Death Wish: The Face of Death

I am a great fan of the Death Wish films as I love to watch Bronson knocking off one by one the scum of society. My favourite is the number III by a long chalk but this one isn't bad either. This one also has some very comical moments notably when Chickie dies when eating a cyanide flavoured "canoli" (whatever that may be !!). Also, what is interesting here is when Bronson gets rid of the scum using different methods than just the usual old "gun". In this vein, I liked most the radio-controlled football which blew apart Flakes' face, and the death of the villain at the end in the acid bath when we see his flesh melting away off the face in the acid.

The only reproach I would make to the film are its picture and sound quality ( on the dvd at least ). These are really not up to scratch for a film made in the 1990's.

I eagerly await the day when Death Wish 3 and Death Wish 4 will be available on dvd. Bronson is truly a great actor, whatever the role he plays, but he is especially effective in the part of a vigilante.

Whatever you do, don't shack up with Paul Kersey, or you'll regret it - The fifth outing for Bronson in his famous vigilante series. Even in his 70's gunning down scum is never on the bottom of his priorities list. Now any movie ending with a Roman numeral may put off some people, but this movie is totally enjoyable and you'll cheer Charles everytime he guns down members of the mob headed by a very nasty mob boss. The Death Wish quintology ranks right up there with the Godfather and Star Wars Trilogy.

The beginning of this final installment of the long-running "Death Wish" series is shaky with inappropriate humor (even the title comes off as a tasteless pun, as a central character is disfigured by having her face bashed into a mirror) and a lot of mobster-movie clichés (the henchmen to Michael Parks' villain are howling stereotypes), writer-director Allan Goldstein transforms "Death Wish 5" into a surprisingly entertaining little crime thriller. Though frequently riddled with inept moments (the mobsters unload round after round into walls after their target has jumped out of sight) and plot holes (how is Kersey tracking the bad guys, and since when did he become an explosives expert?), the film is the most well-developed of the series in terms of character, plot, and pacing. I've never seen Charles Bronson more convincingly expressive than he is here, and Michael Parks ("Kill Bill, Volume 2") is utterly reptilian in his loathsomeness. While the plot is essentially a repeat of the previous films, it contains a confident gloss that lifts it out of exploitation and closer to a mainstream film--it isn't entirely successful, but rooting for Bronson never gets old.

Extremely violent follow-up to the successful 1974 movie based on the characters written by Brian Garfield , whose novel the picture is based on . Last entry in the original five film series in which Kersey takes the law on his own hands , searching for vengeance against mobsters when his girlfriend is victimized again . The five-times-weary urban vigilant hits gangsters , this time , hard . Death Wish : The face of death¨(1994) that would be the last and it was then not made for about another seven years , being starred by with Leslie Anne Down , Michael Parks , Chuck Shamata , Saul Rubinek and Miguel Sandoval . Sequel to successful crime thriller that created the Vigilante genre with Bronson as the main star as architect Paul Kersey (wooding acting by Bronson who looks bored and tired with this rehash material) turned the one-man vigilante when his sweetheart , a clothing manufacturer (Leslie Anne Down) , has her business threatened , being attacked by mobsters , one of whom turns out to be her sadistic ex (Michael Parks) and a hired killer (Robert Joy) hitting her on a mirror .

This fifth entry with excessive violence concerns about Paul Kersey , an ageing architect who becomes again into vigilante and wiping out the band of mobsters . The main amusement results to be to guess the kinds of deaths that Bronson executes against the villains , as he carries out retribution and vendetta . This 5º outing from the novel ¨Death wish¨ by Brian Garfield in which an architect taking the law into his own revengeful hands and acting as judge , jury and executioner . It contains suspense, noisy action-packed , intrigue , thrills and lots of violence . Initial excitement at the welter of violence son palls into boredom , only intermittently relieved by the preposterousness . Mediocre screenplay manages a couple of nice twists , but it's too formulary to pursue the ambiguities it reveals . Here filmmaker emphasising a hostile , nightmare terrain and relying his virtually sympathies with the confused , violent Paul Kersey . Bronson with his usual stoic acting displays efficiently his weapons such as ¨Harry the Dirty¨ and killing mercilessly nasties . Screenwriter re-wrote the entire script while filming but Charles Bronson constantly had problems with the dialog . It's certainly thrilling , though the morality may be questionable , even in this time, as the spectators were clearly on the Kersey-Bronson's side . Furthermore , it benefits from some good support actors , as here appears a nice secondary cast , such as : Chuck Shamata , Michael Parks , Saul Rubinek , Miguel Sandoval , Kenneth Welsh , among others . It packs a screeching musical score composed, orchestrated and performed by Terry Plumeri . The studio, Cannon : Yoram Globus, Menahem and Damián Lee produced this one in enough budget . The motion picture was poorly directed by Allan Goldstein (2001 a space travesty , When Justice Fails , Home team , Jungle boy , Chain dance , Private lessons) .

The original film ¨Death wish¨ had great commercial hit , it was followed by various extremely violent sequels to this successful 1974 movie , that's , of course , the best from the series , being starred by Hope Lange , Stuart Margolin , William Redfield and Jeff Goldblum . This first big hit motion picture was middling directed by Michael Winner such as the successive films with his main star, Charles Bronson , usually giving wooden performance . In the mid-70 Winner , in need to other hit smashes attempted with the sequels , but both , Bronson and Winner , looked increasingly passionless and mechanical in the later years of their partnership in this cheap as well as worn-out final series . The worst sequels in which Kersey goes on to torture robbers , all of them inferior and the violence could be deemed exaggerated , they are the followings : ¨Death wish II¨ by Michael Winner with Jill Ireland , Anthony Franciosa , JD Cannon and Vincent Gardenia , ¨Death Wish III¨ by Winner with Ed Lauter , Martin Balsam , Gavan O'Herlihy and Deborah Raffin . However , Michael Winner showed no interest in directing Death Wish 4 because he had heard that Charles Bronson had a terrible experience filming Death Wish III (1985). Following ¨Death Wish 4 : The crackdown¨(1987) with Kay Lenz , John P Ryan , Perry López , Soon-Teck-Oh directed by J.Lee Thompson . In addition , an intended but unfilmed sixth movie was also to have a subtitle: 'Death Wish 6: The New Vigilante'.

After working my way through all 5 death wishes I was surprised by how much I liked the finale. Jammed with action and more gruesome violence and maybe the first villian who truly deserves the Paul Kearsey treatment. Although this movie was more competently made it didn't have the Cannon Golan-Globus charm of 2 and 3 but much more enjoyable than 4! Also a perfect sendoff shot for Bronson.

"If you need me, give me a call"