Vigilante (1983)

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Cult Director William Lustig's Follow Up to Acclaimed B-Horror-Movie, Maniac (1980) is Another Welcomed Power to the People, Cathartic, Revenge Flick. Unpretentiously Titled, this One Delivers What it is Selling in No Uncertain Terms.With Iconic Performances by Robert Forster and Fred Williamson, and a Gaggle of Gang Movie Favorites, Including Joe Spinell as a Sleazy, Slimeball Lawyer. It has Lustig's Trademark Ultra-Violence and Striking Sound Stings, and is One of Genre's Best.The Director Takes All the Clichés of This Type of Thing and Makes it His Own. It is a Film, that Once Viewed Rises Above Expectations and Becomes a Never To Be Forgotten Experience. Lustig Knew Very Well that One of the Movie's Most Lasting Scenes Would Not Pass the Ratings Board with an "R" if Shown in Any Detail. But the Talented Director Made it a Lasting and Disturbing Scene Standing Out in a Genre that is Remarkable from its Exploitation Brethren.This is Top-Shelf Stuff and Stands Above the Pantheon and is a Classic that is Must Viewing and Essential as a Quintessential Effort. If You Want to Get and Eye and Earful of What Constitutes This Type of Thing Don't Hesitate to Check it Out and Be Amazed at its Style and Singularity.

Vigilante is a grim and hard hitting revenge themed action flick in the vein of Deathwish. Robert Foster is father and husband who 's wife and son were victims in a home invasion . He looks to friend Fred Williamson for help in seeking revenge. Directed by William Lustig of Maniac fame. Vigilante is real nasty and ultraviolent. It also looks great and sound great with a score that is like a spaghetti western from hell. Acting performances are excellent across the board. Fred Williamson 's acting is the best I've seen from him .He is absolutely menacing and brutal here. Robert Foster is great also and shows a great range of emotions in this piece .Vigilante in tone is a very bleak film that is very well done and played serious . Expect little humor and watch Fred and company to take out the trash. Great cameo from Joe Spinell as sleazy, scumbag lawyer.Excellent.

Kinda sad to see Forster's roots in a flick like this.The script is terribly heavy handed and the direction may have tried to compensate, but failed. You might demur that it is, after all, a little action flick snack, but the film won't let you get away with that: You can't have it both ways.It obviously attempts to cop some fire from the "hard" reality of urban crime. You can't make a feint toward that end, then trivialize it with lousy scenario work, acting, and direction, and then expect to hide behind a defensive claim that the viewer made the mistake of taking it too seriously.It's a fine example of a flick that fails to manage its "tone" correctly. It feels like a movie made by grown-up teenaged boys.Interesting comparison: Check out Forester in Jackie Brown. Thank the Good Load Aboff, Forster got to work out in a flick that set its sights on a story and stealthily took great strides of scenario, acting, and direction to make that story blossom like a fine and beautiful flower in our minds.Anyway... who is going to watch Vigilante now? I would highly recommend it for a film class, for subsequent group analysis to try to nail down the contours of its failure to deliver something artistically meritorious.

Robert Forster, normally a very strong character actor, is lost at sea here cast as a New York family man seeking revenge on the thugs who murdered his son and attacked his wife in a home invasion. Scary subject matter exploited for cheapjack thrills in the "Death Wish" vein. It isn't difficult to scoff at these smarmy proceedings: the dialogue is full of howlers, the crime statistics are irrevocably dated, and the supporting characters are ridiculously over-written (particularly a despicable judge who allows an accused murderer to walk right out of the courtroom). Low-rent production is contemptible in its self-righteousness, especially as the violence in our cities has only increased. * from ****