The Charles Bronson Appreciation Thread

[Christopher]

I've seen Kinjite and 10 To Midnight but it was years ago.  Hell, decades!  I didn't care for them much at the time but since then my admiration for Charles Bronson films has grown so I'd like to see them again to see if I form a different opinion.

I noticed earlier in this thread I said that I'd seen 10 to Midnight and referred to it as being okay, and now after this most recent viewing I said I liked it a lot. So it does sound like it's grown on me.

[Jed Cooper]

I noticed earlier in this thread I said that I'd seen 10 to Midnight and referred to it as being okay, and now after this most recent viewing I said I liked it a lot. So it does sound like it's grown on me.

Good to know, thanks. 

[Hemlock]

Just watched this



Quite good...and there`s Jeff Goldblum as a thug in this one too 

[Hemlock]

...and now I watched these



First one being (like I remembered) crap and latter being entertaining if not great.

[Jed Cooper]

Just watched this



Quite good...and there`s Jeff Goldblum as a thug in this one too 

I've heard of this one but haven't seen it yet.  Looks good.

[Jed Cooper]

...and now I watched these



First one being (like I remembered) crap and latter being entertaining if not great.

Yeah, that's how I remember 10 To Midnight but haven't seen Red Sun yet.

[Christopher]

I'm pretty sure I've seen all of the movies at some point, but I remember part 3 the least.

I don't believe I had seen part 3 before. I didn't remember anything about it. I watched all 5 movies within the past week, and do enjoy all of them. I'd place 3, 4, and 5 a little lower than part 2. The first one is excellent.

I was surprised to see that Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin did the musical score for parts 2 and 3. I liked the music in part 2 especially.

[Gant]

Hard Times is easily my favourite Charles Bronson starring film....

[Jed Cooper]

Hard Times is easily my favourite Charles Bronson starring film....

Another Bronson film I've yet to see.  I think I attempted it years ago when it aired on tv once but gave up.  I guess I was just too much an Eastwood fan.  I'd like to check it out now, though.

Gant, what are the similarities/differences between this and Eastwood's 'Which Way' films?

[Hemlock]

Gant, what are the similarities/differences between this and Eastwood's 'Which Way' films?

Even though I´m not Gant, I´d say that the biggest differences are that Hard Times is a drama and Which Way films are comedies...and the only similarity is bare knuckle fighting 

[Gant]

I gotta be honest... I'm not really a Bronson fan.. I re watched Death Wish a while back and thought it quite terrible...
However he's perfectly cast in Hard Times... I like the period detail and the fight scenes are extremely well done.. Charlie does convince...
As Hemlock said.... Hard Times is a tough little drama whereas The Every  Which films are knockabout farce.....

Sometime ago there was a celebrity/charity deathmatch type deal on facebook where various tough guy actors were pitched against each other to find the ultimate champ.... Bronson got blown away in the later stages... The winner

William Smith....

[Christopher]

I recently finished Bronson's Loose after having read the original Death Wish novel by Brian Garfield and watching all the movies. Bronson's Loose is a very interesting short book about the making of all five Death Wish movies. Bronson didn't seem to care much for most of the sequels, and Brian Garfield hated all of the movies. Garfield and Michael Winner (the director of the first three movies) were both quite outspoken on the topic. Garfield felt the films glorified the vigilante and the violence, and Winner referred to Garfield as a "bloody idiot" because Garfield seemed surprised the films were violent ("What did he think he'd written, Snow White?" Winner said--that's close to the exact quote from the book).

I also found it interesting Winner spoke about how Bronson didn't want to end the movie the way they did, with the iconic pistol shooting hand gesture. Bronson feared it would make it look as if his character enjoyed killing. One of the things I've always really liked about the first Death Wish is that you watch Kersey's character become unhinged. After he uses the sock full of quarters to get out of a mugging, he comes back to his place and slings the sock all around, striking a plant at one point in time, I believe. He looks like a real madman in that scene. And then after he shoots his first mugger, he comes back and throws up. It's really a disturbing movie.

[_Clintan_]

Darn it, seems like I've missed a lot of Bronson chat! I subscribe to this thread, yet I haven't gotten any notification. What's up with that?

I haven't seen The Evil that Men Do, but I'd check it out. I'll watch about anything that Bronson did. A few weeks ago I saw The Stone Killer, which I thought was okay.

Bronson's own Dirty Harry! One of my favorite Bronson movies of the 70's!

I´d say that The Evil That Men Do is one of my least favourite Bronson film...actually I don`t like it at all.I don`t mind (some)violent and action but this is way too graphic with violent and sadistic to my likeing.I would not recommend this one to anybody.

I was quite surprised when I watched this because it wasn't nearly as graphic or violent as I had read about - and I watched the uncut Australian DVD which has the most footage. I love it, one of the best from the 80's!

During this past week, I've watched Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects and 10 to Midnight. I've seen 10 to Midnight before but not Kinjite. Both movies are on the same DVD that I've had for a while but just now got around to watching. I can see why these two movies were paired together since Kinjite is about a prostitution ring and 10 to Midnight is about a killer who targets women. I liked both a lot.

Kinjite seems to be disliked by a lot of Bronson fans, I feel it is very underrated. I much more enjoy that one over Messenger of Death and Assassination.

