It stars Charles Bronson as the vigilante killer Paul Kersey and sees him battling with New York street punk gangs while receiving tactical support from a local NYPD lieutenant (Ed Lauter).

As Paul calls for an ambulance, Manny, who was secretly wearing a bulletproof vest, rises and turns his gun on the two men.

Death Wish 3 was greenlit in June 1981 after the previous film earned back its budget before completing production when it signed a cable television distribution deal with HBO.

[6][5] Charles Bronson haggled with Cannon over his fee so they offered the role to Chuck Norris, who turned it down, claiming that the violence in the movie was "too negative".

[7] The concept of Paul Kersey facing a street gang which terrorizes elderly citizens was developed by screenwriter Don Jakoby.

His screenplay reportedly turned Kersey into an urban version of John Rambo, displeasing Bronson in the process.

The only known ones were a meeting between Ed Lauter's character, Richard Shriker, discussing the crime statistics with the District Attorney, the police confiscating a Doberman Pinscher that one of the residents had for protection against the gang and Paul Kersey using an old mattress as a punching bag as part of his workout routine.

His latest films, The Wicked Lady (1983) and Scream for Help (1984), were box office flops and Winner was in need of a "surefire hit".

Bronson did add however that "there are men on motorbikes, an element that's threatening – throwing bottles and that sort of thing – and I machine gun them.

Winner reused Page's score for Death Wish II in the editing stage, and rearranged the music for the actual soundtrack, which included Mike Moran, credited as "arranger and conductor", on synthesizers.

At the time, Alex Winter was a broke film student and needed a summer job, so he was given the role of Hermosa.

Other New York locations used for the film included the Queensboro Bridge, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and Long Island.

[5] Cinematographer John Stanier was previously director of photography for Oxford Blues (1984) and The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985).

Even though Death Wish 3 takes place in New York City, some parts of the film were shot in London to make the production less expensive.

Of the British actors who appeared, Marina Sirtis had previously worked for Michael Winner on The Wicked Lady (1983).

She followed her appearance in this film by garnering the role of Deanna Troi on the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987.

[14] Roger Ebert remarked that the film was a marginal improvement over Death Wish II with better action, directing, and special effects, but was still poor in absolute terms.

[15] Variety described Bronson's performance as lifeless, though they said the film's main flaw was its failure to provide a convincing motive for Paul Kersey's latest killing spree.

[16] Walter Goodman of The New York Times ridiculed the film's lack of realism, particularly that violent crime is surrealistically rampant, and that the repetition of the basic plot of the original Death Wish (i.e. that Kersey's closest friends and relatives are brutally murdered) grows more absurd with each installment of the series.

However, he acknowledged that the film effectively created all the elements that make the Death Wish series appealing to its fans.

[17] Some lambasted the film for sadistic over-violent content and the fact that a 64-year-old Charles Bronson was thrown into a Rambo-like situation.

Leonard Maltin said: "Same old stuff; Bronson's 'ordinary guy' character is no longer convincing, since his entire immediate family was wiped out by the end of Part 2.

M. Enois Duarte of High Def Digest said the "unintentional humor" and "absurdity" made it "so bad, it's hilariously good".

Taylor completed the stunt but missed the boxes by "about a foot", breaking his pelvis, back and receiving some burns.

[21] Actress Marina Sirtis, who was directed by Winner in The Wicked Lady and Death Wish 3, has implied she was mistreated by Winner, as reported by The Stage in 2019: When it comes to the dark side of film, TV and theatre's treatment of women, Sirtis is "in awe of those young actresses" who have spoken out as part of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements.

"And I know you're not supposed to speak ill of the dead", she adds, but she hopes that film director Michael Winner, who directed her in Death Wish 3, will "rot in hell for all eternity".

[22]The film was made into a video game of the same name by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum,[23] Commodore 64, MSX and Amstrad CPC.

It was one of the goriest games of its time, featuring multiple weapons with detailed, different damage patterns and the possibility to kill civilians.