Death Wish 4: The Crackdown

Plot synopsis:
A woman is walking to her car in the parking garage. She gets in and has trouble starting her car. Three thugs appear, break into her car, force her out, and begin to rape her when Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) appears out of nowhere. He shoots the first two thugs, but wounds the third. He follows the third mugger as he attempts to escape the parking garage, but Kersey quickly blocks the exit. The third mugger pleads for his life, but Paul shoots him dead. He rolls the criminal over with his foot, and reveals the criminal to be himself. It is then revealed that the whole assault was a dream as Paul wakes up in a cold sweat.The next morning, a young woman enters Paul's architectural design office in Los Angeles, and it is revealed to be Erica (Dana Barron). Paul is dating her mother Karen Sheldon (Kay Lenz). Erica goes out later that evening with her boyfriend Randy Viscovich (Jesse Dobson) to the arcade to meet up with Jojo and his buddy. Jojo offers Erica crack, and she dies from an overdose. The next night (without any explanation), Paul follows Randy to the arcade where Randy confronts Jojo and threatens to go to the police and tell them everything. Jojo kills Randy to prevent this. Kersey shoots JoJo, who falls onto the electrified roof of the bumper-car ride.Paul arrives back at his house where he receives a note and a phone call from publisher Nathan White (John P. Ryan), who tells him that he knows about the death of JoJo. Nathan explains to Kersey that after Nathan's wife died, his daughter became his whole life. Then she became addicted to drugs, and died of an overdose. Nathan wants to hire Kersey to wipe out the drug trade in L.A. and in particular to target Ed Zacharias (Perry Lopez) and Jack Romero (Mike Moroff), rival drug kingpins who are the city's two main drug suppliers. Kersey asks for a few days to think about it, and after a few days, he accepts Nathan's offer. Nathan supplies Kersey with weapons and information so Kersey can go after Zacharias and Romero. All the while, two L.A. detectives, Reiner (George Dickerson) and Phil Nozaki (Soon-Tek Oh), are on Paul's trail of destruction.Paul infiltrates Zacharias's mansion where Ed Zacharias is throwing an elaborate birthday party. As Paul Kersey bugs Zacharias's phone, he unwittingly witnesses Zacharias murder one of his colleagues, Vincent, due to betrayal. Zacharias captures Paul, and tells him to help take Vincent's body out in order for his silence. Another of Zacharias's gang's members offers to help, and they take the body out and hide it in the trunk of the car. Knowing that he is to be killed, Paul kills the hired hitman in self defense and walks away from the crime scene. Paul kills three more men in an Italian restaurant, kills a drug dealer disguised as a video store owner and two of his assistants, as well as Romero's top hitman, Frank Bauggs (David Wolos-Fonteno). All the while Zacharias and the Romero brothers begin to suspect each other's involvement.Eight more of Zacharias's men are killed at the fisherman's wharf by Kersey. Zacharias is informed by Nozaki, revealed to be corrupt, to kill whoever is setting him up. Nozaki tracks Kersey at work and tries to get information out of him. Nozaki attempts to kill Kersey, but Kersey shoots him dead. Detective Reiner learns about Nozaki's death (not knowing about his corruption) and swears vengeance on the vigilante Kersey.In an act of retribution, Zacharias calls Jack and wants to talk to him. They arrange a meeting place at the oil fields. Kersey is already there and fires his rifle. Zacharias thinks that it is Jack's crew who is doing it and opens fire. They kill each other as Kersey kills Tony and Zacharias.Nathan calls, congratulating Kersey on a job well done, and asks to meet with him tonight. Kersey arrives at the meeting place, but Nathan sends his limo driver instead. Kersey hops in the limo, and realizes he's been set-up after the limo driver jumps in White's car. Kersey shoots the back window with the PP and makes it out before the limo explodes. Kersey forces his way into Nathan's house demanding to see Nathan. An old man living there claims to be the real Nathan White, having returned from a three-month vacation. Kersey drives back to his apartment, only to be pulled over and arrested by two cops. On the way to the downtown police station, Paul immediately recognizes them as impostors. He flips over the car, killing one, and knocking the other unconscious.Back at his