Many critics were displeased with the film, considering it an "immoral threat to society" and an encouragement of antisocial behavior. Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" was one of the most outspoken writers, condemning "Death Wish" in two extensive articles. Roger Ebert awarded three stars out of four and praised the "cool precision" of Winner's direction but did not agree with the film's philosophy. Gene Siskel gave the film two stars out of four and wrote that its setup "makes no attempt at credibility; its goal is to present a syllogism that argues for vengeance, and to present it so swiftly that one doesn't have time to consider its absurdity." Charles Champlin of the "Los Angeles Times" called it "a despicable motion picture... It is nasty and demagogic stuff, an appeal to brute emotions and against reason." Gary Arnold of "The Washington Post" described the film as "simplistic to the point of stasis. Scarcely a single sensible insight into urban violence occurs; the killings just plod one after another as Bronson stalks New York's crime-ridden streets." Clyde Jeavons of "The Monthly Film Bulletin" wrote, "Superficially, it's not all that far removed from a Budd Boetticher revenge Western ... The difference, of course, is that Michael Winner has none of Boetticher's indigenous sense of allegory or his instinct for what constitutes a good folk-mythology, let alone his relish for three-dimensional villains."