CineTV Contest - Death Wish
One day I saw a program on TV that told the story of a vigilante. I don't remember which program it was but at that moment I remembered the movie "Death Wish" starring Charles Bronson, which I had watched in my youth and decided to watch it again. I learned that it was part of a series consisting of five films. I was curious about what they could tell throughout these five films so I started watching them.
I would like to briefly talk about the story of the first film made in 1974: Paul Kersey a peaceful architect, loses his wife who gets killed and his daughter who gets raped. The police just watch the situation and say, God gives, God takes. Paul driven to despair, finds his gun and starts taking matters into his own hands by roaming the streets at night.
In a short time he becomes known as a vigilante across the country. Criminals fear him,police officers sympathize with him and they are not eager to capture him.
While watching the movie I wondered if such public heroes are necessary. On the other hand was Paul Kersey truly unjust? The film prompts viewers to contemplate many complex questions. I believe that Paul not encountering those bad guys and not dealing with them as in cheap action movies is a sign of the film's quality.
After the film achieved great success a sequel was made in 1982. But it turned into a cheap action film that didn't meet expectations in my opinion. The girl is once again raped this time by different bad guys and the vigilante architect kills them one by one throughout the film. It's a film where Laurence Fishburne, whom we know from the character Morpheus in The Matrix is entertaining in the role of a villain.
Following the failure of the sequel Michael Winner directed a third installment in 1985 to rectify the mistakes. This time Paul visits a friend who has been killed by ruthless individuals. These men break into the apartments of the elderly, steal their televisions and snatch shopping bags from older women. In short a horrible gang. Malicious and suspicious police officers immediately attack Paul and accuse him of his friend's murder. But the police commissioner later claims that Paul knew how to eliminate criminals in the previous two films (probably he must have seen it in a movie :) ) and asks for his help. Paul gets involved because he wants to assist the unemployed police officers and seek revenge for his slain partner. First he shoots the bad guys with his super magnum gun then he takes out a machine gun brought as a memento from the war by his friend and kills the bad guys in a crowd. We can also add a bunch of grenades, a rocket launcher and a handgun that Paul uses to shoot another bad guy at close range in his apartment.
The next film "Death Wish 4" was directed by J. Lee Thompson in 1987. Someone whom Paul recently met asks him if he wants to destroy two rival drug gangs after finding out that his daughter died from drugs. Innocently Paul nods in agreement and single handedly wipes out all the criminal organizations including both gangs. When the bad guy fires one last shot at Paul he doesn't even bother checking if the woman is still alive. I guess he knows only one rule: Every chapter features a dead woman.
If I briefly mention the fifth film it was directed by Allan A. Goldstein in 1994. Once again a woman, the exwife of a mafia boss loses her life. Initially Paul doesn't want to kill anyone, but he is forced to do so later on. If you enjoy action films with lead actors like Steven Seagal you might like this movie.
There was a recent remake of the first film starring Bruce Willis. I haven't watched it but I believe it couldn't surpass the original. The first film was absolutely amazing.
CineTV Contest #64 - Favorite Action Movie -- https://www.cinetv.blog/@cinetv/cinetv-contest-64-favorite-action-movie
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