Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Allan A. Goldstein

Writers (WGA):

Brian Garfield (characters)
Michael Colleary (story) ...

Release Date:

14 January 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Action | Thriller

Tagline:

The vigilante is back...

Plot:

Paul Kersey is back at working vigilante justice when when his fiancée, Olivia, has her business threatened by mobsters.

Plot Keywords:

Cyanide | Vigilante | Canoli | Topless | Female Nudity

Cast

Charles Bronson	...	Paul Kersey
Lesley-Anne Down	...	Olivia Regent
Michael Parks	...	Tommy O'Shea
Chuck Shamata	...	Sal Paconi
Kevin Lund	...	Chuck Paconi
Robert Joy	...	Freddie 'Flakes'
Saul Rubinek	...	Tony Hoyle
Miguel Sandoval	...	Hector Vasquez
Kenneth Welsh	...	Lt. Mickey King
Lisa Inouye	...	Janice Omori
Erica Lancaster	...	Chelsea Regent
Jefferson Mappin	...	Big Al
Michael Dunston	...	Reg
Claire Rankin	...	Maxine
Sharolyn Sparrow	...	Dawn

Also Known As:

Death Wish 5: The Face of Death (UK) (video box title)
Death Wish: The Face of Death (USA) (DVD box title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Finland:(Banned) (1994) (uncut) | Finland:K-16 (1994) (cut) | Finland:K-18 (2002) (uncut) | Iceland:16 | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) | USA:R (certificate #32637) | Philippines:R-18 | Australia:MA | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | UK:15 (video rating) (2005) | UK:18 (original rating) | Norway:15 (DVD rating) (uncut) (2005)

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

21st Century Film Corporation

Trivia:

Charles Bronson's final theatrical film.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Paul Kersey: Hey Lieutenant, if you need any help, give me a call.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater: Killer Geeks" (1995)

Soundtrack:

DO YOU WANNA DANCE

5 wifes killed by gangsters - What would you do?

I have noticed in the previous parts that Charles Bronson's character is himself a total psycho/mentally "ill" person. And that's totally understandable knowing what he's been through. So both the bad and the good guys are real extremes also in their sickness (in these movies). You have to be "freakin'" crazy to fight these crazies. "Fight evil with evil". "If you "have" to fight, you have to fight dirty." "Because war in itself is bad, evil and crazy." (These citings are not from this movie, they're just clichés.) Is there any other way? But compared to the bad guys Bronson's character is also very, very sad and sympathetic. It's sad that some people have to see and experience so much evil in this world. It is a very interesting character and portrait of a time and a frame of mind.

And the bad guys are not as comical as in some other Death Wishes, they are somehow more realistic.

From the start setting of this film some mental professional would suggest that Bronson's character is begging for blood and violence in his life: He has hooked up with some psycho-sadist-mob boss's ex-wife, who has a daughter with the mentioned. But let's not be shrinks. Shrinks (both amateur and pro) seem to be wrong very often, maybe as often as non-shrinks. Maybe it's just because they have fallen in love. And maybe Bronson/Kersey has heard about this only later.

One of the most important questions that these movies rise is: What would YOU do? Would ethics and philosophy of forgiveness be enough, if some person would for example kill some of your loved ones with no reason. Would you think that that person has deserved forgiveness and is worth of that? If that person would be a repeated killer, who has been in jail a couple of times already for his/her former crimes/killings? Would you think of that person as an equal to some person you love, and who you know is trying to be as good person as he/she possibly can? The movie is very well directed, shot, acted. Good editing and music. The atmosphere is whole. Some nice pictures. It's also more sexy than all the other parts combined. This might be one of the 3 best of the 5 Death Wishes, but wouldn't 3 have been enough? Obviously not, because these movies are just a small glimpse of the "vigilante"/revenge-movies genre... Worth seeing.