在美国暴力犯罪情况日益严重的七十年代初期，本片石破天惊地公然提出“以暴易暴"的主张，让受害者自力救济对罪犯展开暴力反击，在首映当年曾引起相当热烈的讨论。 　　动作巨星查尔斯．布朗森饰演的一名温文商人，当他的太太和女儿被暴徒强奸，而爱妻更因而致死时，他的整个人生态度改变了。他开始主动出击，在暗夜的纽约街头找寻那些可能的暴力犯加以制裁，警方对这名神秘的城市英雄感到困惑：难道打击犯罪真的要这样子才有效吗？ 　　导演迈克尔．温纳成功地塑造了一个以暴易暴的英雄，他们忍无可忍之后的出手普遍赢得观众的认同，老查的演出也相当精彩。杰夫．戈德布拉姆初登银幕，饰演其中一名暴徒。 　　影片对暴力采取极端写实的手法，远离暴力的娱乐化倾向。该片在1982、1985、1987、1994年分别推出四部续集，但毫无新意，均遭恶评。Open-minded architect Paul Kersey returns to New York City from vacationing with his wife, feeling on top of the world. At the office, his cynical coworker gives him the welcome-back with a warning on the rising crime rate. But Paul, a bleeding-heart liberal, thinks of crime as being caused by poverty. However his coworker's ranting proves to be more than true when Paul's wife is killed and his daughter is raped in his own apartment. The police have no reliable leads and his overly sensitive son-in-law only exacerbates Paul's feeling of hopelessness. He is now facing the reality that the police can't be everywhere at once. Out of sympathy his boss gives him an assignment in sunny Arizona where Paul gets a taste of the Old West ideals. He returns to New York with a compromised view on muggers...