“Give me your money or I’ll bust you up.” It is this line that forever alters the decision-making of an architect driven to murder.
Morbidity goes mad in director Michael Winner’s Death Wish, a revenge flick from 1974 that made Charles Bronson a household name of full-throttled action and made most every critic in North America cringe at its total embracing of vigilantism. Hollywood answered the critics with a sequel. And audiences ate it up. Over the next twenty years, Bronson appeared in four sequels as Paul Kersey, vigilante extraordinaire and part-time architect whose life is forever altered by the violence inflicted upon his family.
And now, Kino Lorber Studio Classics is bringing Kersey out of the shadows and right onto Ultra 4K HD thanks to a new 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative!
The original movie; however, is based on an anti-vigilante themed novel by Brian Garfield but pay all that no mind. The movie –debuting on Blu-Ray this week for its 40th anniversary - keeps it quick and gritty and, as violence was on the rise in the middle of 1970’s, echoes what a lot of Americans felt about taking the law into their own hands to make sure they are protected from thugs, crack heads, and rapists alike.
The Big Apple is a cesspool of crime and filth. With violent murders on the rise, Paul (Bronson) and his wife Joanna (Hope Lange) return from their vacation in Hawaii and are greeted with hooligans in grocery stores and a city powerless to control the rising threat. Some people want to put the criminals in concentration camps. Others think more police officers will do the trick.
When Joanna and her daughter Carol Toby (Kathleen Tolan) are attacked by thugs in their apartment, the police offer no help. His daughter is left a mute and he has no hope in finding the responsible people. Things get worse when Joanna dies because of her wounds at the hands of a young Jeff Goldblum (in his film debut) and Kersey, fed up with the police and their protocol, takes matters into his own hands and searches for those responsible in the streets.
Written by Wendell Mayers, Death Wish is a tough movie to sit through due to its portrayal of a rather bleak world. There literally is no hope throughout the movie (until Kersey discovers a gun club) and the ravaging crime is everywhere. That being acknowledged, witnessing Kersey get his groove back is worth the punch to the gut. Bronson is no great actor but he delivers the best kind of ass-kicking to any thug who dares stop him in the street. From New York to Tucson, Kersey’s path to justice is slow but worth it.
In just one hour, Kersey goes from bleeding heart liberal to avenging angel and his world is never the same again. He once never touched guns and now, with no wife and a mute daughter, it his bed companion. Death Wish is not perfect but its uneasiness serves it well. It’s pretty cheesy in areas when the public is involved. And the pressure – put on him from NYPD Lt. Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) – never seems believable. No matter, Kersey now has a thing for the type of killing he does and, with no end in sight, his peaceful way of life is forever altered.
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Home Video Distributor: Kino Lorber
Available on Blu-ray - January 24, 2023
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A
In this explosive story of revenge and urban violence, screen legend Charles Bronson (Mr. Majestyk, Breakheart Pass) plays Paul Kersey, a bleeding-heart liberal who has a change of opinion after his wife and daughter are brutally attacked by a gang of thugs in their apartment. His daughter is sexually assaulted and his wife is murdered. Bronson then turns vigilante as he stalks the mean streets of New York on the prowl for muggers, hoodlums and the like. Another classic collaboration between Bronson and director Michael Winner (Chato’s Land, The Mechanic, The Stone Killer), Death Wish is a violent, controversial film that is frank and original in its treatment of urban crime and the average citizen’s helplessness in dealing with it. Jazz great Herbie Hancock (Colors) wrote the musical score. Vincent Gardenia (Death Wish II), Steven Keats (The Friends of Eddie Coyle), Stuart Margolin (TV’s The Rockford Files), Stephen Elliott (Beverly Hills Cop) and Hope Lange (Blue Velvet) co-star. And watch for Jeff Goldblum (The Fly) in his film debut as one of the thugs.
Video:
This 1:78:1 framed, AVC/MPEG-4 encoded 1080p 4K transfer arrives with solid results as it was minted from the original camera negative. For a color film which is almost 50 years old, the results presented here will please fans as I can’t recall the film ever looking THIS good. This transferis gloriously detailed. Most notable is the film’s clarity. Sequences that once lacked detail and definition now are improved. The film’s palette tends to focus on more of the softer side of the color spectrum, with grays and blues dominating. There’s also a slight layer of film grain, one that accentuates the age of the film…in a good manner.
Audio:
Arriving with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and 5.1 Surround track, I was glad to hear the updated sound!
Supplements:
Commentary:
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Fans get a good commentary from the author of Bronson’s Loose, Paul Talbot.
Special Features:
Kino Lorber has spared no expense in giving us Death Wish in 4K!
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
- Brand New 2022 HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
- NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Paul Talbot, the Author of the BRONSON'S LOOSE! Books
- 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio
- Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc
- Optional English Subtitles
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
- Brand New 2022 HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
- NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Paul Talbot, the Author of the BRONSON'S LOOSE! Books
- Interview with Actor John Herzfeld
- US and UK Radio Spots
- TV Spot
- Theatrical Trailer (Remastered in 2K)
- 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio
- Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
- Optional English Subtitles
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MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 93 mins
Director: Michael Winner
Writer: Wendell Mayes
Cast: Charles Bronson; Hope Lange; Vincent Gardenia
Genre: Action | Thriller
Tagline: Judge. Jury. Executioner.
Memorable Movie Quote: “Give me your money or I’ll bust you up.”
Theatrical Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Official Site: https://kinolorber.com/product/death-wish-4kuhd
Release Date: July 24, 2023
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: January 24, 2023.
Synopsis: In this explosive story of revenge and urban violence, screen legend Charles Bronson (Mr. Majestyk, Breakheart Pass) plays Paul Kersey, a bleeding-heart liberal who has a change of opinion after his wife and daughter are brutally attacked by a gang of thugs in their apartment. His daughter is sexually assaulted and his wife is murdered. Bronson then turns vigilante as he stalks the mean streets of New York on the prowl for muggers, hoodlums and the like.
