Death Wish

"Vigilante, city style — judge, jury, and executioner."

1974 1h 33m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 995

CrimeDramaAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After his wife is murdered by street punks, a pacifistic New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad, prowling the streets for would-be muggers after dark.

“Vigilante, city style — judge, jury, and executioner.”

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Cast

Charles Bronson
Paul Kersey
Hope Lange
Joanna Kersey
Vincent Gardenia
Frank Ochoa
Steven Keats
Jack Toby
William Redfield
Sam Kreutzer
Stuart Margolin
Aimes Jainchill
Stephen Elliott
Police Commissioner
Kathleen Tolan
Carol Toby

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michael Winner
Writers: Wendell Mayes, Gerald Wilson, Michael Winner
Languages: French, English, Italian, German
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $77M — a 25.5× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

52 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: French, English, Italian, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Death Wish Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michael Winner, shot by Arthur J. Ornitz. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Herbie Hancock. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Bernard Gribble shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Winner directs. Arthur J. Ornitz behind the camera. Herbie Hancock scores. Bernard Gribble cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in French, English, Italian, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $77M — a 25.5× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
352 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 4 languages: French, English, Italian, German.
5Part of the "Death Wish Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Michael Winner, shot by Arthur J. Ornitz. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Herbie Hancock. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Bernard Gribble shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Charles Bronson and Hope Lange and Vincent Gardenia carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Vigilante, city style — judge, jury, and executioner.".
11IMDB entry: tt0071402 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 18 themes, including "new york city", "taxi", "police", "fight".
13Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Arthur J. Ornitz
Original score: Herbie Hancock
Editing: Bernard Gribble
Production design: Robert Gundlach
Costume design: Joseph G. Aulisi
Makeup / hair: Phil Rhodes
Sound: Hugh Strain
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,000,000
Box office: $76,600,000
Return: 2553% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Death Wish (1974)

Part of

Death Wish Collection

Five films about Paul Kersey, an architect with no luck whatsoever. First His wife is murdered when their apartment is broken into, 8 years later his mentally ill daughter is raped and murdered. After all this Kersey is never the same and ends up taking on the drug lords and various criminals of the world.