A powerful film about a man played by Charles Bronson seeking revenge for the death of his wife. It has been remade countless of times, most recently (and notably) perhaps by Neil Jordan as The Brave One and Daniel Barber as Harry Brown.
Death Wish explores the vigilante concept in a grown up fashion. The protagonist is a good man faced with a overwhelming evil in his life. He feels helpless, scared and weak. When he acquires a gun and starts shooting muggers in the streets of New York the movie only watches him with a certain curiosity, we don’t agree with his actions but we can understand it. As Roger Ebert says in his review of the film:
Alone in his apartment, Bronson examines snapshots from his recent Hawaiian vacation with his wife. Then he examines the gun. He goes out into the night, is attacked by a mugger and shoots him dead. Then he goes home and throws up. But the taste for vengeance, once acquired, has a fascination of its own.
This story might reach modern audiences a bit better in The Brave One, which is a good movie, but Death Wish has a certain raw undertone that makes it very unique.
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