Unsung Heroes: Death Wish 3

Death Wish 3 is a movie I have watched countless times. Every time I watch Death Wish 3 I can’t help but marvel at the vigilante heroics of Paul Kersey and Richard Shriker as they fight to take an entire neighborhood back from a street gang.

In discussions with other fans of the masterpiece known as Death Wish 3, Kersey and Shriker get their due across the board. Some fans even bring up Manny Rodriguez and his pathetic zip gun or Bennett Cross and his hat with the letter B on it for their assists in the war to take back the streets.

All four men are important parts of what I like to call the greatest movie of all-time. But there are others in Death Wish 3 that I don’t feel have been given their due. These are the unsung heroes of Death Wish 3…

Captain Sterns

Poor Captain Sterns, the man can’t catch a break. First he’s called out by his boss, Shriker (Ed Lauter), in front of all his co-workers during their morning meeting. Shriker asks Sterns what he is doing about the rampant crime in their area. The well prepared Sterns informs everyone that they have put more uniformed officers out and put more cars on patrol, increasing their efforts by 15%. Then Shriker asks Sterns to give everyone the results of their efforts and Sterns, like a fool, has to inform everyone that reported crime is up by 11%.

Then later in the film when Sterns does exactly as his boss told him and does not acquiesce when Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) requests to see Shriker, he is once again made to look like a fool by Shriker, when Shriker shows up and tells Kersey they need to talk seconds after Sterns told Kersey that Shriker personally told him that he didn’t want to talk to him.

Nobody would blame Sterns if he told Shriker off and had a mic drop moment as he walked out the door. But Sterns is like many of us trying to make a living in this work a day world. And that means Sterns has bills to pay, he may have a family to take care of too. Telling your boss off may sound like a great idea in your head, but last I checked you can’t buy groceries with anti-boss rants.

Sometimes you gotta eat a sh*t sandwich at work, so you don’t have to eat an actual sh*t sandwich out on the streets. I commend you Captain Sterns for doing the unpopular but fiscally responsible thing in terms of dealing with your ego tripping boss.

The Pantsuit Family

I have no doubt that every member of this family were card carrying members of the NRA (and possibly the Pantsuit Appreciation Club too).

In troubling times, family is important and The Pantsuit Family in Death Wish 3 is a shining example of that. Sure the world outside their poorly decorated apartment is falling apart. But Mother Pantsuit calmly goes to get the family gun (wisely not running with the loaded weapon) and delivers it to her loving husband, who is watching the war between the gang and Paul Kersey from his living room window alongside Daughter Pantsuit. This is the type of unity that all families should strive for.

And big ups to the daughter in this equation. She takes “honor thy mother” to the extreme by proudly sharing her mother’s sense of fashion. How many kids show that level of respect to their parents? Kudos to you Daughter Pantsuit!

Appreciative Woman

The lady that cheers on Paul Kersey  after he does the impossible and catches The Giggler (with a bullet in the back!) should be cheered on herself. But why do I believe this unnamed woman should be praised? Because to me she embodies the very spirit of Death Wish fans. 

Legend has it that 1974’s Death Wish elicited a response like no movie before it with the urbanites watching.  When Paul Kersey stepped up and took the law into his own hands, those who have lived in fear of crime or were even victims of crime could not contain their emotions and actually stood up in the movie theater and cheered.

I believe this unnamed yet appreciative woman represents all those people who were first captivated by Paul Kersey and his vigilante justice. To me this scene was an homage to the fans of the original film.

And while you may question this woman repeatedly saying she is glad another human being was dead (The Giggler did steal her pocketbook three weeks prior), you have to applaud her for having the courage to speak her mind and being the voice of a neighborhood that has had enough. Her appreciation the night The Giggler died proved to be infectious as others watching on ended up getting in on the appreciation action.