Death Wish V: The Face of Death

Paul Kersey returns to New York City, having assumed the name Paul Stewart under the witness protection program. He is invited by girlfriend Olivia Regent to a fashion show. Backstage, mobster Tommy O'Shea and his goons muscle in. Tommy threatens Olivia, who is his ex-wife and mother to their daughter Chelsea. Olivia later informs Paul of her ex-husband's behavior after he finds bruises on her hand. Paul confronts him, but Tommy's henchman Chicki Paconi pulls out a revolver at Paul. The confrontation ends with the arrival of Chelsea.

D.A. Brian Hoyle and his associate NYPD detective Lt. Hector Vasquez visit Paul's home. He informs them about Tommy O'Shea. Hoyle says they have been trying to nab Tommy for years, and he wants Olivia to testify.

That night at a restaurant, Paul proposes to Olivia, who accepts. Olivia excuses herself to the bathroom and is attacked by Tommy's associate, Freddie "Flakes" Garrity, who bashes her head on a mirror, disfiguring her face. Freddie escapes, although Paul gets a look at him. At the hospital, Paul is told that even if Olivia will get reconstructive surgery, her face will never be the same. While there, he meets Lt. Mickey King and his partner Janice Omori, who are working on the O'Shea's case. During a failed bugging mission on the mob, Janice is killed after getting struck by Freddie's car. Then at the hospital, Lt. King warns Kersey not to go back to his old ways, before saying that he has been working on the case for 16 years. Kersey says that is a long time to be failing.

Freddie and his henchmen, pretending to be the cops sent to protect Olivia, attack Paul and Olivia. Freddie shoots Olivia in the back, killing her as the couple tries to escape. Paul jumps from the roof of his apartment, where he lands in a pile of trash bags, and is retrieved by the police. Tommy is cleared of involvement in Olivia's death and seeks custody of their daughter. Paul assaults Tommy, who leaves him unconscious. He plans to return to his vigilante methods and is assisted by Hoyle, who learns his department has been corrupted by Tommy. Paul poisons Chicki with a sugar-looking cyanide in his cannoli. He then kills Freddie by blowing the hood up with a remote-controlled soccer ball. Tommy finds out from an informant that Paul is the vigilante and will be going after him for killing Olivia. The informant, revealed to be Vasquez, tries to kill Paul himself, but Paul gets the upper hand and kills him. Hoyle arrives and finds out Tommy wants both him and Paul dead. Hoyle tells Paul he must never see him again, and Paul agrees.

Tommy puts his 3 hoodlums named Angel, Frankie, and Mickey to go after Paul at the dress factory, using Chelsea as a bait, although she manages to escape. Paul first faces the killers and then Sal, another one of Tommy's men, by shooting him into an industrial sewing machine. Paul picks up an empty bottle, smashes it, and cuts Tommy's face in retaliation for what he did to Olivia. Lt. King then arrives, but is wounded by Tommy. Armed with a shotgun, Paul corners Tommy and knocks him into an acid pool, where he disintegrates. King thanks him for saving his life. Paul goes to rejoin Chelsea, calling out to the injured King, "Hey Lieutenant, if you need any help, give me a call". The film ends with a freeze-frame of him walking.

The three previous films in the Death Wish series were produced by Cannon Films. In 1989, Cannon faced Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its financial records came under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Co-owners Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus also had a personal falling out during the collapse of their company.[1] Golan soon launched his own company, 21st Century Film Corporation.[1] The films of the new company tended to have small budgets and performed poorly at the box office. Meanwhile, the Death Wish films continued to enjoy popularity in the video and television market. Golan came up with the idea of a fifth Death Wish film to serve as a much-needed hit for the company.[2]

Financing to start the film production was secured through a loan from the Lewis Horwitz Organization. Golan still owned an unused screenplay for a Death Wish film, submitted in the late 1980s by J. Lee Thompson and Gail Morgan Hickman.[1][2] He decided against using it, since it would be too costly to produce. Instead, he hired Michael Colleary to write a new script.[2]

Golan initially reserved directorial duties for himself. His preoccupation with directing Crime and Punishment reportedly prevented him from doing so. Michael Winner was available to direct, but was never asked to do so. According to Winner, his lack of interest in directing Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987) may have led Golan to count him out.[2] Golan then hired Steve Carver for the job, an experienced director in the action film genre. Carver recalled discussing with Bronson over the depiction of Paul Kersey. Bronson wanted the character to become more sympathetic and less violent. Carver and screenwriter Stephen Peters started co-operating in revising the script.[2]

Carver worked on pre-production for two months before Golan decided to replace him. His replacement was Allan A. Goldstein, who held dual citizenship as a Canadian and American. Carver believes that it was Goldstein's Canadian ties which influenced the decision. Goldstein himself was surprised, since he specialized in drama films. Death Wish V was his first action film.[2] He tried familiarizing himself with the film series by watching the previous entries for the first time.[2] He soon started revising the script. He attempted to insert humor and black comedy elements.[2]

The film was shot in Toronto. For tax purposes, several of the roles had to be filled with Canadian actors. Among them were Robert Joy, Saul Rubinek, Kenneth Welsh, and teenager Erica Lancaster.[2] The previous films of the series were mostly shot on location, but the fifth film was mainly shot in a studio. All the scenes involving the dress factory were shot in a studio.[2]

Charles Bronson and producer Menahem Golan were not on speaking terms during the filming, only communicating by using director Allan A. Goldstein as an intermediary. Goldstein himself was uncertain of the reasons behind this adversarial relationship.[2] Golan was not present for most of the shooting, preoccupied with filming Crime and Punishment (2002) in Russia.[2]

Ami Artzi is credited as the executive producer of the film. He was the president of the 21st Century Film Corporation, working directly under Golan.[2] Damian Lee functioned as the line producer of the film.[2]

The film was the first screen credit for screenwriter Michael Colleary. His subsequent credits included the blockbusters Face/Off (1997) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001).[2]

The film was the only one in its series which did not include a rape scene. Flashes of bare breasts in a non-violent context were its only instances of nudity.[2]

Golan planned to continue the film series without Bronson and announced the upcoming film Death Wish 6: The New Vigilante. But 21st Century Film Corporation went bankrupt and the film project was cancelled.[2] Bronson subsequently appeared in the television film Family of Cops (1995) and its two sequels.[2] 24 years later, the series were rebooted with Death Wish,[9] starring Bruce Willis.

• Talbot, Paul (2006). "Death Wish 4: The Crackdown: This Time It's War!". Bronson's Loose!: The Making of the Death Wish Films. iUniverse. ISBN 978-0595379828.
• Talbot, Paul (2006). "Death Wish V: The Face of Death: No Judge. No Jury. No Appeals. No Deals.". Bronson's Loose!: The Making of the Death Wish Films. iUniverse. ISBN 978-0595379828.

• Death Wish V: The Face of Death at IMDb
• Death Wish V: The Face of Death at Box Office Mojo
• Death Wish V: The Face of Death at AllMovie