Gripping tale of Paul Kersey, a liberal architect,who takes revenge on the criminals of New York after his wife is murdered and his daughter left catatonic from an attack in their apartment by a bunch of random thugs.
Bronson is particularly good at portraying the generous liberal Paul at the beginning of the movie and how he changes into the steely ruthless Paul at the end. This is one of several things which make this film stand out and make it just a little different from other similar movies. For example, the original attackers are never seen again, elevating Paul's subsequent actions from simple revenge to all out war against the criminal underworld of New York, which has the knock on effect of scaring off the other criminals and making the general populace tougher. I especially enjoyed the part where the building foreman says about the mugger he and his crew caught, "Well we roughed him up a little," and the news reporter then says, "the mugger had two broken arms, a broken leg and cracked ribs" or something like that.
Also good is how it shows the evolution of Kersey's various reactions to his circumstances from being afraid to hold a sock of coins, to being sick after he shoots his first victim, to actively going out and flashing his money around, attracting potential muggers so he can kill them.
Bronson's facial expressions are exceptional, looking genuinely surprised and shocked by his potential muggers while at the same time shooting them, sometimes twice to make sure they are dead.
Another point that makes it stand out from the norm is that Paul's getting away with it is not a result of a sympathetic detective telling him he has a five minute head-start or something like that, but is officially sanctioned for reasons that make perfect sense.
OK so the rape scene is brutal, but I would say necessary and in the context of this film justified. The son in law Jack Toby is so annoying that in real life any self respecting father in law would beat the living crap out of him. Something I can't understand is why Jack keeps calling Paul Dad. Is this an American tradition? In Ireland, where I'm from, men generally call their fathers in law by their first names and call their own fathers Dad.
Although now that I write this, I'm just wondering if the character was made deliberately annoying to throw Paul's toughness into sharp relief and also if his passivity and willingness to do nothing is there to provide a counterpoint to Paul's decision to stand up for himself and therefore a stimulus for his actions. In this context, the character is exactly what is needed.
I loved this film far better than I thought I would, I could watch it over and over again and I, provided you're not too easily offended, would recommend it to anyone.
Bronson is particularly good at portraying the generous liberal Paul at the beginning of the movie and how he changes into the steely ruthless Paul at the end. This is one of several things which make this film stand out and make it just a little different from other similar movies. For example, the original attackers are never seen again, elevating Paul's subsequent actions from simple revenge to all out war against the criminal underworld of New York, which has the knock on effect of scaring off the other criminals and making the general populace tougher. I especially enjoyed the part where the building foreman says about the mugger he and his crew caught, "Well we roughed him up a little," and the news reporter then says, "the mugger had two broken arms, a broken leg and cracked ribs" or something like that.
Also good is how it shows the evolution of Kersey's various reactions to his circumstances from being afraid to hold a sock of coins, to being sick after he shoots his first victim, to actively going out and flashing his money around, attracting potential muggers so he can kill them.
Bronson's facial expressions are exceptional, looking genuinely surprised and shocked by his potential muggers while at the same time shooting them, sometimes twice to make sure they are dead.
Another point that makes it stand out from the norm is that Paul's getting away with it is not a result of a sympathetic detective telling him he has a five minute head-start or something like that, but is officially sanctioned for reasons that make perfect sense.
OK so the rape scene is brutal, but I would say necessary and in the context of this film justified. The son in law Jack Toby is so annoying that in real life any self respecting father in law would beat the living crap out of him. Something I can't understand is why Jack keeps calling Paul Dad. Is this an American tradition? In Ireland, where I'm from, men generally call their fathers in law by their first names and call their own fathers Dad.
Although now that I write this, I'm just wondering if the character was made deliberately annoying to throw Paul's toughness into sharp relief and also if his passivity and willingness to do nothing is there to provide a counterpoint to Paul's decision to stand up for himself and therefore a stimulus for his actions. In this context, the character is exactly what is needed.
I loved this film far better than I thought I would, I could watch it over and over again and I, provided you're not too easily offended, would recommend it to anyone.