Death Wish 2 (1981)[DVD]

There are so many who hate this film, for which I can understand the reasons. The extensive rape sequence of the maid is seen as pure exploitation and nothing more, which is fair comment; but the reason Michael Winner made it so graphic, which I heard on the commentary by Paul Talbot, who wrote the book about the making of the Death Wish films, was that Michael wanted the audience to really hate the rapists and therefore the payback would be more satisfying when Kersey goes after them. Michael still paid a price though, since one or two of the crew, including the director of photography walked off in disgust. One of the actors who played one of the rapists threw up after doing the scene. Yes, it is brutal, unnecessarily long perhaps, one can't deny this, but the reason I love this film so much is that the payback is so worth it and so satisfying. I love it when he nails the rape gang one by one.The thing about the original film is that he doesn't kill the rapists/muggers who kill his wife and daughter. Now, I wasn't aware of this before I saw it, and I wish I had known, because after seeing it, I felt I had made a mistake and I did not like it at all. I got over it eventually, it was only a damn film, but that never sat well with me and so the sequel came as a good tonic. I've always preferred it. I certainly don't think it's depressing, as it's also been accused of. This film at least delivers the goods and let's face it, whether people like it or not, this kind of violent crime does happen in reality. The thing about this is, we don't have people like Paul Kersey in reality either to take care of it and do what the law clearly can't.I understand it is not to everyone's taste and the rape scenes are exploitative, but for me, at least those scumbags get their brutal comeuppance. If it was Michael's intention for us to really hate them so we could relish the payback, then it worked.

Poor (very) old Paul Kersey isn't having much luck in life. After his life is torn apart by the events in the original Death Wish he moves to Los Angeles and starts anew. His daughter has just started recovering from the trauma of the first movie (along with de-aging about eight years instead of getting older) and he has a new girlfriend.But when a gang of thugs rape and murder his housekeeper and kidnap his daughter because she has seen their faces and "can finger them all" it ends in tragedy when she falls from a window and gets impaled on a spiked fence. Kersey reverts to his old ways and rents a seedy room in Hollywood as his base for his renewed vigilante operation, hunting down the perverts and murdering them.I first saw Death Wish II when I taped it off BBC1 in 1991 when I was 10 and watched it a zillion times. I suppose you could argue that it's not exactly appropriate entertainment for a child of that age, but I was a little more wordly than the average kid and I could handle it. The raw, brutal violence and action didn't bother me as much as the feeling of utter hopelessness and nihilism that permeates movie. You could condemn Death Wish II in many ways if you hate it so, but I do believe there is significant merit within, particularly in the merciless tone, the lean, fast-moving story, and urgent, documentarian camerawork. Michael Winner really does capture the disgusting filth and grot of Hollywood very well (and, trust me, it's barely improved since then). The score by Led Zepplin guitarist Jimmy Page alternates between lush, orchestral passages and grimy, alienating sounds. It's not a pleasant sound, but I never forgot those haunting notes since I was a kid.Although Brian Garfield wrote his own  sequel novel  it was discarded in favor of an original screenplay by money-grubbing exploitation producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, though it was turned in to a disconnected  movie of it's own . To this day, I've never seen any of the other sequels. Death Wish 1 and 2 make a decent double bill, and the controversy surrounding this movie that has never seemed to quieten down since its original release is really nothing but hysteria drummed-up by James Ferman during his reign of terror at the BBFC. There's worse movies getting passed uncut these days.

Normally for a classic like this I'd give top marks , but so surprised and disappointed. That this region 1 addition. Is so heavily cut is shocking, for big fans go and get the uncut versions. That you can get on Bluray region 4 . Through the company called, Umbrella Entertainment my complete UNCUT additions came the other day and. Was best choice I made these are the top ones, to go for not just cause there uncensored . But for extras too I'm telling be best decision, you'll make money well worth spend . For these classic movies, I'm getting 4 and 5 this week coming . If they do the first one through , this cracking crowd it'll be the icing on the cake 😁

AT LAST the UNCUT* version running at 92min , beautiful packaged in a book style with 3 diff cover arts all limited, all contain the uncut 2015 version from mgm and not the same as the usa blu ray at 89 mins. picture quality is the best ur ever going to see it and the only problem i have is the book is in german and not both, the movie is in german and english , this film is never going to be uncut in the uk so this is the only version to get..you get what you pay for ...this dose not contain the missing scense that were added to the usa tv version to pad the running time because of all the cuts..*this is the full international version and not the usa unrated version...