MovieChat Forums > Death Wish (1974) Discussion > Why is he called a vigilante when all th...

Why is he called a vigilante when all the thugs he kills are acts of self defense?

posted 6 days ago by beancrisp (1698)
7 replies | jump to latest

I mean he only kills after being attacked by the thugs.

[–] BKB (10665) 6 days ago

He's a Vigilante who kills the thugs and stops them from terrorizing other helpless females. I mean, this movie has been around for like 50 Years and we're all of a sudden bagging on it in 2025??

[–] millsey72 (10663) 6 days ago

Can you please put spoiler in your headline next time

[–] BKB (10665) 6 days ago

Are you REALLY going to watch this movie and don't want to be spoiled?? A movie as old as this is??

[–] millsey72 (10663) 6 days ago

I like be as courteous as possible to not give away spoilers without notice on all movies made after 1960. I was recently warned by the MC moderators when I gave away the ending of the original Planet of the Apes movie

[–] strntz (12733) 6 days ago

Scum. I haven't seen Planet of the Apes yet. You deserved to be castigated for that.

[–] EdwardHaskell (150) 6 days ago

Yes, but he goes out at night with the intention of killing muggers.

I am not condemning his actions but his motivation is what makes him a vigilante.

[–] strntz (12733) 6 days ago

There's "self defense" and then there's entrapment. If he didn't go out trolling for thugs, he wouldn't have been attacked. In many of those cases he could have easily have escaped and not killed anyone. That's how Bernard Goetz got convicted, and he actually killed those who attacked him out of the blue - he didn't set them up. He followed them and shot them.

If Paul had only gone out once, killed the attackers he lured and then quit the game, what he did would be considered self defense unless he said beforehand that is what he planned. Once this happened several times, it's clear he was a vigilante.