Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994)

With his cousin and long-time partner Yoram Globus gone after the private feud that errupted when Cannon Films went bankrupt, Menahem Golan turned to schlock producers Ami Artzi and Damian Lee to produce the fifth entry of the series. Surprisingly, especially considering the general quality of their output, they manage to improve on the poor quality of DEATH WISH 4. The production values (as low budget as they may be) aren't as cheap as they were before, Bronson is a bit more lively in his performance, and the screenplay tries more for a story of substance. What really makes the movie fun at times is its twisted sense of humor. There's some nice black comic-moments, such as with one particular mobster's funeral scene, or the later plastic wrap sequence. Even better is Michael Parks' performance as the chief bad guy. His various comments (improvised?) about anything are hilarious, and he lays on the ham very thickly to be a lot of fun to watch.

It still could have been better. One of the two big problems with the movie is that it takes about half of the movie for Bronson to start his rampage of vengeance. Even with Parks' entertaining performance, you'll likely be squirming in your seat with impatience for Bronson to get it on. And when he *does* get it on, it's kind of underwhelming - there's not much of a body count, and the length of time between kills is relentlessly padded. At least the end results are not the worst way the series could have ended. (By the way, Golan actually announced "Death Wish 6: The New Vigilante" in the trade papers not long after this one was released, though his company going bankrupt put an end to that plan.)

Fmovies: Is it great to see another Death Wish. Well like all death wish's his girlfriends gets killed and he's not standing for it. Well in this great installment Bronson takes down the ex husband of he's fiancee. And the husband (Tommy) kills her, and he wants the kid too. But Bronson won't let them have her. So he goes back to Wintess Protection programme and gets help but theres a man who helping Tommy who is ruling half the city where Bronson now lives. But i'm not giong to say any mre because it's film worth watching, buying.

go on

10/10

I have noticed in the previous parts that Charles Bronson's character is himself a total psycho/mentally "ill" person. And that's totally understandable knowing what he's been through. So both the bad and the good guys are real extremes also in their sickness (in these movies). You have to be "freakin'" crazy to fight these crazies. "Fight evil with evil". "If you "have" to fight, you have to fight dirty." "Because war in itself is bad, evil and crazy." (These citings are not from this movie, they're just clichés.) Is there any other way? But compared to the bad guys Bronson's character is also very, very sad and sympathetic. It's sad that some people have to see and experience so much evil in this world. It is a very interesting character and portrait of a time and a frame of mind.

And the bad guys are not as comical as in some other Death Wishes, they are somehow more realistic.

From the start setting of this film some mental professional would suggest that Bronson's character is begging for blood and violence in his life: He has hooked up with some psycho-sadist-mob boss's ex-wife, who has a daughter with the mentioned. But let's not be shrinks. Shrinks (both amateur and pro) seem to be wrong very often, maybe as often as non-shrinks. Maybe it's just because they have fallen in love. And maybe Bronson/Kersey has heard about this only later.

One of the most important questions that these movies rise is: What would YOU do? Would ethics and philosophy of forgiveness be enough, if some person would for example kill some of your loved ones with no reason. Would you think that that person has deserved forgiveness and is worth of that? If that person would be a repeated killer, who has been in jail a couple of times already for his/her former crimes/killings? Would you think of that person as an equal to some person you love, and who you know is trying to be as good person as he/she possibly can? The movie is very well directed, shot, acted. Good editing and music. The atmosphere is whole. Some nice pictures. It's also more sexy than all the other parts combined. This might be one of the 3 best of the 5 Death Wishes, but wouldn't 3 have been enough? Obviously not, because these movies are just a small glimpse of the "vigilante"/revenge-movies genre... Worth seeing.

Death Wish V: The Face of Death fmovies. Whatever you do, don't shack up with Paul Kersey, or you'll regret it - The fifth outing for Bronson in his famous vigilante series. Even in his 70's gunning down scum is never on the bottom of his priorities list. Now any movie ending with a Roman numeral may put off some people, but this movie is totally enjoyable and you'll cheer Charles everytime he guns down members of the mob headed by a very nasty mob boss. The Death Wish quintology ranks right up there with the Godfather and Star Wars Trilogy.

