Death Wish

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2:18

Death Wish

R

1974

1h 33m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

66%

Tomatometer

32 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Once a mild-mannered liberal, New York City architect Paul Kersey snaps when intruders break into his home, murdering his wife and violently raping his daughter. A business trip to Tucson, Ariz., lands him a gift from a client, a revolver he uses to patrol the streets when he returns home. Frustrated that the police cannot find the intruders, he became a vigilante, gunning down any criminal that crosses his path. The public finds this vigilantism heroic.

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Critics Consensus

Death Wish is undeniably exploitation fare -- and also undeniably effective.

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Maureen Orth

Newsweek

11/02/2021

Director Michael Winner, an Englishman, has created a simplistic urban Western of good guys and bad guys that will conform to every paranoid's crime fantasies.

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Variety

03/01/2007

Poisonous incitement to do-it-yourself law enforcement is the vulgar exploitation hook on which Death Wish is awkwardly hung.

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Geoff Andrew

Time Out

01/26/2006

Winner's recourse to caricature when dealing with police and thugs, and his virtually overt sympathies with the confused, violent Bronson, make for uncritical, simplistic viewing.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

03/15/2023

4/5

It’s both fascinating and uncomfortable, as a story like this should be. Not everything clicks, especially in the final act. But it’s still a well-made thriller that’s worth more than a mere surface level reading.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

02/05/2023

3/4

Although it’s about as complex as any random episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, it’s nevertheless effective agitprop.

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Gregory Mims

New Pittsburgh Courier

12/13/2021

Although we may find the views expressed in Death Wish unacceptable on any level, still, the basic story line, despite its idiotic perspective, might have made an interesting film, had it been handled properly.

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Joaquin U

@Joaquin1 Apr 6

Entertaining. It's a classic. No movie was created out of context, and this is right there when New York was a dumpster fire of crime and violence. Surely, people back then in the theatre cheered when Paul Kersey took on the scum. Solid cast. Bronson never changes in any film, but it's good to see Bronson not changing as usual. If you want "professional" reviews or criticisms, look for reviews of that era. It's a travesty to have millennial "movie critics" given their takes on stuff they don't understand.

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D M

@JoeyBidunce Mar 25

CLASSIC. One of the all time best movies and the start of the franchise.

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James H

@RT51557711 Jan 3

Watched this movie when I was like 12, my father was a huge Charles Bronson fan. Out of all the films this is most likely the best, enough fun and vengance to have a good time, a good classic form the 70s

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Robert M

@Texflex Dec 21

Not worth your time.

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Danuel W

@DJWilliams Nov 10

You really do feel it for this main character, almost justifies his vigilante run throughout this movie.

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ChrisCSH H

@RT12343453 06/29/2025

While death wish is at times violent and archaic it doesn’t delay on getting to the action and cuts right to the point. Charles Bronson is great as Revengeaholic Paul Kersey and you feel the rage and emotion that he is feeling from the violent way His wife and daughter are assaulted by their attackers.

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Michael Winner

Director

Charles Bronson

Paul Kersey

Hope Lange

Joanna Kersey

Vincent Gardenia

Frank Ochoa

Steven Keats

Jack Toby

William Redfield

Sam Kreutzer

Death Wish: Official Clip - Shot and Bleeding

1:30

Death Wish: Official Clip - Followed Home

2:11

Death Wish: Official Clip - The Vigilante's Still Out There

1:19

Death Wish: Official Clip - Stalked in the Park

1:45

Death Wish: Official Clip - Draw!

1:38

Death Wish: Official Clip - Cowboy Stunt Show

2:10

Death Wish: Official Clip - Subway Shooting

1:37

Death Wish: Official Clip - Get a Transfer

2:10

Death Wish: Official Clip - What Else You Got?

2:07

Death Wish: Official Clip - Wrong Alley, Right Time

1:07

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Death Wish: Trailer 1

2:18

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Synopsis

Once a mild-mannered liberal, New York City architect Paul Kersey snaps when intruders break into his home, murdering his wife and violently raping his daughter. A business trip to Tucson, Ariz., lands him a gift from a client, a revolver he uses to patrol the streets when he returns home. Frustrated that the police cannot find the intruders, he became a vigilante, gunning down any criminal that crosses his path. The public finds this vigilantism heroic.

Director: Michael Winner
Producer: Hal Landers, Bobby Roberts, Michael Winner
Screenwriter: Wendell Mayes
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Dino De Laurentiis Company
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 24, 1974, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Runtime: 1h 33m