Death Wish 4: The Crackdown | | Cast : | Charles Bronson, Kay Lenz | | Director : | J. Lee Thompson | | Studio : | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | | Format : | Color | | Released Date : | November 06, 1987 | | DVD Released Date : | February 03, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | January 12, 2005 | | Summary | Kill 'em all, Kersey! | Content
 | A discussion of Charles Bronson that fails to mention the "Death Wish" series isn't really a discussion at all. The first entry in this seminal series arrived on the scene in 1974 during a period in American history when all types of crimes skyrocketed. We can thank the moral laxity inflicted on the rest of us by the Counterculture for the increased numbers of murders, arsons, burglaries, robberies, rapes, and countless other forms of physical and mental assaults that soon became common occurrences on every street in the country. A large percentage of the population, referred to by Nixon as "The Silent Majority," ached to find a way to fight back against the vermin committing these atrocities. Since our embrace of vigilante justice faded away due to the abuses of lynching in the South, and our legal system began letting the scum back out on the streets, only Hollywood seemed to offer refuge to the growing number of victims. Enter the revenge and vigilante genre, the most notable entries of which consisted of the Clint Eastwood "Dirty Harry" pictures. In these films, a cop or outraged citizen would hunt down criminals outside the law, meting out a savage brand of justice we could all cheer about.
"Death Wish 4: The Crackdown" is yet another chapter in the saga of the Angel of Death, aka Paul Kersey, the mild mannered architect turned vigilante turned one man army. Everyone he comes into contact with and cares about in any way perishes horribly at the hands of society's vermin. By the late 1980s concern about drugs and drug pushers moved to center stage in the media, so Kersey emerges from his hibernation to battle a couple of ruthless mafia style families responsible for most of the cocaine traffic on the West Coast. Of course, the death of his soon to be stepdaughter Erica Sheldon (Dana Barron) from an overdose provides more than enough impetus for action, as does the grief of the girl's mother Karen Sheldon (Kay Lenz). Kersey bumps off the low level pusher who sold the drugs to Erica, but the real fireworks start when a wealthy third party, Nathan White (John P. Ryan), hires Paul to wage all out war on the mafia hoods moving the dope. Loaded for bear, Kersey begins investigating Ed Zacharias (Perry Lopez) and Jack Romero (Mike Moroff), the two men named as prime suspects by White. The idea is stage a series of raids so each family thinks the other is trying to start a war.
Kersey takes out his targets by donning a variety of "disguises." He dresses up as a waiter at a party thrown by the Zacharias family, a party where Paul inadvertently witnesses a murder and barely escapes with his own life. Another incident, probably the film's best scene, finds Kersey posing as a wine salesman in order to kill a few goons with a bomb in a bottle. Everywhere these guys hide, our hero shows up to deal out death. He throws one of the family's lieutenants out of his posh high rise apartment, shoots up a drug distribution warehouse, and kills several goons in a video store that serves as a front for drug operations. Predictably, Zacharias and Romero set up a meet outside the city to hash out their problems. Even more predictably, Kersey mows them all down with a sniper rifle the size of a conference table. Thank goodness the bad guys are all gone. But wait! "Death Wish 4" throws in a plot twist we saw coming from a mile away, and the game continues. Now Kersey must confront someone who has, among other things, kidnapped Karen Sheldon, and he'll do it the only way he knows how--with an assault rifle/grenade launcher the size of which would make Scarface weep with envy.
It should go without saying that Paul Kersey is the only person still living at the end of the film. It should also go without saying that "Death Wish 4" is a cheap, poorly acted piece of drivel that massively entertains largely due to its over the top violence. Say what you will about Bronson making these low budget potboilers, and you could say plenty of unkind things, but he always manages to pull it off. Not only do we want to see him eradicating the scum, we enjoy watching him do it. So entertaining is it to watch him pummel a man twice his size and thirty years his junior into submission that we hardly care about the impossibility of such a scene at all. Nor do we ask more than once how a guy his age could land a babe like Kay Lenz's character. All that matters is the action, and "Death Wish 4" has as much of that as it does plot holes. I loved the scene where the bad guy tries to drive away from Kersey only to receive a high explosive round as a reward. Note to self: when escaping from a nut armed with a grenade launcher, drive faster than five miles an hour. It's also interesting to note the effects a high explosive round has on a human body when fired into it from five feet away. Heck, the violence here is so much fun you barely notice the inexplicable disappearance of Lenz's character for most of the film.
