The Punisher (2004)

An undercover FBI agent becomes a vigilante assassin and sets out to unleash his wrath upon the corrupt businessman who slaughtered his entire family at a reunion.

Director:

Jonathan Hensleigh

Writers:

Jonathan Hensleigh, Michael France

Stars:

Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Samantha Mathis

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
A. Russell Andrews	...	Jimmy Weeks (as Russell Andrews)
Omar Avila	...	Joe Toro
James Carpinello	...	Bobby Saint / John Saint
Mark Collie	...	Harry Heck
Russell Durham Comegys	...	Tattooed Mike (as Russ Comegys)
Antoni Corone	...	T.J.
Rick Elmhurst	...	Bay News 9 Newscaster
Ben Foster	...	Spacker Dave
Michael Reardon	...	Toro Croupier (as Michael Francis)
Laura Harring	...	Livia Saint
William Haze	...	EMT (as William Hasenzahl)
Thomas Jane	...	Frank Castle (as Tom Jane)
Eddie Jemison	...	Micky Duka
Marco St. John	...	Police Chief Morris
Marcus Johns	...	Will Castle

Storyline

Special agent Frank Castle had it all: A loving family, a great life, and an adventurous job. But when his life is taken away from him by a ruthless criminal and his associates, Frank has become reborn. Now serving as judge, jury, and executioner, he's a new kind of vigilante out to wage a one man war against those who have done him wrong.

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Plot Keywords:

vigilante | revenge | family reunion | female nudity | origin of hero | 

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Taglines:

This Is Not Revenge. It's Punishment!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive brutal violence, language and brief nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

(at around 1h 5 mins) The license plate on Frank Castle's car reads "Year One", the auto customizer that worked on the GTO. It was just a coincidence that The Punisher also had a Year One title.

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Goofs

During the chase scene, the red Ford pickup chasing Castle's wife and son continually changes from standard to automatic.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bobby Saint: So I'm gonna get a three-to-one return on my money?
Micky Duka: Otto is the real deal. I met him at a hash bar in Amsterdam. He speaks Russian, German, Arabic...

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Crazy Credits

The Marvel Comics logo features comic-book images of the Punisher in its pages; after it fully forms, it is shot three times and "bleeds" white paint which forms the Punisher's skull, and the film's title.

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Alternate Versions

Extended edition DVD also includes an animated prologue of Castle and Weeks in Kuwait during Desert Storm, where Castle saves Weeks' life and prohibits another soldier from summarily executing two captured guerrillas

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Connections

Referenced in Justice (Part 1) (2020)

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Soundtracks

In Time
Written by Coley McCabe and Mark Collie
Published by Shangri-La Lane Publishing (ASCAP), Hardin Creek Music Publishing (BMI). and On The Way Music (BMI)
Performed by Mark Collie aka "Harry Heck"
Courtesy of Wind-up Records

User Reviews

Classic Film making

Wonderful Camera work and acting.

There are no flashy CGI effects in this movie or fictional superpowers. It relies more on traditional technique's and delivers beautifully.

The director has done a superb job with the severely underfunded budget taking us to a realistic location that serves two purposes cheaper production costs and somewhere original that looks and feels real. After all that is what the punisher movie is about, making a comic book character fit into the real world with realistic situations.

This guy could be anyone out there with a vendetta up against believable enemies. There are no superpowers on show here just a guy with a vendetta up against a powerful man that wants him killed who can afford to hire realistic killers with personality I might add, to do the job

This goes down as one of my favorite films of all time mainly because of the beautiful camera work and realistic gritty style action. I'll be definitely keeping an eye out for this director's work in the future.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Vidio [Indonesia]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 April 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Punisher

Filming Locations:

Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$33,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,000,000, 18 April 2004

Gross USA:

$33,810,189

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$54,700,105

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lions Gate Films, Marvel Enterprises, Valhalla Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min 140 min (extended cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1