Tag Archives: Bradley Crain

THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT (1996) – the $4 Million script!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Shane Black wrote a couple of my favorite action movies during my teenage years, LETHAL WEAPON and THE LAST BOY SCOUT. His scripts are characterized by strong violence balanced out by a healthy amount of comedic banter. That lethal (pun intended) combination made Shane Black a star in his own right, with his work being very much in demand. In 1994 he sold his script for THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT for the unheard price of $4 Million. After hitting this payday, Black would go dark for the next decade and not release another screenplay until 2005’s KISS KISS BANG BANG, which was also his directorial debut. 

THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT opens with Samantha Caine playing Mrs. Claus in her small town’s Christmas parade. She has a nice boyfriend, an 8 year old daughter, and she’s a member of the PTA. This is pretty good for a lady that doesn’t remember a damn thing about her life prior to 8 years ago. After celebrating her friends at a Christmas party, she’s driving a soused old man (Alan North) home when she hits a deer and flies right through the window and lands on a snowbank. This wakes up some of her memories and she starts having a few quick flashbacks and some odd dreams from her past, including the name Charly Baltimore. She also learns that she can easily break a buck deer’s neck and handle knives like a champ! Around this same time, low-rent private detective Mitch Hennessy (Samuel L. Jackson) who has been paid a retainer by Ms. Caine to be on the lookout for any clues related to her past, gets lucky and finds a letter from Caine to a supposed former lover. He heads her way to give her the update. When a local news program shows the beautiful Ms. Caine in the parade, some enemies from her past see the story and head to town to try to kill her. Surviving the attempt on her life, and now with Hennessy by her side, Samantha leaves to find out who she really is and unravel the secrets of her past. Is she a chef? Is she a school teacher? Is she a badass hit woman named Charly Baltimore? The fun is in finding out! 

Geena Davis is so good in her role as Samantha Caine / Charly Baltimore. She’s simultaneously beautiful, funny, sexy, cute as a button, and badass. She was married to the director, Renny Harlin, when the film was made and they both went all out to create a strong, female action hero. I think they succeeded admirably. Samuel L. Jackson is just so good in this type of role. He’s sarcastic and funny, a little sleazy, and very much a reluctant hero who does the right thing when he has to. In 2019, Jackson would go so far as to tell late night host Jimmy Fallon that Mitch Hennessy is his personal favorite role. The remainder of the cast is fine, with Brian Cox particularly standing out. His declarative statement about the ultimate results of a small lapdog continually licking his asshole really hit home for me and is reason enough alone to watch this film.  

Ultimately, even though I personally went to see it during its theatrical run, THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT underwhelmed at the box office in 1996. It grossed around $90 million worldwide on a budget of around $65 million. But that’s fine to me, I enjoyed it in 1996, and I enjoyed it again when I watched it today! 

PAPA (2024) Film Trailer – Sean Lau stars in a movie based on a shocking Hong Kong true-crime case from 2010.

Posted on by Bradley Crain

I’m a huge fan of Hong Kong actor Sean Lau (Lau Ching-wan). In my personal opinion, he’s one of the great actors in world cinema, and he can perform well in any genre. Some of his best films are true Hong Kong cinema classics, including C’EST LA VIE MON CHERI, FULL ALERT, THE LONGEST NITE, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, A HERO NEVER DIES, RUNNING OUT OF TIME, MY NAME IS FAME, MAD DETECTIVE, OVERHEARD, and THE WHITE STORM. I highly recommend each of these films.

A three-time winner of the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor, Lau’s new film PAPA looks like it just may contain his best performance yet. PAPA is based on a gruesome murder that took place in the Hong Kong city of Tsuen Wan in 2010. The real-life incident consisted of a 15-year-old boy killing both his mother and his sister. In the film version, Sean Lau plays the grieving husband and father who has to somehow come to terms with his son’s actions and try to find a way to move on in his life. It’s an unimaginable scenario, and the trailer looks heartbreaking. Check it out.

#MondayMuggers – Why LAST HOLIDAY?

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Every Monday night at 9:00 Central Time, my wife Sierra and I host a “Live Movie Tweet” event on X using the hashtag #MondayMuggers. We rotate movie picks each week, and our tastes are quite different. Tonight, Monday December 9th, we’re watching LAST HOLIDAY starring Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Timothy Hutton, Giancarlo Esposito, Alicia Witt, Michael Nouri, and Gerard Depardieu.

