10 Things You Didn’t Know About Death Sentence

2007’s Death Sentence is like the James K. Polk of movies. At the time of its release, I don’t think many people appreciated it. Over a decade later, though, it seems like critics and reviewers are tripping over themselves to give “hot takes” on how it is a better movie than Death Wish. Well folks, I’m not going to sit here and give you a dissertation on how the two movies barely belong in the same genre, but I will do my best to educate on 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Death Sentence.

1- Reading: The novel Death Sentence was released by Brian Garfield after Death Wish the film glorified the epic vigilantism of Paul Kersey in a way he didn’t appreciate. Director James Wan didn’t consult with the Garfield book during the process, though, as he had fallen in love with the script and thought he might be too influenced by the book had he read it.

2- Inspiration: Wan wanted to make a “raw and gritty, 70’s style, thriller” with Death Sentence. He was much more inspired by movies like The French Connection and Taxi Driver than any modern action film. His goal with the action sequences was to make the violence shocking and less bombastic than most modern action cinema.

3- Poster: The tagline on the poster says “Protect What’s Yours”. A first look at that and you obviously think about Kevin Bacon’s Nick Hume, but it’s also a reference to members of the gang. The film takes time to empathize with both sides of the cruelty in this film.

4- Look what I made you: Garret Hedlund plays Billy Darley, the leader of the gang who kills the young Hume. He packed on almost 30 lbs. and shaved his head to portray the tough guy.

5- I miss you: First James Wan film to not be written by himself or friend/frequent collaborator Leigh Whannell. Leigh didn’t write it but James did find a way to kill Leigh in the film.

6- Novel idea: Brian Garfield called Death Sentence “a stunningly good movie” and says that it captures the essence of his novel better than any of the Death Wish films. He says it effectively depicts the loss of Nick Hume’s humanity and “the stupidity of vengeful vigilantism.”

7- The Crow: John Goodman’s character uses the line “Fear is for the enemy. Fear, and bullets.” That line is from the comic The Crow, written by James O’Barr. It’s a comic that director James Wan has admitted influenced some of the ideas that turned into Death Sentence.

8- Boom: The gun that John Goodman pulls out saying “Take this fucker to the Holy Land, start your own crusade” is a Desert Eagle Mark XIX, primarily designed and manufactured in Israel, a.k.a. “the Holy Land”.

9- Upgrade: Originally, Aisha Tyler’s detective character was conceived to be a fifty year old veteran male detective.

10- The Chase: A scene that often gets lots of love from fans of the film is a foot chase between Garrett Hedlund’s gang and Kevin Bacon. The scene has a shot that runs for a few minutes without interruption, allowing us to watch the actors as they begin to breathe heavily. The fear really ramps up on the face of Bacon and Hedlund admitted in an interview that Wan mentioned that this scene was gonna blow Point Break’s chase scene out of the water.