apartment, Paul Kersey comes face-to-face with Reiner. Kersey tries to inform Reiner about his partner's corruption, but Reiner does not buy his story. The impostor Nathan White (his true name isn't revealed) is mad that Kersey is still alive, and uses Karen to lure him into a trap. He leaves a message, but hangs up before Kersey is given time to answer. To get away from Reiner, Kersey pretends to speak to him and knocks Reiner out cold. He pulls a rifle with a grenade launcher from his gun rack.Kersey arrives with car at the meeting place. The car rolls forward as White orders his men to open fire. They spray the car with bullet holes before realizing Paul's not in the car. Kersey fires a grenade, killing three as the car explodes. He also shoots Jesse's car, with Jesse inside, as he makes his escape. Kersey follows them into the roller rink where he kills six more thugs.White escapes through the back door as Kersey follows. Karen escapes his grasp, but is shot in the back while attempting to run. Realizing White is now out of bullets and distraught by Karen's death, Kersey fires a grenade that finishes him off. Reiner arrives and orders him to surrender, threatening to shoot as Kersey walks away. Kersey replies: "Do whatever you have to." Reiner lets him go.

Tags: cult, revenge, murder, violence

Review:
I am a huge fan of Charles Bronson I have been watching his movies since I was a kid and Death Wish series are my favorite film series.
The movie has tons of action and explosions Paul (Charles Bronson) uses a M16 with M203 grenade launcher to go after Nathan White (John Ryan) and his men at the roller rink.
The movie has a beautiful score that I love from John Bisharat, Paul McCallum and Valentine McCallum.Death Wish 4: The Crackdown is an American 1987 action crime film, and the fourth installment in the Death Wish film series.
Death wish fans will still be content here, especially when Charlie brings out the big guns, reprising his role, as Mr Vigilante Paul Kersey, one of his greatest acting performances, ever..
Also, couldn't help but ponder from reading Puzo's book and seeing the movies: Who lost more close friends, family, etc., to murder, Don Corleone, or mild-mannered architect/conscientious objector, Paul Kersey?The original gave a plausible reason for Paul's ability with guns, although he had eschewed them following his gun collector/father's death in a hunting accident.But as these series installments proceeded, and you look at them anew now, there are other fascinations: Charlie performed these roles beginning in his 50's to a period where he had been eligibile for early social security payments for over a decade.Further, he rotated between both coasts, having no trouble becoming ensconced comfortably every time, with successful business activity, a host of friends (many of whom met their demise), and a dual schedule which would keep either a full-time businessman or a full-time mob button man busy at his singular profession -- but Paul handled both with little detraction from either by the other.And his affinity for hand guns (and undoubtedly rifles) as previously explained aside -- Paul also seems to have had the ability to acquire capabilities with regard a wide variety of heavy weaponry and ordnance exceeding a level reached by, say, even General Patton.
In Charles Bronson's fourth outing as vigilante killer Paul Kersey in Death Wish 4: The Crackdown, he's hired by mysterious millionaire John P.
You would definitely think that Bronson did this full time instead of just a sideline with his real job being an architect.But let's just say the wool is truly pulled over his eyes in Death Wish 4: The Crackdown in a way I certainly couldn't believe.
Sequel to successful crime thriller that created the Vigilante genre with Bronson as the main star as architect Paul Kersey turned the one-man vigilante when his family is attacked by furious band formed by some ominous punks , as his wife is murdered and daughter reduced to living vegetable ; he then stalks the slums of N.Y. and searching crooks , hoodlums , muggers , pimps making the neighborhood safer and bumping off delinquents and street scum .
Paul takes on the members of a vicious Los Angeles drug cartel led by Ed Zacharias (Perry Lopez) to stop the flow of crack after his girlfriend's daughter (Dana Barron , though Kay Lenz is only 13 years older than Dana) dies from an overdose.
Both of whom worked together nine times , this sequel was the only 'Death Wish' movie of the five film series that they made together .