So why did Sierra pick LAST HOLIDAY, you might ask? It’s very simple. She loves the movie, and over time I’ve grown to enjoy it myself. I even wrote about it here:

https://unobtainium13.com/2024/12/09/last-holiday-a-genuine-feel-good-movie/

So join us tonight to for #MondayMuggers and watch LAST HOLIDAY, a movie we really enjoy! It’s on Amazon Prime, Tubi, and Paramount+.

LAST HOLIDAY – a genuine feel good movie! 

Posted on by Bradley Crain

My wife and I often have very different tastes in movies, but every now and then she’ll introduce a movie to me that I really enjoy despite my own cynical reservations. LAST HOLIDAY is such a movie. 

Queen Latifah plays Georgia, a clerk in a department store in New Orleans. She works hard, lives according to her means, secretly loves one of her fellow employees Sean (LL Cool J), and dreams. She dreams of being a great chef and falling in love and having a family… someday. This all seems small and unimportant though when she’s given the news that she has brain cancer and will be dead in a few weeks. Armed with this news, she cashes in her savings and heads off on a trip of a lifetime, determined to enjoy the last moments of her life. 

There are several things that I really appreciate about LAST HOLIDAY. First, Queen Latifah’s character Georgia is just a quality person. She treats people right, she works hard, she’s kind. This isn’t played as weakness either. She has a quiet dignity in a world where so many others are only worried about themselves. I wish there were more characters like this in cinema. Second, she has the opportunity to “live like you were dying.” I don’t know how many of y’all are familiar with the Tim McGraw song of the same name, but how different would we live our lives if we knew just how limited our time really is? We all worry so much about little things that don’t really matter in the big picture. It’s very satisfying as we watch Georgia enjoy herself with a freedom she has denied herself up to this point in her life. Third, we’re able to see how Georgia’s decency and honesty affects the other characters in the film. Once Georgia stops hiding her true thoughts and feelings, she begins to have an amazing impact on those around her. I think we’re all looking for connections with people where we can share who we really are. Whether it be Chef Didier (Gerard Depardieu), Gunther (Susan Kellerman) or Ms. Burns (Alicia Witt), Georgia affects others by being genuine. She doesn’t do anything spectacular, either. She’s just herself and that’s enough. There’s something powerful about that.

At the end of the day, LAST HOLIDAY is a feel good holiday film that aims to send us home with a smile on our face. It accomplishes that goal and a little more. Thanks to my wife, I gave LAST HOLIDAY a chance, and now I heartily recommend it. 

#SundayShorts with THE HITCHER!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Since Sunday is a day of rest for a lot of people, I present #SundayShorts, a weekly mini review of a movie I’ve recently watched.

Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) is driving a car across the country to San Diego. Tired and needing some help staying awake, he makes the major mistake of picking up a hitchhiker, the psychotic John Ryder (Rutger Hauer). Through a stroke of luck, he’s able to knock the “Hitcher” out of his car and keep going. Unfortunately, John Ryder isn’t content with being dumped by young Jim Halsey. Rather, he decides to stalk Jim and frame him for a cross-country murder spree.

I first saw THE HITCHER at a friend’s house when I was in the 4th grade. It scared the ever living crap out of me. I have never even pondered the possibility of picking up a hitchhiker because there’s always a chance that it could be a psycho like John Ryder. The genius of THE HITCHER is how it taps into the horror of everyday life. We pass by strangers every day. Who’s to know if there’s a John Ryder in our presence just waiting for us to invite them into our lives?! 

What can I say about Rutger Hauer as John Ryder?! He absolutely owns the film. There’s no wonder his roles in BLADE RUNNER and THE HITCHER would come to define his career. He was one of the great artists, and I’ve missed him ever since I learned of his death while I was sitting on the beach in Perdido Key, FL in 2019. C. Thomas Howell & Jennifer Jason Leigh are excellent as well. As a big-time Rutger Hauer fan, THE HITCHER is an intense film that I watch at least once a year. 

