And so we come around to part three of the Death Wish Secillogy (what do you call a five part trilogy anyway?), with more badass Bronson action as he blows away muggers, rapists, scum of the earth, and folks who just needed killin'.

At this point the plot is largely superfluous to the movie. Kersey arrives back in New York to visit a old war buddy from Korea, who lives in the worst part of the city. Arriving at Charlie's apartment, Kersey finds his friend beaten to death, the victim of a savage attack from the neighborhood gang. The cops show up moments later and instantly assume that Kersey had something to do with the attack and haul him off to the hoosegow.

The Police Chief figures out pretty quickly that Kersey had nothing to do with the attack. He also makes the connection to the vigilante that mysteriously vanished some five years ago. The chief lets him go and promises to turn a blind eye to his goings-on provided that Kersey brings his own brand of law to a lawless land.

And so Kersey heads back and takes up residence in Charlie's old apartment, befriending the helpless senior citizens and immigrant neighbors. Meanwhile he falls in love with the lovely public defense attorney (a woman at least 40 years Bronson's junior) who has been attempting to clean up the neighborhood. Being a Death Wish movie, this marks her for either rape and/or death. And sure enough, she is murdered within fifteen minutes of geriatric coitus.

Meanwhile the gang runs roughshod over the neighborhood and a full blown war breaks out. I don't mean your usual Hollywood hyperbole - I mean a full-on 1944 Normandy landing type assault. Civilians are raped, stabbed, beaten with chains, shot at, kicked, blown up, set on fire, strangled and otherwise murdered in estranging and excessive ways. Things go to Eleven when Kersey begins the retaliation, bullets fly from those big WWII browning machine guns, old women chase punks with brooms, old men are pushed off rooftops. Meanwhile Bronson and the Police Chief get their own private shooting gallery where Thugs pop up from behind cars, buildings, and storefronts, all to be instantly gunned down by the pair. Seriously, the ending is so bat-shit crazy that the MPAA gave the film an X rating when it was first submitted to the board. It was later successfully appealed, and frankly compared to modern action flicks, the ending is tame - but it's still Sam Penkenpah levels of insane.

So how's the acting? Bronson is back as his wooden, emotionless stoic badass, never showing grief or pleasure as he dispatches the villain. Opposing him is Gavan O’Herlihy (who gave up his lucrative gig as Chuck Cunningham from Happy Days to do movies - and wound up doing this and Superman III) leader of the gang and sporting the Stupidest Haircut This Side of Mister T. And for the "Lets spot the famous person as an extra" drinking game, we get Bill S Preston ESQ himself - Alex Winter as a one of the many gangland mooks. We also get Marina Sirtis flashing her ample ta-tas for the audience about two years before landing her gig on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

At the end of the day, Death Wish III is completely over the top and a total cartoon. It's utterly ridiculous and brilliantly bad! I suspect that we've hit the high point of the series and we've got two movies left to go. . . .

BREASTS: 2
EXPLOSIONS: 138
ROUNDS FIRED: 208,103
PUNCHES THROWN: 12
HANDRAIL DEATHS: 14
CAR CHASES: 0
FRUIT CARTS DESTROYED: 0
NINJA? No
BODY COUNT: 48

THE DVD -
Like all Cannon Films from the eighties, Death Wish III was shot in the open matte format. So while the film is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio, it's not a pan and scan transfer. While a widescreen print would have been preferable, at least we're not losing any picture.

As far as the image quality goes, Death Wish III is actually pretty decent. While the dark scenes show off some dirt and film damage, the colors are good. For a low budget disc, it holds it's own.

THE EXTRAS -
Typical of these low budget cult exploitation flicks, we get a trailer - and that's it.

THE BOTTOM LINE -
Mindless violence? Wooden acting? Wafer thin plot? Ludicrous story? Yeah, that pretty much sums up Death Wish III - but my god is it entertaining! The last half hour alone is worth the price of admission!


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older