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:

He has a plan... he has an enemy... this Summer... he will execute them both

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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

Total body count = 45.

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Goofs

(at around 15 mins) When Frank's father is giving his speech to the family, he spills his drink on Frank's lap which causes Frank to look down. In the next shot, Frank is looking up at his father.

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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 Honest Trailers: Deep Blue Sea (2018)

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Soundtracks

Broken
Written by Shaun Morgan (as Shaun Welgemoed) and Dale Stewart
Published by Seether Publishing and Dwight Frye Music, Inc. (BMI)
All rights adm. by Dwight Frye Music, Inc.
Performed by Seether featuring Amy Lee
Courtesy of Wind-up Records

User Reviews

Old-school

Producers and distributors alike can try to market this as a superhero movie all they want but the fact is that at the end of the day The Punisher is an action movie – no more, no less. That is not to say it is a bad achievement, for the end product is fun, exhilarating and stylish. I do however feel it is extremely important to debunk the 'comic book' label since it is both unjustly applied and it will perhaps generate false expectations from the mainstream audience.

Although The Punisher is adapted from Marvel Comics, the R-rating alone should be blunt indicator of the path it intends to take. Half an hour into the film it still leaves us clueless and oblivious to the dark turn it will twist into. During which Thomas Jane undergoes an apt transformation of character from heartfelt family man on that one last undercover op to a hard-boiled, brooding vigilante who downs whiskey, swears, tortures and broods. The catalyst for this development is the brutal murder of his family and now he's out to get the hierarchy of villains (headed by John Travolta) – only he isn't just out for vengeance or justice – he's out to punish. In a corrupt city of thugs, Frank Castle becomes the judge, jury and executor.

What is so refreshing about Thomas Jane in the part of Punisher is that he is a sprawling surge of old school with a splash of Clint Eastwood protagonist – the detached, effortless action hero who is too cool for romantic interests, with hardcore one-liners and a merciless approach to duels. In this way, he is easily one of the most successful 'superhero' actors of the new millennium. But alas, Jane went unnoticed and Punisher did poorly at the box office probably BECAUSE it adopted this off-beat, old-school style to acting and action.

I also want to comment on said action, which was spectacular. Truth to be told, I have been waiting a long time to say that about a film. Usually it's the obligatory "the visuals are stunning" or "it's extremely fast-paced and kinetic" but here the sheer hand-to-hand combat is the film's goldmine because it moves back into close character mode instead of the epic scenarios that Batman, Superman and Spiderman dish out to keep out interest. It's gloriously gritty, graphic and dirty which unfortunately also begs the question of where the $33,000,000 budget went. Did they spend it all on late night taco runs?

For that matter, The Punisher is far from devoid of faults. Its fatal flaw stems, in part, from what made it a good film in the first place: its sparseness of effects, general minimalism and lack of superhero formula. Rather it is a model-kit assembled from seedy old-school revenge action movies, the type you'd sort of casually catch a bit of on TV one night.

7 out of 10

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