Vigilante

A cycle powered by 1970s American urban decay and the widespread belief that nothing was going to be done about it.

The two originals

Dirty Harry (1971) put the vigilante inside the police. Death Wish (1974) took him out of it: Charles Bronson as an architect and self-described bleeding-heart liberal who, after his family is attacked, starts walking the subway at night hoping to be mugged.

Death Wish was a phenomenon and produced four sequels, each stupider and more brutal than the last.

The politics

They are reactionary, and mostly not accidentally. The films argue that due process is a luxury, that cities are lost, and that the answer is an armed man acting alone. Michael Winner knew exactly what he was selling.

What makes the good ones worth watching anyway is that a few of them notice the cost. Taxi Driver (1976) is the same story told by people who understood that the protagonist is unwell. Rolling Thunder (1977), written by Paul Schrader, does something similar with a returning POW.

Where to start

Rolling Thunder, for the last twenty minutes.