The Punisher

1989 "If society won't punish the guilty, he will."
5.6| 1h29m| R| en| More Info
Released: 05 October 1989 Released
Producted By: New World
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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The avenging angel of Marvel Comics fame comes brilliantly to life in this searing action-adventure thriller! Dolph Lundgren stars as Frank Castle, a veteran cop who loses his entire family to a mafia car bomb. His ex-partner believes Castle survived the blast and became the Punisher, living in the sewers and exacting vigilante violence against mob bosses throughout the city. When the populace is caught in the midst of a gang war that he caused, Castle must again emerge from the shadows and save the innocent.

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Director

Mark Goldblatt

Production Companies

New World

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The Punisher Audience Reviews

Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever
Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!
Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Ilikehorrormovies I recently re watch this movie and on my last review I said this movie is okay, my opinion changes, it's good movie. I still prefer 04 Punisher because I enjoy it the most. I remember the pace could be rough here and there but it flow smooth with the story now in my opinion. The kills are realistic like it's not over the top or cartoon kind of death. If your a Puniser fan then watch this movie, it's worth a watch.Score: 8.5/10
O2D Most people don't even know that this movie exists and that's just sad.I didn't watch it til recently because I assumed Lundgren would suck, he usually does. I was very wrong, this is Lundgren's best work ever.He is a very believable Punisher, a much better performance than Rocky IV.For a low budget movie,they hit a home run.It's basically the same movie as the newer Punisher flick,it's just his origin.This never had a theatrical release and Marvel really dropped the ball on the that one.It's their character and it's a good movie, they should have done whatever needed to be done for this to be released.It would have been a huge success but they just let it go straight to video.What a shame. Watch it.
John Plocar In preparation for the second season of Marvel's "DareDevil" I decided to take a look back into the filmography of the two characters that will be going head to head, DareDevil and the Punisher. I just took another look at the first live action appearance of Matt Murdock's alter ego, so now it's time to go back to Frank Castle's. A man, who's family was gunned down by the mafia, takes it upon himself to punish anyone he finds guilty of the crimes against New York City in a way to never let what has happened to him happen to anyone else. In his current crusade against crime, things start to heat up between New York's mob against the Japanese while Castle is stuck right in the middle of it. His old partner in the midst of the chaos is attempting to bring Frank out of the vigilante life before it gets him killed. Comparing this film to the 2004 Thomas Jane "Punisher" and 2008 Ray Stevenson "Punisher: War Zone" films, this probably comes out on top with being the better movie while also coming closest to representing its source material. Not saying that it pulls it off perfectly because it isn't the most faithful adaptation ever put into a comic book film, but in comparison to the other feature films that were later made, this has more things done right while still being a good movie. The title character is portrayed fantastically by Dolph Lundgren, capturing the tortured loneliness that comes with the man who lost his whole family while simultaneously handling all of the action scenes with ease. His ex-partner, Louis Gossett Jr., also handles the emotional aspects of being apart of Castle's past and being a bad- ass perfectly. With these two I was able to get a real sense of the men they used to be and deep down wanting to go back to the way things were before Castle took on being the Punisher, but they sadly just can't. All the action is well filmed and choreographed, it holds a lot of fun to be had with this movie. No, I can't say that this is the definitive Punisher movie because in the end in its routes it is mostly a straight-up 80s action film. In terms of the depressingly dark tone and over-the-top violence that is known to be affiliated with the comic is only touched upon here. It is not 100% faithful to its source material in terms of some of the characters that come to play either, but Lundgren is without a doubt Frank Castle. He owns this role and I wish that it had done better in its theatrical run so maybe I could have seen him reprise his role for another film. On its own, it is a really fun sit with a slight edge that comes from the dynamic relationship between Lundgren and Gossett. For anyone who likes or misses some 80s action, this is made for you.
Quebec_Dragon I don't like the Punisher character and this was from the time before Marvel made good movies, but it turned out to be quite acceptable. I found it pretty entertaining. I thought Dolph Lundgreen in the main role was just an imposing figure and an impassive face. It turns out that his expressions while shooting were hilarious (especially when he shoots up a clandestine casino) and that action-wise, he held his own, perhaps even better when fighting hand-to-hand. I read that they took real martial artists and that Dolph was a former karate champion, so although there's no elaborate fight choreography, it works anyway. The scene where he shoots a crossbow in a guy's chest and rappels down a rope while shooting bad guys made me laugh out loud. Of course, he has an apparently fake beard that distracts and sometimes awkward, yet enjoyable, lines, but his physique makes up for it. He looks the part despite the lack of skull emblem. The story involving the Japanese mafia trying to take over the Italian one could have been worse despite involving the kidnapping of kids.Other scenes of interest were Dolph taking down guys silently one by one at the start, him against a bunch of Yakuzas in a carnival house, and the brawl near the end when the lights go red. Yeah, the Punisher is unbelievably lucky in not being shot so much, especially the way he moves while shooting instead of taking cover, but I didn't mind. What impressed me perhaps the most was the acting by the 2 main bad guys, especially the mafia boss Franco. They were serious, not campy at all and they were credible in their roles. The Italian mobsters were more corny, while the Japanese were just expressionless fighting machines. So for an 80s action movie, it's far from the top, but it deserves a better reputation than it has. Of the 3 Punisher movies, I still prefer the second one with Thomas Jane though.Rating: 6.5 out of 10 (good)