Punisher: War Zone (2008)

Frank Castle known as Punisher ruthlessly demolishes organized crime, but it starts an even bigger war.

Director:

Lexi Alexander

Writers:

Nick Santora, Art Marcum

Stars:

Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Julie Benz

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ray Stevenson	...	Frank Castle
Dominic West	...	Billy / Jigsaw
Doug Hutchison	...	Loony Bin Jim
Colin Salmon	...	Paul Budiansky
Wayne Knight	...	Micro
Dash Mihok	...	Martin Soap
Julie Benz	...	Angela
Stephanie Janusauskas	...	Grace
Mark Camacho	...	Pittsy
Romano Orzari	...	Nicky
Keram Malicki-Sánchez	...	Ink
Larry Day	...	Agent Miller
Ron Lea	...	Captain Ross
Tony Calabretta	...	Saffiotti
T.J. Storm	...	Maginty

Storyline

Frank Castle, the ex-military man whose family was killed by criminals, who became a vigilante known as the Punisher, goes after a whole mob family and gets everyone except enforcer Billy Russoti. He tracks Russoti down and chases him into a vat that is used for crushing bottles. Frank turns on the crusher hoping it would take care of him but it doesn't. He survives but sustains very severe injuries that even with plastic surgery his face looks like a jigsaw puzzle. So he decides to adopt the name Jigsaw. Frank who killed one of Russoti's people who unknown to him is an undercover Fed, decides to pack it in. But when he learns Russoti didn't die and is looking for the money he entrusted to the Fed and will go looking for it at his home which means his family is in danger. So Frank tries to save them. But Russoti wants revenge on Frank so he breaks out his brother who is so crazed that he is committed to an asylum, to deal with him. And also another Fed who's a friend of the man Frank ...

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Plot Keywords:

exploding body | frank castle character | the punisher character | f rated | aerial camera shot | 

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Taglines:

Vengeance is Coming.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong brutal violence, language and some drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

Like The Joker, the main antagonist in Batman (1989): Billy, a psychotic gangster gets left disfigured by Castle when falling into a glass crusher machine and becomes "Jigsaw" when his plastic surgeon unsuccessfully performs plastic surgery on him and takes over the mob when Gaitano Cesare is killed by Castle.

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Goofs

(at around 18 mins) Castle visits a funeral of a killed FBI agent and is standing some 15 meters of the crowd opposite to agent Budiansky who could have easily seen him, as many other people who know how he looks like.

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Quotes

Jigsaw: [Jigsaw's recruitment speech] Whoa, gentlemen, gentlemen. Relax. We're lookin' for, uh, a few good men. And we'd like to offer you the opportunity to be... all that you can be. Now we've all suffered loss at the hands of the Punisher. And because we don't look like everybody else, and because we don't act like everybody else, nobody does a goddamn thing about it! Well I say he ain't the only one who can take the law into his own hands. So if you're as sick of this cocksucker as I am, raise your ...

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Alternate Versions

German retail video version was cut by approx. 1 minute to secure a "Not under 18" rating. The uncut version was released with a SPIO/JK approval but can be sold only with restrictions.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Makeup Effects in Comic Book Movies (2015)

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Soundtracks

War Zone
Lyrics by Rob Zombie
Music by Rob Zombie and John 5
Performed by Rob Zombie
Courtesy of Geffen Records

User Reviews

Grotesque satisfying Punisher adaptation

I love this gory wild action extravaganza! Ray Stephenson, Dominic West, and Doug Hutchinson are all great! I like how theirs a bunch that don't like Punisher: War Zone and others that love it. The action sequences are a bit whacky and I admit their is some poor characters otherwise I absolutely love the bulk of the film plus any part with Doug Hutchinson is fantastic. I need to own everything Punisher related at some point I'm a fan of it all.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [United States]

Country:

USA Canada Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 December 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank

Filming Locations:

Station de métro Lionel-Groulx, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,271,451, 7 December 2008

Gross USA:

$8,050,977

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,161,493

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Marvel Knights, Marvel Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1