Death Wish 4: The Crackdown

• Directed by J. Lee Thompson
• November 6, 1987 (US)
• Based on characters created by Brian Garfield

When the daughter of Paul’s girlfriend is killed by tainted drugs he is recruited by a tabloid owner to kill figures of the Los Angeles drug trade.

So Death Wish 4: The Crackdown begins with Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) having put his vigilante ways behind him and trying to live a pretty normal life with yet another girlfriend. If the preceding movies have demonstrated anything it is that associating with Paul is not good for your longevity.

One thing clear early on is that this is a much better directed and written film than the two preceding. At least in overall structure. There is a certain level of art and style to this that was previously lacking. But just because there’s more style and a better overall presentation it doesn’t mean this is high art. This is one of dozens of hyper violent 80s action-oriented films that is meant to entertain by appealing to the lowest common mental denominator.

If this has a message-and you could certainly say it does-it’s that drugs are bad and that they will kill. And it does so poorly because it seems to think Charles Bronson will kill you before the drugs do. This is yet one of numerous films from the time featuring drugs or drug running. Even James Bond did one! What this lacks is that vicarious thrill of seeing a citizen avenging a wrong. He is now running down a hitlist. Paul is tasked by a man (John P. Ryan) under the pretense that his daughter too was killed by drugs.

It’s weird how each of the Death Wish films that I’ve seen so far had at least one actor for the time moving up in the world. Tim Russ, who went on to appear in Star Trek: Voyager as well as Danny Trejo who is still out there appearing in films and I dare say has become a bit of a pop-culture icon pop up.

Paul Kersey plans with the help of a millionaire to turn two drug pushing factions who have a shaky truce and working relationship into all out conflict by tricking them into fighting by killing off their assorted people. His effort is so half assed that is laughably bad. Yet what you watch these movies for are the kills. Watching Charles Bronson beat people up and then kill them is just great. This wallows in its violence and ridiculousness in a way movies just don’t anymore without becoming unwatchable.

The change in motivation takes away from what the Death Wish films are which is cleaning up society when the police can’t or won’t. Yes, his girlfriend’s daughter dies because of some bad drugs, but that’s not what prompted him to start killing. The sob story from the ultimate villain of the movie is.

And if you don’t see the big reveal coming after the initial plot is hatched then you have not been paying attention and I can’t help you. I have never seen this movie before until watching it for this blog and I saw it coming. But as I said you’re not watching for an intricate plot or big surprises. You’re watching to see Charles Bronson kill as many people in as creative ways as possible.

With a better presentation Death Wish 4: The Crackdown is a good movie. It’s not art but it is enjoyable trash. It’s not a hearty meal but rather a decadent dessert. A late-night frozen burrito that hits the spot that you’ll feel guilty about eating but you will come back to it again. For Bronson fans or fans of hyper violent 80s movies they will like this. For the general movie goer maybe not.