Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)

This is about a vigilante who singlehandedly tries to wipe out the drug trade in Los Angeles.

Totally wacko, yet moderately watchable action drama. Vigilantes of the lone wolf kind are rare or nonexistent in real life, in which people usually organize toward the achievement of a common goal. In this film, it is the bad guys who get organized. I think this fictional pattern is part of film ideology on a permanent and intrinsic basis. This has to do with the format of the film viewing experience, which is a lonely act. That is why I think cinema is an alienating phenomenon and will meet its doom very soon. The decay in quality we are witnessing today is a consequence of the internal contradictions of the medium. One example: film industry's thriving depends heavily on dates, which basically spoil the individuality of the fruition. Other arts, such as painting, sculpture, and literature are more open to collective experience.

Rating: 32