Rank the Death Wish Films
I looked around the IMDb forums for the Death Wish films and I couldn't find a thread for this, so let's rank the Death Wish flicks. I've seen each one at least three times, so these are my rankings:
1. Death Wish 3 (10/10)
Repeated viewing. One of the all-time great motion pictures, movies don't come much more ridiculous than this. The action scenes are both funny and exciting and the musical score (credited to Jimmy Page) is a delight. From the get-go, it feels like a cartoon. What's up with the police station's wanted poster for horses? Plus, Martin Balsam plays a guy named "Bennett," making this one of two '80s action masterpieces with a character to have that name (the other is, do I really have to say it?, Commando). There's plenty of lines that made me laugh out loud ("S**t, man, I'm hurt," for example) and the whole thing feels like the most epic of the series (it's also the best of the franchise). It's a bonkers flick.
2. Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (9/10)
This one holds up quite well. J. Lee Thompson's directing adds a bit of class to the film and there's plenty of well-orchestrated action. The plot pretty much comes to stand-still for the scenes of action/violence, and, normally, that'd be a bad thing, but I think they really pulled it off here. Gotta love that "I [heart] New Wave" bumper sticker on the van that Bronson blows to Hell with a grenade launcher. Danny Trejo shows up for a small part, which is certainly welcome. Overall, this is the series' second best.
3. Death Wish (8/10)
This has gotta be the most well-made of the series, although it's not quite the most entertaining (in that regard, I'd rank third in the franchise). It's a great piece of audience manipulation, really making you root for Bronson's vigilante character by showing the terrible conditions of the United States' urban areas and heinous crimes committed by the lowlifes who inhabit them. It's a bit more balanced in its depiction of vigilante justice than its sequels. showing Bronson barfing in a toilet after his first kill, Bronson never killing the thugs who killed his wife and raped his daughter, and Bronson being arrested at the end.
4. Death Wish II (8/10)
This slimy 'n' grimy sequel ups the amount of action from the first one, but doesn't quite have the same magic as that one. That being said, it's better than I remember and has moved from my least favorite of the series to my second-to-least favorite. Bronson is at his coldest here, killing scumbags with no mercy or remorse. I actually liked the subplot with Bronson's fiance, as it upped the stakes of Bronson's vigilante spree (he may lose the woman he loves if she discovers how he spends his nights). Laurence Fishburne's boombox death is highlight.
5. Death Wish V: The Face of Death (8/10)
Even though this one has a relatively low body count, I think it's the most violent of the franchise. It's pretty brutal at times. Anyway, I loved the bald goon who dual-wields Uzis and has a Dr. Claw voice (I think his name was "Frankie"). Almost every kill counts and there's some unintentionally funny moments (a good thing). Still, it's the weakest of the series, with its low budget (that makes it look like a made-for-T.V. movies) and its low number of kills for Bronson. I enjoyed it thoroughly nonetheless.