Death Wish II (1982)

Director:

Michael Winner

Writers:

David Engelbach (writer)
Brian Garfield (characters)

Release Date:

20 February 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

First His Wife. Now His Daughter. It's Time To Even The Score!

Plot:

Architect Paul Kersey once again becomes a vigilante when he tries to find the five street punks who murdered his daughter and housekeeper, this time on the dark streets of Los Angeles.

Plot Keywords:

Vigilante | Punk | Architect | Murder | Reporter

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Charles Bronson	...	Paul Kersey
Jill Ireland	...	Geri Nichols
Vincent Gardenia	...	Det. Frank Ochoa
J.D. Cannon	...	New York D.A.
Anthony Franciosa	...	Herman Baldwin
Ben Frank	...	Inspector Lt. Mankiewicz
Robin Sherwood	...	Carol Kersey
Silvana Gallardo	...	Rosario
Robert F. Lyons	...	Fred McKenzie
Michael Prince	...	Elliott Cass
Drew Snyder	...	Deputy Comm. Hawkins
Paul Lambert	...	New York Police Comm.
Thomas F. Duffy	...	Nirvana
Kevyn Major Howard	...	Stomper
Stuart K. Robinson	...	Jiver

Also Known As:

Death Wish 2 (USA) (DVD box title)

Runtime:

88 min | Greece:95 min (uncut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2003) (uncut) | Finland:K-18 (1982) (cut) | Iceland:16 | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) (DVD rating) (2005) | Netherlands:16 | West Germany:18 (nf) | USA:X (original rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | France:-16 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R (re-rating) | Norway:18 (video) (re-rating) (uncut) (2003) | Norway:18 (video premiere) (1984) (cut) | Norway:(Banned) (1982-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

1203 South Crescent Heights Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cannon Films

Trivia:

According to info presented in the movie Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987), the movie is set in 1981.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: It is obviously fake blood in the scene where Kersey is bleeding and trying to hide it from his lover.

Quotes:

Paul Kersey: Where's my wallet?
Jiver: I ain't got it!

Movie Connections:

References Any Which Way You Can (1980)

May cause a desire to take a shower (and that's the point)

The second Death Wish film has a very strange concatenation of qualities. It can come dangerously close to running off the rails altogether, but overall, I think it's a more successful film than the first Death Wish.

The first peculiarity is that much more strongly than the first film, Death Wish II's urban crime-ridden backdrop is exaggerated to a point of caricature. Of course, there was plenty of crime in Los Angeles during this era, but not as depicted here. This is almost Broadway-style crime, with choreographed gaggles of hoodlums running out of control in designer gang-wear, making spectacles of themselves. It's over the top but serious in a way that feels uncomfortable at first, but then, that's just the point, and it helps anchor the plot developments that follow.

And that plot should be no surprise to anyone who first watches Death Wish I. Death Wish II follows the plot of its predecessor as if it were a fairly rigid template. Even the events that cause Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) to take charge and clean up society's scum by his lonesome are very similar. I don't see this as a flaw here (as I don't in many other sequels that use a template approach, including series like Friday the 13th). This is a direct continuation of the story of the first film, and the similarity gives Death Wish II both a natural, logical flow and a nice symmetrical structure.

Although Death Wish I had its brutal moments, Death Wish II amplifies that atmosphere and sustains it through its length. Like the films that best display gritty 1970s New York City--such as Taxi Driver (1976) and Basket Case (1982)--Death Wish II makes you feel almost dirty (in the grimy despair way, not a sexual way) while watching it. It's ironic, maybe, that Death Wish II does this so well when the setting is Los Angeles as opposed to actually being New York City, as in the first film. That director Michael Winner is able to perpetuate that atmosphere, whether by accident or design, results in the viewer being sucked into the setting and vicariously experiencing the range of unpleasant emotions felt by both the protagonists and the antagonists.

Also helping on that end is the score, provided by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. Although Winner sometimes incorporates Page's music in a discordant, jarring way--over the opening credits when it fights for volume with radio banter, for example--more often than not the score gives Death Wish II a sublime, otherworldly and eerie edge. It's too bad that Page didn't go on to score many more films.

This is certainly not a film to show during family time, and it's not particularly uplifting or overflowing with positive messages or socially redeeming values. But it's not trying to be any of those things. It's just a visceral (especially on an emotional level), disturbing revenge flick, and at that, it meets its goals well.