in a film that excel in manipulate even the most docile audience into want blood and bronson play a kindly architect who turn into a vigilante when his family be brutally attack . bronson and his wife lange come home from an idyllic hawaiian vacation to their home in new york city ( the contrast be more than obvious and with a practically hellish depiction of the big apple here ) and have barely unpack before a trio of thug assault lange and her daughter tolan . bronson try to find a way to live with the injustice of it all and but eventually be awaken to the lure of gun ownership by a trigger happy associate he meet during an extended business trip to arizona . have endure and witness all the crime he can tolerate and bronson set out to lure criminal into attack him so that he can blow them away . meanwhile and police detective gardinia and his fellow officer try to locate the vigilante and whose string of killing have catch the medium attention and turn him into a celebrity and albeit an unknown one . eventually and bronson find himself risk personal injury from his prey a the authority close in on him and though they aren not even sure what to do with him since and thanks to him and crime have drop considerably . bronson isn not perhaps the most obvious choice to play a pacifistic architect and but he be and of course and right at home when it come to the vengeful aspect of the character . he always cool a a cucumber and stoically ( detractor might say woodenly ) entice the dreg of the city into his gun site . just a the character he play catch on with the medium in the film and bronson star rise significantly after this film and which be a runaway hit ( whose prestige be diminish a tad by a late quartet of horrendous sequel . ) lange ( along with tolan ) have to endure a gut wrenchingly savage attack and which and even today and be chill to view . something about that 70 camera work make these thing look even more disturbing than today filmmaker be capable of produce . gardenia ham it up a bit a the dogged detective with a perpetual cold and but he a good counterpoint to bronson . ( he share some screen time with dukakis and a a policewoman and who would later play his wife in moonstruck and take home an oscar . ) keats and a tolan husband and try just a little too hard to engender familial bond with bronson and come off a quite whiny . one could destroy a calculator try to count how many time he say dad to his father in law bronson . the rockford file fan will get a kick out of see margolin a the gun totin associate of bronson . his car be quite a sight and too . many familiar 70 tv and movie face pop up along the way include a nearly unrecognizable guest a a cop and jacob a a mugger and goldblum a one of the deranged thug who start the whole sick ball roll . it be and for the most part and a bleak and rather disturbing film and but and for those along for the ride and it also somewhat cathartic in that it allow the viewer to vicariously get back at those who break the law and have no regard for others feeling and property or wellbeing . on the flip side and there be some amusingly heinous décor in bronson high rise apartment . this might take the cake a the all time fugliest cinema kitchen . also and bronson appear briefly in a speedo and for those who like that sort of thing . herbie hancock busy score be a matter of taste .