History Film / Deathwish

* BerserkButton: Paul is an equal-opportunity vigilante crook-killer, but he is a lot more vicious when dealing with rapists, muggers and drug addicts, all of whom were responsible for his greatest tragedies.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Paul is a pacifist, but he learned to use guns during his younger years despite later serving as a combat medic in the UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. And it shows.
* BigBad: [[AvertedTrope Averted]], as there is no singular main villain.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original film is a gritty, realistic, look at urban decay and out of control crime in major American cities during the era. The movie was such a hit largely because it embodied the feelings of many honest citizens at the time. In the end there is no dramatic showdown with the men who killed his wife and raped his daughter, they simply disappear into the city and Paul will never know who they were. There's little graphic violence, but what's there is very disturbing. Nothing in the movie could be defined as gratuitous. The sequels all follow all the clichés avoided in the original, which was more of a neo-noir crime drama in contrast.

* KarmaHoudini: The three muggers and rapists from the first film, who start Kersey's road toward vigilantism, are (presumably) never caught by the cops or killed by Kersey. In the sequels, however, the trope is averted; if you're a bad guy, then you're not leaving the movie alive.

* RapeAndRevenge: Subverted. Kersey goes after criminals in general after his wife is killed and his daughter raped, as they disappear into the city and he has no way of finding them.

* UnbuiltTrope: The ''Death Wish'' saga pioneered the urban VigilanteMan concept, but it also showed how dangerous it would be. The ViolenceIsDisturbing and graphic but infrequent, and the men who kill and rape Paul's wife and daughter are not sadistic arch-villains, they're a couple of random, violent mugs who just disappear into the night [[RealityEnsues and are never seen again, as Paul has no idea how to find them.]] Basically, the first film avoided all of the cliches that its many sequels and imitators would go on to play unabashedly straight.

* BoisterousWeakling: One of Pauls more conservative coworkers who is a supporter of the vigilantism doesn't' take him up on a dare to walk though a bad part of town and see if crime really is down.

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: The surviving mugger in the park runs after Paul in an attempt stop him when seeing Paul pursuing one of his friends. After wounding Paul, he is then seen checking his other partner for signs of life before being scared off by both police sirens and an injured Paul.

* AgonizingStomachWound: The first mugger, Thomas Leroy Marston is shoo in the stomach and thrash on the ground in clear pain for several seconds.

* CoupDeGrace: Paul finishes off multiple wounded muggers lying on the ground.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: A [[DirtyCoward largely unsympathetic]] version, as many muggers try to run as soon as Paul fights back. Aside from the first man who he just this with a bag of quarters, he doesn't let them.

** The older subway station mugger is shot twice by Paul but still manages to run out onto the street before collapsing and remain conscious for a while.

* QuickDraw: When Paul corners the final mugger from the park he tells the man to "Fill his hand" the guy is too confused and/or scared to do so though and Paul ends up collapsing of his wounds a moment later anyone.

* {{Realpolitik}}: The District attorney and the police commissioner lie about the muggings going down to prevent a slew of vigilante copycats who might start killing anyone who looks bad and don't want the vigilante arrested to make a martyr of him.

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: The surviving mugger in the park runs after Paul in an attempt stop him when seeing Paul pursuing one of his friends, and is then seen checking his other partner for signs of life before being scared off by both police sirens and an injured Paul.

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: The surviving mugger in the park is seen checking one of his friends for signs of life before being scared off by both police sirens and an injured Paul.

* HappilyMarried: Carol and her husband Jack seem to be, based on how concerned and supportive he tires to be after the attack (which makes his absence in the sequels more jarring and confusing for many). Paul himself and Joanna also seem to have a strong relationship.

* KarmaHoudini: The three muggers and rapists from the first film, who start Kersey's road toward vigilantism, are never caught by the cops or killed by Kersey. In the sequels, however, the trope is averted; if you're a bad guy, then you're not leaving the movie alive.
* LetOffByTheDetective: Inspector Ochoa figures out that Paul Kersey is the vigilante who has been killing criminals, but the district attorney does not want the negative press that would come from prosecuting him. Because they are among the only authorities who know, they tell Paul to just get out of town, and they'll bury the evidence.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: After Paul kills his first man, he is so horrified by what he just did that he runs home and throws up. He quickly becomes more comfortable with killing.

* OlderHeroVsYoungerVillain: The entire series, Kersey was always the old man.

