The Clubhouse Podcast

iTunes Exclusive Episode Death Wish

November 25, 2018 Season 8, Episode 64

Eli Roth directs a 2018 remake of the 1974 Charles Bronson classic Death Wish, starring Bruce Willis as Paul Kersey, a surgeon turned vigilante after his family is assaulted and police fail to act. The film incorporates modern technology, gore, and 80s-style action sensibilities, with a runtime of approximately one hour 46 minutes. Jen Rome, the only panelist who screened it, would watch it again on Netflix or DVD.

About this episode

Key takeaways

  • The remake updates the story by making the protagonist a surgeon instead of an architect and setting it in Chicago rather than New York
  • Director Eli Roth incorporates gore to reflect realistic consequences of violence rather than for shock value alone
  • Bruce Willis displays characteristic mannerisms that sometimes pull focus from the script, though supporting actors like Vincent D'Onofrio and Elizabeth Shue help maintain the film's momentum
  • The film uses 80s-style suspense film techniques with music and lighting to build tension throughout its pacing

Q&A

Is there an opening for a sequel?

The ending could support a sequel but doesn't demand one; it works as a standalone film

How many Death Wish films were in the original franchise?

Five films from Cannon Studios

Did the remake require suspension of disbelief?

Yes, but the core premise of an educated professional seeking revenge after police inaction is within reasonable bounds for an action film

