Death Wish (film series)

Paul Kersey is an architect[2] who served in the Korean War in the medical corps, and he lives in New York City. One day, three street punks posing as grocery delivery boys break into his apartment while he is at work. They beat up Paul's wife Joanna and rape his married daughter Carol Toby, spray-painting both of them and the wall of their apartment "just for fun." Joanna later dies of her injuries, and Carol is left catatonic. Paul's life is ripped apart by this.

Paul's boss decides that Paul needs to get out of New York for a while, so he sends him to Tucson, Arizona to meet with a client. There, Paul witnesses a mock gunfight at Old Tucson Studios, a reconstructed Western frontier town that is often used as a movie set. Paul's client gets him interested in guns. It turns out that Paul grew up around guns and is a good shot himself. When Paul returns to New York, he discovers that his client has given him a .32 Colt Police Positive revolver as a gift. When the police are unable to find the rapists, Paul sets out to find them himself. Paul begins patrolling the streets, killing street criminals as he encounters them. While his obsessive search for street justice sickens him at first, Paul begins to enjoy it as Detective Frank Ochoa tries to find the man who is doing the police department's job for them. The public sees Paul as a hero. As a result, Ochoa and the city government would have a political nightmare on their hands if they actually arrested him. However, Paul never finds the three punks who murdered his wife and raped his daughter.

One night, when Kersey was injured after another hunt for muggers, he is hospitalized. Ochoa confronts him, revealing his willingness to make a deal to throw away Kersey's weapon (recovered by Officer Jackson Reilly) if Kersey will leave New York. Kersey made good on his part of the deal, moving to Chicago (as seen at the end of the first Death Wish). As revealed in Death Wish 3, one of the policemen involved in this conspiracy was Richard Shriker, who agreed to maintain Kersey's secret in line with Ochoa's edicts. According to Officer Reiner in Death Wish 4, Kersey's wife died in 1975, therefore the aforementioned events from the first Death Wish film took place either early or late in that year or in 1976 (based on the snow seen at Mrs. Kersey's funeral.) Ochoa stated in Death Wish II that Kersey's slaying of muggers took place "four years" ago during Death Wish II (see below), which appeared in 1982 (see below).

Kersey and his daughter Carol, who is still catatonic, now live in Los Angeles because Paul accepted a deal from the New York City Police Department to leave town so they would not tell anyone that he was the vigilante. Paul now has a new woman in his life, KABC news reporter Geri Nichols. One day while he is out with Carol and Geri, he is mugged by a gang of five punks. Paul fights back, but they get away. The muggers go to his house, gag, rape, and murder Kersey's housekeeper. They then wait for Paul to return home and knock him unconscious and kidnap and rape Carol. The assault brings her out of her coma and she tries to get away by jumping through the second story window, but she dies when she is impaled on an iron fence stake. Beside himself with grief and rage, Paul dedicates his life to avenging Carol. He rents a ratty hotel room under another name, and starts looking for the rapists. When the Los Angeles Police Department deduces that they have a vigilante on their hands, they decide to consult with the New York City Police Department, who fear that Kersey is killing criminals again. They send Ochoa to deal with Kersey quietly; they fear that if he is caught he will reveal that the deal they made with him. The events mentioned above involving his daughter's death take place in 1981 (as stated by Officer Reiner in Death Wish 4, Kersey's daughter died in 1981); this coincides with the films production, rather than its February 1982 release.

As seen at the end of Death Wish II (in which three shots are heard over the end of the closing credits), Kersey resumed his mugger slayings even after killing the final member of the gang who kidnapped and murdered his daughter. Richard Shriker of the New York City Police Department kept tabs on Kersey's activities, or at least activities he suspected Kersey had a hand in. Namely, Shriker recalled reading of six mugger slayings in thirty-six hours in Los Angeles, four gang members slain in Kansas City (Shriker does not specify whether this was in Missouri or Kansas), and two mugger-rapists in Chicago. Shriker and Kersey's paths intersect again, as Shriker puts it "ten years" after Shriker's found out Kersey was the New York vigilante (therefore present day). Paul Kersey returns to New York City to visit his friend Charley, who lives in one of the worst parts of New York City. But when Paul arrives at Charley's apartment, he finds Charley dying after a vicious beating by a gang led by Manny Fraker, and the police enter the apartment and find Paul standing over Charley's body. Paul is arrested for the murder, but police chief Richard S. Shriker offers a deal: Paul can kill all the criminals he wants if he keeps the cops informed about the death count. Though Kersey says that he stopped his mugger slayings, Shriker releases Paul to go after Fraker. Paul moves into Charley's apartment in a decaying building in the middle of a bombed out gang war zone. The building is populated by a group of elderly tenants who are absolutely terrified of Fraker and his gang, who control the neighborhood. Among the tenants are Charley's friend Bennett, an old watch repairman who keeps a couple of machine guns in his closet. There is also an elderly Jewish couple who live on the first floor. Paul buys a .475 Wildey Magnum pistol with big-game cartridges, spends an afternoon hand loading the bullets, and loads up for war against Fraker.

