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Rating:  -
After the classic original Deathwish, numbers 2 & 3 may have supplied the violence, but lacked the heart that made Paul Kersey an interesting character. Unexpectedly, in #4, Bronson brings back the heart and soul of this remarkably unmarketed series (c'mon, where's the Vigilante action figure with assorted Punks and Gangsters?). This episode reminds us of the baggage Kersey carries and truly portrays him as a man who is unconcerned about his own survival unless it prevents him from fulfilling his mission of death without mercy. This is what sets the Bronson character apart from other great action heroes: he is never confused or hesitant in his killing. He is the Messenger of Bad Karma. His targets are already damned, he just stamps their ticket on the way to Hell.
Not only is this second only to the original in quality, but it does a nice nod to an excellent earlier film of Bronson, The Mechanic. His "hits" involve interesting technique showing us that Kersey is no amateur; he's really gotten damn good at what he does. The battle at the oilfield looks like lost footage of The Mechanic, and is surreal as Bronson slowly approaches his kill to the spooky metallic sounds of oilfield pumpjacks. The ending presents a terrible philosophic conclusion: Evil has been soundly thrashed, but the collateral damage goes on and the world seems no better. Obviously, Bronson's work is never done.
Rating:  -
Once again, this is a major improvement from DW3. Bronson is as great as ever and I really loved his performance here. The plot is okay, not oscar material, but acceptable. At least it has more to it than just shooting people.
Very good movie for Bronson fans.
Rating: -
I would highly recommend this seller. The order was filled in an accurate and prompt manner.
Rating: -
The Death Wish films strongly follow a formula that was set by the first film: Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson), an easygoing architect either in New York City or Los Angeles, at some point with a female significant other and usually some kind of daughter figure, experiences violence towards his loved ones by anarchic gangs. The violence often involves rapes, severe beatings and murders. Fed up, especially since law enforcement can't take care of the problem very efficiently, he goes into a vigilante mode and starts racking up dead punks. He takes on an alternate identity and utilizes impressive armories, all while remaining suave and easygoing. Meanwhile, law enforcement tends to play under-the-table games with him, since the public tends to be sympathetic with vigilantes taking scum off the streets and the police realize that the vigilante can circumvent the system and do the job with no bureaucratic hassles.
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown is no exception to using this formula. But new writer Gail Morgan Hickman and new director J. Lee Thompson use the formula in a very creative way for fans of the series--they let it ride along implicitly and then play with our expectations based on it. (By the way, Thompson was new to the Death Wish series, but he had directed Bronson six times previously, beginning with St. Ives (1976), then in The White Buffalo (1977), Caboblanco (1980), 10 to Midnight (1983), The Evil That Men Do (1984), and Murphy's Law (1986). They later went on to work together in Messenger of Death (1988) and Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects (1989).)
So we begin with a typical Death Wish scene--an attractive woman ambushed in a lonely parking garage by three thugs and raped, only to be interrupted by Kersey bearing high velocity leaden gifts. But it turns out to be an opening out of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) instead, as Kersey was simply dreaming. Awake, he gets on with his architectural life. We see him with a serious girlfriend who has a daughter, and we figure it spells trouble for their wellbeing. It does, but the trouble begins abruptly, in an unexpected way.
And then, after briefly flirting with the usual Death Wish route of Kersey hitting the streets and seeing what the punks look like for himself so he can mop up the gutters with them, Hickman and Thompson make a left turn, and Death Wish 4 has Kersey functioning something like a mob hitman instead. He has a mysterious benefactor feeding him with information on crime bigwigs instead of piddly gang members, and in an echo of Death Wish 3, he effectively enters a guerrilla war with them, only this time Kersey has no help; he's a one-man army. Thompson continues to play with our expectations in many ways, including a fairly shocking occurrence near the end of the film (after a very fun scene in a roller disco).
In addition to the clever meta-level stuff, the set-up of the film results in it basically being a series of action vigilante/hitman set pieces. There are still a number of stories threaded throughout to provide unity, but the set pieces have all of the creativity, uniqueness and thrill of going through the various levels of a great contemporary video game. It wouldn't be surprising if Death Wish 4 were one of the inspirations for a modern game or two (even though the film isn't exactly kind to video games--again, see the roller disco scene).
On the forest level, Death With 4 certainly isn't unpredictable, although on the trees level it very often is. But that's not needed in a Death Wish film, anyway. The basic requirement is for Bronson to be able to kick butt in entertaining and suspenseful ways, and Thompson gives you as much or more bang for your buck on that end as any other film in the series.
Rating:  -
even bronson looks tired in this sad action movie! why they made this waste of time and money is beyond me. not even so bad it's good,just bad.
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