The Punisher (1989)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Mark Goldblatt

Writer (WGA):

Boaz Yakin (written by)

Release Date:

5 October 1989 (West Germany)

Genre:

Action | Crime

Tagline:

If society won't punish the guilty, he will.

Plot:

When Frank Castle's family is murdered by criminals, he wages war on crime as a vigilante assassin known only as the Punisher.

Plot Keywords:

Vigilante | Marvel Comics | Yakuza | Japanese | Murder

Cast

Dolph Lundgren	...	Frank Castle / The Punisher
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Jake Berkowitz
Jeroen Krabbé	...	Gianni Franco (as Jeroen Krabbe)
Kim Miyori	...	Lady Tanaka
Bryan Marshall	...	Dino Moretti
Nancy Everhard	...	Sam Leary
Barry Otto	...	Shake
Brian Rooney	...	Tommy Franco
Zoshka Mizak	...	Tanaka's Daughter
Kenji Yamaki	...	Sato
Hirofumi Kanayama	...	Tomio
Larry McCormick	...	TV Newsreader
Todd Boyce	...	Terrone
Lani John Tupu	...	Laccone (as Larney Tupu)
John Negroponte	...	Musso

Runtime:

89 min | Finland:76 min (heavily cut) (1990) (1995)

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Spain:18 | Finland:K-16 (heavily cut) (1995) | Finland:K-16 (heavily cut) (1990) | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-18 (2006) (self applied) (film festival rating) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | USA:R (cut) (certificate #29751) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Australia:R | France:-12 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:18 (cut) | West Germany:18 (cut) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

New World Pictures (Australia)

Trivia:

The Police cars are Australian Valiants converted to left hand drive. There are 2 models shown, 1976 VK and 1977 CL.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In a long shot of rack-torture scene, everyone is clearly standing on a place-marker.

Quotes:

Gianni Franco: How bad is it?
Terrone: How bad is it? If you hadn't come back, I'd be head of the family.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Durch die Nacht mit...: Dolph Lundgren und Ralph Herforth" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Vicious Minds

The Gulity will be punished

Dolph Lundgren is the Punisher in my mind after seeing this movie. Yeah the filming was a little cheap and they eliminated the skull on his shirt but Lundgren captured Frank Castle's descent into madness perfectly. The film opens up five years after the death of Frank Castle and his family as we see in flashbacks this pushed Castle over the edge and into a Vendetta for revenge. Top marks go to Lou Gosset Jr as he Carries his end f the movie beautifully Gossett And Lundgren are the movie. Some of the other actors fall Flat and are not really convincing Only Jerome Krabbe Carries his role off with any hint of class or style. Some of the bad acting in this movie is it's downfall but it captures the style and spirit of the comic Something the remake strives to do but not quite. This movie is a Fun shut your brain off for 92 minutes and sit back and enjoy action classic