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This controversial, 1974 drama exploits urban paranoia and presents vigilantism as cathartic release. But it is also a captivating, Everyman-ish story of a New Yorker who goes through a sea change after crime depletes his family and who runs foul of the law while taking it into his own hands. Charles Bronson stars as the vengeance-seeking urban warrior who goes on a punk-killing spree after his wife and daughter are attacked by intruders. Director Michael Winner (
TheWicked Lady) shamelessly builds upon audience identification with Bronson's rage but he also makes an interesting story out of the latter's tug-of-war with disapproving police. It's an unpleasant film all around but not nearly as bad as its horrifying, numerous sequels. Watch for a very young Jeff Goldblum--in this, his second movie--as one of the assailants of Bronson's loved ones.
--Tom Keogh
Review
Michael Winner's bloody revenge thriller turned longtime character actor Charles Bronson into a superstar, but despite its stylish photography, it's a routine genre film. The story concerns an architect (Charles Bronson) who is transformed into a vengeful killer after his wife (Hope Lange) is murdered and his daughter raped. Like Dirty Harry (1971), Winner's ugly fantasy tapped public fears aroused by the rising crime rates of the period. The stoic, granitic face of Bronson was the one that audiences wanted to show to criminals. Most of the film is set in a bleak, stripped-down New York, which becomes a shooting gallery populated only by Bronson and the various muggers and thugs that are his targets. Like Clint Eastwood in his star-making role in A Fisful of Dollars (1964), the actor has little to do besides glower menancingly and shoot, but Vince Gardenia is excellent as the cop in pursuit of the gun-crazy architect. Although source author Brian Garfield was publicly critical of the film's violence, the character became Bronson's franchise, and he would go on to star in a series of sequels. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
