Death Wish 3

Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare got nuthin' on Chucky B!
Review: We are the nameless gangsters
of Center Avenue and B
we wear facepaint and rob all day
no bloody good are we

Our leader's name is Mandy Fraker
he does a lot more than talk
he kills treacherous Hector with a knife
and wears a reverse mohawk

But Fraker's reign was blighted
like medical waste on a beach in New Jersey
by the vigilante, that man named Paul
that man named Paul Kersey

Paul Kersey it must be said
was not as young as he could be
his mustache was gray, his gait was slow
but his Webley was a sight to see

He put the fat guy's head through prison bars
and shot those car thieves dead
and when the Giggler from him tried to take
he giggled his last instead

A tunnel great the Webley blew
trough Giggler's heaving breast
he fell to the ground spitting blood out his mouth
and began his eternal rest

"THEY KILLED THE GIGGLER!" The punk hid scream
yes they killed him, just like a rat!
which prompted our leader Mandy Fraker to say:
"They had no business doin' that."

So upon Paul Kersey we chose to unleash
a villain known to all as CUBA
but Kersey beat his ass with a big tire-iron
threw him off the roof and said "BOO-YA."

At long last we'd had quite enough of this spit
and summoned our gang army in all of its glory
looking like roadies from that band Judas Priest
and rejects from West Side Story

Our colorful crew might have scared those old folks
made even old Bennett say, "Fargit!"
but all it did to that man Paul Kersey
was present one big hell of a target

And when that blond thug had his Excellent Adventure
and Counselor Troi had "expired"
Fraker and Kersey they had their showdown
and the great rocket launcher was fired

Mandy was blown all over the Bronx
and the old folks' hearts did quicken
and for us in the gang we had but one consolation
our leader takes exactly like chicken!


Rating:
Summary: Oh my!
Review: A discussion of Charles Bronson that fails to mention the "Death Wish" series isn't really a discussion at all. The first entry in this seminal series arrived on the scene in 1974 during a period in American history when all types of crimes skyrocketed. We can thank the moral laxity inflicted on the rest of us by the Counterculture for the increased numbers of murders, arsons, burglaries, robberies, rapes, and countless other forms of physical and mental assaults that soon became common occurrences on every street in the country. A large percentage of the population, referred to by Nixon as "The Silent Majority," ached to find a way to fight back against the vermin committing these atrocities. Since our embrace of vigilante justice faded away due to the abuses of lynching in the South, and our legal system began letting the scum back out on the streets, only Hollywood seemed to offer refuge to the growing number of victims. Enter the revenge and vigilante genre, the most notable entries of which consisted of the Clint Eastwood "Dirty Harry" pictures. In these films, a cop or outraged citizen would hunt down criminals outside the law, meting out a savage brand of justice we could all cheer about. Enter the "Death Wish" franchise.

The sequel to the first film, 1982's "Death Wish 2," apparently earned enough money that the folks at Cannon followed up with a third entry. B-movie fans will give thanks for this decision for centuries to come because "Death Wish 3" is one of the greatest schlock action films ever made. Paul Kersey (Bronson), apparently finding some time between losing family members, decides to visit an old war buddy named Charley who just happens to live in a slum that resembles in no small way Beirut at the height of its civil war. Unfortunately, a gang of vicious killers led by the nightmarish Fraker (Gavan O'Herlihy) runs the neighborhood, and they deliver a savage beating to Charley mere minutes before Kersey arrives. To say Charley doesn't pull through because of his injuries shouldn't be necessary. Unnecessary to say too is that Kersey is about to go on another rampage. He teams up with several of his late friend's neighbors, including an elderly Jewish couple, a Hispanic couple (Marina Sirtis plays the woman!), and Bennett (Martin Balsam) to throw back the forces of darkness. Fortunately for Kersey, the local cops are sick of all the gang activity, so precinct chief Shriker (Ed Lauter) gives our hero free reign to murder and mutilate at random. An overworked public defender by the name of Kathryn Davis (Deborah Raffin) serves as Kersey's potential love interest.

Kersey sets up little tricks to bait the gang. He buys a car and purposefully places it outside to draw thieves. When he hears the windows breaking, he goes outside and guns them down. Paul also helps out his neighbors by placing traps underneath windows that puncture feet and knock out teeth. His biggest contribution to neighborhood safety comes when he and his buddy Wildey (watch and see) put a guffawing mugger by the name of Giggler out of business for good. Fraker attempts to crack down on the neighborhood by killing a few of the residents, blowing up Bennett's small business, and trying to assassinate Kersey. Nothing works, however, so Fraker calls in reinforcements in the shape of a biker gang. All heck breaks out as the neighborhood turns into a war zone. Kersey jogs around the streets toting a machine gun Charley kept hidden for just such an occasion. The cops join in the fun too, but aren't nearly as successful until Shriker joins Kersey for a series of scenes that resemble an arcade shooting game. Oh, I can't forget about the neighbors; they all grab weapons and head out to kick some serious you know what. The violence in the last part of "Death Wish 3" is so over the top as to defy description. Bodies topple off of buildings, people run around on fire shrieking at the top of their lungs, and explosions rock the neighborhood.