Read Transcript

Reading Empire member and or members if you are hearing the sound of my voice it means the following conditions have been met at least once in your lifetime you have checked out the clubhouse podcast your one stop shop for all things pop culture live every Sunday night seven Eastern for Pacific but it also means you've at least checked this out once on your favorite podcast app because it's time for another iTunes exclusive number 352 for those of you playing the home game welcome my name is Rob I am the executive producer of the clubhouse podcast and you son of a that's the best Charles Bronson I can come up with it's the only phrase of his that I know but I'm not alone for this we've got a whole cast the characters for you to listen to in this particular episode joining me in the co-host chair because oddly enough he's the co-host of this show is a man that if wishes were horses he'd have to move to the country he has Chad welcome sir okay okay with that I don't know I said something they don't all get hit out of the park sometimes you ground one to third I'm just saying next to him is the official fact checker of the show and a man who has never watched the Charles Bronson film in his life and he doesn't feel his life is any worse because of it you may know him as fond on go but his mom and even don't ford I'm gonna call him don't ford hello sir that is wrong mister chicken chicken good I'd like that for dinner that's one of the quotes and one of the death wish movies that he said why not all right why not as always I've seen Bronson as always no Bronson is not Charles Bronson those are two completely different things Bronson is a movie with Tom Hardy okay has me move around the room is the official the lady of the house and the only person that's really going to be able to speak to what we're about to talk about she is Jen Rome hello friend hello everyone yes I'm the one who got to view this and rounding out the dais is a man who also has not seen the film we're about to talk about but his opinion it's our important to Alex is here hello sir and I may have too many opinions oh it's kind of it's kind of what's being on this show really is all right so it's remake time kids a movie that came out when I was one year old and Chad was enrolling in college but this is also one of your favorite director sir it is Eli Roth is directing I was your big fan of the Eli Roth is directing the remake of the Charles Bronson 1974 classic death wish start this whole thing yes sir even though only the lady that has to be able to go but we all got the invite that's right take when you're by it's life box z in me z in me z in me z in me z in me I find it hard to believe that we're the only people that have ever made that reference but we're the only ones that do it consistently we're such fans of all of our vendors they let us see films early so that we can talk to you guys about them to help you make the best possible decisions you can make with your entertainment dollar for those of you uninitiated here's the deal Bruce Willis because because plays the Charles Bronson role of Paul Kersy in this here's what you need to know he's a dude his family is messed up police won't do anything he becomes a vigilante this was a huge like this you can say this was a franchise would they make five of these things and Lee I want to say at least four I don't know what the great Charles Bronson I think it was five or five wow from the great cannon studios oh yes Alex is verifying five the others are great documentary about cannon studios out there too that I want to watch you to watch now you definitely this also stars Elizabeth shoe how you doing you've also got Kimberly Elise's name we haven't heard in a while this in this as well and my doppelganger is in this yes I was very happy to see the great Vincent Denofrio which was not a thing in my life until about three years ago and then I fought it and then someone who is my director at the time showed me a picture of him from Jurassic World and I was like okay I'm done debating now I'm embracing it it also means I'm the guy to ever suit an album panel oh from adventures in babysitting I was like I'll take Chris Hemsworth I mean yeah it's an action film it's about an hour 46 long people getting shot and there's a shot the trailer for this that I just like like you have those moments like this this really plays 35 years ago where he's getting his revenge and there's a guy working on a car and he says are you gonna kill me and he says no jack is and he kicks out the jack and it crushes the guy like walk yeah like I respect the moxie I just have issues with the execution no pun intended so again Jen got to go see this we were double booked that night so sometimes when we get double booked we have to divide and conquer but you know what that's not a bad problem to have no no no because we have amazing vendors and they like to make sure that we stay busy so let's just get right to it general talk to me about death wish 2018 so as you mentioned with the whole joke with jack uh-huh there's a pretty good mix of bringing in some of the things that would have been 70s and 80s action film back in there is Gore you do realize someone has died well it's Eli Roth and this guy Gore is what he's gonna show what I'm saying is it's it's good that it's it's I like that they brought the Gore factor into it versus let's keep it clean and pretty because someone died well no let's have the Gore because someone got shot question on this he did directed the hostile the green inferno which are just pure Gore beyond torture porn is what it is now in this film was a Gore for just for Gore's sake so it's a real is a Gore just the amount needed do you think to make the point or do they overdo it I think it was maybe just to touch over the amount needed but for me I liked that it was in there because again was going off someone was going getting shot and there was blood on the wall as it should be as it should be you you bleed when you get shot apparently you know it's this thing that happens but it was it was I'm not sure wearing armor yeah true um John Wick for the most part I love John Wick hello yeah leave it alone I like that one for the most part the script was really well done they used the book they used now let me ask before going into this did you go back and watch the original at all no so you wanted to go into this cold because I'm gonna be interested to see comparisons to the 1974 classic I'm gonna call it classic because death wish I want to go back and see because I was too young when they were out and so you know I mean I was born the year the first one came out so I know that but there wasn't enough you know planning and plotting to get my hands on it but I do want to go back and see it again and see I'd after I watched the movie because you know I love to go in cold I did some reading and there's been some changes like he's a surgeon instead of an architect well and in the original it take the original and the book take place in New York but death wish two actually takes place in Chicago where this one takes place because he moves to Chicago at the end of the first death wish oh so we've juxtaposed those two okay fair enough when you're going to minor spoiler alert minor spoiler we're going to go and that would yeah they could have did that they played with it but I also like that they brought in some of the technology updates that we have now that we didn't have then so they pull some of that in they pull in the laws about buying a gun and there's also this is also not the first Charles Bronson film that's been redone because Jason states them did the mechanic right which I enjoyed the mechanic I have not watched the second one but having I'm such a fan of the original Charles Bronson the mechanic that the remake didn't do much for me especially the ending because the ending of the original version of the mechanic is one of the coolest endings in Hollywood ever and we can talk about that off air yeah but I mean does first of all I just want to ask the question how is it paced for an hour 46 it actually there are some moments where Bruce Willis is being Bruce Bruce is being Bruce Willis and it's more I'm going to deliver my line now and some of the other actors have to pull him back Bruce Willis for the last decade and a half yeah we talked yeah and then some of the other characters like your double-ganger and Elizabeth have to pull him back into playing the part