The Punisher [DVD]

In the world of super-heroes and evil villains, the Punisher rests squarely in that gray area between the two. He does exhibit a sense of justice akin to that of a hero, but he bears no remorse with regards to killing, as his wraith is only suffered by those who truly deserve, those who the law cannot, or will not touch. Revenge, justice, and retribution are his motivations, and he is judge, jury, and executioner. The Punisher (2004), directed and co-written by Jonathan Hensleigh, who also wrote Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) and Jumanji (1995), stars Thomas Jane, who bears a remarkable resemblance to actor Christopher (Highlander) Lambert, and who I've seen before, but couldn't place until I remembered him from the film Deep Blue Sea (1999), and John Travolta. Also appearing are Laura Herring, Rebecca Romjin-Stamos (does she still carry the Stamos since their divorce?) and Roy Scheider.The film, based on a Marvel comic book of the same name, tells the story of FBI agent Frank Castle (Jane), an FBI agent, who, during a sting operation that results in the death of a suspect, finds himself at odds with a powerful crime family, lead by Howard Saint (Travolta), as, it turns out, the dead suspect was his son. In retaliation for his son's death, Saint orders a hit on Castle and his entire family, but Castle manages to survive, and, seeing that nothing has been done to apprehend those responsible for the deaths of his family, he decides to take the law into his own hands (something Doug Llewelyn from The People's Court always advised against) and bring his own form of justice to those who sought revenge against him. Do two wrongs make a right? No, but they sure make for a fun movie...This actually wasn't the first screen adaptation of this comic character. There was a film, of the same name, released way back in 1989, which starred Dolph Lundgren, which was panned by both critics and fans. It wasn't that great, but I did enjoy it somewhat, and didn't think it was as bad as everyone thought. This latest incarnation is certainly better, benefiting from a larger budget, better writing, and a bit more star power, but still has minor flaws. I'd read many a comic book back in my youth, and The Punisher was one of them. At that time, he probably had three of four different titles, being a very popular character, and Marvel Comics had a real penchant for milking any bit of popularity for all they could, often exhausting the potential way too soon in their search for the almighty dollar. I haven't read comics in a long time, and given the nature of comic characters and their constant evolution, I was unsure how the story would be played out. I was unfamiliar with Thomas Jane, but I thought he did a wonderful job, really embodying the essence of the character I knew well way back when. The look, the feel, the attitudes, marked a vast improvement over the last film incarnation of the character. I was a bit apprehensive about John Travolta being cast as the lead bad guy, as of late, when playing similar antagonistic roles, he often ventured into the realm of hamminess, but his performance was really grounded here and lacked the over the top element inherent in some of his past roles, thankfully. The action elements in the film were done very well, bordering between the realistic and unbelievable nicely, and I really enjoyed the use of all different kinds of weaponry from hand guns, machine guns, anti-personnel mines, knives, to the bow and arrow. Jane's character showed adeptness and a proficiency one would expect. Some elements and scenes seemed a bit off...the plot point where Castle basically lets everyone know he didn't die in the massacre seemed illogical, as I would think the advantage of your enemies thinking you were dead would far outweigh whatever could be gained by them knowing you're alive, especially if you were planning to go after them. Also, the complete lack of any police involvement, even after Castle began his war on Howard Saint and his organization seemed unrealistic. And I would have expected Castle to find a secluded place to hole up, one where he could come and go as he pleased, and not a run-down apartment building with a few neighbors, including the character played by Romjin-Stamos. The purpose was to sort of create a surrogate family for Castle, but it just seemed strange that he would choose the location he did from which to wage his war. Finally, I have to mention the scene with the Russian assassin played by pro-wrestler Kevin Nash. I thought the fight scene was very exciting and fun to watch, but why did the Russian show up in a red and white striped shirt, looking like a huge, lumpy candy cane? It really disrupted the dark and gritty feel built up in the movie, as he reminded me of a lacky henchman from the 60's Batman television series. All in all, I thought most of the movie worked well, with a few plot areas that didn't, but the positive points out-weighed the negatives, in my opinion, and I enjoyed the movie as a whole, right up until it's satisfying conclusion.The widescreen print here looks beautiful, and there's a good helping of useful and informative special features including featurettes on the stunts within the film, origins of the The Punisher character from his first appearance in a Spider-Man comic back in the 70's, a behind the scenes look at the making of the film, an interview influential cover artist for The Punisher comic book, a music video for a song within the film by the group Drowning Pool, a trailer for The Punisher video game (but not a trailer for the film itself?!), a commentary track by the director, two deleted scenes and a mini-comic.Cookieman108

