Deathwish III ... aka the indefatigable animal magnetism of Bronson ... WTF?

The Big Ragu · Feb 15, 2009

You're standing right now with nine delegates from 100 gangs. And there's over 100 more. That's 20,000 hardcore members.

40,000, counting affiliates, and 20,000 more, not organized, but ready to fight: 60,000 soldiers! Now, there ain't but 20,000 police in the whole town. Can you dig it?

Can you dig it?

CAN. YOU. DIG. ITTTTTTTTTTT

[/The SportsJournalists.com masses go wild]

Joe Williams · Feb 15, 2009

And of course:

War-riors! Come out and play-ay! War-riors! Come out and PLAY-AY!

(clinking bottles on fingertips ... clink-clink-clink).

Love the NBA teams that use that on the videoboard when Golden State is in town.

BYH · Feb 15, 2009

The Big Ragu said:

Dooley, You can't compare The Warriors and Death Wish II or Death Wish III, in my humble humble. The Warriors is an awesome movie, and has some of the best action sequences ever, especially considering it was done on a low budget without CGI effects. The costume design and the editing totally make the film. The editing drives the story along and there is non-stop energy and action. The music really fuels it, too. It wasn't meant to be an accurate portrayal of anything, or a drama. And it wasn't trying to pretend at realism the way those Death Wish movies did. It was meant to be pure fantasy. The book and the movie are loosely based on the ancient Greek tale of Anabasis, in which a battalion of 10,000 Spartans hired by Cyrus the Younger to defeat the Persians gets defeated and the remaining forces have to make their way across Asia Minor and fight hostile tribes until they reach safety at the Black Sea. Even if it's a ridiculous notion, people have written their college theses on the Warriors. No one in their right mind is ever going to write a thesis about Death Wish II, which is one of the most brutally bad films ever made (much worse than Death Wish III). It's just a ridiculously bad movie. They purposely made it so violent with the rape that it would get rated X, and they used it for cheap publicity. Even though it was ridiculed by critics and is generally considered the worst of the Death Wish sequels, it was the highest grossing one, too. The Warriors has a cult following. Death Wish II (but really all the Death Wish sequels) was just meant to get a trainwreck audience.
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Screw you. I'm going back to get my masters and I'm going to pen my awesome thesis on Death Wish II. Just cause you say I can't.

The Big Ragu · Feb 15, 2009

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19820101/REVIEWS/201010315/1023

Maybe a thesis on bad filmmaking.

What's most shocking about "Death Wish II" is the lack of artistry and skill in the filmmaking. The movie is underwritten and desperately underplotted, so that its witless action scenes alternate with lobotomized dialogue passages. The movie doesn't contain an ounce of life. It slinks onto the screen and squirms for a while, and is over.
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Bob Cook · Feb 16, 2009

The Big Ragu said:

Can you dig it?

CAN. YOU. DIG. ITTTTTTTTTTT
Click to expand...

Recently cribbed for an Illinois Lottery radio commercial.

Boom_70 · Feb 16, 2009

BYH said:

The Big Ragu said:

Dooley, You can't compare The Warriors and Death Wish II or Death Wish III, in my humble humble. The Warriors is an awesome movie, and has some of the best action sequences ever, especially considering it was done on a low budget without CGI effects. The costume design and the editing totally make the film. The editing drives the story along and there is non-stop energy and action. The music really fuels it, too. It wasn't meant to be an accurate portrayal of anything, or a drama. And it wasn't trying to pretend at realism the way those Death Wish movies did. It was meant to be pure fantasy. The book and the movie are loosely based on the ancient Greek tale of Anabasis, in which a battalion of 10,000 Spartans hired by Cyrus the Younger to defeat the Persians gets defeated and the remaining forces have to make their way across Asia Minor and fight hostile tribes until they reach safety at the Black Sea. Even if it's a ridiculous notion, people have written their college theses on the Warriors. No one in their right mind is ever going to write a thesis about Death Wish II, which is one of the most brutally bad films ever made (much worse than Death Wish III). It's just a ridiculously bad movie. They purposely made it so violent with the rape that it would get rated X, and they used it for cheap publicity. Even though it was ridiculed by critics and is generally considered the worst of the Death Wish sequels, it was the highest grossing one, too. The Warriors has a cult following. Death Wish II (but really all the Death Wish sequels) was just meant to get a trainwreck audience.
Click to expand...

