Stars : Charles Bronson & Jill Ireland
Watch on : Prime Video
In the Hollywood of 1980-90s, came a string a macho guys fighting crime on the streets and slew of action thrillers that ran in a series with one defining central character & different plots. As young men then, not the ‘angry’ type but looking for excitement, these well built, impassive, tough guys often taking on the law-enforcers to get instant justice, evoked awe and admiration from our generation.
As movie buffs, we find it possibly started in 1971 ‘Dirty Harry’ cop-series with Clint Eastwood, in 1974 ‘Death Wish’ series with Charles Bronson, later in 1988 ‘Die Hard’ series with Bruce Willis and a plethora fast paced action films with stars Sly Stallone, Schwarzeneger, Mel Gibson etc. Action blockbusters over ‘Suspense’ genre for thrills. Somewhere in 1970s Bollywood too, was discovering its ‘Angry Young Man’ in Big B !
Coming to the film Death Wish 2, second film of the series, why not start with the first ? Personally I was drawn to the plot that’s an out and out revenge story. Carrying on from the first movie, Architect Paul Kersey once again becomes a vigilante when he tries to find the five street punks who murdered his daughter and housekeeper. Since NY police are unable to control the unbridled wave of crimes, Paul walks the street incognito & scratches city’s underbelly to unearth criminals and thereby creates fear among them.
Another reason is that having seen this, one would instantly recall the resemblance to the plot of a well-made Hindi film by BR Chopra – ‘Aaj Ki Awaaz’ (1984) starring Raj Babbar and Smita Patil. We’d admit this one was inspired by the Bronson thriller. No spoilers, it’s important to say that Hindi version is Indianised with different ending. For fans of the rugged Charles Bronson (recall him in ‘The Great Escape’), it’s worth a watch.
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