CHARLES BRONSON - 4 MOVIE COLLECTION (1972-1975) (Blu-ray Review)

CHARLES BRONSON - 4 MOVIE COLLECTION (1972-1975) 

THE VALACHI PAPERS (1972) / THE STONE KILLER (1973) 

 BREAKOUT (1975) / HARD TIMES (1975)

Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Region Code: A (but possibly Region-Free)
Duration: 351 Minutes 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1,85:1),(2.35:1)
Audio: Uncompressed English PCM 2.0 (No Subtitles)
Directors: Terence Young, Michael Winner, Tom Gries, Walter Hill 
Cast: Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Martin Strother, Martin Balsam, Robery Duvall, Jill Ireland

THE VALACHI PAPERS (1972) 

Rating: PG
Duration: 126 Minutes
Audio:  English Uncompressed PCM 2.0 (No Subtitles)
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Terrence Young 
Cast:  Charles Bronson, Lino Ventura, Jill Ireland, Joseph Wiseman, Walter Chiari, Gerald O’Loughlin, Amadeo Nazzari

Truth be told this was my first time watching any of these Bronson films, I have never been one to seek them out and they weren't part of my childhood the way horror and sci-fi films were. The two films I remember of his from my childhood were 10 To Midnight and The White Buffalo, but after seeing the Death Wish sequels as a rearly teen I sort of filed him away in the back of my mind as a past-his-prime tough-guy vigilante actor which just never appealed to me in my youth. In retrospect there's plenty to love about Bronson's later career, even the tough-guy cops stuff, but this four disc set has given me even more of an appreciation for his seventies output.

Directed by 007 director Terence Young (Dr. No, From Russia with Love - two of the BEST!) The Valachi Papers is based on a novel by Peter Maas and purports to tell the real-life story of crime family informant Joseph_Valachi, as played by Bronson. Valachi is a low-level criminal who works his way up through a crime family, the film opens in the 60's in prison where Valachi has been sent following some drug busts, his former boss thinks he's an informant and gives him the "kiss of death", Valachi tries to persuade the boss that he's not the guy who fingered him, but with few alternatives Valachi ironically turns informant to the feds for protection. During his interviews with the fed he relays his story from the 40's on through to the sixties leading up to his incarceration. The film is well done, the period settings are convincing, Bronson is tough-as-nails and the narrative is brutal with many gangland killings, including a gruesome castration sequence. At over two hours in length this one does have some occasional pacing issues, but the story and execution are enthralling. Bronson's wife Jill Ireland shows up as - what else? - his wife, in a typically lackluster performance but even she couldn't tarnish this otherwise engrossing crime story of honor, betrayal and mob justice.

THE STONE KILLER (1973) 

Rating: R
Duration: 95 Minutes
Audio:  English Uncompressed PCM 2.0 (No Subtitles)
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Michael Winner
Cast: Charles Bronson, Martin Balsam, Jack Colvin, Paul Koslo, Norman Fell, David Sheiner, Stuart Margolin

The Stone Killer (1973) is the third of six hard-nosed cop thrillers that brought director Michael Winner and Charles Bronson together onscreen. Her we have a New York cop, Lieutenant Lou Torrey (Bronson), who at the start of the film guns down a teen in self defense, but the bad optics lead to a transfer to L.A., almost immediately he gets caught up in some strange mafia happening when a heroin addicted hit man he's transporting is gunned down. The story involves mafia boss Al Vescari (Martin Balsam, The Sentinel) who's hired a group of ex-military assassins to carryout a kill-list having to do with a decades old mafia-hit and his vengeance at those who ordered it. 

This one is fast-paced and intriguing, as the mystery unfolds I was rapt, filming gritty violence and action were Winner's strong suits in life and he was in fine form here, there's a fantastic chase scene of Bronson in a car chasing a culprit on a motorcycle that was a crash-bang-boom good time, and Bronson is in prime silent-but-deadly mode throughout, cracking wise occasionally. There's a lot of colorful mob associated characters here, and be on the lookout for future Three's Company alum Norman Fell (Charley Varrick) and John Ritter (It) as L.A. cops! 

