I’ve never made any secret of my being a Bronson fan while growing up. I’m not sure if I can pinpoint the reason other then my Dad liked him a lot and when you’re at an impressionable age those things that Dads like rub off on their wide eyed kids. Many of the Bronson titles I never actually got to see till I was old enough that Mom and Dad didn’t mind and the first two Death Wish titles fall into that category. Most of the films I did see at an early age were his earlier titles like The Magnificent Seven, Dirty Dozen and some of his Italian efforts like The Family or Chino. My first actual theater film with Bronson was the tame PG rated film Borderline in 1980.
The first title of the series I didn’t see till the VHS era of which it was prominently displayed in those early years when not as many titles were available to the rapidly opening video stores.
The first sequel in 1982 brought the one liner into the series and reality was left in the editing room. As for me it offered a chance to sneak into a drive in with some pals in the back of a van as we weren’t quite of age just yet.
“Goodbye.”
I even woke up at Christmas to find the soundtrack under the tree. Cool artwork but the musics not my style.
“A .475 Wildey magnum is a shorter version of the African big game cartridge, it makes a real mess.
While the series continued to decline I being the loyal fan attended the next outing on opening night.
O.K. I know. The less said about this filmed in Toronto fifth installment the better. Still I along with a buddy attended the festivities at the local theater. I even won a wager that Charlie would be filmed running somewhere in the film at his advanced age and sure enough I collected.
For a good read on the evolution of these films and a chance to read about Bronson who has yet to have any definitive publication dealing with his career (probably due in part to his seldom talking to media about it and a lack of name co-stars in his later years) check out this book by Paul Talbot which also features some awesome cover art to go with the series ‘ posters.
Mike's Take On the Movies 
Did you ever read the original novel, Death Wish (1972) by Brian Gardield, upon which the movie series was based? If not, it’s well worth a look: it’s quite short and it gives a quite different perspective to the events of DW1.
Garfield was a truly splendid thriller writer; I’ve no idea why his career petered out in the late 1970s and 1980s.
No I haven’t. I have heard it’s very different and that Garfield wasn’t happy with the original film’s direction. I guess I could give it a look. Copy around here somewhere. With Bronson on the cover. 🙂