People were forced to live like animals.

Nothing worked, from the subways to the sewers.

Ugh, shit, and there goes the power again.

ButDeath Wish, as specific and influential as it was, was hardly the beginning.

But that too morphed soon enough again.

So we got a mix of hardboiled private dicks and superheroes.

Things were too real, and had grown too ugly.

People not only in New York, but all over the country were pissed.

Enter Don Siegel andDirty Harryin 1971.

Why bother, when the courts would just let them go again anyway?

He was exactly the kind of ultraconservative antihero the masses were aching for.

speech or blew another thug away, serious film critics were aghast.

The same yearDirty Harrywas released also saw the release of its flipside (sort of) inBilly Jack.

By then the formula had become a simple one.

Its always easy to push an audiences buttons, especially when those buttons involve bloodlust.

Vigilante and revenge films quickly became the cheapest and most manipulative subgenre ever.

It was easy to stick a dirty hypo into the American publics basest instincts and give it a twist.

It would have doubtless been a very different, but very interesting picture.

Given hed just wrappedMr.

Majestykwith Bronson and the two were looking for something else to do together, well, there you go.

From the first day of shooting it became impossible to imagine any other actor in the role.

And in response to that, his colleague suggests throwing them all into concentration camps.

No, in many ways the script is not terribly subtle, but somehow Bronsons performance saves it.

Being a good citizen.

he follows up with the police.

Again, this is where the film breaks from the normal revenge picture.

Even at that point Winner and Bronson dont go the full cartoon route quite yet.

Thats an honest human reaction for an avowed liberal who hates violence but finds himself with no other choice.

They just run and hide?

Not only do citywide muggings drop by half, but other inspired citizens start standing up to muggers themselves.

It only makes sense, given history.

New York is still a cesspool, and if anything its far worse.

Given hes more than a little nuts to begin with, you know things arent going to end well.

We quickly glean in the first ten minutes hes a deeply unbalanced man.

Hes also desperate to make a name for himself.

Afterward, of course, hes hailed in the media as a hero.

The myth was easier and more crowd-pleasing.

He paints an ugly picture of the legal system in very broad strokes.

The cops are assholes, the District Attorneys office is impotent, and the courts are corrupt.

Speaking directly to the audience, he snarls:

There are 40 murders a day in this city.

Over 2 million illegal guns on the streets; enough to invade a damn country.

They shoot cops and dont even think about it…

He only changes his mind when Lustig ratchets things up a few notches.

After that things just get exciting and silly.

The same yearVigilantecame out also saw the release of the firstDeath Wishsequel.

That nonsense just gets in the way of the gunfire.

Hell, they couldnt even keep the story timeline straight.

No one was much interested.

Although there were plans for at least one more installment, all that talk was shelved when Bronson died.

He was probably relieved about that.

Near the end of his life he was interviewed onGood Morning America.

Now, by the mid-80s, things hadnt much improved in New York.

Yeah, sadly it turned out Goetz was a little sweaty and twitchy and nuts.