Vigilante

Vigilante (1983)

Eddie is your normal hard working everyday guy. But then a gang of thugs follows his wife home and attacks her. After nearly killing her and murdering his son Eddie relies on the criminal justice system to put the gang members away. Somehow Eddie is the one that ends up in prison for 30 days after the corrupt judge who allows the killers to go free then slaps him with a contempt charge for yelling at him in court! After getting out of jail Eddie hooks up with a group of men who are trying to clean up the city and goes after a little payback for his family.

This is a cool movie that promises some wholesome vigilante justice and delivers it. In addition to the main story line of Eddie and his family we also have the subplot of the Fred Williamson character and his crew of vigilantes trying to take back the streets. These two storylines are woven in nicely together to make for a very tight and entertaining movie. Now there are a few moments where the plot takes an odd turn or the story veers off into unrealistic territory, but that is all part of the fun. Plus for the movie to work the system and the gang have to be bad and without any redeeming qualities. This makes the payback that much more fun. I also had a blast (pun intended) with the ending of the movie, which I never saw coming but was a nice touch. The cast is killer and not only has Fred Williamson kicking butt, but also Robert Forster does a nice job as Eddie. Other familiar faces include Joe Spinell (Maniac), Carol Lynley (The Night Stalker), and the legendary Woody Strode (all sorts of killer John Ford westerns and Spartacus).

One of the best things about this movie is it’s New York City setting. The locations give the movie a cool sort of gritty feeling that money can’t buy. I’ve seen far too many movies shot in Toronto or Montreal that try to pass themselves off as New York City and you just can’t do it. While the movie was clearly shot on a lower budget director Lustig clearly got as much as possible out of the cash that was spent. There are several car chases and much mayhem, which I have no idea how they got away with doing. Some of the action sequences are a bit rough, especially those with Fred Williamson. I’m not sure what happened but at some point the guy kind of lost it when it came to pulling off a convincing fight scene.

For this review I watched the new Blu-Ray release from Blue Underground. First off the transfer looks really good. Personally I think it is an improvement over the DVD release. Also included on the disc are some special features. There are 2 audio commentaries. One with director Bill Lustig and co-producer Andrew Garroni and a second one with Lustig, Fred “the Hammer” Williamson, Robert Forrester, and Frank Pesce. I’ve listened to both, but my favorite by far is the second one with the actors. They have some great stories about making the movie. There is also a nifty story about Williamson and his Super Bowl ring. Other then the commentaries there is a short promo that was shot before the rest of the movie that was used to generate some interest in the foreign markets.

If you like 80s action movies then you really need to check out Vigilante. It is kicks much butt and is a fun watch. This is another release from one of the best DVD companies going, Blue Underground. Check them out at http://www.blue-underground.com/ for more details on this and their other fine releases.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer