Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

brandonleeeberhart Oh my god in Haiti this is like the perfect storm of Dolph, dolphins, dead bodies and Daniel-Day Lewis.Here we have a comic book character Come To Life and Leap Off The Screan.There are Ninjas. There are Nives. There are people who Explode. There is a boat.When the world spun into existence, this is the reason, the culmination of all things, this is Dolph playing The Punisher. If ever there was a reason to buy a VHS tape of a movie off a junky hobo for 2 dollars this is it. This is it.Apples/Orangines

pyrocitor If Marvel Comics - at the time only a feeble, fledgling studio barely breaking into major motion pictures, rather than the infallible box office juggernaut of today - could only have made one live-action feature film in the '80s, they chose wisely with the Punisher. While other major sellers could likely have been permanently laughed out of circulation by the dubious special effects or invariable camp of the decade (let's not look at the gnarlier early '90s Fantastic Four and Captain America adaptations and say we did…), the gritty, gun-crazy Frank Castle was best equipped to ride out the melodrama and mullets of the Miami Vice/Arnold Schwarzenegger era without warping his image irreparably. In fact, fitting like a glove with the excesses and clichés of '80s action cinema is what elevates 1989's The Punisher to the top of the 'terrible early Marvel films' echelon ('the best of the worst' is about as high praise as the film is every likely to get). It's biggest casualty? Feigning to take itself so seriously and distancing itself from the comic to the point of committing the unforgivable sin: leaving out the skull shirt. You had ONE job, guys. If we're being entirely honest, 1989's clunky crack at Castle is about as good a Punisher movie as we've seen to date (sorry Tom Jane and Ray Stevenson) - just more upfront about its glorious cheese. Director Mark Goldblatt is evidently well- versed in the action genre (he's credited as editor on Rambo, Commando, and later Predator 2 and Terminator 2), as he's kind enough to hit every genre cliché with the impeccable fastidiousness of a Simpsons parody, right down to cheerfully hammering exposition with Every. Single. Line ("let me tell you a story…" is the film's favourite device). But the '80s clichés don't stop with the dialogue - we also get some prime bits with grumpy, angsty cops, outspoken kids, old computers(!), and grim monologuing to God, while the film's fuzzy camera-work and droves of Australians trying their g'dang hardest to pass as 'Murricans (and failing) adds to the campy, student film calibre fun. In fact, it's really only in the action sequences where Goldblatt's Punisher rears its head beyond chuckle-worthy silliness. Here we have a smörgåsbord of villains for Castle to blow away in various ways (the mob AND the Yakuza? Excellent!), and a plethora of shootouts and throw-downs that are actually quite entertaining in their gregarious excess, including a climactic blowout in the Yakuza lair making suspenseful and even artistic (gasp!!) use of Japanese Shoji screens concealing upcoming antagonists, even if a follow-up stomp-fight with Jeroen Krabbé is…not as thrilling. Granted, I'm not convinced Goldblatt fully thinks through the moral ramifications of inciting audiences to cheer as Castle saves a bus-load of abducted mobster-children even as he blows away their crime lord fathers within eye's range (the film's climax takes this to the next level, with a Kill Bill-foreshadowing moment that is too downright disturbing not to be effectively bleak amidst the shootout stupidity). But hey - comics! Woo…!All the while, everyone's third favourite '80s action meathead, Dolph Lundgren, clomps through the movie like a stoned Terminator (his stretching rack torture sequence even allows him to showcase his best GNYYAAAAARRRGGHHH Arnold bellows). He certainly looks the part, and his blank dead-behind-the-eyes look would almost be enough to imbue Castle with the correct tortured humanity if he were a capable enough actor to contextualize them in any way, though his '80s one-liners, wholly uncharacteristic as they are, are lots of sassy fun ("Who sent you?" "Batman") - though it's an undeniable shame no one thought to push the envelope enough to unleash a bona fida 'Pun-isher'. Otherwise, Louis Gossett Jr's renowned stilted delivery makes for an excellent vintage existential '80s cop, even as he seals the deal with a violent, almost tender wrestling plea for his ol' buddy Castle to "LET ME IIIIINNNNNN". Feel the love. Feel the testosterone. Former Bond and soon-to-be- Fugitive villain Jeroen Krabbé easily out-acts all of his co-stars with his impressively composed turn as a mob boss striving to eliminate competition in favour of sharing (aww), while Kim Miyori is commandingly icy and terrifying as his Yakuza-helming co- fiend. Finally, Barry Otto as Castle's drunken, homeless, former actor collaborator is an eyebrow-raising but overall pleasant surprise, as hearing him beg Castle to save the children in near-Iambic Pentameter is simply too weird and fun not to love, as out of place as it is. It's no secret that the 1989 Punisher is, at best, a fairly silly relic of the decade showcasing some some decently entertaining action, and liable to play better to fans of disposable '80s bloodbaths than those expecting a faithful comics adaptation. Said fans may have found their appetites for Castle whetted by 2004 and 2008's cracks at the character - otherwise, it's hopefully not too much of a punishment to hold out for Netflix's take on the character in the upcoming season 2 of Daredevil. Suffice to say, dopily fun as it may be, very few are ever likely to lean on Lundgren as the definitive take on the character.-5/10

Daniel Loe *WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS* The Punisher has had three movies, and this was the first. I haven't seen War Zone, but this is the weakest out of the two I've seen. It isn't exactly bad, but it won't really commit to telling a Punisher movie. They leave out the skull shirt, which is y'know, the Punisher's costume. I think Dolph Lundergen looks like a good Punisher, but he looks half-asleep throughout the entire movie, which makes it hard to get into his character at all. Louis Gosset Jr. plays Frank's former partner, who is looking for him. That was a good sub-plot, but it was never utilized. The two finally meet, but Frank won't even talk to him much at all, so it lessens the impact. I could not stand the head Yakuza woman, something about her was just so grating, I don't know why. Her mute daughter was a pretty good concept though, and she got a good fight with the Punisher, but it didn't have enough impact. I think the Yakuza boss should've gotten enraged to see her daughter dead, and released the kid to kill Punisher, instead of just being killed by a thrown knife. There are some good shoot-outs. I liked that Frank was portrayed as a real person, and not just an unstoppable killing machine, but seeing him use martial arts styled combat just doesn't work for me. He doesn't use his guns enough throughout a lot of the movie, aside from the epic fight at the docks. I also like that the Punisher does go to save the mobster's kids, but only after his conscience gets the better of him. The aspect of the Punisher's conscience was something that was missing from the Thomas Jane version. But aside from that, this movie is just kind of... bland. The bleak tone suffocates any fun to be had from the violence and fighting, and, while the score is good, it just adds to the depressing atmosphere. In conclusion, The Punisher isn't a great movie, it has sub-par acting, decent action, an okay story, and a poor tone.

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)