BREAKOUT (1975) 

Rating: PG
Duration: 97 Minutes
Audio: English Uncompressed PCM 2.0 (No Subtitles) 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Tom Gries
Cast: Charles Bronson, Robert DuVall, Randy Quaid, Jill Ireland

Breakout (1975) opens with Harris Wagner (John Huston, The Visitor) framing his grandson Jay Wagner (Robert Duvall) for a crime down in Mexico, the exact reason why he did this wasn't quite clear to me, but nonetheless he's sent to a Mexican prison, making his wife Ann (Jill Ireland, Hard Times) very unhappy. Jill seeks the help of a border town pilot-for-hire named Colton (Charles Bronson, Death Wish 3) and his somewhat dim partner Hawk (Randy Quaid, Christmas Vacation)to fly down to Mexico and rescue him, but she leaves out the fact that it's a prison-break! They arrives to a hail of gunfire and turn tail back to Texas, of course Colton is pissed-off that she didn't inform him they were breaking her husband out of a prison work detail, but drawn in by her charms he's undeterred, offering to try again, this time dressing up his partner Hawk as a woman to break her husband out of prison, but it seems the prison officials were forewarned that a break was about to happen and Hawk is beaten to a pulp by the prison guards. 

While Ann seems oblivious to the fact that someone is tipping off the Mexican authorities Colton latches onto that idea and keeps his next plan a bit closer to the vest, learning to (kind of sort of) fly a helicopter to perform a surgical prison yard extraction, a plan that requires bringing in an old flame named Mirna (Sheree North, Charley Varick) to pose as a rape victim to distract the prison guards! 

A fun and breezy affair this is a somewhat light-hearted prison break romp - rape jokes aside - with a surprisingly gruesome finale out on the runway, a nasty bit of business involving an airplane prop literally obliterating someone - which was surprising for a PG film in addition to the rape humor! This is probably the lightest fare of the bunch on this set, which isn't to say it wasn't entertaining, because it was quite a bit of fun, and it was good to see Bronson playing with humor throughout, not his usual sandbox to play in. It was also interesting to see him and wife Jill Ireland playing against each other, she married to Duvall's character but there's some sexual tension flying between her and Colton, too. 

HARD TIMES (1975)

Rating: PG
Duration: 94 Minutes
Audio: English Uncompressed PCM 2.0 (No Subtitles)
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Walter Hill
Cast: Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Jill Ireland, Strother Martin

The crown jewel of this Bronson four-pack is Hard Times (1975), set in Depression era New Orleans Walter Hill's directorial debut opens with a train-hopping wanderer named Chaney (Charles Bronson, Master of the World) arriving in The Big Easy. With only six bucks to his name and looking for some quick cash he wanders into a local bare-knuckles brawl-contest where he easily defeats the night's best fighter with one punch, earning him some dough and the eye of local fast-talking promoter Speed (James Coburn, In Like Flint) who quickly aligns himself with the middle-aged brawler. Chaney clears a path through the local fisticuffs champs with the aid of his new manager and an opium-addicted cutman named Poe, played with a lazy Southern charm by Strother Martin (The Brotherhood of Evil). The film follows the trio through a series of fights which Chaney wins handily, developing a reputation around town as a man to be reckoned with. When one Cajun promoter refuses to pay after a win he chases the rightful winners off with a gun, but that night they track him down to his gin joint and Chaney causes a ruckus, a one-man wrecking crew destroying the promoter's henchman and his bar in the process, and definitely getting the money owed to him. 

One of the first contenders to give Chaney some serious fight-back is the local undefeated champ, a bald-headed brawler named Jim Henry (Robert Tessier, Starcrash), but in the end Chaney's smarts outdo the man's brute strength and notorious knuckle-crushing hard-head. With Chaney crowned the new king around town one of the local promoters brings in a fighter from Chicago in hopes of regaining the throne. 

Along the way Chaney befriends and unsuccessfully courts a local hard luck prostitute played by - who else - Jill Ireland, who is fairly innocuous here in a small role that doesn't ask much. Meanwhile, the fast-talking Speed sinks deeper into debt due to a degenerate gambling habit, which the crooked promoter uses to leverage a new title fight. 

Walter Hill's no stranger to making manly movies about tough guys doing tough things, and this is no different, right out of the gate with his first film it bares his trademarks, Bronson is perfectly suited for the role - a quietly cool man with honor and integrity, and when called upon, his brute strength and a tactical mind serve him well with his brawling pursuits, if not so much when it comes to the ladies.  

