The Punisher

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Cast & Crew

Dolph Lundgren
Frank Castle

Louis Gossett Jr.
Jake Berkowitz

Jeroen Krabbé
Gianni Franco

Bryan Marshall
Dino Moretti

Nancy Everhard
Sam Leary

Barry Otto
Shake

Brian Rooney
Tommy Franco

Todd Boyce
Terrone

Zoska Aleece
Tanaka's daughter

Mark Goldblatt
Director

Robert Kamen
Producer

Su Armstrong
Producer

Robert Guralnick
Executive Producer

Boaz Yakin
Screenwriter

Dennis Dreith
Original Music

Ian Baker
Cinematographer

Tim Wellburn
Film Editor

Melissa Skoff
Casting

Norma Moriceau
Production Design

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Critic Reviews for The Punisher

Audience Reviews for The Punisher

• Sep 18, 2017

  I was eager to see this movie and thought it might join Masters of the universe as a so bad it's good status, sadly this is just really bad. The action scenes are horrendous, I'm a little annoyed they dragged Dolph along for the ride, they could've done a lot better considering the source material. The story is non existent and the only real idea of a backstory is provided in the first five minutes of the film and that's pretty much the end of it. The Punisher is a mumbling borefest with a score that is flat and overbearing, from the opening credits fans would expect Bullseye to be showing up in a main role. This is an uninventive action film that won't even appeal to audiences who appreciate action films that are mind numbing. The final shot of the punisher naked in the sewer talking about punishing is one shot to forget, what the hell? Fans of the character should seek Warzone or the new Tv show for some faithful storylines. 18-09-2017.
  Brendan N Super Reviewer
• Apr 06, 2014

  Dolph Lundgren deals out justice in The Punisher. Based on a Marvel comic, former New York City police detective Frank Castle turns vigilante in order to wipe out the mob families, but he's forced to help them when the Yakuza kidnaps their children. Lundgren's performance is alright, but the character of Castle is poorly written. Still, the fight sequences are especially well-done. The Punisher is entertaining and full of action, but it lacks a compelling protagonist to root for.
  Dann M Super Reviewer
• Nov 25, 2013

  The first Punisher film ever made, in fact the third Marvel film ever, and the first that was even remotely watchable, stars Dolph Lundgren (The Universal Soldier Series, Missionary Man, The Expendables, Rocky IV) as the titular anti-hero. Well, Dolph's a rather dark Punisher, which is good, but the character really could have been anyone. There was nothing to define his character really, and the Mafia/Yakuza he was fighting against were all even worse. Complete with appalling acting, the film doesn't really hit the spot. Still though, it's not overwhelmingly bad. And it's worth watching for the comparison to the other two. 43% -Gimly
  

  Gimly M Super Reviewer
• Jul 20, 2013

  I think everybody can agree on one thing here, this is a very loose adaptation of the Marvel comic book character. There is no skull logo to be seen, 'Castle' goes around everywhere on that loud bike, the origins are all wrong and they basically made him into some kind of revenge stricken Hell's Angel looking leather clad biker. Initial impression is bad as the film kicks off, just look at those opening credits! is this a film from 89 or 79??. The whole sequence looks like some kind of shitty US TV cop serial, half expect Starsky's Gran Torino to roll across the screen sheesh!. The film is a typical violent trashy 80's action flick no doubt. If you take a step back and look at this flick you could easily remove the Punisher character from the plot and nothing would change. You could then stick in any muscle bound character played by any muscle bound star and the film would still work, it would still deliver. Basically its just a run of the mill action vehicle that just happens to have the Punisher as the main character. Now don't get me wrong this isn't a bad thing, end of the day this film is a solid riot of action that will please any 80's buff. The violence is strong, brutal and not cut much, you see it all really. Sure its totally stupid and highly unrealistic but it still takes it self seriously making it more enjoyable. The film has a really nice balance between realism and heavy realism, its not Nolan realistic, its not an 'Expendables' parody/spoof and its not 'Batman n Robin' camp/silliness. You can have a lot of fun with the film if you don't think too much into it yet its still realistic enough to satisfy...if you don't think too much into it. Of course there are some things which simply don't make sense, the bike Castle uses is hardly much for stealth is it, plus he rides around all tooled up completely in black, errr....stealth/hidden identity much Mr Castle?. It also always amused me how they applied makeup on Dolph, he looks so pale and ill throughout this film haha. Trying to capture the appearance of a dark haired hairy man didn't really work. His stubble line keeps getting washed off, you can see it on his earlobes at times and when its pasted on in all its glory it looks like a dirty big smudge across his face hehe. But as far as the character I think Dolph does really well and gives us a nice muted sinister Punisher. A man of little words but big on action, the more I think about it the more I liked his performance (lack of acting skills in one of his first films aside). He does look good, his outfit is bland but effective (the skull logo does give you away somewhat), he looks like he can pull off the heists he sets out to do, he fights well and can handle the weapons. Its Rambo in a black outfit basically. The bad guys weren't quite as well thought up in my opinion, plenty of suit wearing thugs to gun down sure but no one stood out. I quite liked the Yakuza direction, the female boss and her sexy kick boxing female assistant, kinda corny but fun. The finale set in a traditional washitsu filled with Shoji doors was well done, the lighting getting knocked out gave it the atmosphere. I think the film overall is actually a perfect comic book adaptation that is pretty gritty, quite dark and highly exciting with real action, no over the top CGI. The obvious lack of budget, good locations and screen busting stunts actually gives the film a much better feel, much more seedy, much more grim, one of those things that just works and can't really be recreated, a happy accident. If you like masses of henchmen getting killed as an invincible one man army runs around with unlimited ammo 'Commando' style, whilst the bad guys empty clip after clip in his direction hitting everything but their intended target...then this film could well be for you.
  Phil H Super Reviewer

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