I’m not exactly sure when this started but in the late 70’s, all throughout the 80’s and into the early 90’s there were a good chunk of movies set in New York City that used the city as a character. That always sounds cheesy I know, a setting being a character, but it’s absolutely true for some films. There is not other way to describe it. The city is always portrayed as a bleak place with little to no hope. It’s a dark, grimy, sinister world where violence rules the streets. It’s not a place you want to visit. Despite this, there’s always some beauty that peaks through. In the darkest moments a patch of light can be seen, offering encouragement.

John Flynn’s Defiance is one of those movies. The plot is reminiscent of movies such as Death Wish III and Vigilante. You have a hard working, blue collar guy that is tired of being pushed around by thugs and decides to fight back. I’m a sucker for these. Defiance may not be as good as those other films, but it’s certainly enjoyable on its own right.

Jan-Michael Vincent stars as Tommy, a seaman who gets stuck in New York after getting kicked off his ship. Forced to stay in the city while he waits for a new ship looking for crew to come along, Tommy gets a small little apartment. He tries to keep to himself and pass the time as quickly as possible. He doesn’t want any trouble and he definitely doesn’t want to be in NYC for long. Despite his best efforts, Tommy picks up a few friends and an eventual love interest in Marsha (Theresa Saldana). As much as Tommy hates the city, things aren’t going too bad. Unfortunately that’s about to change.

This little neighborhood is run by a group of thugs led by Angel Cruz (Rudy Ramos), who basically looks like an 80’s thug version of Zoro, even has the hat. Angel and his cronies strike fear into the entire community as they do what they please. They can commit crimes in broad daylight and get away with it because they know that no one will report them. Everyone is afraid of the consequences. Tommy won’t have any of it however, and stands up to Angel. This leads to a warfare between Angel’s crew and the whole community.

Defiance doesn’t do anything to set itself apart from other movies like this. It doesn’t have those ridiculous and over-the-top moments that something like Death Wish III has. Because of this it may not be as memorable, but it’s still a good time and worth checking out because of what it does have. Vincent is a very solid lead man and absolutely perfect for a role like this. He just has a very no-nonsense, won’t take shit from anyone attitude. He won’t mess with you unless you push him, but once you push him that’s pretty much it for you. In a role like this I could watch him all day because he gets the job done.

Saldana, who most may remember from Raging Bull, is also quite good and has excellent chemistry with Vincent. The way their relationship forms throughout the movie is so interesting. She lives in the building he moves into and accidentally dumps water on him one morning. She goes down to apologize and just forces her way into her apartment. She’s pushy and in-your-face without feeling pushy and in-your-face. She has this certain charm that draws you in. Her career never really took off, largely due to a horrible incident with a stalker which is a shame, but luckily we do have a few roles like this that we can appreciate.

The biggest problem with Defiance is that some of the fight scenes don’t really pay off the way you’d like. The first time Angel and his gang jump Tommy is really bad. The scene is just framed so weird. They attack him in a bathroom at the subway but all they really do is push him over. Tommy goes down right away and then the gang starts kicking him. The problem is the kicks don’t look very convincing and everything is off to the right. The whole thing is barely in frame. It’s a very odd approach and I literally have no idea what Flynn was going with here. The middle half of the film has a few good fights, particularly one on a basketball court, but the big battle between Tommy and Angel is a bit of a letdown. It’s not bad, but it’s lackluster to say the least.

Director of photography Ric Waite is probably the biggest star of Defiance. He captures New York so beautifully. You get that feeling of the city being a dark, unsafe place. This was an early theatrical feature for Waite, who had mostly done TV stuff up this point. He would eventually go on to DP movies like 48 Hours and Footloose.

Defiance may not be the top of it’s class, but it’s a solid, solid movie. If you want to take a break from Charles Bronson but are still interesting in seeing thugs get what is coming to them, Defiance is the movie for you.

Defiance is now out on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.