Five Fast Facts:

  1. C. Thomas Howell admitted that he was actually afraid of Rutger Hauer on and off the set because of Hauer’s general intensity.
  2. Writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan (THE DARK KNIGHT, OPPENHEIMER) has listed THE HITCHER as one of his favorite movies.
  3. Entertainment Weekly ranked THE HITCHER as the nineteenth scariest movie of all time.
  4. Gene Davis, the psycho killer from Charles Bronson’s 10 TO MIDNIGHT plays Trooper Dodge in this movie. Based on my love of the Bronson Cannon classic, I love seeing Davis in any film. 
  5. President George W. Bush served on the board of the company that lent money to HBO to finance this movie. During the 2000 presidential election, Bush’s critics used his involvement in this film to discredit his stance on “family values” and his criticism of pervasive violence in Hollywood movies.

JACK FROST – should Frosty the Snowman be worried?

Posted on by Bradley Crain

My wife and I have been watching a Christmas movie every night for the last week or so. We’ve already watched DIE HARD 1 and 2, LETHAL WEAPON, HOME ALONE 1 and 2, CHRISTMAS VACATION, YES VIRGINIA THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS, FOUR CHRISTMASES and a Hallmark movie called THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR with Fonzi. She’s been wanting me to watch JACK FROST with her for a while now. I’ve been somewhat hesitant because a movie about a talking snowman not named Frosty doesn’t seem that appealing to me. I was explaining this reluctance to a couple of my co-workers at the accounting office, and they both assured me that it’s a good movie. With this newfound confidence that I would enjoy the film, my wife and I settled in to watch JACK FROST a couple of nights ago…

JACK FROST is about a guy named Jack Frost who is having a difficult time with his work life / home life balance. He loves his wife Gabby (Kelly Preston) and his son Charlie (Joseph Cross) very much, but his musical group, The Jack Frost Band, is taking up a lot of his time. He’s one of those dads who says he’ll “for sure” be at his son’s hockey game but then misses it because the band’s recording session runs late. It’s always something like that with Jack Frost. Tragically, before Jack can get this stuff figured out, he dies in a car accident on Christmas Eve. Jump forward a year later where a depressed Charlie decides to build a snowman like he and his dad always did together for Christmas. Just go with me here… through the magic notes of Jack’s old harmonica as played by his son Charlie, Jack’s spirit is transferred to the snowman, and the two have another chance to bond like they always wanted to. Will Jack be the father he should have been now that he’s a magical snowman dad? How long will he be around this time? Will an abnormally warm Colorado winter melt him? Will he get to watch Charlie play one more hockey game? These are just a few questions to be answered over the course of the film’s 100-minute running time.

I have always been drawn to movies that focus on the relationships between fathers and their sons. For example, FIELD OF DREAMS and FREQUENCY are two of my very favorite films. The reason I love both films is that dads and their boys are able to reconnect and experience each other in a way that resolves pain or regret from the past. The movies may not be realistic in how that happens, but I think each of the films tap into a universal truth about the connections between kids and their parents. If you want to see me cry, just watch either of those movies with me. JACK FROST seems to have this noble intention of magically re-connecting a father and his son for a second chance, and I give it credit for that. Only the most cold-hearted cynic would blow off the scene where Jack’s wife and son get to see him in his human form just one last time. It was touching. I also enjoy some of the songs on the soundtrack. I was able to take my wife to see Stevie Nicks in concert here in Little Rock earlier this year. I enjoyed when her “Landslide” played as Charlie made a snowman for the first time after his dad passed away. I thought that was a strong scene. With that said though, for me, JACK FROST doesn’t come together in a way that packs much of an emotional punch even though it’s clearly going for the heart. Part of that could be the fact that Michael Keaton turns into a snowman, and statements like “snow-dad is better than no-dad” are made. When I think of the other films, sure there are supernatural elements at play, but they’re still set in the real world, even if that place is in Iowa! In the case of JACK FROST, neither the comedy nor the drama worked well enough for me to get emotionally invested. The filmmakers overestimated the comedic nature of a snowman in general, and they seemed to dwell on that one note way too long, and to the film’s detriment. I did think a scene where Charlie’s hockey coach, played by Henry Rollins, refuses to allow the word “snowman” to be spoken in his presence was funny, but that was the exception and not the norm. 