It's a shame MGM released this in fullscreen with only a trailer as an extra. Amazingly, Bronson made one more "Death Wish" film in 1994 before calling it quits. While we'll never see another Charles Bronson film--the actor passed away in 2003--we can still revisit his numerous low budget Cannon clunkers of two decades ago. Rest in peace, Charles Bronson, and hopefully you somehow know that you forever left an indelible impression on the minds of lovers of low budget action thrillers.
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| Rating | | | Date | October 07, 2004 | | Summary | Nobody cracks down like Bronson! | Content
| Bronson's Paul Kersey has had a tough time keeping loved ones in his life. They are always being taken from him by crime and this time "it's those damned drugs". He's already killed all the rapists and gang members who prey on society so this time he's working his way up the criminal ladder all the way to the mob and taking them all out! If I've learned anything from these movies it's that one should never p*ss off an architect! |
| Rating | | | Date | March 08, 2004 | | Summary | MGM, Why no WIDESCREEN?!?!? | Content
| Bronson finally gets the supporting cast he deserves in Death Wish 4. Parts 4 and 5 are a bit out of norm as he is going up against mafia/organized crime types instead of street punks but works just the same. Great late-Bronson fare with lots of action. Worth the price just for Chuck's delivery on the 'sandwich' line alone!! I'm not sure what is happening over at MGM. They used to be tops in old catalog films to DVD but have dropped the ball with these last few Bronson releases. Where's the WIDESCREEN, MGM?? |
| Rating | | | Date | February 21, 2004 | | Summary | The war on drugs, Bronson style! | Content
| When Paul "I'm no more Mr. Vigilante" Kersey's girlfriend's daughter dies of a cocaine overdose, the retired one man judge, jury, and executioner dusts off his pistol and sends the drug dealer responsible to the morgue in spectacular fashion. But this time someone saw him and that someone has plans of his own for the coming out of retirement vigilante. Certainly Death Wish 4: The Crackdown has some silly plot twist and turns, but that is part of its charm. It is very much a Cannon Picture, but it is a solid one. Screenwriter Gail Morgan Hickman (who also wrote portions of the Dirty Harry thriller The Enforcer) actually bothers to come up with a story to try and hold the interest between all the gunfights and explosions. I have always thought that this outting was a nifty change of pace and it remains my favorite of the three Golan/Globus/Cannon Group produced sequels. This was also the first Death Wish movie not directed by Michael Winner. Charles Bronson's other longtime collaborator J. Lee Thompson (The Evil That Men Do, 10 to Midnight, Murphy's Law, and Messenger of Death) took the helm and delivered a polished little action picture. One can appreciate the subtle visual and editing touches he adds to the movie, such as setting the opening credits in a dark, underground parking garage. Such an image is a marked difference from the urban jungle cityscapes employed by former series director Michael Winner. It sends the clear message that, rather setting the movie within a volatile urban jungle, this will be a darker, more enclosed picture and...oh, who am I kidding here...BRONSON BLOWS THE SCUM AWAY! That is what people watch these movies for and, despite some silly moments, this is the Cannon Death Wish sequel that feels most like a serious action movie and not just an exploitation thriller. Highly recommended. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 20, 2004 | | Summary | Wake Up, MGM!!! | Content
| Paul Kersey A.K.A The Unluckiest Man In The World moves back to L.A.(he'd be better off disappearing into a small town in Wyoming, but then we wouldn't have a Death Wish movie, would we?)and gets a new girlfriend who's daughter dies(naturally) from a cocaine overdose. Well, then he's back in Bronson mode, and manages to bring down the L.A cocaine empire in a few days. Cool. Not as wild and out of control as Part 3, but good violent fun nonetheless. Michael Winner decided to hang up the directing duties after 3, and now J. Lee Thompson(who made about 8 million 80s action flicks with Bronson) takes over. This is just like any other crude Thompson/Bronson actioner from the 80s-and that's either good or terribly bad depending on your taste. My big problem is with MGM's halfassed treatment of these dvds. Death Wish 2, 3, and 4 all came out on the same day and all three are terrible disappointments. Sure, the picture's the best it can be, but MGM has gotten extremely lazy and not released them in widescreen format. The same goes for most of the MGM released Chuck Norris films. Look, these films aren't art, and didn't have oscar winning cinematography, but they do have a fan base and those fans have been waiting for these dvds for a long time so they could ditch their old VHS copies for a nice widescreen transfer. Well, the fans will be saving themselves alot coz they might as well, and probably will just keep their VHS copies. A "making of" documentary was filmed at the same time as Death Wish 3-why isn't that on the dvd? MGM better get the lead out fast. |
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