Screw you. I'm going back to get my masters and I'm going to pen my awesome thesis on Death Wish II. Just cause you say I can't.
Click to expand...

Does Ragu ever not write a thesis on any topic?

Bubbler · Dec 15, 2014

The Big Ragu said:

Dooley, You can't compare The Warriors and Death Wish II or Death Wish III, in my humble humble. The Warriors is an awesome movie, and has some of the best action sequences ever, especially considering it was done on a low budget without CGI effects. The costume design and the editing totally make the film. The editing drives the story along and there is non-stop energy and action. The music really fuels it, too. It wasn't meant to be an accurate portrayal of anything, or a drama. And it wasn't trying to pretend at realism the way those Death Wish movies did. It was meant to be pure fantasy. The book and the movie are loosely based on the ancient Greek tale of Anabasis, in which a battalion of 10,000 Spartans hired by Cyrus the Younger to defeat the Persians gets defeated and the remaining forces have to make their way across Asia Minor and fight hostile tribes until they reach safety at the Black Sea. Even if it's a ridiculous notion, people have written their college theses on the Warriors. No one in their right mind is ever going to write a thesis about Death Wish II, which is one of the most brutally bad films ever made (much worse than Death Wish III). It's just a ridiculously bad movie. They purposely made it so violent with the rape that it would get rated X, and they used it for cheap publicity. Even though it was ridiculed by critics and is generally considered the worst of the Death Wish sequels, it was the highest grossing one, too. The Warriors has a cult following. Death Wish II (but really all the Death Wish sequels) was just meant to get a trainwreck audience.
Click to expand...

WFW. The Warriors is about 90 kinds of awesome.

"The SJ Furies have struck out!"

John · Feb 16, 2009

Bubbler said:

I'm bored in my hotel room ... so bored I've watched Deathwish II (Jimmy Page did the soundtrack, Zoso!), and now, I'm watching Deathwish III.

Draw your own conclusions about what it says about my viewing tastes, I know I would if I were in your shoes, but there's so much that strikes me as ridiculous.

How would Charles Bronson return to NYC unnoticed after going vigilante in the first movie? How does a car completely explode after a relatively run-of-the-mill collision? Why did moviemakers in the early 80s think bloodthirsty gangs dressed like rejects from the Beat It video? How did Alex "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" Winter get cast as a gang member?

Most of all, though, how am I supposed to suspend disbelief to the point where Bronson is some sort of mackin' pimp daddy?

First, Jill Ireland (to Bronson as Sonya Locke was to Clint Eastwood, with similar fall-off in appeal) is practically throwing her clearly moistened self at Bronson in every scene of Deathwish II. Then, some hottish public defender, who doesn't know Bronson's character from Adam, is ready to do the deed before she's killed in the above-mentioned explosion?

Ladies of SJ, am I missing something? Is there some animal magnetism eminating from Bronson that I'm missing? Is it the mustache? The turtle-necks? I've always thought Bronson looked like a human ashtray in his later years.

Discuss. Or don't. If ever there's a thread that deserves zero replies, this might be it.
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I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I watched this last night, as well. I can't help it -- every time it's on I have to stop and watch, if only for the fast cuts to Fraker:

Bubbler · Feb 16, 2009

Worst. Gang Sign. Ever.

Looks like he drew a Quark guide through the middle of his head and his hair locked right into the snap-to guides.

By the way, is the dude behind him Ozone from Breakin'?

JBHawkEye · Feb 16, 2009

"Man, they killed the Giggler" is one of the best movie lines ever.

And the guy playing Fraker, delivering the lines with an absolute flat tone, is classic.

Worst movie ever, yet I'll still watch.

John · Feb 16, 2009

Bubbler said:

Worst. Gang Sign. Ever.

Looks like he drew a Quark guide through the middle of his head and his hair locked right into the snap-to guides.

By the way, is the dude behind him Ozone from Breakin'?
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That would be the Giggler, because he laughs as he runs, and I do believe he was also one of the stars of Breakin'.

Bubbler · Feb 16, 2009

As per imdb, sadly, The Giggler was not in Breakin'. Ozone was played by Adolfo "Shabba-Doo" Quinones.

How could I be so stupid?

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Deathwish III ... aka the indefatigable animal magnetism of Bronson ... WTF?

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Deathwish III ... aka the indefatigable animal magnetism of Bronson ... WTF?

The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

Joe Williams Well-Known Member

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The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

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