Audio/Video: These four 70's Charles Bronson film arrive on 2-disc Blu-ray from budget-minded distributor Mill Creek Entertainment, presented in 1080p HD widescreen in the original theatrical exhibition ratios, both The Valachi Papers and The Stone killer get the 1.85:1 framing while Breakout and Hard Times are presented in scope 2.35:1 widescreen. All four films have been licensed from Sony Pictures, and notably, with the exception of Breakout, were issued this past year on Blu-ray from Twilight Time, and as they licensed their releases from Sony as well this is most likely the same transfer, but with two crammed onto a single disc without the benefit of any extras whatsoever. I was a bit worried about compression issues with this one but am pleased to report that these discs looks to be nicely authored and don't suffer any compression I could detect. Audio on all four film comes by way of uncompressed PCM English 2.0, each sounding clean and well balanced, though there are no subtitle options for any of them.  

The 2-disc release comes housed in a standard 2-tray Blu-ray keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork, the disc themselves are standard issue for Mill Creek, black with white lettering, no frills and low-cost. I did notice they misspelled James Coburn's name on the back cover, "Cobern", but aside from no trailers that's my only niggle.  

If you're just looking to buy these films without any extras this is a damn fine release, and at the time of this review you can pick it up for $10, which is a steal, previously just buying the three TT titles would have set you back $75 easily, and they weren't exactly dripping with extras aside from one commentary on The Stone Killer and isolated music scores and trailers, but I will say that TT staff writer Julie Kirgo does some great write-ups for the films in the booklets. That said, even trailers would have been appreciated, but if you just want good looking HD versions of the film here you go, $10, done deal! This economical Bronson package comes highly recommended, and I hope to see more classic Bronson on the way soon! 

DEATH WISH II (1982)/DEATH WISH III (1985) (Umbrella Blu-ray Review)

DEATH WISH II (1982)/DEATH WISH III (1985) 
A Cannon Classics Double Feature 

Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: R/18+
Duration: 91 Minutes/92 Minutes 
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Michael Winner 
Cast: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Laurence Fishburne, Vincent Gardenia, Martin Balsam, E. Lamont Johnson, Silvana Gallardo,Kevyn Major Howard, Thomas E. Duffy, Stuart K. Robinson, Robin Sherwood

DEATH WISH II (1982) (92 min) 
Eight years after the original Death Wish (1974) Charles Bronson (The White Buffalo) returned to the role of NYC vigilante Paul Kersey, and as you might expect, producers Golan and Globus along with director Michael Winner (The Mechanic), gave the film a trashy 80s sheen, making it a right slice of 80s era Cannon-fodder, turning the sequel to the vigilante classic into an over-the-top slice of violence and sleaze, amping up the misogyny to the nth degree and laying on the violence with a thick and bloody brush. 

The film picks up with Kersey (Bronson) having relocated from NYC to to sunny Los Angeles after the event of the first film, beginning life anew with his daughter Carol (Robin Sherwood, Tourist Trap) who is now confined to a mental institution following the traumatic events of the first movie, she having watched her mother killed and then raped by her killers scarred her deeply. Paul is still working as an architect, he has a new girlfriend named Jeri, played by his real wife Jill Ireland, who is a radio news reporter. Together they attend a street fair along with his fragile-minded daughter, who they've checked out of the asylum for a day of fun. 

While waiting in line to buy some ice cream Paul is targeted by a group of punks who lift his wallet, he chases them down and beats a thug named Jiver (Stuart K. Robinson, Better Off Dead) pretty badly, but ends up letting him go when it turns out he doesn't have the wallet. However, the other thugs now have his wallet with his home address and they head to his home for some sweet revenge. There they encounter his housekeeper Rosario (Silvana Gallardo) home alone, they assault and rape her, and as this is the unrated director's cut of the film it goes on for a bit, it's vile, humiliating and overstays it's welcome by a few minutes, managing to get pretty sleazy, with the men squealing with delight as they run a train on the helpless woman, the assault ends with her getting a crowbar to the skull, killing her. 

Paul arrives home later that night with his daughter and walks into the horrific scene, he's attacked by the thugs who've been waiting for him, he's knocked unconscious and the thugs make off with his daughter, taking her back to their lair where they rape her. The scene is weird, if it had different music the sex would almost seem consensual, that Winner was a creep, but she fights back and runs away, leaping out a window only to be impaled on a spiked iron fence, dying immediately. 

