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:

Was originally banned in South Africa and then released straight to video two years after its release.

Goofs:

Continuity: While Frank Castle is fighting a Japanese Swordsman, a holstered gun on Castle's back disappears. Moments later, it re-appears in the holster. The weapon wasn't touched by anybody.

Quotes:

Lady Tanaka: [answering the question, "Who the fuck do you think you are?"] We are Yakuza. When your ancestors were shepherds still screwing sheep on the Mediterranean coast, ours were the crime lords of Asia.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Planet of Love

USA

Ah It was 1989,and the Punisher never made it to US theaters.Its a shame too.Cause this is one hell of an action movie.

I know it is not the most faithful adaptation.But in casting and action its great.And thats where its strength lies.

Dolph Lundgren is frank Castle out to avenge the violent murders of his family.He is so good at it that he has tagged 100+ murders of the Franco crime family.However a new threat comes from the emerging Yakuza.In the end the Punisher is forced to join forces with the thugs he was killing to stop the yakuza.

The action here is lean and Very mean.It is pure Punisher-style.Fist-fights.Knife fights.Gun Fights.40 Ninjas getting cut down with machine-gun fire.Extremely violent mode is on here.

Acting-wise.Dolph is great as Frank.He was clearly the best choice at the time.He gives the right sense of quiet intensity at the right moments.

Louis Gosset Jr is Frank's Guilt ridden ex-partner.The scenes between the 2 are good.Gosset steals a few scenes as well.

Jerrone Krabbe is a good bad guy as Johnny franco the crime boss who partners with Frank to save his son.Class act.

Kim Myori as the Lady Yakuza commands the screen when she is on.She comes off very psycho-like.

Barry Otto is good as the Punisher's Drunken stoolie.

Now this is how the Punisher 04 should have been.Here there is no cat and mouse Bs that watered it down .Its simple.The trigger is pulled.The guilty are punished.This has the essence of the comics.

Its a shame Dolph never became the big star he should have been.

8/10