The Punisher (1989)

Every single movie that Dolph Lundgren made has a stigma,so time won't be different,the Punisher is a good action based on a comic Marvel hero,which is well done,but have some minor details that make some damages in the picture itself,one of them is a lack a female presence and hero concept too hard....but it affects all super hero's movie!!Resume: First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6.5

This movie is the best version out there of "The Punisher." Believe it or not, Dolph Lundgren did a hell of a job on his character. Since Dolph's all about body count, Lou Goseph Jr. really balances out the acting and plot parts of this movie. While Tom Jane did alright on the modern version and war zone was really that, this one really portraits the true dark nature of Frank Castle and the demons and criminals he swore to fight after events in his life.Guns, knives, throwing stars, explosions, it's all here (well, as far as the explosions, at one point the Punisher is firing a grenade launcher, and the explosions seem less than spectacular, more flashy than boom boomy). Not only that but there's a good amount of karate. Lundgren, a former karate champion himself, performs most all of his own stunts, and there is almost no choreography within the marital arts scenes, as real artists were used, and training in stunt techniques. Does the film stay true to the original character portrayed in the comics? For the most part...some minor changes, along with a few major ones (he never dons a shirt emblazoned with a white skull on it). I think one of the main reasons this film was ill received is because comic fans are a particular picky lot, as they spend a lot of time getting to know these characters, and tend to have high expectations when someone adapts one of their favorite characters to the silver screen.The direction was pretty good in most areas, given that this was Goldblatt's second film, his first being the Joe Piscopo/Treat Williams cop flick Dead Heat (1988). Goldblatt has since returned to editing, which seems a much better fit for him. Gossett is fun to watch, but again, given the dialog, he is given some completely rotten lines, but he does seem to try to make the best of it, earning whatever he got for appearing in this film.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

I remember looking forward to this so much back in the day when we didn't get comic book movies very often. When we did get them, they were usually crap unless Batman was involved. Anyway, when this came out I was very disappointed. Punisher was far from my favorite comic book character (even less so now than then), but I had certain expectations about how he should look and act and how a movie centered on him would be. This is pretty much a generic action movie with little in it to remind you of the comic character. But, as far as low budget actioners go, it's not bad. It's past the Cannon heyday and before we really get into the '90s doldrums. The plot is about a former cop named Frank Castle (a wooden Dolph Lundgren) whose family is killed by the mob, so he becomes a vigilante and starts killing mobsters right and left, earning the name The Punisher from the media. But then the Yakuza comes to town to take over and starts by kidnapping the children of mob bosses, so Castle must team up with one of the mobsters (Jeroen Krabbe) to fight them.It's a dark and gritty movie but also cheesy and hard to take seriously. Lundgren is dressed in black leather, head to toe, like Elvis in the '68 comeback special. He even has his hair dyed greasy black and what looks like shoe polish smeared on his face to give the appearance of a five o'clock shadow. Louis Gossett, Jr. and Nancy Everhard are both fine as the cops investigating the Punisher. Jeroen Krabbe is an easy-to-hate villain. Punisher is given a Vitamin Flintheart-type sidekick here, played by Barry Otto. He's mildly amusing. Kim Miyori is great as the sadistic Yakuza leader. She chews scenery with the best of 'em. The action scenes are pretty decent for the time, although the upbeat music is sometimes at odds with the violence being depicted on screen. The biggest problem with the movie (besides a hackneyed script) is the bland direction from Mark Goldblatt. There's no style to it that separates it from any of a dozen other cheap actioners from the late '80s and early '90s. And, like I said, the music doesn't fit the action and that gets a little distracting sometimes. It's worth a look if you're a die-hard Punisher fan or Dolph Lundgren fan (I'm sure those exist). Just don't expect much. I think some of the over-the-top praise in some of these reviews might be sarcasm or something. I can't believe anyone really thinks this is the greatest comic book movie ever made.

As far as 80's action movie actors go, Dolph Lundgren never received the same level of stardom as Stallone, Arnold, or even Van Damme. Dolph has made some pretty good action movies over the years and the Punisher is definitely one of his best and one of my favorites. Growing up in the late 80's and 90's, the Punisher was one of the first Dolph Lundgren movies I ever watched. As sacrilegious as this might sound, I never watched the Rocky movies growing up so I never saw him as Drago. For me, the Punisher was my introduction to Dolph. As a huge comic book fan and a Punisher fan I loved this movie. In comparison to the more recent adaptations I still think that this is the best version of the Punisher to hit the screen. The action is nitty gritty, the kill count is high and Dolph plays the character like a man who simple doesn't care if he lives or dies just as long as the criminals get what they deserve.....Death! This movie is far from perfect but anyone who is a fan of Dolph, 80's action movies, and the Punisher, this movie is for you. My only complaint with this film is that the Punisher doesn't wear his trademark skull shirt. This simple fact can be overlooked due to the overall enjoyment of the movie.