Death Wish 3 (1986)

Well, I’ll admit “Death Wish 3" is a pretty bad movie. I’ll admit the acting is terrible, the effects lousy and the editing pure crap. However, I’ll also admit there is something appealing, for whatever reason, to bad movie buffs about a man in his sixties running around with a pistol the size of a small rifle, beating up people half his age and blowing their respective heads off. Maybe it’s an acquired taste, I don’t know.

“Death Wish 3” sees the return of Charles Bronson as vigilante Paul Kersey who’s back in New York to visit an old army buddy. Kersey discovers his friend dead in his apartment, a victim of the local gang who controls the area and wreaks hell on the apartment buildings elderly citizens. Kersey is abruptly arrested at the crime scene and hauled into jail, where the Chief of Police has a bizarre proposition for him. No, nothing like that you sick bastards. You see, the Chief here knows all about Kersey’s thug killing past, and desperate for help, offers Kersey free reign on the neighborhood gang if it’ll help the crime rate go down. Not one to turn down an offer of free thug killing, Kersey obliges and hits the streets to avenge his friends death.

“Death Wish 3” takes a drastic change from the two previous films in the series. Here we are firmly entrenched in 80’s action film lore such as big explosions, big guns, and most importantly to these films; the ability of the films hero to avoid hundreds of bullets while nailing punks left and right...getting about 50 shots to his 12 shot clip. Bronson is Bronson, he hardly mutters a word and looks really old, but boy can he still shoot a mugger between the eyes, not to mention sleep with a broad who’s half his age. Gotta respect the man for that. The rest of the acting is really bad, I’m talking T.V. movie of the week bad, and is really sort of sad to watch at times. However, if you expected some type of Oscar winning performance from a flick titled “Death Wish 3” you’re a fucking moron. The body count here is 50 times higher than the previous films, with the second half of the movie being one big Kersey and Apartment Residents V.S. Gang Members shoot out that’s full of illogic, bad editing, and bad effects...but somehow it’s still fun. “Death Wish 3” needs to be viewed with a case of beer and some smart ass friends, as I ask what can be better than getting drunk, eating pizza, and watching a guy in his sixties massacre an entire street gang? If there’s something better, let me know.