Every Death Wish movie is a classic. They continue to get higher body counts and plenty of action. I never get sick of watching Bronson blow away these scumbags. All of Bronson's movies are great and I think he is by far the greatest actor that ever lived. My favorite films of Bronson have to be the later ones. Kinjite, Death Wish 1-5, Murphy's Law etc. Bronson had big budgets to work with and plenty of people to blow away. The ending of each Death Wish just gets better and better. Blowing people away with Rocket Launcher's, Cannon's, Bazooka's, throwing villain's into Acid. How can any action fan not love this stuff? My favorite Death Wish film is part 4. What a great plot and plenty of Bronson action but Part 5 is also very good and the Villian played by Parks does a really great job. I saw this film in a packed theater and fans were clapping and cheering for each Bronson kill, It was great! The DVD was even better. Death Wish 5 had a good plot and plenty of bad guys for Bronson to play with. I would really like to see Bronson make at least on more Death Wish movie. In part 5 his closing line was "Call me if you ever need any help." Well, Mr. Bronson today's action heroes are a joke and we could use your help to mop up these clowns. Guys like Vin Disel, Arnold, Stallone, Van Dam, Siegal to name a few. Even at your age these punks can't hold a candle to your acting or screen presence. I hope to see you again on the silver screen soon. That is my "Wish"

**SPOILERS** The fifth last and most vicious and violent of all the "Death Wish" movies based on the sadistic and brutal scenes in the film, even though the body count in "Death Wish V" seemed to be the lowest of all the previous sequels with the exception of the original "Death Wish" back in 1974.

Paul Kersey, Charles Bronson, now thanks to the Withness Protection Program is living as an non-violent and law-abiding citizen in New York City, Paul is a professor of architecture at a local university. With his life back to normal, no more shooting of criminals, and having a classy and beautiful lady-friend Olivia Regent, Lesley-Anne Down, who has a cute and adorable daughter Chelsea, Erica Lancaster, things couldn't be better but then "They" came on the scene. What "They" did to Paul's future wife and to his and her friends, including little Chelsea, made Paul turn into the crime fighter and personal avenger that he tried to put behind him. In the end "They'll" never be the same, or in one piece, again after the outraged and infuriated Paul Kersey does "His Thing" or "Job" on them.

"They" are a Westie-like organized mobster gang headed by Paul's lover Olivia's former husband and little Chelsea's father Tommy O'Shea, Michael Parks. Tommy is a borderline psycho who loves to hurt and torture people that he doesn't like or who don't obey him as fast as he want's them too. Getting his hands on the garment industry in NYC Tommy has a stranglehold on Olivia who has a line of clothes thats produced from a business that she owns there.

The O'Shea mob starts to put the screws on Olivia's business and those working for her. The local D.A Tony Hoyle, Saul Rubinek, gets a number of workers in the garment center to agree to testify against O'Shea and his mob. Unknown to D.A Hoyle there's a member of his staff who's tipping off O'Shea to who's to testify and has the O'Shea mob murder them before he, D.A Hoyle, can provide them with police protection. One of those who's at first viciously mutilated and later murdered by the O'Shea Mob is non other then Olivia,this brings the wild animal out of the peaceful and kind Paul Kersey.

Charles Bronson's Paul Kersey takes on organized crime in "Death Wish 5" unlike the mostly unorganized street thugs and criminals that he took on in the previous four "Death Wish" films. Again like Kersey did in the earlier movies he does the bad guys in, and finishes them off, in the most spectacular ways that he can devise.

Even though he was 73 at the time in 1994 Charles Bronson is very believable as the avenging vigilante Paul Kersey knocking off the entire O'Shea Mob. Kersey does his unpleasant and bloody job not only with bullets but with cyanide-laced pastries exploding soccer balls and clothes making and knitting machinery.

Tommy O'Shea, as well as his gang, gets his comeuppances by being dropped, by Paul, into a boiling vat of acid and made to look a lot slimmer and 150 ponds lighter. Not realizing that their no match at all for the angry and rampaging Kersey the O'Shea mob tried to trap him, by kidnapping and holding hostage Chelsea, at the plant and do him in. Kersey was on to them from the start and in the end it was he who was the hunter and they, the O'Shea Mob, who were the hunted with the results, in this deadly cat-and-mouse game, being a forgone a