The new Kino Lorber collection compiles all five of Charles Bronson’s signature films in one comprehensive package. Shockingly, this is the first time all five films have been bundled in one U.S. Blu-ray set, and they arrive with new commentaries by Bronson superfan and film historian Paul Talbot, making this the definitive U.S. set.
Buy The Death Wish Collection Blu-rayWhile I was fully aware of these films as they materialized in theaters over a 20-year span, I had never watched any of them prior to the release of this set. Bronson was pretty much a joke by the time I was old enough to know who he was, a has-been who kept playing gun-toting vigilantes in any film willing to pay him. Aside from camp appeal, I wasn’t expecting much from this series, and my expectations were met for the most part. I did find some pleasant surprises, chiefly in the recognizable supporting thug roles and the soundtrack musicians.
For baddies, the series boasts uncanny bit-part casting of Jeff Goldblum in the first, Laurence Fishburne in the second, Alex Winter in the third, and Danny Trejo and Tim Russ (Star Trek: Voyager) in the fourth. Only the last one fumbles with bad guy extra casting, although head villain Michael Parks is a strong co-star.
For soundtracks, the first one rules with a score by Herbie Hancock, while the second and third were shockingly scored by Jimmy Page. Yes, that Jimmy Page, although he reverts to his early days as a BBC session musician for some limp TV-style ‘80s-cop-show nonsense instead of shredding his Zep guitar. The last two don’t have anyone of note, and also don’t impress.
In the original Death Wish (1974), Bronson is introduced as mild-mannered New York architect Paul Kersey, driven to vigilantism when his wife is killed and daughter is assaulted by street punks. Oddly, he doesn’t really try to find his wife’s killers, instead simply searching out any hoodlums he runs across and blowing them away for their petty crimes. He also weirdly doesn’t exhibit any emotion, even when burying his wife or visiting his catatonic daughter, calmly transitioning from family man and office work to deadly nighttime avenging angel.
Death Wish II (1982) moves Kersey and his daughter to sunny Los Angeles, immediately improving the visual quality of the film. This time his housekeeper and daughter are killed by thugs, eliminating his last fully personal reason to be a vigilante. He stays on task in this and all subsequent films, methodically hunting down the aggressors and providing explosive payback.
Kersey returns to New York for Death Wish 3 (1985), seemingly unaware that there are any other places in the country. With no remaining family, he’s down to avenging an old friend killed by gang members. He also benefits from the sympathetic NYPD chief who is aware of his crimes but still gives him carte blanche to clean up the streets. This one was easily my favorite, with a truly unhinged gang leader and seemingly endless troops pitted against Bronson’s progressively bigger guns culminating in an all-out warzone played out in the streets of New York. It’s deliriously over the top and subsequently the most fun, even if it loses sight of Kersey’s low-key, deeply personal mission of vengeance in favor of bombastic pyrotechnics.
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987) is the beginning of the end as far as quality, with Kersey back in L.A. and resigned to avenging the death of his latest girlfriend’s daughter from a cocaine overdose. He quickly finds and wipes out the specific pusher, but is then recruited by a rich guy interested in wiping out the whole drug network in the city. The film has a decent twist, but it’s overall far too ridiculous to amount to much, including a shootout at a roller rink and arcade.
Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994) was definitely one too many, with Kersey once again back in New York (actually Toronto) with yet another new girlfriend, his first brunette, who is brutally disfigured by goons representing her ex-husband, later leading to her death. The film is set in the world of high fashion for no particular reason, with Kersey going through the motions to get his man, evade the cops, and somehow continue to maintain his principal career as an architect. The action is bland, the budget is clearly reduced, and Bronson is barely chugging along in his 70s.
No restoration information is included, but the films are all clear of debris and most of them have excellent color reproduction and definition. Only the first one is the worse for wear, originally filmed so gritty and grimy that it looks more like a documentary than a feature film, making Blu benefits negligible. Sound is crisp and clear on all films, albeit lacking in spatial separation.
Other than Paul Talbot’s commentaries, alternate commentary tracks are provided by film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson for the second and third films. An assortment of film trailers are also included, along with a couple of supporting actor interviews and an alternate ending for Death Wish 3.
The original film had something interesting to say about citizens taking the law into their own hands to reclaim crime-infested streets, as well as a deeply personal victim to avenge. Unfortunately, from there the series progressively flails to provide adequate character motivation while focusing more on mindless good vs. evil showdowns than social commentary. Bronson is unreadable from beginning to end, a cipher who pursues his hunts without exhibiting any emotion or even satisfaction that justice has been served. There’s plenty of death, but you’ll probably wish the series ended sooner.
