Final Two Death Wish Movies Released to Blu Ray by Kino Lorber

Kino Lorber's release of the final two films in the Death Wish series completes and caps a collection of action dramas that continue to resonate.

Charles Bronson enjoyed a long, successful career in motion pictures, playing in everything from Pat and Mike with Tracy and Hepburn, to such classics as The Magnificent Seven and Once Upon a Time in the West. In 1974 his film Death Wish became a massive hit, but it wasn't till the early 1980s when the cultural climate was just right for a series of brutal sequels. Death Wish 2 picked up where the first film left off. Death Wish 3 allowed the character Paul Kersey to extend beyond those initial parameters and enter a world of street violence by gang members against senior citizens. This not only allowed the Kersey character to age, but also presented him as continuing to fight street punks in perhaps an even more unsettling environment. Kino's release of the final two Death Wish films, on separate blu rays, concludes not only this series but also Bronson's theatrical film appearances.

DEATH WISH IV: THE CRACKDOWN.

Death Wish IV: The Crackdown has several interesting elements. First, it opens as if it were a psychological thriller, with Kersey responding to nightmares from his vigilante past. Now settled in Los Angeles as an archetecht with his own firm, Kersey is drawn back into crimefighting when his girlfriend's daughter dies of a drug overdose. This time, instead of street punks, Kersey is fighting organized crime, getting to the source of drugs on the street. While the first three Death Wish films had been directed by Michael Winner, this one is helmed by J. Lee Thompson. Thompson is perhaps best known for The Guns of Navarone, but he had also directed Bronson's latest actioners, including The Evil That Men Do and Murphy's Law, making this his seventh collaboration with Bronson. The film was produced by the Cannon company, which was experiencing some financial difficulties at the time, so Death Wish IV has a much lower budget than the previous entries. Bronson was paid 4 million dollars, which was roughly half of the movie's entire budget. Still, Death Wish IV is the sort of bluntly visceral experience that one expects from this film series. Bronson's imposing stoicism retains is commanding presence, despite the fact that he was in his mid-sixties during filming. Kay Lenz, John P. Ryan, Perry Lopez, and Dana Barron offer good support. Death Wish IV can be purchased from Kino Lorber at this link: DEATH WISH 4

DEATH WISH V: THE FACE OF DEATH

The Cannon group had broken down, and one of its founders started his own company. Wanting to release a Death Wish film for the possible box office boost, arrangements were made to do so, but on a much lower budget of which Charles Bronson once again got half as his salary. Bronson thought he should be done with the Paul Kersey character by now, believing there was nothing more to say and do. But the money was good, and he liked writer-director Allan A. Goldstein, so he agreed to do the film. Now past 70, Bronson easily taps back into the Kersey character, now in the witness protection program in New York under a different name. He ends up back into crimefighting when mobsters start infiltrating his fiancee's fashion design business. And while the plot is formulaic, there are some clever ideas showing up in this final Death Wish, making it a much better film than its reputation would have one believe. At the time of its release in 1994, 20 years after the first movie, the public and the cultural zeitgeist had moved on. It bombed loudly at the box office and critics dismissed it as a tardy and pointless sequel that would not even please its loyal fan base. This turned out to be inaccurate, as Death Wish V was more successful in video rental than its brief theaterical run. Bronson being older plays Kersey as more pragmatic and cunning, using his experience to his advantage. It helps that welcome veteran actors like Lesley Ann Down, Saul Rubinek, and Michael Parks are in support. Death Wish V can be purchased from Kino Lorber at this link: DEATH WISH 5

Both blurays feature welcome commentary tracks by the foremost Charles Bronson expert Paul Talbot, author of Bronson's Loose. These commentaries are filled with information, insight, and a real expertise of the subject matter. Both films are recommended.

Death Wish V was Charles Bronson's final theatrically released films. He starred in a few Family of Cops movies that went straight to video before his passing in 2003.