* StealthMentor: Possibly without every meaning to (as while he guesses Paul is troubled by something he doesn't seem to know about the attack on his family), Jainchill gets Paul interested in shooting while at the same time getting him thinking about violent responses against muggers.

* HonestCorporateExecutive: Paul's client Ames Janchill, who wants to preserve the sanctity of the land rather than just mindlessly develop over it.

* StealthMentor: Possibly without every meaning to, Janchill gets Paul interested in shooting while at the same time getting him thinking about violent responses against muggers.

* CartwrightCurse[=/=]DisposableWoman: One of the series' most notorious traits--his wife in the first film, his daughter in the second, girlfriends in the third, fourth, and fifth films, numerous non-Kersey women in all films -- basically, if you're female and hang around Paul Kersey, you're pretty much screwed.

* ItGetsEasier: Paul is not very comfortable fighting criminals early on in the film. At first, he beats up a mugger with a sock filled with quarters, then goes home, taking a drink of whisky to calm his nerves. He also vomits after killing his first criminal.

* TheLopsidedArmOfTheLaw: The movies showcase repeatedly that the police is incapable of doing anything about the immense crime waves assaulting the cities and has all but called it quits, but pull out all the stops to hound anybody who tries to fight back (even out of their jurisdiction). On the first movie they are afraid that the vigilante may escalate or that people fighting back may force the crooks to become even worse, but on the rest of the films this is shown as them not wanting to be shown over, thinking ItsPersonal, or wanting to get rid of a problem because they are [[DirtyCop Dirty Cops]].

* RapeAndRevenge: Subverted. Kersey goes after criminals in general after his wife and daughter are raped, as they disappear into the city and he has no way of finding them.

* RealityEnsues: Only in the first film where the attackers are never seen again. Sadly with that type of crime, and forensics at the time, the only evidence would be the description of a traumatized victim. Modern day audiences likely assume the climax will be a confrontation with the guys who raped his daughter and murdered his wife, but how would he even know who they are?

** The film series somewhat muddies this, since movie producers often demand that expensive name actors make their face completely visible, since they pay so much for them. However, the makers of the films did not completely ignore that Kersey had a dual identity. In the second film Paul Kersey buys an old pea coat, gloves, longshoreman's cap, and beat up pair of pants while prowling around as a vigilante. He rents a room in a flophouse to do first aid for his injuries. In the fourth film, the LAPD did not know the vigilante's identity. Also in that film, a man blackmails Paul Kersey into a meeting by announcing to him that he knew of his activities as the vigilante and would expose him.

* SockItToThem: Kersey gets worth of rolled quarters, puts them into a sock and practices swinging and hitting it into his hand at his office, shaking it slightly in pain, indicating it works. Soon someone with a knife tries to mug him, and a single hit makes the other guy drop the knife and try to run away, go headfirst into a wall, and then stumble off.

* UrbanHellscape: The series falls into this trope, particularly the third film, which portrays the criminal gang as brutish and savage to the point that when protagonist VigilanteMan Paul Kersey kills them with military-grade weaponry, there is little discension.

New York architect Paul Kersey has his world shattered forever when his apartment is attacked by three vicious punks, who murder his wife and rape his daughter. After being sent to Arizona by his boss to meet with a client, Kersey's old interest in guns is rekindled and eventually has one slipped into his bag by the client as he's preparing to return to New York ([[UnintentionalPeriodPiece this film was made back before things like hijackers and airline security were an issue]]--but the gun, in a presentation case, was actually put into the bag that Kersey was checking, not into his carry on bag). Upon his return, Kersey starts dispensing justice to the scum on the streets, shooting down any mugger that tries to rob him. The police want him arrested, but the public are behind him, glad that someone's doing ''something'' to clean up the streets. Kersey is eventually asked to leave New York to avoid prosecution, much like the Old West vigilantes of long ago.

New York architect Paul Kersey has his world shattered forever when his apartment is attacked by three vicious punks, who murder his wife and rape his daughter. After being sent to Arizona by his boss to meet with a client, Kersey old interest in guns is rekindled and eventually has one slipped into his bag by the client as he's preparing to return to New York ([[UnintentionalPeriodPiece this film was made back before things like hijackers and airline security were an issue]]--but the gun, in a presentation case, was actually put into the bag that Kersey was checking, not into his carry on bag). Upon his return, Kersey starts dispensing justice to the scum on the streets, shooting down any mugger that tries to rob him. The police want him arrested, but the public are behind him, glad that someone's doing ''something'' to clean up the streets. Kersey is eventually asked to leave New York to avoid prosecution, much like the Old West vigilantes of long ago.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original film is a gritty, realistic, look at urban decay and out of control crime in major American cities during the era. The movie was such a hit largely because it embodied the feelings of many honest citizens at the time. In the end there is no dramatic showdown with the men who killed his wife and raped his daughter, they simply disappear into the city and Paul will never know who they were. There's little graphic violence, but what's there is very disturbing. Nothing in the movie could be defined as gratuitous. The sequels all follow all the clichés avoided in the original, which was more of neo-noir crime drama in contrast.