Of course her death inspires the grieving, but always stone-faced, Kersey to go resort to his vigilante ways, going after the gang with a vengeance, taking out the cartoonish gang in a series of bloody and violent vignettes, complete with the requisite one-liners that Bronson delivers with cold menace, my favorite being when he catches up the thug named Stomper (Kevyn Major Howard, Full Metal Jacket), holding him at gunpoint Kersey aks "Do you believe in Jesus?", responding that he does, Kersey says "Well then, you're going to be with him." before blasting him. One of the gang members named Nirvana (Thomas F. Duffy, Super 8)is later apprehended while high on PCP, found unfit to go to jail they send him to the asylum, Kersey disguises himself as a doc and tracks Nirvana down at the asylum where he has his vengeance, electrocuting the killer with the implicit help of an orderly, played by Charles Cyphers (Assault on Precinct 13). 

The movie is a fairly straight-forward rehash of the original film and as such is predictable and none too enthralling, just amped up with violence and more skin-crawling rape, but if you're a fan of badass Bronson and love cheap, exploitative violence there's plenty here to enjoy, also be on the lookout for a very young Laurence Fishburne (Event Horizon) as one of the gang members named Cutter, wearing pink new wave glasses, who gets shot in the face right through his 80s boom box. Horror fans will also get a hoot spotting Anthony Franciosa of Argento's Tenebre (1982) in the film as the L.A. police commisioner! 

As this is the unrated director's cut it runs about a few minutes longer than the U.S. R-rated theatrical cut, with some extended rape scenes, which don't amount to much in the grand scheme of things but it's here for your pervy eyes to view in all its trashy glory. Also noteworthy is a screaming guitar and synth driven score from Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page - it's not his best work but it's just fine for this slice of street-cleaning trash.    

DEATH WISH III (1985) (91 min) 
Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) arrives back in New York City to visit an old Korean war buddy named Charlie (Francis Drake), only to find his friend has just been attacked by some neighborhood punks, his friend dies in front of his very eyes, which furthers my belief that Paul Kersey is perhaps one of the most cursed men in all of cinema, to just know his name seems to take years off your life expectancy! Once more the stone-faced avenger must face off against a gang of ridiculous looking punkers, but not before he is detained after Charlie's death by the cops, where the police chief Richard Shriker (Ed Lauter, Cujo) recognizes him as the vigilante from the first film, only to release him back into the wilds of the Bronx, with the edict that he works for him, hoping to get an assist from the vigilante to clean-up the violent streets of the Bronx.  

Paul moves into Charlie's apartment and helps the immigrant and senior citizen who live in the slum fight against the horde of violent criminals that infest the neighborhood like cockroaches.  He is befriended by WWII vet Bennet Cross (Martin Balsam, Psycho), and there's also a doomed love interest, a public defender named Kathryn Davis (Deborah Raffin, The Sentinel) who winds up dying in a fiery car explosion, further fueling Kersey's desire for vengeance. 

This one takes up the cartoonish violence a notch while toning down the rape just a tad, but it's a Michael winner film so yeah there's a rape. The gang is lead by ginger nut job Manny (Gavin O'Herlihy, The Descent: Part 2) who proves to be the worst of the scumbags, and he gets an appropriately explosive and utterly overkill demise in the film, the final thirty-minutes of this one is an all-out war zone with the gangs going up against the well-armed citizens of the neighborhood, it's hard not to love it, even though it is nutso.  

By this point in his career Bronson was waning in enthusiasm and his star had fallen quite a bit, hence the work with Cannon Films, and he seems more detached than the first sequel, the driving force of the film seems to be his increasingly cartoonish arsenal, with a new weaponry like an enormous .475 Wildey Magnum hand cannon, a Browning M1919 .30-caliber machine gun and a rocket launcher which conveniently arrives just in the nick of time through mail-order! Super silly stuff, but if you're a fan of badass Bronson and cartoonish urban vigilantism there's plenty of fun to be had with Death wish III. 

Audio/Video: Both films arrive on Blu-ray from Australia's Umbrella Entertainment with 1080p HD presentations framed in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1). These are solid looking HD transfers with excellent color reproduction and skin tones, the grain can be a bit chunky on Death Wish 2 at times but overall these are pleasing, they're not reference quality, but they're pleasing and a nice upgrade from my DVD versions.  Both film share space on a region-free BD50 disc along with a host of extras, plus a bonus DVD with three versions of Death wish 2; the theatrical cut in anamorphic widescreen and the TV cut and the Greek VHS version, both in poor VHS quality full frame presentations. Audio is advertised as DTS-HD MA Mono but we only get a lossy Dolby Digital mono 2.0 track for both films, they're clean and well-mixed, but a lossless option would have been nice, optional English subtitles are provided.  

