Death Wish 3 (1985)

Death Wish 3 (1985)- * * * *

Directed by: Michael Winner

Starring: Charles Bronson, Ed Lauter, Gavan O'Herlihy, Deborah Raffin, Alex Winter, and Martin Balsam

Paul Kersey (Bronson, of course) is back in action and back in New York City in this classic Cannon outing. When Kersey arrives, ostensibly to visit his old buddy, he immediately gets into a whole heap o’trouble, as you might expect. When a devious cop named Shriker (Lauter) unleashes Kersey into a crime-ridden East New York neighborhood, all he asks is that Kersey occasionally reports back to him, because he knows crime stats will drop dramatically. 

But Kersey is more interested in helping the poor inhabitants of an apartment tower that’s plagued with the rampant crime in the neighborhood. He makes fast friends with Bennett (Balsam), and even finds time for romance with public defender Kathryn Davis (Raffin). But the main order of the day is to take down gang leader Fraker (O’Herlihy) and his rampaging underlings. Soon enough, Kersey wages his one-man war against the baddies and ne’er-do-wells of New York…who will survive the onslaught?

Did Judas Priest write the song “Delivering the Goods” about this movie? Well, probably not, as it’s from 1978, but they easily could have. Death Wish III is when the franchise went from being serious-minded and 70’s to being ridiculous, over the top, and 80’s. On the one hand, it lost some of its “serious points”. But on the other hand, it gained a lot in terms of the fun quotient. And this movie is a ton of fun. 

The 80’s was the golden age of movies where punks take over the streets. Tenement (1985), Exterminator 2 (1984), Enemy Territory (1987), and Chains (1989) just to name a few. It’s a joy to watch Bronson blow the baddies away with a wide variety of weaponry. And set all that to a stellar Jimmy Page soundtrack, and you have a classic winner all around (and that’s not a pun based on the director’s name).

Martin Balsam is the classic old salt and he and Bronson make a stellar pairing. When Balsam first appears on screen, you expect to see a credit like “And Martin Balsam as Charles Durning in The Hal Holbrook Story, featuring Burgess Meredith and Ernest Borgnine, and with a special appearance by George Kennedy”. Needless to say, it’s awesome to watch the triumph of the older gentlemen over the disrespectful young whippersnappers. 

While wags may describe the movie as “stupid” or perhaps “mindless”, we say that anyone that levels those charges has no sense of fun and mirth. And if it is stupid, it’s the good stupid we’re always talking about. Honestly, ask yourself: is there anything better than Charles Bronson in the 80’s with a rocket launcher? After some deep soul searching, you will find the answer is no. Trust us, we’ve been there, man. 

Don’t get us wrong, we love the first two Death Wish movies. But the bleak, dour tone is gone here. Death Wish III marks the moment when the gray, overcast clouds broke and the sunlight flooded in. Our credo: Charles Bronson now, Charles Bronson forever!

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett 

The Last Match (1991)

The Last Match (1991)- * *1\2

Directed by: Fabrizio De Angelis

Starring: Oliver Tobias, Ernest Borgnine, Melissa Palmisano, Henry Silva, Charles Napier, Jeff Moldovan, and Martin Balsam











Cliff Gaylor (Tobias) is a football player with an attitude. When his daughter Susan (Melissa Palmisano in her only screen credit) gets framed for having illegal drugs while on vacation in either a Caribbean or South American country (not really sure), and is imprisoned, Gaylor at first tries all the traditional channels to free her. He first goes to see his American Consul (Napier, here credited as “American Consul”) but he’s useless. He then goes to see a local lawyer (Balsam, credited as “Lawyer”), who also is incapable of helping him. So Gaylor then does the next natural thing: he calls his football coach (Borgnine, here credited as “Coach”. Sensing a pattern here?) - and gets his entire football team to stage a commando raid on the prison, but not before arming and training them in the usage of machine guns. 

Of course, the whole team agrees and Coach “coaches” the mission. But they’re going to have to get past sadistic prison warden Yashin (Silva) and his underling Prison Guard (Moldovan). Will the team be able to punt, spike, blitz, sack, snap, and tackle their way towards reaching their (field) goal? Find out today!

The Last Match had a lot going for it: a strong cast, an amazing concept, and the football players in full regalia brandishing machine guns and grenade launchers visually just looks awesome. Unfortunately, the movie only really kicks into high gear in the final third. 

