Waste of time

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I do remember watching "Death Wish" back in my childhood in the 1980s, and remembering that Charles Bronson seemed to be a cool guy in the movie. Then I got a chance to revisit the franchise many, many years later and of course I did sit down to watch the movies again.I have to honestly state that this is a very slow paced movie. "Death Wish" is based on a very good concept though, and it had lots of potential for taking the character Paul Kersey and evolve on him. And I said it had potential to do so, but it failed to do so.The blood in the "Death Wish" movie was painstakingly and obviously just brightly colored paint, as it looked so fake it would even make a blind person go "wait a minute!"It had a very predictable storyline, and you knew the outcome of the movie from the very beginning, which was a shame because director and writer Michael Winner didn't offer much to challenge the intellect of the audience.It was fun to see a young Jeff Goldblum as a hoodlum in this movie.Why this movie spawned a 2018 remake is beyond me, because it is adequate enough as it was.

Filmed in 1974, Death Wish was a good movie for its time. The cinematography was sub par and the plot was decent however the lesson it's trying to teach us is sublime! The main character's wife has been murdered and he decides to do something about it as a vigilante. He begins going out and posing as an easy target for criminals only to shoot them dead when he's provoked. Criminals can't do anything to stop him and through the majority of the film neither can the cops. The lesson we learn in 1974, just before the end of the Vietnam war that has divided americans young and old, is that a happy medium is needed in order to move forward as a nation. The older generations sense or law and order is still relevant however it needs to be more flexible, whereas the younger generations free spirited way of life is immoral and must have some type of boundaries.

As this film opens architect Paul Kersey is enjoying an idyllic holiday in Hawaii with his wife but it isn't long before they return home to New York. As Paul talks to a colleague about the horrific crime rate it becomes apparent that he is considered a 'bleeding heart liberal'... that all changes when three street punks follow his wife and daughter back from the supermarket. His wife doesn't survive the assault that follows and his daughter is traumatised. The police offer little hope that the culprits will be caught. Shortly afterwards Paul travels to Arizona on work; while there he watches a Wild West show which depicts citizens fighting back against those who threaten the peace. He is also taken to a shooting range by his local host; when he returns home he is given a present... a .32" calibre revolver. Soon after his return he is confronted by a mugger and shoots him dead. It isn't long before he is deliberately putting himself in dangerous situations to draw out muggers. As news of 'The Vigilante' breaks the mugging rate drops dramatically.While I'm sure there were previous films about vigilantes this is the classic that made the genre popular. It is not exactly comfortable viewing; the assault on Paul's wife and daughter is particularly hard to watch. The politics of the film may trouble some viewers with its suggestion that Paul Kersey is a hero because of what he does. Of course one must recall it was made at a time when crime was a much bigger problem in the City of New York and these days news stories about 'guns in America' suggest attitudes towards firearms appear to be changing.Trying to ignore the politics this is a good story where it is easy to sympathise with our protagonist's actions even if one doesn't agree with them. Charles Bronson is on great form as Paul Kersey, one of his most famous roles. Director Michael Winner does a good job creating a menacing feel to the mean streets of New York even if it goes seem conveniently empty at times. I like the fact that even though the film is fairly short the story isn't rushed; Dersey doesn't immediately acquire a pistol but gradually sees that he needs to take action before being given a gun. Overall I'd say this won't be for everybody but it is a must see for fans of the genre.

Michael Winner's gritty slice of vigilante cinema has finally been released here after twenty-five years of unavailability. Like most films of the period that were "banned" as such, seen today this is relatively tame viewing material which has had its effect lessened by what has come since. Nonetheless, Winner's film is still pretty good viewing, a movie that actually has something to say about modern society and man's place in it. It's a film that gave me food for thought, in any case. Unlike the later THE EXTERMINATOR and even DEATH WISH II, this is a film that tones down the sensationalism to concentrate on the morals behind the story.Firstly, the movie is not as unpleasant as I had imagined. The build-up to the actual attack on the wife and daughter is worse than the event itself, and thankfully Winner skims over the gory details (or maybe they've just been cut out). Bronson's subsequent vigilante crimes on the dark streets of New York are staged well, with crisp photography giving the film a realistic, gritty edge to it. They're also invariably exciting, and without any unnecessary stylish trimmings; Bronson shoots people with an aim to kill, and that's it. There are no over-the-top gun battles a la John Woo; here it's straightforward cold-blooded murder, shot in a matter-of-fact way.Bronson here is actually very good as the grieving husband and father who takes justice in the only way he knows how; the script gives him unusual characterisation which makes you feel for him. For instance, he doesn't just go out and start killing people; it's a gradual process, and scenes of Bronson being physically sick after shooting a man in the stomach remind us that he is human after all. The supporting cast are uniformly great, and watch out for a very young-looking Jeff Goldblum in his first film role as a thug.So, not only is this a very slick thriller, it's also a film with important things to say. Winner is definitely behind Bronson in his actions, and shows the police as the manipulated buffoons that they really are, although he is sure to show both sides of the coin. No doubt the viewer will find himself siding with Bronson over his actions also. An essential slice of the hard-edged world of the '70s, this movie would have been unthinkable back in the peace-loving '60s.