Apparently, the rest of the series is also available on Blu ray.  Although, I'm not 100% sure these are American covers or if they're even available on Blu ray in the U.S.

 

 

These are the Scandinavian releases of the movies, I think they are all 1080i, not 1080p and I think I remember someone writing the picture quality being slightly poorer compared to the US releases. Of course, Death Wish V is only available in Scandinavia at the moment, so you may have to bite the bullet on that one. Please be advised that Death Wish II is cut on all releases. I'd stay away from that one until they come out with an uncut one. I have the Australian box set and the extremely rare Greek workprint VHS so I can watch it in its longer versions anyway.

I also found it interesting Winner spoke about how Bronson didn't want to end the movie the way they did, with the iconic pistol shooting hand gesture. Bronson feared it would make it look as if his character enjoyed killing. One of the things I've always really liked about the first Death Wish is that you watch Kersey's character become unhinged. After he uses the sock full of quarters to get out of a mugging, he comes back to his place and slings the sock all around, striking a plant at one point in time, I believe. He looks like a real madman in that scene. And then after he shoots his first mugger, he comes back and throws up. It's really a disturbing movie.

I always just viewed that as a "You better watch it, there's a new vigilante in town", not like he's eager to kill him just for the satisfaction.

Now a heads up for all Bronson fans - Violent City will be released on Blu-ray in Germany in June with hopefully some new extras:



http://www.amazon.de/Brutale-Stadt-Blu-ray-Charles-Bronson/dp/B00HNHM3O4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397413627&sr=8-1&

Really looking forward to that one!

[KC]

Darn it, seems like I've missed a lot of Bronson chat! I subscribe to this thread, yet I haven't gotten any notification. What's up with that?

I don't know ... Everyone is subscribed to (receives notification for) all threads they've posted in by default. Anyway, it's good to hear from you again, _Clintan_! 

[Christopher]

I was quite surprised when I watched this because it wasn't nearly as graphic or violent as I had read about - and I watched the uncut Australian DVD which has the most footage. I love it, one of the best from the 80's!

Kinjite seems to be disliked by a lot of Bronson fans, I feel it is very underrated. I much more enjoy that one over Messenger of Death and Assassination.

I agree with both of these statements. I don't know if The Evil That Men Do was uncut or not--I bought a VHS of it that was done in 2000 or 2001. I liked it a lot. There are some cringe-worthy scenes involving violence towards men's... uh, private region. It certainly ain't comfortable to watch, but I didn't feel as if it was too much.

Please be advised that Death Wish II is cut on all releases.

I mentioned about buying the four movie set that has Death Wish 2-4 on it, and you can tell very obviously that Death Wish II was a cut version.

I watched St. Ives the other evening and liked it too. It was fun to not only see Jeff Goldblum play another hood in a movie with Bronson, but there was also Robert Englund.

[Hemlock]

Gave it another chance to The Evil That Men Do and it was not as disturbing with it`s violence as I remembered it to be (maybe I´ve toughned or something) but it was still bad film.In every possible way.
Hard to believe that the same director of St.Ives,Guns Of Navarone and original Cape Fear made films like The Evil That Men Do and 10 to Midnight 

[_Clintan_]

I made the best purchase I've made in recent memory some weeks ago, when I found a copy of Donato and Daughter, a TV-movie Bronson did in 1993. It has only been released on DVD with an English audio track in Holland - and that was 14 years ago, so it's extremely rare. I'd been looking for one for several years, managed to get it sealed, too. I felt like a kid at Christmas.

The movie itself is pretty good, by TV-movie standards. Surprisingly violent, too.

[Hemlock]

This one intrest me:



Never have seen it so I´m intrested in to hear what you guys think of it

Also From Noon till Three intrest me a bit but it has that horrible wife of his 

[_Clintan_]

I love The White Buffalo. It has its fair share of critics, but I think it's one of his most entertaining movies from that period of his career (he struggled with choosing the right scripts at the end of the 70's & early 80's). The practical effects are cool and pretty well made IMO, but others used to today's CGI effects would probably say otherwise. The atmosphere throughout the whole movie is eerie and the score by none other than John Barry is terrific. There is even some good old shootouts in it. If you like Man Vs. Wild movies, you'll like it even more

From Noon Till Three is a must for Bronson fans! If you're looking for a different Bronson movie, this is the one that has to be seen. I also think it's Jill Ireland's best performance and believe it or not, she even has more screentime than Bronson! I didn't think that ruined the movie at all, then again I've never really been too bothered with her on his movies. Something a lot of people don't know is that she has a beautiful voice, which she got to show by recording a song for the movie, which played during the end credits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gTIu7CCRbc

The song received a Golden Globe nomination.

[antonis]

I made the best purchase I've made in recent memory some weeks ago, when I found a copy of Donato and Daughter, a TV-movie Bronson did in 1993. It has only been released on DVD with an English audio track in Holland - and that was 14 years ago, so it's extremely rare. I'd been looking for one for several years, managed to get it sealed, too. I felt like a kid at Christmas.

The movie itself is pretty good, by TV-movie standards. Surprisingly violent, too.

A great buy indeed. I've seen this movie several times during the 90's but never again since. Kind of disappeared. A good film by all standards.