) there is
plenty of go in this flick.
Death Wish 4 was release in 1987, and is the first of the series not to be directed by Michael Winner, and it shows. Not to say the film is shit, far
from it, but its just missing a certain something I cant put my finger on It did get a bit silly in this one in the respect of it turned into more of a lets-
blow-the-shit-outta-everything than the 3 films before it.
This leaves us with Death Wish 5. A marked improvement over the 4th entry, there is still a lot of latter day Hollywood style action in it, but man
some of the stunts in this fucking rule! Especially the 2 people getting hit by the same car about? About a hour into it.
Charles Bronson became a huge star after the release of the first film, and went on to star in the other 4, although I must say if his acting was any
more wooden he’d be a pine post! God, the man never shows any emotion! But it all fits in well with the tone of the films, and for sheer
entertainment you can’t go past this box. The Region 4 box set retails at a low price of $40au at EzyDVD.com.au, Now you can't fucking beat that
for a bargain, even though all the discs are bare bones, MGM have given crystal clear widescreen transfers, but only with Mono Sound.
But you will have to hurry and buy this awesome box set before it becomes Out Of Print.
Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a very mild mannered Architect living in New York City. He has a lovely wife Joanna (Hope Lange) & daughter Carol
(Kathleen Tolan) and everything is going good for him. Until one day when his wife & daughter a followed home from the supermarket by a group
of thugs one of which is (Jeff Goldblum from the movie The Fly in his first movie appearance). At first they just want cash, but not finding any they
batter the shit out Joanna & rape Carol before spray painting them and fleeing. Joanna later dies of her injuries, while Carol just turns into a
vegetable and is committed.
After all this happens Paul’s boss sends on a working vacation to Arizona, where he meets a new friend who is a gun enthusiast, going as far as to
give one to Paul. On his return to New York he is disheartened to find out the cops haven’t done much in there search and goes out on his own
seeking revenge. But Kersey also takes the time to blast away a few muggers, to which the locals in the area see him as some sort of vigilante
hero. Obviously the police aren’t too fond of this idea but don’t really try to stop him, even after he is being seen as a local hero, because he is
doing a better job than the NYPD.
Death Wish II (1981)
Trying to forget his past Paul has moved to LA. He has a new woman in his life Gerri Nichols (Jill Ireland) and his Daughter Carol (Played by Robin
Sherwood this time) is finally starting to break out of her shell, until one night when they are out on the town & Paul is mugged by a group of
street punks. Paul tries to fight back, but they just leave. However they still want more from Mr. Kersey. After looking through his wallet & finding
his address they go there only to find him his not home, but Carol & the house keeper are. The house keeper is brutally raped by the gang and
then murdered, while Carol is kidnapped, and taken to their hideout where she too is raped before escaping, jumping out a window and impaling
herself on a fence. Paul has decided he has to return to his old ways due to lack of police help again and starts to clean the street of LA.
Death Wish III (1985)
Finding himself back in New York, Paul goes to see an old friend, Charlie. However just before he arrives, a member of the local street gang, who
keep terrorizing all the folk who live in the same apartment block as Charlie, has broken into Charlie’s apartment and has beaten him to death. The
cops show up just as Paul has entered the room and he is found standing over his body. Paul is arrested and thrown into jail cell, which is also
housing the leader of the gang, but is let free after striking a deal with a crooked cop who wants Paul to clean up the streets.
Paul returns to Charlie’s apartment, hooks up with the other local residents and teaches them to fight back.
Death Wish IV (1987)
Paul is back in LA, again with a new missus Karen Sheldon (Kay Lenz) and her teenage daughter Erica (Dana Baron). Erica goes out with her
boyfriend to the local arcade where all the drug pushers hang out. Erica is given a freebie by one of the dealers in the form of cocaine, which she
promptly uses & dies of an overdose. Paul is then hired by an unknown person to take out a vendetta on all the high up drug dealers in the LA
area, turning both gangs onto each other.
Death Wish V (1993)
And for the final entry in the series Paul is once again back in New York. Yet again a new missus, fashion designer Olivia Regent (Lesley Anne
Down) with a daughter Chelsea (Erica Lancaster), problems arise with her ex husband Tommy O’shea (Michael Parks) who is one of the biggest
mobsters in the area. At a fancy restaurant one night Olivia goes into the ladies room. But Tommy and his goons are at the same restaurant & one
of them is a cross dressing master of disguise who also goes into the ladies room & permanently disfigures Olivia’s face with the mirror. With Olivia
in hospital Tommy takes control of Olivia’s clothing factory, laundering money through the joint and so on, and just generally being a badass until
Paul comes in for one last showdown all guns blazing.
In celebration of all 5 Death Wish movies finally coming out on DVD in one box set, I sat through the whole series in one weekend. And what a
weekend it was! First off Death Wish 1 is a classic film. Rape/Revenge films were all the rage at the time, playing in all the New York grindhouse
cinema’s on 42nd st. It was only a matter of time before the big studios wanted a piece of the action. However it is nowhere near the bleak
nastiness of films like Last House on the Left, but a fairly polished effort that came out just at the right time as muggings were running rampant in
NY at the time and the idea of a vigilante made a lot of people think.
Death Wish 2 followed in 1981 and has by far the most brutal rape scene off all the films and is every bit as good as the first flick.
Death Wish 3 came in 1985 and is my personal favorite of the set. A bit more action orientated with out going over the top (like the last 2) there is
plenty of go in this flick.
Death Wish 4 was release in 1987, and is the first of the series not to be directed by Michael Winner, and it shows. Not to say the film is shit, far
from it, but its just missing a certain something I cant put my finger on It did get a bit silly in this one in the respect of it turned into more of a lets-
blow-the-shit-outta-everything than the 3 films before it.
This leaves us with Death Wish 5. A marked improvement over the 4th entry, there is still a lot of latter day Hollywood style action in it, but man
some of the stunts in this fucking rule! Especially the 2 people getting hit by the same car about? About a hour into it.
Charles Bronson became a huge star after the release of the first film, and went on to star in the other 4, although I must say if his acting was any
more wooden he’d be a pine post! God, the man never shows any emotion! But it all fits in well with the tone of the films, and for sheer
entertainment you can’t go past this box. The Region 4 box set retails at a low price of $40au at EzyDVD.com.au, Now you can't fucking beat that
for a bargain, even though all the discs are bare bones, MGM have given crystal clear widescreen transfers, but only with Mono Sound.
But you will have to hurry and buy this awesome box set before it becomes Out Of Print.
| BUY DVD @ EZYDVD.COM.AU |
|
| "Vigilante, city style - Judge, Jury, and Executioner" |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Search Review Database: |