After watching JACK FROST, I do understand why Frosty has retained his place as the world’s favorite talking snowman even after this film’s 1998 release. I think the idea of a talking snowman works much better in Frosty’s context. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll go ahead and watch Frosty the Snowman again when I’m done here. But you never know, JACK FROST just may grow on me. Since my wife loves it, I know we’ll be watching it this same time next year! 

JUBAL (1956) – Ford, Borgnine, Steiger, and Bronson star in a Shakespearean tragedy set in the old west!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

In 2023, our family (parents, siblings, kids, nieces & nephews, everybody) took a vacation to the Grand Teton National Park. It was one of the most enjoyable vacations I’ve ever been on. Of course, this dad got on his family’s nerves by continuously referencing the film JUBAL since it was filmed with the Grand Tetons in the background. I just kept thinking about the fact that we were hanging out near a place where Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine, Rod Steiger, and Charles Bronson worked on one of my favorite westerns. For good measure I mentioned SHANE a few times as well since it was also filmed there.

Nice guy rancher Shep Horgan (Ernest Borgnine) finds Jubal Troop (Glenn Ford) injured and at the point of death. He takes Jubal back to his ranch and they nurse him back to health. The two men hit it off and soon Shep asks Jubal to be his foreman. This doesn’t set well at all with the duplicitous Pinky (Rod Steiger) who’s used to being in charge.  It sets too well with Shep’s beautiful wife Mae (Valerie French) who takes the wrong kind of liking to Jubal, a habit that seems to keep rearing its head with the lonely lady. This eventually turns into a powder keg of betrayal, lies & misunderstandings. Charles Bronson has a small, but pivotal role as cowhand who’s there for Jubal when things get really rough.

I bought JUBAL on VHS early in my movie collecting days in the 80’s. Of course, they put Bronson’s face on the front of the box with the other stars, even though it was over-inflating the size of his role in the movie. But that’s okay because it was probably the first time a teenage Bradley ever watched a movie with old Hollywood stars like Ford, Borgnine & Steiger. I loved the movie, and I’ve since searched out each actor’s filmography to watch their best films. Steiger especially stands out as the evil Pinky. I’ve been a huge fan of his ever since.

JUBAL also turned me on to the director Delmer Daves. Daves is one of the great directors of that time period. It’s been nice seeing some of his work being released as part of the Criterion Collection. His other films include DARK PASSAGE with Humphrey Bogart, BROKEN ARROW with Jimmy Stewart, DRUM BEAT with Alan Ladd & Charles Bronson, THE LAST WAGON with Richard Widmark, and 3:10 TO YUMA again with Glenn Ford. Heck, the guy wrote the classic tearjerker AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER. The guy was awesome!

Just to finish off a little personal history related to our family’s trip to the Grand Tetons in 2023…. I recently took my blu-ray of JUBAL to my parents’ cabin and watched it with my Dad and Mom. Me and Dad looked at each other and smiled every time a beautiful shot of the Tetons was in the background, and those majestic mountains are featured in almost every shot. It was marvelous.

DEATH WISH V: THE FACE OF DEATH – The end.

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Picture it…it’s 1992 or 1993 and I’m back at my local Hastings Entertainment superstore browsing through an entertainment magazine. Surprisingly, I came across a bit of entertainment news that a 71 year old Charles Bronson had accepted an offer of $5 million to reprise his Paul Kersey character for a fifth time. I couldn’t help but wonder what possible direction that they could take the series that would be interesting. I didn’t see anything else about the movie for the next year or so, and then it showed up some time in 1994 available for rent at that same Hastings Entertainment superstore. As far as I know, it never played in theaters in Arkansas, although it did play in some theaters in other parts of the country prior to going to home video. I immediately rented the film, somewhat apprehensive of what it would be….

DEATH WISH V: THE FACE OF DEATH, begins with Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) back in New York. We first see him, looking quite dapper I might add, walking down the street in the garment district. He’s on his way to see his latest girlfriend, fashion designer Olivia Regent (Lesley Anne-Down), whose fashion show is currently underway. You immediately feel sorry for Ms. Regent as you know her prospects for survival are somewhere between slim and none since Kersey’s her man. It doesn’t help matters when her ex-husband, awkwardly impotent mobster Tommy O’Shea (Michael Parks) shows up and starts physically abusing her and her employees. You see, O’Shea is trying to force his ex-wife to use her fashion business to help him launder money from his various criminal activities. Kersey tries to convince Olivia to go to District Attorney Brian Hoyle (Saul Rubinek) to try to put O’Shea away. Unfortunately, there’s corruption in the D.A.’s office in the form of Hector Vasquez (Miguel Sandoval), who passes the information back to O’Shea. From this point forward, Ms. Regent’s life is in serious jeopardy and we all know Kersey’s record of keeping his women alive isn’t that great. I won’t give the details away, but let’s just say that events conspire so that the cursed Kersey will have to resume his old vigilante ways in pursuit of a justice that can never be provided to him by the law.  