And I actually went back to watch that scene three times just for the sheer laughs of how bad it was.Of course Paul Kersey lost more people that he loved and cared about in this movie.
In good old "Death Wish" tradition, you shouldn't look for logic or plausibility in script but merely enjoy the spectacular action sequences and the giant bad-guys body count!
The fourth installment to the death wish series, 'The Crackdown' was just a tired Charles Bronson (whom I greatly admire) trying to put his Paul Kersey game face back on and blow away some more scum.
Death Wish 4 (1987) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is now living with a new woman and her teenage daughter.
Obviously Cannon wanted to use the popular DEATH WISH title but at the same time I think the film works better on its own and not being connected.Bronson turns in a rather energetic performance as he certainly has no problem playing the tough guy.
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown, is a surprisingly entertaining entry in the series, Despite not being Directed by Michael Winner who directed the first 3 movies, Of all of the Films in the Series this one is one of the best however it seem's to have one of the Lowest Critical Ratings (the lowest Being Death Wish 5) Which i really don't understand because i really Found this one Entertaining, but I think i know where the critical Lambasting came from, when the Film came out, it was 1987 during that time It seemed that Drugs particularly cocaine were advertised as a major problem in Society (Without a doubt Drugs are a Major problem, but they are not the only problem in society)and During this time both TV And Film were Advertising this and I think people were tired of hearing about it, and Death Wish 4 is no Exception regarding making Anti-Drug Statements , However the Drug Statement Is not the Only thing that Critics had with it, it was also the Fact that this was 4th film in the series and I guess they Just Got tired of the series (Oh, But No one Gets tired of the James Bond Or Godzilla Series!) Personally I'm all for Sequel's As long as they are entertaining and add some things that are new, and Death Wish 4 Does that.The Plot Once again involves Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson)Now Living with a Girlfriend (Kay Lenz)in L.A,everything Seems to Be going Good for them until Kersey's Girlfriend's Daughter Dies From a Cocaine Overdose, Kersey Goes out to find the Pusher who sold her the Drugs and Kills him, however the next day Kersey gets a mysterious phone call from someone Claiming to know who Kersey is, and telling him to meet the caller at a specified address, he goes to the address and meets a Reporter who's Daughter also died from a Cocaine overdose, and with Kersey's Help wants revenge on the entire drug underworld.
Kersey Accepts the offer and goes on the Hunt to Destroy the entire Drug underworld.Death Wish 4: The Crackdown, Is a welcoming Change to the Series, instead of having Kersey just killing Muggers and Rapists, we have him taking on an entire Drug Underworld in a reasonably Clever way, by setting up Rival Drug mobs against each other, the paranoia and Confusion between both the Drug Mobs is exciting and somewhat funny to watch, and the action this time is a little Lighter than the 3rd film but thats balanced out with Clever Set Pieces, Suspenseful Moments and Funny One Liners delivered from both Bronson and the Supporting Cast, but the action is still enjoyable despite it being a little toned down, and Bronson definitely seemed to be having more fun in this one than in the 3rd film, and another thing is there is not one rape scene in the entire film, well except in the opening scene there is an rape attempt but nothing graphic or as Shocking like the previous films (Thank God) If there's anything bad about the film it's very minor, The film isn't exactly original but things like Originality Don't Matter as long as they are not Blatantly Copied and in Death Wish 4 as far as i know it's certainly not, I did miss Jimmy Page's Score however, and the ending seemed Like a repeat of the 3rd film only not as good, but its not Unsatisfying.
The Death Wish films strongly follow a formula that was set by the first film: Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson), an easygoing architect either in New York City or Los Angeles, at some point with a female significant other and usually some kind of daughter figure, experiences violence towards his loved ones by anarchic gangs.
(By the way, Thompson was new to the Death Wish series, but he had directed Bronson six times previously, beginning with St. Ives (1976), then in The White Buffalo (1977), Caboblanco (1980), 10 to Midnight (1983), The Evil That Men Do (1984), and Murphy's Law (1986).
