film's release. Bronson defended the film and felt that it was intended to be a commentary on violence and was meant to attack violence, not romanticize it. On Rotten Tomatoes Death Wish has an approval rating of 65% based on reviews from 31 critics. Year-end lists The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: 2001: AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – Nominated 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains: Paul Kersey – Nominated Hero Impact and influence Death Wish was a watershed for Bronson, who was 52 years of age at the time, and who was then better known in Europe and Asia for his role in The Great Escape. Bronson became an American film icon, who experienced great popularity over the next twenty years. In the series' later years, the Death Wish franchise became a subject of parody for its high level of violence and the advancing age of Bronson (a 1995 episode of The Simpsons, "A Star Is Burns," showed a fictional advertisement for Death Wish 9, consisting of a bed-ridden Bronson saying "I wish I was dead"). However, the Death Wish franchise remained lucrative and drew support from fans of exploitation cinema. The series continues to have a widespread following on home video and is occasionally broadcast on various television stations in the US and Europe. In an episode of American Dad!, "The One That Got Away", Roger dresses similarly to the protagonist when he plans revenge on an alternate personality of himself. He tells an alternate character that Death Wish was a movie, when his reference via outfit is misconstrued. Bronson is mentioned in the 1997 The Notorious B.I.G. classic "Kick in the Door". In the song, Biggie proclaims: "Sold more powder than Johnson and Johnson/Tote steel like Bronson, vigilante/You wanna get on son, you need to ask me." In the 1985–1986 Spider-Man comic arc "The Death of Jean DeWolff", Bronson makes a small appearance in one panel, holding a newspaper with the headline "vigilante". A clip from the film of Jeff Goldblum's hoodlum-rapist character yelling "Goddamn rich cunt! I kill rich cunts!" was often played on The Opie and Anthony Show. In the 2003 release Champion Sound by hip hop duo Jaylib, on the track "The Official", J Dilla says: "I keeps it bouncing when the P.I's wanna wish for death, I'm C. Bronson". In Michael Chabon's 2012 novel Telegraph Avenue, Death Wish