I remember vividly my first ever viewing of DEATH WISH V back in 1994. I put the videotape in the VCR and watched several previews that looked crappy and didn’t give me a lot of hope for the movie. And then it started, and I have to admit I enjoyed it from the very beginning to the end. I guess my expectations were so low that it was a major relief when I realized that it was a reasonably well-made, audience satisfaction movie designed for people like me who simply enjoy seeing Bronson acting as an instrument of justice. I thought Bronson looked good for an action star over 70 years old. I really liked the movie’s sense of humor. Michael Parks overacted to the point of parody as O’Shea, and the character of Freddie Flakes (Robert Joy) was especially fun as a hitman with major dandruff problems. And there was something about Charles Bronson that was different in comparison to some of the earlier entries. Then I realized what it was, Bronson was having fun. He took out the bad guys with things like poisoned cannolis and exploding soccer balls, all with a twinkle in his eyes. In the 70’s, Bronson made several movies where his characters had that twinkle. It was nice to see it back. Bad things happened of course, but director Allan A. Goldstein kept a tone of black comedy that suited the movie and its aging star well. 

Even in 1994, watching DEATH WISH V felt like the end, not just of the DEATH WISH series, but of Bronson’s time as a movie star. As his biggest fan, that made me kind of sad. He would only make 3 more TV movies after this, those being the FAMILY OF COPS TV movies. And while there are some who don’t like DEATH WISH V and seem to go out of their way to put it down, I’m exactly the opposite. To me, DEATH WISH V: THE FACE OF DEATH is a gift to Charles Bronson fans and an enjoyable end to his signature series!

DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN – a missed opportunity in my life!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

I’m on Day 4 of my discussion of Charles Bronson’s DEATH WISH series in chronological order. This series has brought me countless hours of entertainment over the last 40 years, so enjoy and let me know your thoughts!

DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN was a bit of a missed opportunity in my early years of Bronson fandom. Let me explain. In the mid-80’s I became Charles Bronson’s biggest fan, an honor I possibly share with a few others. As a part of that fandom, a 14-year-old Brad would scour every available source for information about my hero, which at that time was mainly the entertainment section of the Arkansas Democrat, my grandma’s tabloids, and, when I could get a ride, the magazine rack at the Hastings Entertainment Superstore. This in-depth search for information eventually lead to me discovering that DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN would be playing at the movie theater in Conway, AR in November of 1987. I was so excited that I might actually get to see Charles Bronson on the big screen for the first time ever. Unfortunately, there were several factors working against me. First, it was rated R, so I was completely dependent on an adult taking me. Second, it was released in November which was in the heart of basketball season, and the only thing that was above Bronson in my life was the basketball court, especially since my dad was my coach. And third, my parents would only consider taking me to the movies on “dollar night,” which was Tuesday and almost always conflicted with my basketball game schedule. I remember driving by the theater and seeing DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN listed on the marquee and longing to go see it.  Alas, the stars, and the factors above, all aligned against me, and I would not be able to watch the film during its 2-week run in Conway, Arkansas. At this point in his career, Cannon would give Bronson’s films a short theatrical release and then release them to the home video market where Bronson was still a true moneymaking superstar.  DEATH WISH 4 earned the equivalent in today’s dollars of around $20,000,000 at the box office before going on to sale over 100,000 VHS cassettes to rental stores. It was Bronson’s most successful rental release of the franchise.  

DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN opens with Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) having nightmares about the man he has become after a decade of meting out vigilante justice. He has moved back to Los Angeles where he keeps himself busy with his work as an architect, as well as his relationship with his new lady friend, Karen (Kay Lenz). When Karen’s daughter Erica dies of a drug overdose, Kersey immediately finds the drug dealer who sold her the stuff and shoots him dead. Unfortunately, soon after it seems that someone has pictures of Kersey doing his vigilante deeds, and he finds himself being coerced by millionaire Nathan White (John P. Ryan) into pitting the two primary criminal drug organizations against each other in a turf war in an attempt to get them to take each other out. Nathan White’s own granddaughter had been destroyed by drugs, and this is his way of getting back at the criminals responsible for her death. Kersey begins killing drug dealers, suppliers, day laborers, security detail, you name it; if you’re associated with drugs in any way, whether it be at a video store, fish packing plant, fine restaurant, or skyscraping apartment complex, you are fair game for death. Kersey is able to sufficiently convince the heads of the competing drug organizations that they are at war with each other. This all culminates at the oil fields, where Kersey, armed with a high-powered rifle, is perched above the meeting of the two gangs. With one fateful shot, he is able to ignite the all-out war he and Nathan White have been looking for. Finally, the streets of Los Angeles are free from the drugs that are sucking the life out of its citizens, right. Or are they?

It was on VHS in April of 1988 that I finally got to see DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN. It’s the first movie in the series not directed by Michael Winner. J. Lee Thompson took over the reins and created a slick action film that lacked the odd, but interesting touches that Winner provided, but made up for it with stronger craftmanship. DEATH WISH 4 is a balls to the wall action extravaganza that barely rests long enough for the audience to catch their breath. My personal favorite scene of the film is the oil field shootout that produced some really cool, iconic images of Bronson walking with his rifle as he was finishing off the bad guys. I’ve heard DEATH WISH 4 referred to as the “lost Death Wish” film because it is spoken of less than parts 1, 2, or 3, and that may even be true, but it’s actually a very strong entry in the series.  

As Paul Harvey might say, this is the “rest of the story” of me finally getting to see Charles Bronson on the big screen.  After DEATH WISH 4 ended its run, I don’t know of another Bronson film playing at my local theater from that point forward, and I would have to settle to watch MESSENGER OF DEATH, KINJITE, THE INDIAN RUNNER, and DEATH WISH V all on home video. Then, in the summer of 2022, I became aware that the Mahoning Drive-In in Lehighton, PA was programming a Charles Bronson night featuring THE MECHANIC, MR. MAJESTYK and DEATH WISH 3.  My wife and I drove 17 hours from our home in Arkansas to watch those three movies on the big screen.  It was the greatest “movie-night” of my life and something I’ll never forget.  So, all’s well that ends well!

BONUS: Jesse Dabson had a part in DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN. Jesse was interviewed on the THIS WEEK IN CHARLES BRONSON PODCAST, where he told my partner Eric Todd, and fellow Buchinsky Boys Chris Manson and Ryan Voss, about his experiences working on DEATH WISH 4, as well as other projects like PLATOON LEADER and ONE FALSE MOVE. Give it a listen if you get a chance!

DEATH WISH 3 – The movie I’ve watched more than any other!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

I’m on Day 3 of my discussion of Charles Bronson’s DEATH WISH series in chronological order. This series has brought me countless hours of entertainment over the last 40 years, so enjoy and let me know your thoughts!

DEATH WISH 3 is a very important movie to me. I recently closed my celebration of Charles Bronson’s 103rd birthday movie marathon on November 3rd with another viewing of DEATH WISH 3, the film that turned me into the only Charles Bronson superfan in Toad Suck, Arkansas. After a day of celebratory viewings of CHATO’S LAND, 10 TO MIDNIGHT (on VHS), FROM NOON TIL THREE, COMBAT: HERITAGE (on VHS), THE SEA WOLF (on VHS), and the original DEATH WISH, I had no choice but to watch DEATH WISH 3, a movie I have watched well over 100 times over the course of my life. DEATH WISH 3 is one of only four Charles Bronson films that I have seen on the big screen, as I was able to watch it at the Mahoning Drive-In in Lehighton, PA in June of 2022.

