Death Wish

In 1974 not only was I born, but so too was the Death Wish saga with Charles Bronson. The action hero from Once Upon a Time in the West was not carrying a harmonica, but a gun. He played an architect who was seeking vengeance after street punks - so 70s - kill his wife in NYC. It was amazingly gruesome for the time.  I loved it - it was right up there with The Equalizer - I thought he was bad ass. It was based on a book I haven't' read.

It was so popular that it lead to more for this actor and this character. Almost 10 years later Death Wish II comes out. This time - still street punks - but his daughter and his housekeeper are killed - that sets him off.

Only a couple years go by before Death Wish III is released. This time he is hired by a corrupt police chief to clean up a neighborhood - remove the criminal elements.

In the next movie - The Crackdown he is in LA helping to rid the community of drug lords when his girlfriend's daughter is killed.

It's the 90s by the time The Face of Death - Death Wish 5 is released. His fiance is being threatened by mobsters.

They get worse the more of them there are. I only recommend the very first one and the re-make. In the re-make Bruce Willis (Die Hard) is a doctor. His wife (Elizabeth Shue from The Saint) and daughter are terrorized by robbers and his wife dies. His brother is played by Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket) - and played well I liked having this character. He seeks vengeance for his wife - he also gets revenge for the terrorizing of his daughter and for a kid in the hospital being harassed by drug lords. It's gruesome like the original and no one was better suited for the role than Willis. All in all, I say: SEE THE remake and the original, but none of the others.