Evidently, Kersey had largely retired from slaying muggers shortly after Death Wish III, since in Death Wish 4, Phil Nozaki mentions a mugger shot downtown two years previous to the events of Death Wish 4, to which Officer Reiner responds by saying that "the vigilante retired years ago". In any event, Kersey kept regular residence in L.A., regardless of his breaking off his mugger slayings. Paul Kersey is back in Los Angeles, and is dating reporter Karen Sheldon, who has a teenage daughter named Erica. While Erica is at an arcade with her boyfriend Randy Viscovich, Erica dies of a crack cocaine overdose. Later, Randy goes back to the arcade, with Kersey following him. Randy confronts JoJo, the dealer that Erica got the crack from. Randy tells JoJo that he is going to the police, but Jojo kills him to keep him quiet. Kersey shows up and shoots JoJo with a .380 Walther PPK pistol, and watches him land on the electrical roof of the bumper-car ride, where he is electrocuted. Next, Paul gets a note and a phone call from publisher Nathan White, who tells him that he knows about the death of JoJo. Nathan explains to Kersey that his daughter had died of an overdose, so he wants to hire Kersey to wipe out the drug trade in L.A. -- and in particular to target Ed Zacharias and Jack Romero, rival drug kingpins who are the city's two main drug suppliers. Kersey asks for a few days to think about it, and accepts Nathan's offer. Nathan supplies Kersey with weapons and information so he can go after Zacharias and Romero. Kersey is able to orchestrate an inter-gang war between the Zacharias and Romero crime organizations. After most of the two warring factions are killed, Kersey meets again with Nathan White, but is almost killed. After escaping, Kersey realizes that White is not who he claims to be, and is actually a drug kingpin himself, who has tricked Kersey into removing his competition. Kersey's girlfriend (Karen) is subsequently taken captive and ultimately murdered by "White". Immediately after Karen is murdered, Kersey is able to kill the last remaining drug kingpin. Reiner is able to approach Kersey after his last killing. With his gun drawn and his sights on Kersey, the detective demands that Kersey surrender. Kersey walks off, stating "Do whatever you have to."

Kersey's secret identity as the vigilante was effectively blown in Death Wish 4, as Officer Reiner of the Los Angeles Police Department, less sympathetic than Chief Richard Shriker or Detective Frank Ochoa, discovered it. Reiner stated he would arrest Kersey as the latter walked away. In any event, as revealed in Death Wish V (though no direct reference to Reiner's discovery of Kersey's identity) Kersey entered the Witness Protection Program and assumed the alias Paul Stewart in New York City after meeting with the District Attorney of New York. Seven years would pass before Kersey's peace again became interrupted. New York's garment district has turned into Dodge City when mobster Tommy O'Shea muscles in on the fashion trade of his ex-wife Olivia Regent. Olivia is engaged to Paul Kersey, who provides a sense of security for her and her daughter Chelsea. Olivia is not impressed when Tommy tortures her manager, Big Al, so Tommy hires an enforcer named Freddie Flakes, a master of disguise. Freddie dons women's clothing to follow Olivia into a ladies' room, where he smashes her face into a mirror, causing permanent disfigurement. In the offices of D.A. Tony Hoyle and his associate Hector Vasquez, Paul and Olivia vow to see to it that Tommy be prosecuted. Later, Freddie and two of his men disguise themselves as cops, infiltrate Olivia's apartment, and shoot her dead. Kersey follows Tommy's thug Chickie Paconi to the Paconi family bistro, where Kersey kills him by lacing his cannoli with cyanide. Next, Paul tricks Freddie out of his home and blows him up with a bomb rigged ball. After dispatching the corrupt Hector Vasquez with a .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 629 revolver concealed in a doll, Kersey discovers that Vasquez is in cahoots with Tommy. Using Chelsea as bait, Tommy lures Paul to Olivia's factory for a confrontation.

The franchise was originally going to continue on without Bronson's involvement, and a sixth film titled Death Wish 6: The New Vigilante was in the works. However, when the studio went bankrupt, the idea never went ahead leaving The Face of Death as the final film in the franchise.

Paul Kersey (Bruce Willis), a Chicago trauma surgeon, lives with his wife, Lucy (Elisabeth Shue), and daughter, Jordan (Camila Morrone). When the family visits a restaurant with Paul’s brother Frank (Vincent D'Onofrio), a valet named Miguel photographs their home address from their car's navigation software after hearing about a night they plan to be away from home. However, Paul is called to work that night, and Jordan and Lucy are home when the burglars arrive. The ensuing debacle leaves Lucy dead and Jordan in a coma; one of the burglars is scarred when Lucy and Jordan fight back.