Thompson continues to play with our expectations in many ways, including a fairly shocking occurrence near the end of the film (after a very fun scene in a roller disco).In addition to the clever meta-level stuff, the set-up of the film results in it basically being a series of action vigilante/hit-man set pieces.
The blood-lust of the right-wing in America plays itself out in a constant stream of flowing blood as the "evil" drug lords are murdered.Sure, his girlfriend's (Kay Lenz) daughter (Dana Barron) dies from a drug overdose, but both are such a small part of the story that it appears they were tacked on to give Kersey some justification for revenge, rather than just a penchant for killing.I plan to immerse myself in this series this weekend to vicariously expunge my blood-lust for the evildoers in Washington..
The original Death Wish was hardly a film longing for a sequel, as it's hardly believable that one man could face such bad luck not twice, but a total of 5 times.
Perhaps it may have faired better as a standalone film rather than a sequel (the same goes for all the other Death Wish sequels) but as it is, it's fun to watch and is certainly better than that trash which shall remain unnamed starring Robert Ginty.Death Wish 4 makes no attempt to hide what it is at heart, which is a cheesy vigilante actioner with a thin plot that's just basically an excuse for more scum to kill and it does it's job at that just fine, with most things being well handled and the pace never slowing down.
Much of the movie is entirely predictable but that's okay, including a twist in the third quarter which I'm sure everybody will see coming.Overall, Death Wish 4 may be a bad movie on paper but as far as cheesy vigilante actioners go, it works and is certainly one of the better ones out there.
Mr. Kersey, pretty much accepting vigilantism as a way of life at this point tries to find the source of the drugs and neutralize it and the movie follows that plot, and you also have the obligatory useless asshole cops who get on Paul's case about his past, etc.
one can usually rely on charles bronson to give a deadpan performance as the iconic vigilante paul kersey now synonymous with the death wish series that rocketed him to stardom in the late seventies up to the eighties.
In this forth installment of the "Death Wish" movies Paul Kersey not only takes out the local street hoods but has him using and manipulating the top organize crime gangs, that are dealing in illegal narcotics in L.A. Kersey get them kill each other off without them ever knowing about it!
After offing JoJo at the start of the film "Death Wish 4" it seemed that Paul Kersey was ready to go back to his peaceful and serene life as an architect and living with Karen, after burying and mourning her daughter Erica.
As the 'Death Wish' series went on, the movies became more of an excuse to watch Charles Bronson shoot some bad guys.
The blood-lust of the right-wing in America plays itself out in a constant stream of flowing blood as the "evil" drug lords are murdered.Sure, his girlfriend's (Kay Lenz) daughter (Dana Barron) dies from a drug overdose, but both are such a small part of the story that it appears they were tacked on to give Kersey some justification for revenge, rather than just a penchant for killing.I play to immerse myself in this series this weekend to vicariously expunge my blood-lust for the evildoers in Washington.As a bit of trivia, last year's Death Sentence is also based upon Brian Garfield's novel that spawned this series..
The action is awesome in this entry & is very well directed by J.lee Thompson who only did this one death wish film but has done loads of other movies with Bronson before & after so they work very well together.
Even if They are Innumerable, Armed to the Teeth, and have Crooked Cops and Politicians Backing Them up.In the Pulp, Comic Book, "Super Hero" World of the "Death Wish" Series, Villains are Inept, Extremely Vulnerable, Shooting Gallery Types who don't know How to Duck, and now that Paul Kersey has moved from Simple Hand Gun to Grenade Launcher (stored behind the refrigerator, just in case) let the Mayhem Continue Exponentially.There are a lot of Characters and believe it or not, Character Twists in this rather Sprawling Display from Director J.
Once again, Charles Bronson plays architect-turned-vigilante Paul Kersey in this fourth film in the 'Death Wish' franchise.
The plot is arguably a bit too intricate for its own good with a twist in the final third that does not necessarily add a lot to the film, though it does tie in well with the idea of Kersey being used as a pawn to dirty work that could not otherwise be done (an angle sort of explored in 'Death Wish 3' with Ed Lauter's corrupt cop).