A short review simply doesn't do this film justice. It's so ridiculous in every aspect that one could write a book about it. It's also, however, stupendously entertaining. I howl at the top of my lungs every time I see the scene where Fraker calls for help. He says something along the lines of "Hey, this is Mandy Fraker. I'm going to need some guys up here." MANDY? His name is MANDY Fraker? What are the names of his top lieutenants, Murray and Maurice? Oh man! Another gut buster is what happens to Kathryn Davis. In true "Death Wish" form, the plot requires her to perish horribly just as she and Paul strike up a relationship. Never mind the fact that the Davis character is young enough to be Kersey's granddaughter. It feels like the filmmakers just threw this subplot in because someone recalled that Kersey lost important females in his life in the previous two pictures. But the best part of the film occurs when we see the gang members sitting around after the demise of the Giggler. One of them says with all the gravitas of a Royal Shakespearean actor, "They killed the Giggler, man. THEY KILLED THE GIGGLER!" This is the most brilliant piece of dialogue I've ever heard in a B-movie.

The only extra on the disc is a trailer, and the transfer is only fullscreen, but it's enough to have this classic on DVD. By far the most entertaining entry in the "Death Wish" series, Bronson followed "Death Wish 3" with another one in the eighties and one in the nineties before the series finally folded. Charles Bronson passed away in 2003, perhaps never fully knowing his importance to the low budget action potboiler genre. Those of us who love the "Death Wish" films can only rewatch them and dream...




Rating:
Summary: SHAME ON YOU MGM!
Review: ... for messing up such a great movie! Movies like this one need special treatment. Putting this out in fullscreen is like giving it no attention at all. It's a shame because today even ultra-low budget films are being properly remastered for DVD releases. It seems that MGM does not realise at all the cult status of this movie- I mean there are countless people out there who have been waiting for a decent release of this movie. I don't consider this an upgrade to my old, fullscreen VHS so I won't be buying it.

As for the movie itself... no words could possibly describe it. It just reaches perfection.

Rating:
Summary: All-time favourite
Review: This movie walks the fine line between parody and a formularic action movie like never before. The screenplay, story and details are totally rediculous. It is absolutely way way waaaay over the top. Any action movie clichee is here, and bigger than ever. But then, how it is presented. Charles Bronson is absolutely fantastic in this movie, he makes it all credible. The story is told in such a serious, almost documontary-like way that the contrast with the rediculous story is fantastic. There is no way to describe it. YOU REALLY HAVE TO SEE IT FOR YOURSELF. One of the best action movies ever. Many action movies try to be funny with lame jokes and very not-funny moments and incidents. This one does not, and is so much funnier from it.

Rating:
Summary: Old School Action Movie
Review: I agree with the other reviewers that this is an entertaining action movie as long as your suspend MOST of your belief in reality. I do what to point out that the machine gun he shoots is a Browning .30 caliber NOT a .50 caliber. The gun was meant to shot from a tripod, but it COULD be shot from the hip. He DOES run out of bullets for it and his handguns. As for the rocket launcher part...I'm sorry, the explosion/back blast would have killed all three of them in the room when it went off!

Rating:
Summary: Kersey's Thrid Go-Round
Review: The first "Death Wish" was a serious look at crime's effect on the average citizen, and his reaction to it. By "Deth Wish 3", it is just another action film. By now Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) sems to have given up architecture and become a full time vigilante. He visits his friend in New York just in time to see him killed. Paul is arrested for the crime, but released when the police figure out who he is. He is released on the condition that he takes action where the police can not. And so Kersey begins a campaign of terror against an impossibly huge street gang (led by the evil looking Gavan O'Herlihy). The movie is so preposterous that there isn't any way to take it but as a joke. First of all the New York slum looks more like war torn Bagdad. The people people living in the buildings should have left; I know they said that they couldn't, but believe me, they can. The level of violence in this film is so stylized that you can't help but laugh; especially when Bronson pulls out that massive, huge hand gun (this thing would make Dirty Harry jealous) and shoot holes the size of a baseball through people. The people in the building also just happen to have .50 machine guns complete with bullet belts? Oh my. The police are also a joke. They can not control the situation at all; hense having Bronson do their dirty work. It is an entertaining movie, don't get me wrong. It just fails to live up to it's predessesor.

Rating:
Summary: SO FUN TO WATCH IT'S AMAZING!
Review: Where do I begin? If you had a list of fun action movies you'd have to put this at the very top. Nothing is more fun than Death Wish 3. NOTHING. I've seen this more times than I can count and it ALWAYS makes me smile EVERY TIME. Few films have that type of staying power but Death Wish 3 is THAT much fun. It's amazing! Take a look at the reviews on here. This is a classic!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best vigilante movies made
Review: This movie is so bad that it is good.

Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) kills just about everybody in this movie. There are so many flubs, that it's impossible to list them all. He never runs out of bullets, never misses and can even shoot a .50 cal machine gun from the hip (with the bullets loaded backwards).

For Star Trek fans, you get to see Marina Sirtis in a cameo part that was done way before she became famous.

A must have movie for fans of pop culture. One of the most hilarious vigilante movies to come out of the 80's.

Rating:
Summary: incredible!
Review: You have to see this to believe it! One of the best action flicks ever made and so entertaining your head will explode! Everybody should own this movie!