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Sep 21, 2024 · Critics and viewers alike have debated whether "Death Wish" serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of vigilantism or as an endorsement of personal justice. Roger Ebert criticized the film for its seemingly one-dimensional portrayal of violence and its potential to incite similar behaviors among viewers.
- It Was Inspired by A Couple of Real-Life Crimes (That Were Much Less violent).
- Originally Sidney Lumet Was Set to Direct, with Jack Lemmon Starring.
- Henry Fonda and George C. Scott Both Turned Down The Lead role.
- Charles Bronson and His Agent Disagreed on The Film's message.
- Brian Garfield Thought Bronson Was All Wrong For The Part.
- Bronson Thought Dustin Hoffman Should Have Played His Part.
- Jeff Goldblum Made His Film Debut in The Movie.
- Olympia Dukakis Had A Small Role, But Doesn't Look Back on The Film fondly.
- There Was Concern About Using The Word "Death" in The Title.
- Garfield Thought The Movie and His Book Sent Different messages.
Author Brian Garfield was inspired to write Death Wish after he grew very angry when, in separate incidents, his wife's purse was stolen and his car was vandalized. “I knew the vandal had done us no real harm ... Yet my first response to the discovery of this mindless violence was swift and stark," Garfield later wrote. "My boundaries had been viol...
The adapted screenplay by Wendell Mayes (Anatomy of a Murder, The Poseidon Adventure) was written with the idea that Sidney Lumet would be behind the camera and Jack Lemmon would be starring as Paul. Lumet supposedly wanted to shoot it in black and white. When Dino De Laurentiis came on as producer, Lumet dropped out. With Lumet out, Lemmon lost in...
Henry Fonda declined the part because he said the script was "repulsive." George C. Scott said no because of all its violence.
While Charles Bronson was immediately interested in the role, his agent wasn't so sure. "It's the only time Paul Kohner, my agent, ever disagreed with me about a film," Bronson saidin 1974. "Paul felt very strongly that it was a dangerous picture—that it might make people think it's right to take the law into their own hands. This is what the hero ...
Garfield didn't like the fact that as soon as Bronson appeared on screen, "you knew he was going to start blowing people away." Director Michael Winner dismissed the author's criticisms, calling him"an idiot."
Even though he liked the message, Bronson wasn't originally convinced that he would be the best actor for the job. "The way the part was written, it was about a meek little New York-born accountant," Bronson said. "I thought it was a much better picture for Dustin Hoffman." Eventually, it was Winner who convinced Bronson to take the role anyway. "H...
When discussing his feature debut, Jeff Goldblum admitted,"I stick out like a sore thumb." Goldblum played one of the "Freaks" who killed Paul's wife and raped his daughter. Back in 1983, Goldblum told New York Magazine that a job was a job. "Did it bother me it was such a brutal part? No. It was the first movie I'd gone up for, and I got it." Winn...
Olympia Dukakis was uncredited, but paid, for playing one of the cops at the precinct. It wasn't a particularly positive experience for the future Oscar winner. "Yeah, they sent me over, and the director [Michael Winner] was, uh, not necessarily liked by the actors," Dukakis toldThe A.V. Club in 2015. "I mean, he made me turn around, and he wanted ...
Posters with the title Sidewalk Vigilante were printed because De Laurentiis worried about having the word "death" in the title. "The fact that it had the word death made me a little uneasy, a little perplexed," the producer admitted. "Then I realized it might bring in an additional audience—horror flick fans—so I left it the way it was." For his p...
"The point of the novel Death Wish is that vigilantism is an attractive fantasy but it only makes things worse in reality," the author saidin 2008. "By the end of the novel, the character (Paul) is gunning down unarmed teenagers because he doesn’t like their looks. The story is about an ordinary guy who descends into madness. Oddly enough Mayes’s s...
- Roger Cormier
Sep 3, 2023 · Death Wish sparked controversy due to its supposedly pro-vigilante message, but the backlash actually helped elevate its cultural status. Critics criticized the film for condoning vigilantism without showing the consequences, leading to mixed reviews upon its release.
Mar 6, 2018 · But more profoundly, Death Wish stripped away Garfield’s mournful tone, morphing into an angry-white-man revenge thriller — one in which Paul is the tough-guy anti-hero who didn’t end up dying or even realizing that he’s become a monster. Instead, the film closes on an ambivalent note as Paul flees to Chicago, his desire for bloodshed ...
Mar 1, 2018 · Death Wish 3 paints 80s New York as a surreal 2000 AD-style wasteland where violence reigns supreme. It’s almost sci-fi.
Jul 24, 2024 · So why Death Wish? Why, despite every serious person calling this movie and its sequels alarmist, red meat nonsense, do we still apparently hold some room in our hearts for the...
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Feb 17, 2017 · Back when cinema had the power to induce political conversation in the media (nowadays it’s just controversy talk, like last year’s Ghostbusters dilemma), Death Wish was highly controversial due to its pro-vigilante stance, a big disparity from the original novel’s anti-vigilante message.
