Death Wish 3 (1985)

His name is Paul Kersey…

Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) returns to New York to visit his old friend Charley. His old town has again become a cesspool of sin. Detective Richard Shriker (Ed Lauter), tired of all the crime, forces Kersey to pick up old habits. He does just that, once again making the few people he cares about possible targets for the scum of the streets. Mayhem ensues.

The first Death Wish established the formula for the series; a man frustrated by the inactions of the law becomes a self-appointed avenger. Death Wish II elaborates in a more exploitative manner and remains the most nihilistic one. The only question here is how will Bronson dispense with the criminals this time around? Death Wish 3 is a more easygoing entry in the Kersey saga. It’s still brutal and packs the highest body count with 48, but shows some restraint for instance in a rape scene, that unlike the previous one is mercifully short here. This is Michael Winner’s third and final Death Wish film before leaving the reigns to veteran director J. Lee Thompson. Winner succeeds again in painting an urban dystopia of America gone wrong. The apartment complex where Charley resided shows good and honest people living in fear of the chaos in the streets. History is as usual repeating itself. But out of these worn-down streets rises a phoenix in the form of Paul Kersey. He is the vigilante angel of death. He is the savior of all that’s good, or at least it appears that way. There are some disturbing lines along the way, like when he says: “It’s like killing roaches – you have to kill ‘em all, otherwise what’s the use?” Kersey needs tools for this job and sends for his old friend Wildey .475 Magnum, a gun that surely would have given Harry Callahan potency problems. Apparently the sale of this gun increases every time Death Wish 3 is shown on cable in the States.

The villains in the movie, led by the menacing Fraker, all feel like caricatures. They are so over-the-top it’s virtually impossible to see them as human beings. That also makes it a lot easier to enjoy watching them die. And that is the big payoff. Bronson has some terrific scenes with the scum. As two crooks are messing up his car he calmly walks outside and asks them what they are doing. Unwilling to comply he kills them both before walking calmly back inside. He just sent Fraker a message. A bullet is all they understand. Things escalate and eventually Kersey declares New York a free-firing-zone, running around with a Browning 30. caliber machine-gun and an assistant feeding him ammunition. This again inspires the good and honest people to pick up their guns. The uprising has begun! Death Wish 3 really takes off towards the end. It’s a non-stop killathon dispensing everyone in the way. Detective Shriker even joins in and he and Bronson jogs up the street together only occasionally taking time to stop when killing. Eventually he finds the opportunity to use a rocket launcher as well. It’s all done in gloriously excessive 80s style. Thanks Ronald Reagan!

Bronson declares war on crime

Interestingly Death Wish 3 was released the year after Bernard Goetz shot a severely wounded four muggers on the New York subway. He was subsequently named “The Subway Vigilante”. The views on him were divided. Charles Bronson even went on to state publicly that people shouldn’t imitate Paul Kersey’s actions in the light of this.

Death Wish 3 is a gung-ho bullet storm of killing for those that like their action films violent. Winner directs this bad boy with brawn, though perhaps less brain this time. Bronson’s stoic nature wins me over every time and he brings a strange sort of minimalistic humanism to the whole affair. You like action? You need Death Wish 3!

9/10