The Punisher (1989 film)
The Punisher | |
---|---|
Directed by | Mark Goldblatt |
Written by | Boaz Yakin |
Based on | |
Produced by | Robert Mark Kamen |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Ian Baker |
Edited by |
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Music by | Live Entertainment (North America)New World International (International) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 89 minutes[1] |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Budget | $9 million[2] |
Box office | $30 million[2] |
The Punisher is a 1989
Plot
The underworld families have become so weakened by the Punisher's guerrilla warfare that kingpin Gianni Franco is forced out of retirement. Franco plans to unify the decimated families. However, this attracts unwanted attention from the yakuza, Asia's most powerful crime syndicate. Led by Lady Tanaka, the yakuza decide to take over the Mafia families and all of their interests. In order to sway the mobsters to their cause, they kidnap their children and hold them for ransom.
Shake pleads with the Punisher to save the children, who are likely to be sold into the Arab slave trade regardless of whether the Mafia give into the demands. The Punisher attacks yakuza businesses, warning that for every day the children are held in captivity, he will inflict heavy costs on them in property damage. The yakuza later capture the Punisher and Shake and attempt to torture them into submission, but the Punisher breaks free and decides the only course of action is a direct rescue.
He is able to save most of the children and commandeers a bus to get the kidnapped children to safety. However prior to this Tommy Franco, the son of Gianni Franco, had been taken away to yakuza headquarters. When driving the busload of kids, the Punisher runs into a police roadblock and is arrested. While in custody, Castle is reunited with one of his old partners, who warns his multiple killings will likely get him executed; however, at a later point Castle is broken out of jail by Franco's men. Franco admits he brought this on himself as the hit on Castle's family was an error, and persuades the Punisher to help him save his son. Castle agrees to work with his old enemy for the sake of stopping the yakuza from taking root in America.
Franco and the Punisher raid the yakuza headquarters, to fight and kill all the yakuza, including Lady Tanaka and her daughter. Upon being reunited with his son, Franco betrays the Punisher, but the Punisher defends himself and kills Franco. Franco's son Tommy then threatens the Punisher for killing his father, but cannot bring himself to take revenge. Castle warns Gianni Franco's son, Tommy Franco, to "stay a good boy, and grow up to be a good man", not following his father's misdeeds. He also warns he will return should the boy commit any crimes, then disappears. The police arrive, only to find no trace of the Punisher. Meanwhile, at his lair, Castle narrates that he'll be waiting "in the shadows".
Cast
- Dolph Lundgren as Francis "Frank" Castle / The Punisher
- Louis Gossett Jr. as Detective Jake Berkowitz
- Jeroen Krabbé as Gianni Franco
- Kim Miyori as Lady Tanaka
- Bryan Marshall as Dino Moretti
- Nancy Everhard as Detective Samantha "Sam" Leary
- Barry Otto as "Shake"
- Brian Rooney as Tommy Franco
- Zoska Aleece as Tanaka's Daughter (Zoshka Mizak)
- Larry McCormick as TV Newsreader
- Kenji Yamaki as Sato, Tanaka's Bodyguard
- Todd Boyce as Tarrone
- Hirofumi Kanayama as Tomio, Tanaka's Bodyguard
- Lani John Tupu as Laccone
- Giancarlo Negroponte as Musso
- May Lloyd as Julie Castle
- Brooke Anderson as Annie Castle
- Holly Rogers as Felice Castle
- Char Fontane as Laurie Silver
- Isao Hirata as Ito
- Brett Williams as Tim
- David Arnett as Joe
- Donal Gibson as Bill
- Lawrence Woodward as Mickey
- Johnny Raaen as Joey
- Robert Simper as Danny
- Brian McDermott as O'Banion
- Colin Leong as Cutter Captain
- Christian Manon as French Leader
- Fotis Pelekis as Mario
- James Klein as Nicholas
- Robert Fraser as Robert
- Dominic Baudish as Dominic
- Cathy Stirk as Caterina
- Emily Nicol as Cathy
- Courtney Keiler as Sophia
- Noga Bernstein as Ginny
- Emma Soloman as Ginny's Girlfriend
Production
Christopher Lambert was the original choice for the role of Frank Castle. But an ankle injury forced him to withdraw. Steven Seagal was interested in playing the role. Nicole Kidman was initially cast.[3] Contrary to rumors, Michael Paré was not considered for the role of Frank Castle.[citation needed] In 1989, Dolph Lundgren revealed that he was trying something different and he liked the Punisher.[4]
Production took place in Sydney.[5]
Music
A full orchestral score was composed and conducted by Dennis Dreith at the Warner Bros. soundstage in Burbank, California. A CD of the soundtrack was not released until July 19, 2005 (Perseverance Records, PRD006). The CD includes the complete multi-track stereo recording, and a 22-minute interview with the composer Dennis Dreith and the director Mark Goldblatt. Perseverance Records released a new 5.1 mix as a Super Audio CD, in collaboration with Tarantula Records. The American DVD release only contains a monaural soundtrack, though the film has Dolby Stereo. The 2013 German and UK Blu-ray/DVD editions were presented with 2.0 and 5.1 (Dolby Digital and DTS-HD MA) soundtracks. The UK disc was made from mono tracks.
Release
Theatrical
The film was given a worldwide theatrical release, except in the United States, Sweden, and South Africa.[6] It was originally slated for a US release in August 1989, and trailers were created by New World. It premiered in Germany and France in October 1989 and was shown months later at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Sci-fi Convention in July 1990. However, the film never received a wide theatrical release in the United States due to New World's financial difficulties and its new owners not having an interest in theatrical distribution.
Home media
It was sold to Live Entertainment (now Lionsgate) which released it direct-to-video on
Reception
Financial
Overall, the film earned $30 million, on a budget of $9 million.[2]
Critical response
Review aggregation website
Legacy
In 1990, New World promoted The Punisher II and an X-Men animated film, but the projects never materialized.[13]
The advertisement of the 1990 tie-in video game The Punisher features images from the film.[14] Similarities between the film and the 1993 video game The Punisher include the assault on a casino by breaking through the ceiling and the female assassin.[15][16]
In June 1990, a 64-page comic adaption of the film, written by Carl Potts and drawn by Brent Anderson, was released by Marvel.
In 2004 a reboot starring
In 2008 another reboot was made starring
In 2019, Lundgren reprised the role in a photo shoot.[17]
References
- ^ "THE PUNISHER (18) (CUT)". British Board of Film Classification. April 4, 1990. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
- ^ ISBN 978-0786443048.
- ^ @punisher_book (December 13, 2018). "#DolphLundgren with #NicoleKidman..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "The Punisher Film Journal Entries". www.dolph-ultimate.com. Dolph The Ultimate Guide.
- ^ Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p126
- ^ a b "The Punisher". Dolph-ultimate.com. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
- ^ "The Punisher". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ Christopher Null (2004). "The Punisher (1989)". filmcritic.com. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- MTV.com. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
- Time Out. Archived from the originalon June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- ^ Staff. "The Punisher Review". TV Guide. Archived from the original on June 4, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
- ^ "NGMpunisher2.jpg". Retrieved January 31, 2022.
- ^ figment1988 (September 18, 2007). The Punisher NES Commercial. Retrieved January 31, 2022 – via YouTube.
{{cite AV media}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Joblo.com. January 20, 2018.
- ^ "The Punisher". games.thelegendarytrend.com. GAMEBASE.
- ^ "Dolph Lundgren Returns as Frank Castle for The Punisher Photo Shoot". movieweb.com. MovieWeb. November 16, 2019.
External links
- The Punisher at IMDb