Rent Death Wish (1974)

3.4 of 5 from 130 ratings
1h 33min
Rent Death Wish (aka The Sidewalk Vigilante) Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
In this explosive story of revenge and urban violence, Charles Bronson plays Paul Kersey, a bleeding-heart liberal who has a change of opinion after his wife and daughter are violently attacked by a gang of thugs in their apartment. His daughter is sexually assaulted and his wife is murdered. Bronson then turns vigilante as he stalks the mean streets of New York on the prowl for muggers, hoodlums and the like. 'Death Wish' is a violent, controversial film that is frank and original in its treatment of urban crime and the average citizen's helplessness in dealing with it. Herbie Hancock wrote the musical score. And watch for a young Jeff Goldblum in his film debut as one of the thugs.
Actors:
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Directors:
Producers:
Hal Landers, Bobby Roberts, Dino de Laurentiis
Writers:
Brian Garfield, Wendell Mayes, Gerald Wilson, Michael Winner
Aka:
The Sidewalk Vigilante
Studio:
Paramount
Genres:
Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama, Thrillers
Collections:
Best Film Quests and Adventures, Films by Genre, Heist Movies: Masterminds and Mavericks, A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Films About Radio: Rock to Rap
BBFC:
Release Date:
04/09/2006
Run Time:
93 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
Subtitles:
Danish, Dutch, English, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.78:1 / 16:9
Colour:
Colour
BBFC:
Release Date:
09/04/2018
Run Time:
93 minutes
Languages:
English Audio Description, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing, French, Spanish
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.78:1 / 16:9
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
BBFC:
Release Date:
24/01/2023
Run Time:
93 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles:
English
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.85:1
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Audio Commentary by Film Historian Paul Talbot, the Author of the Bronson's Loose! Books
  • Interview with Actor John Herzfeld
  • Theatrical Trailer

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Reviews (1) of Death Wish

Famous Vigilante Film - Worth Checking Out - Death Wish review by GI

Spoiler Alert
05/05/2022

Michael Winner's infamous vigilante film holds up rather well today and whilst it's flawed, violent and controversial it isn't the sadistic film that is often rumoured. It continues Winner's obsession with death that flows through all his films in particular those he made with Charles Bronson in the 1970s. Symbols of violent death litter the film, including hangman's nooses and swastikas for example. Narratively and thematically the film does revel in the law of the gun and Winner can't help but interlink the story with the frontier violence of the western albeit the west is about myth rather than the reality of the social problem of gang violence in modern day USA. (Interestingly Arizona, the landscape heart of the western is depicted as a peaceful and beautiful place over New York as a pit of depravity. One character claims this is because they have a very open relationship with guns) The main issue with the film is that Winner randomly switches his message from support of the actions of the vigilante to a gentle condemnation perhaps intending the viewer to also switch. In my opinion the film's coda leaves little doubt that the main protagonist grows to relish in killing. The story is fairly simple. A humble city architect, Paul (Bronson) is left distraught when his wife is murdered by muggers and his daughter raped. He tries to come to terms but when a colleague gives him a gun as a present Paul carries it for self defence and after killing a mugger starts to prowl the city streets looking to kill more. Meanwhile the police begin a search for the vigilante fearing copycats and a loss of control. The film attacks police methods as ineffectual and the narrative has an interesting political angle when officials have to decide on how to deal with him. Not as violent as some may think (although the swearing is full on for a mid 70s film) this is entertaining and a good example of Bronson's work as a lead actor (I always think he's an unlikely one at that). There were four sequels to this film with part 2 being a very nasty film and none of them are worth your time nowadays. A 2018 sequel from director Eli Roth is also a waste of time but this original is perhaps ripe for reassessment.

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