After the raving success of Charles Bronson's 1974 smash hit Death Wish (which supposedly reduced the crime rate slightly in New York City while it was playing!) it seemed inevitable that there would be a sequel. However, it took the producers awhile to get Bronson to agree with it so it wasn't until eight years later, in 1982, that the second film in the series eventually materialized.

Bronson had worked with director Michael Winner a few times before, not only in the original Death Wish but also Chato's Land, The Stone Killer, and The Mechanic - all of which had done solid box office. But this time the usual violence which Bronson's films were becoming known for was pushed quite a bit further, and the filmmakers had to severely cut the rape scene featured so prominently in the film lest the MPAA slap it with a dreaded X rating.

Death Wish II picks up shortly after the first film in the series ends, with Paul Kersey (Bronson) now living in Los Angeles trying to rebuild his life with his daughter Carol, who still suffers from mental trauma over the death of her mother. One day Kersey and his new girlfriend Geri (Bronson's real life wife, Jill Ireland) take Carol out for some fun and Kersey ends up getting mugged by a gang of punks. He fights back but ultimately they escape. Unfortunately for Kersey though, they know who he is and find out where he lives.

In order to get back at Kersey for foiling their mugging attempt, the gang breaks into his home and rapes his maid, then abducts his daughter and brutally rapes her, ultimately causing her to commit suicide. When Kersey finds this out, he funds that old habits die hard and he once again takes justice into his own hands, heading out on a one man mission of vengeance to do onto those responsible what has been done to him.

Bronson shines as Kersey, putting in an intense performance as the stone faced vigilante, and he has some great one liners such as when he utters to one of the culprits 'Do you believe in Jesus? Now you get to meet him!' before shooting him in the stomach and leaving him to die. He's quite believable not only because of his outer tough guy persona but also because with merely a simple look he's able to also portray a great sense of sadness and loss, putting his disheveled and weathered facial features to good use in this role.

The rest of the cast is a mixed bag. Jill Ireland is mediocre as the love interest, the norm for most of the films that she made with her husband, and most of the cast who play the punks are a little too hammy for their own good (keep your eyes open for a young Laurence Fishburne as one of the rapist punks!) though Vincent Gardenia is enjoyable reprising his role as New York City detective Frank Ochoa, sent in to help the LAPD when they find out that circumstances surrounding the recent vigilante activity closely resemble those that occurred in NYC a few years back.

The whole thing is set to a swanky, sleazy sounding rock instrumental score by Led Zeppelin guitar virtuoso, Jimmy Page, which compliments the movie perfectly and gives a bit of an edge to the film that it wouldn't have had with a different score.

MGM's release of Death Wish II is the R rated cut of the film and is not the uncut version that has recently been released outside of North America. Most of the edits occur during the home invasion scene during the rape of the maid (most of the violence is missing from this scene as is some of the more graphic sex), and then later during the rape of Kersey's daughter (which has also been heavily cut). Additionally, when she jumps to her death, the clip where she is impaled on the fence and then spits out blood is missing.

Video:

MGM's release of Death Wish 2 is presented open matte (despite the disclaimer at the beginning of the presentation stating that it has been modified to fit your TV, it's not a pan and scan transfer) and so is a full screen presentation. While it would have been nice to have this presented in a widescreen transfer the way it was shown theatrically, at least it's not cropped and I suppose it's better to have too much picture information than too little. As far as the image quality goes, the colors are nice and bright and the blacks (which dominate the later half of the film) are deep and don't break up at all. There is some minor edge enhancement and a little bit of print damage that peeks out at you here and there but overall it looks pretty good.