Fighting Back

After his mother is brutally mugged in his own neighborhood and the Philadelphia police are unable to resolve the increasing rate of crime there, a delicatessen owner by the name of "John D'Angelo" (Tom Skerritt) decides to do something about it. So, to that effect, he manages to convince a number of his neighbors to help him form a neighborhood watch group to alert the local police whenever they see something suspicious or illegal taking place. What he doesn't count on, however, is the resistance to their group by, not only the criminals, but the local politicians as well. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I saw this movie when it first came out and I was as impressed by it then as I am with it today. And, although the main character was a bit too hot-headed at times, I still thought Tom Skerritt's added just the right amount of anger and passion to make this movie seem pretty realistic and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

In a crime ridden area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Italian-American delicatessen owner John D'Angelo (Tom Skerritt) is a family man with an expectant wife, Lisa (Patti LuPone), and young son Danny (Jonathan Adam Sherman). Following an incident where a pimp attacks them causing Lisa to suffer a miscarriage and another incident where John's mother Vera (Gina DeAngelis) is mugged in a drugstore, John organizes other citizens of his area to form a neighborhood watch called The People's Neighborhood Patrol (PNP) which takes direct action on criminals in the areas through citizen's arrests. While John attains respect and prestige in the community because of his actions, he is also looked upon unfavorably by elements of City Hall and prominent members of the black community such as Ivanhoe Washington (Yaphet Kotto) who runs a group similar to John's.

During the Dino De Laurentis' sale of the rights to the Brian Garfield novel Death Wish and its characters to Cannon Films, De Laurentis briefly discussed with director Michael Winner the prospect of him directing the Death Wish sequel under him instead of Golan and Globus, when Winter refused De Laurentis proceeded with the sale of the rights but also produced his own vigilante film as a direct clone of Death Wish. The end result was Fighting Back which was released about three months after Death Wish II, and despite coming from Paramount, a larger studio than Cannon, and sporting the writers of films such as Straw Dogs and Monte Walsh, Fighting Back didn't even manage to recoup its $9 million budget in the United States with Death Wish II bringing in three times its gross. The moviehas fallen into obscurity in the years since and critical reception was rather tepid upon initial release (though somewhat better than Death Wish II if not by much). Despite the movie being made purely out of Dino De Laurentis regretting selling the Death Wish rights, Fighting Back is less ugly and reprehensible than Death Wish II.

Like every other vigilante movie that followed on from Death Wish the movie hits all the marks to a "t". Everyman suffers a wrong or wrongs that motivates him to take justice into his own hands? Check. Police are inept giving excuses like "we don't have the manpower" but become mobilized as an antagonistic force against our protagonist? Check. Man on the Street/News reports paying lip service to a "debate" about pros and cons of vigilantism? Kind of. The one point in Fighting Back's favor is that it does at least seem aware of the inherent racism of the wish fulfillment aspect of vigilante stories and Yaphet Kotto's Ivanhoe Washington does serve as something of a counterpoint to John's Anthony Imperiale-esque antics so at least it is addressing some of the beneath the surface problems that give rise to urban blight rather than boiling it down to "good guy with gun takes down bad guys with guns". I also commend the film for not including any of the lurid sexual violence Death Wish II used such as the prolonged rape scene where I character who vocally believed in "the system" is violently stripped nude and assaulted as the camera lingered on every part of her anatomy. Fighting Back largely avoids the more lurid traps of this genre so I also have to commend it on that point. Aside from that though, it's just another vigilante movie. Despite the movie trying to add some semblance of credibility by showing stock footage of the Reagan and Pope John Paul II assignation attempts or Yaphet Kotto being a foil to Skerritt's John D'Angelo the way the movie ends does feel like it celebrates John's actions down to the over the top happy scene at the now cleaned up park where children are having a snowball fight.

There's nothing all that much to Fighting Back other than to say "it's not hateful like Death Wish II". It still celebrates vigilantism and makes excuses for it and it follows most of the major points established by Death Wish even if it doesn't go into as much gory detail with it. It's violent stupid wish fulfillment, but at least it's somewhat aware of it and does have some amusing moments that aren't drowned in excessive sadism.

