Punisher

No, this is not CITIZEN KANE. But it is an entertaining film that did make a somewhat unbelievable Marvel "hero" to celluloid.

Lundgren plays Frank Castle, a former NYPD detective (originally a military special ops expert in the comic) who loses his family to a mob hit. This pushes his already unstable personality over the edge, and he becomes a one-man judge, jury, and executioner. The VERY underrated Louis Gossett Jr. plays his former partner, determined to find him and keep him out of the gas chamber.

This movie is quite a decent action film. It actually delves quite deeply into the characters' motivations, their histories, their personalities. I agree with earlier comments that, out of the lot of action stars, Lundgren does bring at least some dramatic chops to the role. I really couldn't imagine Schwarzenegger playing this part, though Stallone or Willis might have been better choices.

The action sequences are done quite well for a low-budget film. The director, Mark Goldblatt, served as editor on films such as TERMINATOR 1 & 2, the underrated PREDATOR 2, TRUE LIES, STARSHIP TROOPERS, ARMAGEDDON, and PEARL HARBOR, so he definitely has knowledge of how to properly compose an action sequence. He also served as Paul Verhoeven's 2nd Unit Director on the original ROBOCOP.

The movie is rather tough to find, and though it strays away a bit from the source material, it does manage to flesh out a rather one-dimensional character.

A new version of THE PUNISHER is now being prepped, starring DREAMCATCHER's Thomas Jane as Frank Castle and directed by Jonathan Hensleigh.

The Punisher was made in 1990 but it remains my best comic-book adaption on screen ever. The film has captured the dark atmosphere of the comic-book like no other movie I've ever seen. Dolph plays Frank Castle, an ex-cop who retired after his wife was murdered (by the Mafia) to become a heavily-armed vigilante who lives in the sewers, called The Punisher. The story is about the Japanese Yakuza trying to take over the Mafia's business in America, causing a gang war on the streets. When the Mafia refuse to make an agreement, the Yakuza kidnap all the children of of the mob bosses to hold them for ransom. This is where Dolph has to save the day, rescue the children and put an end to the war. Louis Gosset Jr. is excellent as Dolph's ex-partner, Jake, who is now determined to find him. As The Punisher, I couldn't have thought of a better choice than Dolph. He fits the role perfecttly, and is unrelentingly cold throughout the movie. The plot is pure hokum, no doubt, but the movie looks and feels just like the Marvel comic. But this is no children's comic book movie, as the movie is packed with graphic violence that gave it a lot of negative publicity. It's a shame this movie bombed at the US box office, because it really is a great movie. If you haven't seen this gem, go rent it or buy it now!

Grosly undervalued, the Punisher is 15 years later still one of the better Marvel Movies. Of course the movie has a weak plot, and sure it never really surprises it's audience, but it captures the spirit of the comic far better than many other Marvel-movies.

After the murder of his family, Frank Castle goes on a rampage against organized crime. He starts a war against criminals everywhere. The movie shows the Punisher for what he is, once a broken man, now a killer with a shade of humanity far hidden inside.

As a movie, the Punisher is average, there are far better movies in the action-genre. But as a comic-adaptation it is at the very least true to the comic.

The Punisher was one of the better Marvel films adapted from a comic-thanks mainly to the casting.

Dolph Lungdren was an excellent choice as The Punisher and I cannot imagine anyone else being able to play it as well as he did. His facial expressions were so convincing throughout the movie;you really could believe that he was Frank Castle, a man whose family had been butchered. It was probably one of Dolph's best roles since playing He-Man in Masters of the Universe. The Punisher is a dangerous and pessimistic character and Dolph played it great.

Louis Gossett Jr. played Jake Berkowitz who had been chasing The Punisher for years and the lovely Nancy Everhard played his sidekick.

Jeroen Krabbe played crime boss Gianni Franco and he too did a brilliant job. He wasn't the stereotypical gangster. He made Gianni Franco into an intriguing character.

The casting for this film was brilliant so all that was needed after that was lots of action. And lots of action is exactly what we got. It was very vicious at times and I found myself flinching at times but it was great action.

I do wish there had been a sequel to this film.

I watched this movie when I was a young kid and I remember thinking "...Eh..." However, while browsing Borders, I saw the DVD for $6.99 and decided to give it another shot. I expected a fun action flick with lots of explosions, death-defying stunts, cool death shots, and a badass lead character. I was not disappointed. After reading so many bad reviews here on imdb I decided I need to write a review defending this movie. I don't know what other people expected when they saw this movie, but I certainly didn't expect much more than a cool action flick, and that is exactly what "The Punisher" gave me plus maybe a little more.

First off, Dolph Lundgren's stiff acting and menacing demeanor make him perfect for the part of the hell-bent, socially backwards loner determined to punish the scum of the Earth (His significant acting shortcomings are his assets here). The writer and director did a good job of showing many different facets of his personality and actually created a deeper characterization of the Punisher than I would have expected. Louis Gossett Jr. plays his his part competently enough. In fact, the acting was not all that bad all around (suitable enough for an action flick).

The action here is also pretty solid. Some examples: The opening sequence where Dolph punishes the trash-talking mob boss and his henchmen with style. In one scene, Dolph is driving a bus with children in tow while a hundred Japanese are firing machine guns and crashing their cars into the side of the bus...way cool.

The plot is pretty standard revenge bit with some minor twists and turns, but the ending is pretty cool and less predictable than most action thrillers, but then again thats not saying much :-)

FINAL RATING: 6/10 I doubt it will make anyone's top ten list, but this low budget action genre flick delivers the goods with solid action and semi-interesting characters, which is more than I can say for many big budget Hollywood action flicks (e.g. Cobra, Mercury Rising, The Watcher, the Art of War). Its not a movie to be analyzed, its a movie to enjoy. Action junkies should dig it, others should probably stay away.