Elizabeth, shoot how you doing so those things kind of helped it move along okay so so I mean do you have a watch gauge on this or is this not some of you pay attention to I in the dark I can't because that bit has to go in the pocket because of filming I've got to kind of watch I can see in the dark but I'd say probably around the 25 30 minute mark I kind of was looking at the person with me going really really and we got how much longer so so okay so does it kind of it ebbs and flows okay fair enough uh Bruce Willis you said you know the Bruce Willis we've gotten for the last decade and a half does the script supported enough that it kind of makes you real makes you forget that Bruce Willis is being Bruce Willis yeah and they've got good music and lighting and all the other technical clues to let you know something's building something's coming that it was really reminiscent of what we had in the 80s of the suspense films and the action films Alex is raising sand there was some reports that Eli Roth was going to try and do like a grind house tribute but modernized was there any of that in there what do you mean by grind house the good reference for you would be like death proof or just kind of like over the top with anything Robert Rodriguez has done it wasn't it kind of like from dust till dawn that kind of style no not quite okay it was it was there again it was that you know you got the gore and you went just past probably where it needed to be so with the there's a scene where there's a scene where one of the bad people is getting harmed and yeah I'm trying not to spoil uh but it's like okay that may have been a little too far but at the same time you're kind of going out and then you're like oh haha so there's the whole and there is the scene with the the jack that you brought up and there's some pushing things and yeah again I respect the moxie I question the execution nope again no pun intended anything any other questions that you gentlemen have for this before we get to the final analysis did they leave it open that's an excellent question good yes do you see this being franchised yes I see it either ending or they did it they didn't one of those where it could be but it doesn't have to be you're not okay you're not hanging like you know whatever where's it going they've got to make another one but they could if they wanted to I will tell you that the IMDB page does not have a link for crazy credits so I'm assuming no extra scenes or anything of its ilk here's my question I am a big hater of the remix overall yes yes you are red dawn pull up guys red dawn in poltergeist or in a category all by themselves I never I never watched but foot loose I mean they're all been horrible should they have made this or not made this because like red dawn they shouldn't have redone it poltergeist should redone it foot should have redone it I mean I could go to a list on a not but I never saw the first one but but what he's saying is like well no I know but I'm saying I have nothing to do she has no reference okay made for foot loose yeah I can come here to the old one but it's the new one first yeah and they liked it so much better than second so I think sometimes it's what you're exposed to okay okay so I don't know that I could go back and give you a fair question is this a film that was screaming out to be remade I just remember when they announced it and I was like really yeah I mean it's it's death wish it's kind of one of those that you really don't need to fool with it just leave it alone like do I need a remake of mother jugs and speed I don't know that I do I'm scared I can see the raiders remake come brother that one that one that was actually called the fourth one but well you have the same thing with death wish it's like after the first one it's like okay I guess we could do a sequel after the second one I guess we could do a sequel but that was but that was also the age of when you did that and you really only did that with action films for the most part yeah how many I mean this is now the age of the remake as that's fair how many maniac cops did we get I think there was also you know some climate with that and the time period when that was made versus where we are in the world I think that affected how many sequels the right how many times did you lose count of the number of times where they were we're off was pointing the camera up at Bruce Willis and he was looking down and squinting a little bit with his head cocked inside so see he went walking around in a hoodie we'll let you we'll let you do your own count with his slight under bite all right suspension disbelief was there a ton of that in this thing or was it really I mean you know I'm talking about like yeah I mean it's an action film yeah we're going to have some music it well I mean but like she said like with the gore it wasn't gore for gore say so they can but my question is like he could take like for instance the one with Halle Berry came out last he don't don't don't don't don't I just don't know if this is like really this was it real within realms of suspension display for was just like give me a break on we're talking the whole concept of a high professional whose family is assaulted and he gives after the people did it highly educated very much a part of society going after so yes there's it better when Stephen and Mel did it that's all I want to know see Stephen and Mel would have made it sure that would have been good all right let's get to the final analysis the way we do the final analysis on the shows we're not going to give you thumbs up thumbs down we're not going to give you letter grades numbers Bruce Willis sneers anything like that we're going to ask Jen two questions question number one is would she see this film again if the answers know that we're done here but if the answer is yes to to gauge her enjoyment of it we need to know how far she's willing to go to see it again so from the best of the best of the worst of the best here's how we roll full price at a theater Matt Nayshire actually twilight showing then a matinee showing early morning second run at the dollar theater actually leaving your house to get it from red box streaming it from Netflix or waiting for it on cable general would you see death wish again yes how far you willing to go to do it for me for a second viewing it'd be on Netflix or a DVD on hand all right if you have seen it maybe a twilight that lay weekend it is Eli Roth's remake of the classic with the Bruce Willis it is death wish oh wait this whole thing yes sir ready to sing always we love our vendors so much they give us the chance to see films in advance so that we can talk about them to you guys so there you go that being said let's do the plugs make sure you visit our website www.theclubhousepodcast.com find out everything you know some stuff you don't including generals written review for this film if you want a little bit more of a drill down in that you can follow us on social media twitter is that clubhouse show everything else is the clubhouse podcast all three words in that order or you will wind up somewhere else you can follow me if you'd like everything is yes that Rob Irvin that has built the RVIN I am at chat in PG69 I'm Jen Rome home on Instagram I am vexblood on all social media and remember the written reviews are at the clubhousepodcast.com and I'm a fond on going Twitter to it's a beginning 3os at the end you also email me a dawn at the clubhouse podcast. Email dawn to find out how we can come do a live show for you we love doing live remote shows gotta come on coming up we'll go check it out you email me questions comments concerned somebody go pound sand I'm Rob at the clubhousepodcast.com I am Jen the clubhousepodcast I'm Charlotte Parker's on Pinterest because we're morally obligated to say that Jules Walma because at the house waiting on her husband the fabulous faith force at her house waiting on her husband and sensational shonies at their house just waiting for Costco I guess because she found out that recently that they deliver and then she that makes her happy our normal show every Sunday night seven Eastern for Pacific is your one stop shop for all things pop culture or just keep subscribing on your favorite podcast app and you get all the cool stuff so for the entire crew and the empire I'm Rob clubhouse is closed new month on the Brittany Palmer calendar as we record this shout out to Nana

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