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Death Wish 3Rating:
Release Date: 03 February, 2004 Retail Price: $14.98 OUR Price: $12.99 You SAVE: $1.99! Cast: Complete Cast (9 total) |
Death Wish 3 Reviews
Cidade de Kersey, or the Problem with Being Pally with Paul
For Death Wish 3, director Michael Winner knew he couldn't just follow the same template he had on the first two films. It had worked for those, especially as the first was a bit rough, feeling a bit like trying to find one's way in the darkness, and the second almost perfected the formula, even if that meant stumbling into a contradictorily attractive sewer. Of course, Death Wish 3 still basically a revenge flick featuring Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey, an oddly charismatic architect turned vigilante taking out hordes of theatrical punks, but Winner expands on the previous films here, bringing in allusions to other genres and films, and giving Death Wish 3 added thematic and emotional dimensions.
One of the new dimensions may have been somewhat unintentional, but it's one of my favorite modes, so it worked extremely well for me--an absurdist humor that stems from the context of all three Death Wish films as a continual story. By this point in the series, Kersey has such incredibly bad luck--it seems that to be or become chummy with him in any way is virtually a death sentence--that it is hilarious. This aspect is amplified by the fact that Bronson deadpans his way through the film. So when he expresses hesitation for a romantic relationship because of past events, and both reassurance and disaster quickly follow, it's as funny as tragic in context of the three films. Winner also incorporates a lot of intentional humor and irony as the film progresses.
Winner doesn't caricature his crime-ridden city as much as he did previously, but his gangs, or at least some gang members, still have a bit of Broadway to them. However, it's much easier to take the setting's anarchic state seriously, especially since Death Wish 3 is set in Brooklyn (the East New York section) during the tail end of its worst crime period. There is a bit of the feel and probably an influence from The Warriors (1979) here.
The major way that Winner breaks his previous plot template is that this time most of Kersey's Brooklyn neighbors join in the fray. The idea is a lot of fun. It not only gives us a couple handfuls of attractive, new characters to root for, but it gives Death Wish 3 the opportunity to mix its usual mood with elements from both war films and westerns. The Mad Max films (1979 and 1981) also seem to have been an influence, and Aliens (1986) was to expand its plot in a similar way the following year.
To make the war-like scope of Death Wish 3 believable, Winner also makes the smart move of putting the head of police, Richard S. Shriker (Ed Lauter), on Kersey's side, after a pleasantly gritty and surprising opening that first has them at loggerheads.
Winner was also smart to retain most of Jimmy Page's score for Death Wish 2. That it's the same score isn't at all a minus, as Page primarily composed a series of leitmotifs for characters and moods, so they serve to give Death Wish 3 a more solid continuity from the previous film. The additional music here, which wasn't by Page, isn't nearly as good, which is making me a bit anxious about Death Wish 4, because Page's music was dropped there.
For me, this is an odd series to this point because of the continual rise in the series' quality. I still have never watched Death Wish 4 or 5, so it will be interesting to see if the series can continue the trend. There isn't much further up to go.
bronson returns to new york and kills everyone
this is the funniest action movie i have ever seen. bronson finds a war buddy dead at gang hands and has another woman taken from him so he starts a riot and brings out a cannon(well a gun they hunt big game with) and kills every gang member in new york with it.
a great release for those who want the bad guys to pay(they pay big time here) and the tone is very light in this over the top shootout. bronson seems to be having fun here and it carries the movie.
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