The third entry in the DEATH WISH franchise begins with Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) riding a Go Big Red Trailways bus into New York City. Since this is an odd numbered DEATH WISH film, it takes place in New York. The even numbered films take place in Los Angeles. Kersey looks kind of grumpy as he rides into town. I would definitely avoid sitting next to him if I was a passenger on the same bus that day. We learn that Kersey’s coming into town to visit his old buddy, Charlie. Unfortunately, his arrival coincides with members of a violent street gang breaking into Charlie’s apartment and beating him to death. Just after the punks go running away from the scene of the crime, Kersey walks into Charlie’s apartment to find the man clinging to his last breath of life and asking Kersey to “take care of his things, until I get back.” Some of Charlie’s neighbors had called the police a little earlier, and they arrive just in time to find Kersey standing over the body, so they arrest him for his old buddy’s murder. This seems reasonable since Kersey is the only person wearing a sports jacket and button up shirt in this gang infested area. Kersey is taken to the police station where a group of cops commence to beating the crap out of him in hopes of getting a confession. After a few punches to the gut by the cops and the old “you can have water if you tell us what we want to know” routine, Lt. Richard Shriker (Ed Lauter) enters the room and promptly asks “Who’s this dude?” You see, Kersey is going under the alias Paul Kimble, but Shriker recognizes the dude as Paul Kersey, the vigilante from the original DEATH WISH. Shriker goes on to explain that he was with the New York PD the night they brought in a vigilante with a bullet in his leg who was out like a light. Having the vigilante in town again, light bulbs immediately go off over Shriker’s head and he quickly hatches a plan. It seems a gang of criminals, led by Mandy Fraker (Gavan O’Herlihy) has taken over the community and police have been powerless to stop them. First, it’s really hard to catch the gang members because some of them can run really fast, and second, when they finally do catch them, the gang members have lawyers who can get them off. Lt. Shriker decides he’ll let Kersey out of jail, but only if Kersey is willing to resume his vigilante ways, shoot some of the creeps, and even throw some street info the police department’s way so they can get a few busts. Paul Kersey immediately agrees even though he seems kind of tired. You can’t help but wonder if Kersey might be needing the release that only can be achieved through violence against creeps. In short order, Kersey sets up shop in his old buddy’s apartment so he can take care of his things, gets to know the local residents, waits for an arsenal of African big game pistols and rocket launchers to arrive via UPS, makes love to public defender Kathryn Davis (Deborah Raffin), and eats all sorts of local delicacies like stuffed cabbage and broiled chicken. As an added bonus, the neighborly Bennett (Martin Balsam) just happens to have a couple of Browning machine guns in his closet that he was somehow able to smuggle home from World War II. It’s against this backdrop that Kersey sets out to wage a one-man war against the violent gang that has turned the corner of Sutter and Belmont into hell on earth!

There’s not much I can say about DEATH WISH 3 that hasn’t already been said.  It’s a wild, over the top action film that would mark the 6th and final film that Bronson would work on with director Michael Winner.  It would also be Charles Bronson’s last film that would rise to #1 at the U.S. box office when it premiered on November 1st, 1985.  It features some fun performances, especially from Ed Lauter as Lt. Shriker, Gavan O’Herlihy as gang leader Mandy Fraker, and Kirk Taylor as the gang member known as the Giggler who “can really move,” but who’s still not fast enough to outrun a bullet! A pre-Bill and Ted’s Alex Winter also plays a gang member named Hermosa, continuing the series tradition of casting actors as street creeps who would go on to be a bigger star a few years down the road. DEATH WISH 3 is not a great movie in the traditional sense, but it’s one of the most enjoyable movies ever made if you’re in the right frame of mind. 

DEATH WISH 3 is the movie most responsible for my obsession with Charles Bronson. I received it as a Christmas present in 1986 when I was thirteen years old, and I proceeded to watch it almost daily for months. It was the only Bronson film I owned on VHS so I would watch it almost every night unless I had a basketball game, or I had been able to rent a different Bronson film from the video store.  I know every line in the film and no other movie holds more nostalgic value in my life. DEATH WISH 3 is a 5-star movie in my book in so many ways that have nothing to do with critical acclaim. As long as I’m breathing, long live DEATH WISH 3!!!

BONUS: We completed a roundtable a few weeks back on the THIS WEEK IN CHARLES BRONSON PODCAST, where we spend the entire episode discussing what we love about DEATH WISH 3. I had a blast on the episode with my partner in crime Eric Todd, as well as fellow “Buchinsky Boys” Chris Manson & David Mittelberg. We even throw some love TSL’s way during the episode. Give it a listen if you get the chance!