The Punisher (1989)

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

Director:

Mark Goldblatt

Writer:

Boaz Yakin

Stars:

Dolph Lundgren, Louis Gossett Jr., Jeroen Krabbé

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dolph Lundgren	...	Frank Castle
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

Storyline

Based on the Marvel Comic, Dolph Lundgren is Frank Castle an ex-cop who lives in the sewers and acts as judge, jury, and executioner to the city's criminals in retaliation for the unpunished murders of his wife and kids. Frank's ex-partner Jake (Louis Gossett Jr.) finally catches up with the vigilante as he tries to stop the Japanese mob, which is trying to take over the city's mafia operation.

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Plot Keywords:

vigilante | japanese | marvel comics | murder | yakuza | 

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Taglines:

The guilty will be punished

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 October 1989 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

A Büntető

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New World Pictures (Australia), New World Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min 76 min (heavily cut) (1990) (1995)

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Dolby Stereo)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Seeing as he had absolutely no involvement with the creation of the original Punisher character, this is one of the few movies based on a Marvel Comic that Stan Lee does not appear in.

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Goofs

When Frank fights Tanaka's daughter, after he pins her to the wall, she takes both her earrings off and scratches him. In the next shot her earrings are back on and then they're gone again.

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Quotes

Frank Castle: If you're guilty, you're dead.

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Connections

Referenced in Into the Night with...: Dolph Lundgren und Ralph Herforth (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Vicious Minds"
Written by Harry Garfield
Performed by Hobo & Habby

User Reviews

Lighten Up: It's a Fun Flick

Relatively few comic-book-based films are true to their origins. For instance, Spoilers follow.

In the first Batman film, The Joker is killed In the second, The Penguin dies. The Swamp Thing films strayed significantly from their ... roots. So, okay: this version is markedly different from the comic book.

Within that context, the film is entertaining. Dolph Lundgren plays a laconic Punisher, who finds himself in the middle of a war between two crime organizations. As with the second version of Blade, our hero finds himself in a reluctant alliance with some of his enemies to confront a more dangerous group of enemies.

Actually, where the newer film (remake?) gives a better origin story, it takes forever to get going; this one gets right into the action. Rather like the Hamlet soliloquy in The Last Action Hero.