A 1974 action-crime-drama film based on [[Literature/DeathWish the 1972 novel]] by Brian Garfield (who also wrote ''Film/DeathSentence''). The film was directed by Creator/MichaelWinner and stars Creator/CharlesBronson (the actor, not [[Film/{{Bronson}} the prisoner]]).

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original film is a gritty, realistic, look at urban decay and out of control crime in major American cities during the era. The movie was such a hit largely because it embodied the feelings of many honest citizens at the time. In the end there is no dramatic showdown with the men who killed his wife and raped his daughter, they simply disappear into the city and Paul will never know who they were. There's little graphic violence, but what's there is very disturbing. Nothing in the movie could be defined as gratuitous. The sequels all follow all the clichés avoided in the original.

[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Vigilante_Man_DeathWish_poster_2514.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:330:He wants the filth off the streets. If the police can't do it, he will... his way.]]

A remake of this film (and just this one, it is unrelated to the rest of the pentalogy) premiered on March 2018, moving the action to Chicago and now starring Creator/BruceWillis under the direction of Creator/EliRoth.

** Men occasionally fall prey to this curse too - Paul's friend beaten to death by street scum in the opening of Death Wish 3, for example.

New York architect Paul Kersey has his world shattered forever when his apartment is attacked by three vicious punks, who murder his wife and rape his daughter. After being sent to Arizona by his boss to meet with a client, Kersey takes an interest in guns and eventually has one slipped into his bag by the client as he's preparing to return to New York ([[UnintentionalPeriodPiece this film was made back before things like hijackers and airline security were an issue]]--but the gun, in a presentation case, was actually put into the bag that Kersey was checking, not into his carry on bag). Upon his return, Kersey starts dispensing justice to the scum on the streets, shooting down any mugger that tries to rob him. The police want him arrested, but the public are behind him, glad that someone's doing ''something'' to clean up the streets. Kersey is eventually asked to leave New York to avoid prosecution, much like the Old West vigilantes of long ago.

* RapeAndRevenge: Subverted. Kersey goes after criminals in general after his wife and daughter are raped.

A remake of this film (and just this one, it is unrelated to the rest of the pentalogy) is set to premiere on March 2018, moving the action to Chicago and now starring Creator/BruceWillis under the direction of Creator/EliRoth.

A remake of this film (and just this one, it is unrelated to the rest of the pentalogy) is set to premiere on November 2017, moving the action to Chicago and now starring Creator/BruceWillis under the direction of Creator/EliRoth.

* UnbuiltTrope: The ''Death Wish'' saga pioneered the urban VigilanteMan concept, but it also showed how dangerous it would be.

* VigilanteMan: ''Death Wish'' is probably the TropeCodifier for this character type in media. Also an UnbuiltTrope as the film pioneered the urban vigilante concept, but it also showed how dangerous it would be. The ViolenceIsDisturbing and graphic but infrequent, and the men who kill and rape Paul's wife and daughter are not sadistic arch-villains, they're a couple of random, violent mugs who just disappear into the night [[RealityEnsues and are never seen again, as Paul has no idea how to find them.]] Basically, the first film avoided all of the cliches that its many sequels and imitators would go on to play unabashedly straight.

* VigilanteMan: ''Death Wish'' is probably the TropeCodifier for this character type in media. Also an UnbuiltTrope as the film pioneered the urban vigilante concept, but it also showed how dangerous it would be.

* SockItToThem: Kersey gets worth of rolled quarters, puts them into a sock, practices swinging the flail around in his apartment, and then carries it around during the day. Soon someone with a knife tries to mug him, and a single hit makes the other guy drop the knife and try to run away, go headfirst into a wall, and then stumble off.

* CoolGuns: Paul uses a nickel-plated Police Positive with pearl grips

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Vigilante_Man_DeathWish_poster_2514.jpg