Paul becomes frustrated with the lack of police progress on the case, led by Detectives Kevin Raines (Dean Norris) and Leonore Jackson (Kimberly Elise). After seeing two men harassing a woman, Paul tries to intervene but is beaten up. He visits a gun store, but there is a long wait to get a gun. When a gang member is brought to the hospital and his Glock 17 falls off the gurney, Paul takes it and practices shooting. He uses the gun to stop a carjacking, a video of which goes viral. During the effort, he cuts his left hand due to improperly handling the gun.

Enjoying his efforts as a vigilante, Paul decides to kill a drug dealer calling himself "the Ice Cream Man" after a young boy comes to the hospital with a gunshot wound in his leg. Paul calmly walks up to the dealer, referring to himself as "his last customer," and murders him in cold blood.

At the hospital, Paul recognizes a critically injured Miguel, wearing Paul’s watch stolen during the home invasion. Miguel dies and Paul takes his phone, leading him to a liquor store that fences stolen goods. The owner, Ponytail, recognizes Paul and messages one of the burglars, Fish (Jack Kesy), before Paul demands his family’s belongings back at gunpoint. Fish arrives and accidentally kills Ponytail; Fish claims the burglary was done by a mechanic named Joe (Ronnie Gene Blevins) before Paul kills him.

The detectives visit Paul with his stolen ring, recovered at the liquor store. Assured that the ring’s discovery will lead police to the perpetrators, Paul destroys their phones to cover his tracks. Finding Joe at his auto body shop (and recognizing his facial scars from the night of the burglary), Paul tortures him, cutting his sciatic nerve with a scalpel and pouring brake fluid into the wound. Joe divulges that the third burglar Knox (Beau Knapp) shot Lucy, and Paul crushes Joe's head with the car.

Knox calls Paul, arranging to meet in a nightclub bathroom, where they wound each other. Paul gets away while Knox arrives at the hospital, posing as a bystander and giving the detectives a description of Paul. Arriving home, Paul is confronted by Frank, who was questioned by the detectives (looking for a lefty - they see him batting left-handed at a batting cage) and realized Paul is taking his revenge. During the intervention, the hospital calls to tell Paul that Jordan has regained consciousness. Frank tells Paul that "it's over," and that he will not go after Knox.

A week later, Paul leaves the hospital with Jordan and encounters Knox in the elevator. Paul returns to the gun store to legally purchase weapons. Days later, Knox and two accomplices invade Paul's home at night. Paul glimpses a man running across the lawn and hides Jordan, who calls the police. After killing the accomplices, Paul is ambushed in the basement by Knox, but retrieves an M4 carbine assault rifle from a hidden compartment under a coffee table and shoots Knox dead. The police arrive and Raines accepts Paul’s story, subtly suggesting that Paul end his vigilantism.

Months later, Paul drops off Jordan at NYU. He spots a man stealing a bag from a bellhop, calls out to him, and points at him with a finger gun.

List indicator(s)

• This table shows the principal characters and the actors who have portrayed them throughout the franchise.
• A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's presence in the film has not yet been announced.
• A ^C indicates a cameo appearance.
• A ^P indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs only.
• A ^A indicates an appearance in archival footage only.
• A ^U indicates an uncredited role.
• A ^V indicates a voice-only role.
• A ^Y indicates a younger version of the role.

The third film in the original series, was made into a video game of the same name by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum,[15] Commodore 64, MSX and Amstrad CPC. In the game, the player controls Paul Kersey in the streets and buildings in a free-roaming, all-out gunfight with gangsters. It was one of the goriest games of its time, featuring multiple weapons with detailed, different damage patterns and the possibility to kill civilians

The film Death Sentence (2007) was based loosely on the Death Wish novel's 1975 sequel of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon as Nick Hume, a man who takes the law into his own hands when his son is murdered by a gang as an initiation ritual.

In 2006, film historian Paul Talbot released Bronson's Loose!: The Making of the Death Wish Films, which covers the making of the five films with interviews conducted with author Brian Garfield, director Michael Winner, producer Bobby Roberts, producer Pancho Kohner, and more.[16]

In 2010, novelist Christopher Sorrentino published a book-length monograph, also called Death Wish, on the original film. In the course of a deep analysis of the film's content, Sorrentino declares Death Wish to be mythic and apolitical, and, using The New York Times's Vincent Canby as a prime example, holds it up as an instance when reviewers used a film's perceived political incorrectness as a pretext to savage it.[17]