Fighting Back was unknown to me until recently. I just grabbed the Blu Ray from Arrow Films. This differs greatly from the Death Wish movies(especially past the second movie). This looks at vigilantism in a realistic and intelligent way. This is also more blue collar/working class. An Italian American deli owner (Tom Skeritt) gets fed up with the rampant crime wave that is ruining his neighborhood. He gets a neighborhood group together and they start cracking heads. Their critics accuse them of racism as the majority of the people they go after are black. This is not a shoot em up action piece, most of the violence are brawls and are very gritty and realistic in their depiction. He ends up getting media attention and is drawn into politics. Skerit's neighborhood action group often goes beyond the law and this film looks at how a man changes from the beginning of the movie, to the end. The film has a lot to say about politics and American society at this time. I thought Fighting Back was a very good movie and it was well scripted, acted and directed.

Set in South Philadelphia, Italian-American John D'Angelo (Tom Skerritt) runs a family owned deli with his pregnant wife Lisa (Patti LuPone.)

The neighbourhood is going to the dogs. His wife wants to move. Then his best friend is shot, his mother is attacked with her fingers are amputated and his wife loses the baby.

John organises a vigilante group with best friend Vince Morelli (Michael Sarrazin) a cop to make the streets safe. They form the People's Neighborhood Patrol.

Only they stir up violence and are accused of being racially motivated by Ivanhoe Washington (Yaphet Kotto) a black activist.

John has a particular grudge against a black pimp. His success though has the local politicians worried. They think John might run for the council.

The film has mixed signals about vigilante justice. The issue being who polices their excesses and it is clear that John is targeting the local blacks.

Fighting Back is supposed to be a more cerebral version of Death Wish. In the end it is just another exploitation movie but with better actors.

First of all I concur with all my fellow reviewers who can't seem to fathom that "Death Vengeance" is still so underrated, unknown and unavailable on DVD. This is a cult movie in the purest definition of the term, for crying out loud, with an acclaimed director and cast and a harshly realist subject that is applicable to all times and all big cities! Even more so, there were most vigilante thrillers all too easily revert to crowd-pleasing violence (Charlie Bronson's "Death Wish" being the best example of this), at least "Death Vengeance" attempts to remain more rational, with ordinary characters, dramatic sub plots, politically engaged and socially relevant. Tom Skerritt, in one of his best performances ever, stars as the Italian-American John D'Angelo who owns a deli shop in the roughest and most crime-infested neighborhood in Philadelphia. Following a couple of dramatic incidents where his wife lost their unborn baby and his mother her ring finger, John mobilizes his fellow petrified neighbors into founding the People's Neighbourhood Patrol. In a relatively short time, they free the park and streets around their houses of muggers, drug dealers, pimps and prostitutes and organized crime. Even though John's family life suffers under his obsession and he often has difficulties of drawing the line between what's legal and what's not, his achievements grow increasingly important. So important even, that the current mayor fears John to become an unbeatable rival in the next elections. "Death Vengeance" is a strong and compelling revenge/vigilante thriller with the emphasis on character development and grim atmosphere. The sequences where John D'Angelo confronts Ivanhoe Washington (a black volunteer who tries to keep petty criminals off the streets) are equally important as the sequences where the vigilantes battle hardcore thugs in the park. For the real die-hard fanatics of grisly early 80's cult cinema, "Death Vengeance" has quite a lot of brutal images to offer as well, like the drug store hold-up, but the violence never becomes gratuitous or overly exploitative. That alone is a remarkable accomplishment of director Lewis Teague ("Alligator", "Cujo"). The supportive cast is excellent as well, with Michael Sarrazin ("The Reincarnation of Peter Proud"), Yaphet Kotto ("Across 110th Street") and David "Sledge Hammer" Rasche! Is there an online petition anywhere to release this gem on DVD that I can sign?