Ok, I love Thomas Jane. I love action movies that I can watch while I'm on the treadmill....or on the couch eating cheetos. A fun movie, lots of action.

Great action revenge fight movie

I have become interested lately in the Marvel Comic book hero, "The Punisher." I have read a few of the comic book Punisher stories as well as seeing two Punisher movies, one being "War Journal Punisher" and this one. "The Punisher" staring Tom Jane as the Punisher and John Travolta as the head of a criminal gang provides a short historical back ground of "The Punisher character. This movie can be considered a good introduction to how Frank Castle, an ex-military instructor and FBI agent, becomes known as "The Punisher."This movie starts out a little slow but after about a 1/2 hour, the action heats up when the head of a crime group, John Travolta, orders his thugs to kill Frank Castle's entire family. They do just that, killing Frank's father, mother, wife and young son. They also think they killed Frank, but they failed and now it is their turn to receive justice for their crimes. At first, "The Punisher" seems a little hesitant to kill his enemies, but in the end, Frank becomes the ruthless "Punisher" giving the bad guys a taste of their own medicine as hunts them down and kills every one of the thugs. One of the reasons "The Punisher" Marvel Comic character appeals to me is that he does not possess any super powers, but he does have an expertise with rifles, handguns , bows and knives. He also justifies his actions by claiming it is not "vengeances" he seeks for the thugs, but he merely provides the correct punishment for their crimes, which the American justice system often fails to do.In conclusion, to be honest, I liked this film which was came out in 2004, but I liked the "War Zone Punisher" that came out in 2008, starring Ray Stevenson much better than this one, even though I gave both DVDs 4 stars. Nevertheless, if you are into "The Punisher" series you should check out both of these DVDs.Rating 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Predator Hunter: A warrior's memoir).

This is probably my favorite movie ever, Im a huge fan of Jane's punisher. Bring back Thomas Jane's punisher.Also the extended cut helps fill in a few gaps or whatever that the original didn't get. Such a great movie

Wow The punisher on 4k Blu-ray starring Thomas Jane the best actor for the role imo is worth the money.This 4k is not gonna blow you away by any means but it is an improvement over the existing Blu-ray you'd expect that but it's still got it's gritty look and a very abundant grain field on display but little details and textures are so much more prominent and the dark scenery is now easier to see what's going on in it. The audio isn't any different than the Blu-ray but that's a good thing because it's a great sound mix anyway

Had it before, bought the import version and then the Blu-ray... what can I say, best Punisher ever made! Tom Jane is the best and only Punisher by far, even though Dolph had his charm in the 80's one, hey gotta love Dolph! : P War Zone though, terrible no script piece of crap. Have to like it being Punisher, but there was a reason Jane didn't come back for the sequel (Warzone) - because he loves the character and you can see this all through the 2004 film. Heck he even done a short fan film of Frank Castle, says it all. I'm the biggest Punisher fan, got a huge collection of the Marvel series of Frank and this is the GOLD out of the three. Great story, great DVD/Blu-ray case and all round great action and fun, and you truly feel and care for this character through the whole movie till the end. The last 15 minutes pure Punisher and a masterpiece!

Very happy with purchase arrived really quick fantastic service

Arrived in mint condition.Was exactly as promised.Fair price for an older movie.Will use again.Highly recommended

Excelente calidad como siempre, solo que la caja dice que trae el idioma en español. Incluye el español pero es una versión cambiada del latino.