The Punisher (1989)

Director:

Mark Goldblatt

Writer (WGA):

Boaz Yakin (written by)

Release Date:

5 October 1989 (West Germany)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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 | Japanese | Marvel Comics | Yakuza | Murder

Cast

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

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:

In the opening sequence, on a cinema marquee, a poster is visible for the film "Make Them Die Slowly", better known as Cannibal ferox (1981).

Goofs:

Continuity: After the lights go off, some goons shoot at where two characters are standing, only to find them gone when the emergency lights come on. Not a single bullet hole is visible in the Japanese paper screen they were standing before, however.

Quotes:

Sam Leary: [as she and Berkowitz are combing the sewers for the Punisher's lair] ... So how come you never gave up on Frank Castle, like everybody else did?
Jake: Because I know what it's like to be given up on.
Sam Leary: Who gave up on YOU?
Jake: Everyone and myself. You know how most cops like to go out for a drink after work? Well, I kept moving on up... to the drink BEFORE work, the drink DURING work, and finally the drink INSTEAD OF work. It got to be a real problem; nobody wanted to deal with it...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Soundtrack:

Vicious Minds

A good adaptation

I really liked this film, it´s true to the comic, and in some parts is better. For example in the comic Frank Castel has a truck full of weapons (most of them hi tech weapons) but were he gets the cash to pays for them. It´s a better adaptation than most flicks from those years (captain America for example) and it´s full with a lot of action and blood, its like a predecesor for Kill Bill. I give the movie a 7 out of 10.