Paul Kersey doesn't seek out violence. It just seems to find him. But when it does he's not about to back down! Charles Bronson brings out the heavy artillery in this gun-blazing, no-holds-barred thriller! Road-worn and ... more »battle-weary, Kersey longs to leave his fighting days behind him. Butwhen he arrives in New York to visit an old friend, he finds him brutally attacked and gasping for breath in a pool of blood! Now the silent avenger must wage war once more on the city's punks, thugsand hoodlums. But this time he's brought a small arsenal of guns, knivesand even a bazookato help him!« less
Charles Bronson (aka the World's Oldest Bad-Ass) returns for a third go round as aging vigilante Paul Kersey, who comes back to New York to visit an old Army buddy and ends up helping the neighborhood battle a particularly vicious street gang who've taken over the area.
The first two "DW" movies were grittier and at least *tried* to stay grounded in something resembling reality; however, "D.W. 3" starts out silly and just gets more cartoonish as it goes along until the 20-minute climax of shootings, explosions and open warfare in the streets vaults the whole thing into utterly ridiculous. Still, it's kind of awesome in a bizarre, cheesy sort of way.
Observant viewers will recognize a pre-"Bill and Ted" Alex Winter as one of the punks, a young Marina ("Counselor Troi") Sirtis as a rape victim, and groove on the jazzy soundtrack by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page!!
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Movie Reviews
This is meant to be a parody, right?
Chadwick H. Saxelid | Concord, CA United States | 02/19/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I know that Michael Winner got his start making comedies, then turned to making blunt and chilling action movies such as The Stone Killer, The Mechanic and the first Death Wish. However Death Wish 3 is so over the top that I have to wonder if Winner wasn't winking at the audience - and one or two scenes seem to be making some kind of satirical statement about this kind of entertainment catharsis. Paul Kersey returns to New York City to visit an old war buddy, but finds his friend dying from a beating given by the local thugs. Kersey is arrested and, while in the local jail, has a run in with the gang leader, a psychotic named Fraker (played with just the right amount of swagger by Gavan O'Herlihy). The police chief (Ed Lauter) is so frustrated with Fraker's gang running (and ruining) the neighborhood that he releases Kersey and wishes him happy shooting. "You're turning me loose?" Kersey asks. "I'm turning you loose." The cop replies. What follows is a series of action set pieces that build to a riot in a payback hungry world gone mad. As many others have noted, this movie is utterly over the top and quite laughter inducing. I cannot tell if it is truly meant to be a subtle parody of Death Wish/urban warfare movies or if it is so stupid that it just plays that way. Did Michael Winner not do his job, or did he do it too well? Watch, enjoy, and decide for yourself. Highly recommended and an essential for both Bronson and/or bad movie fans everywhere."
SHAME ON YOU MGM!
A. Tsoutsos | Athens, Greece | 01/08/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"... for messing up such a great movie! Movies like this one need special treatment. Putting this out in fullscreen is like giving it no attention at all. It's a shame because today even ultra-low budget films are being properly remastered for DVD releases. It seems that MGM does not realise at all the cult status of this movie- I mean there are countless people out there who have been waiting for a decent release of this movie. I don't consider this an upgrade to my old, fullscreen VHS so I won't be buying it.
As for the movie itself... no words could possibly describe it. It just reaches perfection."
Violent. Violent. Violent. And Funny.
Adam Cohen | New York | 10/14/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"DEATH WISH 3 is, for its time, an extremely violent movie. Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a seemingly placid soul who goes about killing several hundred thugs and crooks in 1980's NYC. The "plot" finds Kersey returning to NYC where he visits an old war buddy, whom Kersey finds dying on his apartment floor, a victim of intruding gangs. Having lost his friend, Kersey decides to move into his buddy's old apartment and take up a war against the gangs overrunning the neighborhood. I wouldn't even say this is a tale of revenge, because you never get the sense that Kersey gives a damn about his friend's death. It's basically an invitation to kill, something Kersey accepts when a police commissioner asks for "help" in thinning out the criminal herds.
Kersey, a character born from the "silent majority" of the Nixon Era, has no character arc, no narrative, no place to go where he will eventually find peace. This movie is a showcase for violence-- funny, absurd, over-the-top violence. Whether on purpose or not, there are several classic moments that make this movie worthwhile. And Bronson's deadpan delivery makes his sparse dialogue memorable. This is crude, terrible filmmaking that I greatly enjoyed to the very end."
Don't mess with Bronson's Korean war pal!
Stanley Runk | Camp North Pines | 03/03/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
""This time it's war" is the slogan for Death Wish 4, but I think that would really apply to this one. When you hit the last twenty mintues or so of this film, it does turn to all out war! This has got to be the most blown-out-of-proportion sequel of all time next to the second Rambo film. Bronson's no longer prowling the streets and taking out punks here and there-This time he literally has an all out war with them! Coming back to NY, he finds his Korean war buddy murdered. This is the catalyst for another bloodbath, but he gets the green light when this "dude" talking cop tells(actually he threatens) Bronson to start up again. The neighborhood is completely overrun by gangs with reversed mohawks. In fact, this neighborhood makes south central LA look like Beverly Hills. But Bronson's in town now! Well, these schmucks should know by now that you don't mess with this man. Bronson goes toe to toe with the gang leader who likes to get "High! High! HIGH!", along with other assorted punks including Bill S. Preston-Esquire from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. By the last act, the neighborhood turns into a war zone between punks and apartment residents. Considering the place looked like a war zone to begin with, the surrounding communities don't seem to take notice. This film is pretty outrageous. It's like a comic book or a video game put on film. It's wild. It also has one of the funniest scenes I have ever seen in a film: Bronson buys a junker car, then parks it in front of his apartment and waits for someone to mess with it. He 's invited to dinner at the neighbor's house, and while eating he hears someone messing with the car. He goes outside and blows away the two guys stripping the car, then just walks back in and sits down to dinner. That is the definitive Bronson moment. So, read all of the reviews here, especially the bad ones, then run out and watch this, pronto! People seem to hate this movie for the same reasons it's so entertaining. Come on, there wasn't supposed to be any kind of message to this film. This is 100% junk food entertainment and should be taken as such. The positive reviews "got it" if you know what I mean."