As for the extras we get quite a few beginning with as assortment of trailers and TV spots for each film, a nearly hour-long archival making-of featurette with behind the scenes footage of Death Wish 3, Runaway Train and House, there are a lot of cool behind-the-scenes stuff and interviews, narrated by actor Katt Williams (House, Carrie), it's a nice Cannon Films focused extra. 

There are also a whopping 100 minutes of extended interviews from Mark Hartley's Cannon doc Electric Boogaloo with actors Alex Winter, Robin Sherwood, screenwriter David Engelbach, and Todd Roberts, son of producer Bobby Roberts. The Winters interview is particularly fun and scathing, calling the film a "dog pile of shit", how he got out of filming a rape scene, pointing out what an unlikable guy Winner was, and commenting on Bronson and what a class act he was, though clearly just doing the picture for money.  There's also an Easter Egg on the Blu-ray disc, a collection of scenes from the Australian VHS version not found on the theatrical cut of the film, a lot of these are scenes between Kersey and Inspector Richard Shriker (Ed Lauter) at the police station and some extended shootout sequences. Notably, while the rest of the disc seems to be region-free this extras would only play on my region-free player and not on the region-A player. There's also a DVD disc featuring three versions of Death Wish 2, the theatrical cut and the Greek VHS and TV cut of the film, each with additional scenes not in the unrated director's cut. All the versions of Death Wish 2 feature notes by Paul Talbot, author of 'Bronson's Loose! The Making of the Death Wish Films', speaking to the various incarnations of the film and what's exclusive or unique about each.

Reversible Artwork

This release comes from Umbrella Entertainment in a thick-style Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, the main option is a new custom artwork from the folks at Umbrella, on the reverse is a wrap featuring the original one-sheets for both films. The Blu-ray disc sports the Death wish 2/Death wish 3 artwork, while the bonus DVD disc features the Death Wish III one-sheet artwork. 

Special Features: 

DISC 1 (Blu-ray) 
- DEATH WISH 2: UNRATED DIRECTOR'S CUT (1982) (91 min) HD 
- Notes on the uncut version of Death Wish 2 by Paul Talbot, author of 'Bronson's Loose! The Making of the Death Wish Films' (Text Only) 
- DEATH WISH 3 (1985) (92 min) HD 
- Death Wish 2 Trailer (2 min) HD 
- Death Wish 2 TV Spot version 1 (28 sec) 
- Death Wish 2 TV Spot Version 2 (23 sec) 
- Death Wish 3 Trailer (2 min) HD 
- Death Wish 3 TV spot (29 sec) 
- Interviews with cast members Alex Winter, Robin Sherwood, screenwriter David Engelbach - and Todd Roberts, son of producer Bobby Roberts. (Extended interviews from Mark Hartley's ELECTRIC BOOGALOO)(100 min) HD 
- ACTION II: Making-of featurette with Behind the Scenes footage of Death Wish 3, Runaway Train and House (52 min) 
- Easter Egg: Death Wish III Extended and Deleted Scenes (6 min) 

DISC 2 (DVD)
- DEATH WISH 2: ORIGINAL THEATRICAL CUT (89 min) (Anamorphic Widescreen) 
-  Notes on the R-Rated version of Death Wish 2 by Paul Talbot, author of 'Bronson's Loose! The Making of the Death Wish Films' (Text Only) 
- DEATH WISH 2: TV CUT (94 min) (Full Frame) 
- Notes on the TV cut of Death Wish 2 by Paul Talbot, author of 'Bronson's Loose! The Making of the Death Wish Films' (Text Only) 
- DEATH WISH 2: GREEK VHS CUT (95 min) (Full Frame) 
- Notes on the Greek VHS release of Death Wish 2 by Paul Talbot, author of 'Bronson's Loose! The Making of the Death Wish Films' (Text Only)

Great to have the unrated version of the these Death Wish sequels on Blu-ray, the U.S. versions have been R-rated threadbare of extras, Umbrella rectify that this fantastic region-free double-feature of 80's badassery, loaded with extras and no less than four versions of the second entry. If you're a fan of the movies this is the one to own.