In the story, architect Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) moves to Los Angeles with his daughter (Robin Sherwood).

The sequel was produced by Cannon Films, which had purchased the rights to the Death Wish concept from Dino De Laurentiis.

Cannon executive Menahem Golan planned to direct the film, but Winner returned on Bronson's insistence.

Roughly eight years since the events of the first film, Paul Kersey has managed to recover from his shattered life and moved on and is now living in Los Angeles and working as a freelance architect.

One of his clients is a close friend who owns a radio station for whom he is designing a new building and he is dating one of its reporters, Geri Nichols.

They spend the afternoon at a fairground, where Paul's wallet is stolen by a gang, consisting of Nirvana, Punkcut, Stomper, Cutter, and Jiver.

Ochoa understands that Paul, when caught, will reveal that he was released without being charged for killing the ten muggers in New York City.

He drives to the location to kill Nirvana, who, under the influence of PCP, slashes his arm and stabs officers while trying to escape.

Geri is writing a story about the case and capital punishment and takes Paul to the hospital to meet the doctor treating Nirvana.

Donald Kay, an orderly, recognizes Paul from the newspaper coverage of Carol's murder, and gives him three minutes to escape before he rings the alarm.

The owner invites him to a launch party, but questions why Paul always seems to be unavailable in the evenings and never takes any phone calls.

Dino De Laurentiis, co-producer of the original film, threatened them with a lawsuit unless they properly purchased the rights.

He negotiated payments for himself, co-producers Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts, and original author Brian Garfield.

However, Golam and Globus did not want to use Garfield's book, preferring an original story by David Engelbach, Golan, and Hal Landers.

"Both Death Wish films are a valid comment on American society... the theme of street violence getting out of control is sadly more of a fact of life than it was seven years ago.

The actions of the Bronson character are dictated by the inability of the police to prevent crime, the preoccupation of the courts with technical rather than real justice, and the cancerous climate of fear in which we find ourselves today.

In his pursuit of vengeance he loses the only emotional relationship of his life and by story's end has become as much a victim of crime as the thugs he leaves dead in his wake".

[6] She had been offered a role in the film's predecessor, Death Wish (1974), but Charles Bronson refused because he didn't want his wife humiliated and messed around with by the actors who played muggers.

Cannon initially asked Golan to direct, but Bronson insisted on recruiting Michael Winner, the director of the original.

[6] Winner recalled that De Laurentiis was having second thoughts about letting someone else produce the sequel and offered to hire him to do the film for his own production company.

Laurence Fishburne bought a pair of magician's gloves and waved his knife like a wand, while Kevyn Major Howard waxed his eyebrows and shaved the front of his head to make himself look like a snake.

He even developed mannerisms like his insane laugh, slapping his head and twirling a baton from seeing a live drummer in a punk band.

Filming often lasted twelve hours a day in order to complete it before a Screen Actors Guild strike.

Twenty off-duty men of the LAPD were hired to protect the film cast and crew from potential trouble.

The opening credits bear Page's signature guitar tone, along with the heavy reverb-laden drum sound that he used with Led Zeppelin.

[10][11] The film grossed $29 million in United States theaters, a rare box-office hit for the ailing Filmways.

A poll for HBO noted Death Wish II was in higher demand by paying viewers than Chariots of Fire (1981).

He particularly criticized the way the film essentially repeats the plot of the original, the contrived incompetence of the police characters, and Jill Ireland's unconvincing performance.

[14] Roger Ebert gave it zero stars, noting that he reserves this rating solely for those very few films that are both "artistically inept and morally repugnant."

Citing the lethargic tone of the acting and directing, the lack of plot, the lifeless dialogue, and the weak action sequences, he concluded, "while the first film convinced me of Bronson's need for vengeance, this one is just a series of dumb killings.