It’s based on a novel which was inspired by Anabasis, an account of a real Ancient Greek campaign.
Death Wish creator, Brian Garfield:
I hated the four sequels. They were nothing more than vanity showcases for the very limited talents of Charles Bronson. The screenplay for the original Death Wish movie was quite good, I thought. It was written by Wendell Mayes – look him up; he was a great guy and a splendid screenwriter; but his Death Wish script was designed to be directed by Sidney Lumet, with Jack Lemmon to star as Paul. The last-minute changes in director and star were imposed by a new producer to whom the project was sold, rather under protest, by the original producers Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts. The point of the novel Death Wish is that vigilantism is an attractive fantasy but it only makes things worse in reality. By the end of the novel, the character (Paul) is gunning down unarmed teenagers because he doesn’t like their looks. The story is about an ordinary guy who descends into madness.
I used to work with a guy who was the spit of Marty Feldman. It was disconcerting.
I got echos of Spinal Tap from that…
Welp… that’s a metaphor for the state of the country, isn’t it?
There’s an old Soviet joke:
A man goes to a newspaper stand every day, buys a copy of Pravda, glances at the front cover, curses, and throws it away.
After a few weeks of this the seller just has to ask what’s going on: “why do you always look at the cover but never inside?”
“I’m looking for an obituary.”
“An obituary? But those are in the back!”
“Oh no, the obituary I’m looking for will be on the front page.”
I would LOVE to hear their stories.
You’ll hear their stories at 115 decibels