5 Questions: Death Wish 2
On February 19, 1982 Cannon Films unleashed Death Wish II on the world. At that point, it was the biggest film Cannon had been a part of as we rejoined Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) 8 years after the original Death Wish.
I’m not exaggerating when I tell you I have seen this movie dozens and dozens of times over the years. And for years I have had some burning questions regarding this film.
1. Who is the man on the boat?
Early in the film, Paul Kersey, his girlfriend Geri (played by real life wife Jill Ireland) and his daughter Carol are out for a day of buying crystal cat figurines, eating ice cream and going out on the open water. But who is this man on the boat that they are going to see? How does he know the Kersey family? In the credits he is simply listed as “Boat Captain”. It is portrayed like he is close to the Kersey family yet I didn’t see him at Carol’s funeral. What kind of friend is that? The only explanation I can find is the man is not allowed on dry land. He was portrayed by Ransom Walrod and from his IMDB page, he has done a lot of work as a marine advisor and coordinator. Of the handful of acting credits he has, he usually portrays a guy driving a boat. Walrod is so obsessed with the sea that he even married a woman named Nina Shipman… they have since divorced.
2. Why the ominous music?
The music for the film Death Wish II was composed by the one and the only Jimmy Page. The music would be used again for the greatest movie of all-time, Death Wish 3. The funny thing is, the music almost seems to fit Death Wish 3 better than it fit Death Wish II, which it was specifically composed for. There is one scene in particular where Paul calls a locksmith to have the locks changed where the music is so ominous. Why? Was he calling some Satanic locksmith?
3. Is it a tradition to have the cheapest looking TV news sets in all Death Wish movies?
If the production crew was unable to create a realistic looking news set, why not just go to a local television station and film the segments there? How hard can it be? Yet Death Wish after Death Wish has news anchors sitting in front of a plain wall or with call letters that look like they were cut out of construction paper. I know Cannon was famous for making films cheap, but come on!
4. Did Laurence Fishburne’s character, Cutter, really think his boom box was bulletproof?
To avoid getting shot, Cutter holds up his boom box in front of his head as he backs away in an attempt to flee a shoot out in Point Fermin Park. Spoiler alert! It didn’t work and both he and his boom box ended up dead!
5. Was anyone else shocked that Punkcut knew that Nirvana’s real name was Charles Wilson?
After the shootout at Point Fermin, the police question a barely alive Punkcut. They want the name of the man who shot Lt. Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia reprising his role from the first Death Wish). Punkcut tells him it was Nirvana, but also knew Nirvana’s real name, Charles Wilson. Most of you may not find this to be a strange thing, but for me after spending years in the world of independent professional wrestling and knowing so many people that I worked with for years only by their “stage name” I did find this strange. In fact, until we started working together on this site I only knew Chad Cruise as Chad Cruise. Spoiler alert! That’s not his real name, but my real name is totally Chris The Brain.