Most of the movie is a staid and bland “My Daughter’s In Prison” drama with echoes of Midnight Express (1978). One thing Midnight Express did not have is a bunch of crazed footballers on the rampage shooting machine guns at Henry Silva while Ernest Borgnine happily gives instructions through a headset as to what to do next. Unless we blinked and missed that part. But because of the rarity of this movie, most people haven’t gotten to see the cast of Borgnine, Balsam, Silva, Napier, Moldovan, and the footballers do their thing so audiences can decide for themselves. Had this been released on VHS in America during the golden age of video stores, it might have had a shot at being a well-known cult movie. Now it’s just a not-so-well-known cult movie, which is only really justified by the last third.

Also of note are the “whosh-whosh” sounds on the soundtrack that sound like someone is waving a piece of cardboard in the air, Borgnine being especially jovial about his wartime experiences, the evil drug dealer who has a shirt that says “NEWS”, and the subplot about saving an Elian-like kid from the third-world hellhole that is the unnamed country they’re trying to escape from. 

Also there’s a guy in the cast named Jim Kelly who’s a White guy and not the Jim Kelly we all know and love. So to recap, the country is unidentified, half the characters don’t have proper names, and the football team also has no name. We realize they didn’t have the budget to use an NFL team name, but it would have been funny if they had come up with an attempt, like the “New York Sharks” or something to that effect. But then again, the way it is is pretty funny.

Another good thing about the movie is that the whole “Football Commandos” idea is played completely straight. It doesn’t appear that the filmmakers thought this was a wacky or ironic idea - they seemingly thought it was a perfectly sane concept for an action movie. And thank goodness for that. We get more than enough irony these days as it is. 

Just look at the training sequence where fully suited up football players shoot machine guns at targets. That’s why we keep going back to these Italian productions. They always seem to deliver in some way, shape or form. But the fact that a quality idea like this didn’t really take off to its full potential shows that by 1991 things were starting to run out of gas. Much like Martin Balsam, who gives a bizarre, stuttering performance in a complete sit-down role. He seems really confused as he reads his lines off a piece of paper. Compare that to Borgnine, who injects the movie with some much-needed energy during the interminable first and second portions.

In the end, The Last Match has a killer concept, but ultimately doesn’t hit the mark. Or score a touchdown, if you will.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out a write-up from our buddies Outpost Zeta and Good Efficient Butchery!

The Delta Force (1986)

The Delta Force (1986)- * * *

Directed by: Menahem Golan

Starring: Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, Shelley Winters, Robert Forster, Martin Balsam, George Kennedy, Joey Bishop, Hanna Schygulla, and Bo Svenson 










When a group of evil terrorists (is there any other kind?) led by Abdul Rafai (the interestingly-cast Forster), hijack an airplane and start making demands, there’s only one group of men that can stop the madness...The Delta Force! And who is the elite of the elite, there is no question: American Superdude Major Scott McCoy (Norris) who will get the job done with his bare hands if necessary. He came out of retirement just to kill bad guys and rescue hostages. Those baddies better watch out.

This was a huge hit for Cannon and really put them on the map. The stellar cast is literally all-star, and the two hour-plus running time must accommodate that. But that gives the movie a big, Hollywood feel.  The first half of the movie is surprisingly powerful and intense. It tries to put a human face on the victims of terror, and the old guard of Hollywood actors such as Martin Balsam, Shelley Winters and Joey Bishop help to convey this, as do George Kennedy in another role as a priest, and an actress most people know from the films of Fassbinder, Hanna Schygulla. Bo Svenson shows up as the pilot, and he’s always nice to see.

Then the Delta Force shows up, led by Lee Marvin, and featuring not just Chuck, but the underrated Steve James, and Robert Vaughn as a General. The action begins in earnest about halfway through the movie and it doesn’t disappoint, especially Chuck’s motorcycle with missile launchers built in. This thing is possibly the most awesome thing ever. Chuck will stop at nothing to find and kill all the terrorists involved, and maybe a few who weren’t involved. Some of the Chuck stuff is amusing, and the fruit cart chases and shooting help that.

Luckily, the movie is written and directed in a way that all makes sense, even if it is a bit on the long side, and director Golan tried to do pretty much the same thing but on a smaller scale with Deadly Heroes. But that movie really ramps up the silliness factor.

For a drama (1st half) and action extravaganza (2nd half) that’s a bit more well-known, The Delta Force fits the bill very well, and the plot is still very relevant today.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up by our buddies at Ruthless Reviews!