Which is a fantastic thing.We follow Paul Kersey (once again played by the one and only Charles Bronson) as he sets out to avenge the death of his girlfriend's daughter, who died of a drug overdose.
Like the 3rd film in the series, this 4th film has Paul Kersey (Bronson) kicking the bad-guy's.
Starting from Death Wish III forward - the film saga turns into simply shoot-them-up action without the great stories like the first two flicks in the series.5/10.
Generally speaking, I am a fan of the "Death Wish" series with one of my personal favorite actors, the great late Charles Bronson, in his most famous role as architect-turned-vigilante Paul Kersey.
Not a good idea for the distributors of 'those damn drugs' to mess with Paul Kersey's family'..."Death Wish 4: The Crackdown" is ridiculous and absolutely predictable in its plot, even in comparison to the silly, but enjoyable third part of the series.
Charles Bronson (Apple proof of when social security screws you over.) stars once again as Paul Kersey the vigilante who this time is paid to wipe out two drug dealing families, (and soon to be three in a lame twist.)Taken as a whole Death Wish 4 is just utterly bad, the actionscenes are all poorly mounted, the dialog is unintentionally hilarious and what's more the movie doesn't even have a plot, it's just Charles Bronson killing dumbasses who are dumb enough to get wiped out.
After all Winner and Bronson are THE guys who created "Death Wish" movie series.The acting and directing are clearly worse than in the previous parts.
Charles Bronson returns again as vigilante Paul Kersey, this time back in L.A., and after the drug dealers responsible for the overdose death of his girlfriend's daughter.
The story is the same as in all the 'Death Wish' films, as Bronson's character becomes close-victim of some reckless bad-guys' murder, and decides to take matters into his own hands by showing up everywhere, and killing everyone.
Charles Bronson stars as Paul Kersey the vigilante who loses another loved one and goes on yet another rampage this time targeting drug dealers in this sub-par sequel.
Case in point is "Death Wish 4: The Crackdown." Charles Bronson returns as mild-mannered vigilante Paul Kersey, only this time he's taking on a powerful drug cartel, his girlfriend's daughter having died of a crack overdose.
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown is set in Los Angeles where architect & ex vigilante Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) has been happily living with his girlfriend Karen Sheldon (Kay Lenz) & her teenage daughter Erica (Dana Barron).
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown is more of a straight laced thriller in the style of the often imitated Yojimbo (1961) in which Bronson plays two rival drug gangs off against each other in order that they will literally wipe each other out but with a few Death Wish style touches like rape, dirty cops & yet another person close to Kersey getting killed.
Death Wish 3 had everyone know who everyone else was & Bronson was the face of vigilantism but here he stays in the shadows & the two drug gangs don't know who he is which makes for a more plausible if not entirely realistic film too.
OK,by now the series is getting tiresome.Paul Kersey is back,now living happily in Los Angelos.but not for long.Soon Kersey is pulled into action again against 2 rival drug cartels who are responsible for the deaths of many children as a result of their drugs.You see,Kersey's girlfriend has a teenage daughter,who just happens to overdose on cocaine,sold to her by one of the pushers that works for one of the gangs.so Keresey sets out for revenge.there is a bit of a plot twist,which you might not see coming if you haven't seen the movie.however,overall,the movie is much inferior to any of its predecessors.it's seems slow and long,and contains scenes that stop the flow.not really that good of an effort.It's not Bronson's fault.he fits well in to the action hero mould and is credible,but the story lets him down.the most i can muster for this movie is 5/10.
Now this is what an '80s Cannon film is all about!The action is leaner here unlike the all out balls-to-the-wall assault that was DEATH WISH 3; this time Bronson works alone, going after and killing the baddies one by one in various amusing ways.
Charles Bronson returns as vigilante Paul Kersey in Death Wish 4, an entry which marks the arrival of a new director to the series.
This being a Death Wish movie things are destined to work out badly for Kersey and, true to form, Erica dies when she takes a "bad batch" of crack cocaine.