THE PUNISHER (1989)

MORGAN'S RATING

The avenging angel of Marvel Comics fame comes brilliantly to life in this searing action-adventure thriller! Dolph Lundgren stars as Frank Castle, a veteran cop who loses his entire family to a mafia car bomb. Only his ex-partner believes Castle survived the blast to become The Punisher...a shadowy, invincible fighter against evil who lives for total revenge on his mob enemies. Lashing out from a labyrinth of subterranean sewers, The Punisher leads a heavily armed raid into a world of brutal crime and savage retribution. A world where only one thing is certain...the guilty will be punished.

Dolph Lundgren (Frank Castle), Louis Gossett Jr. (Jake Berkowitz), Jeroen Krabbe (Gianni Franco), Kim Miyori (Lady Tanaka), Bryan Marshall (Dino Moretti), Nancy Everhard (Sam Leary), Barry Otto (Shake), Brian Rooney (Tommy Franco), Zoshka Mizak (Tanaka's Daughter), Larry McCormick (TV Newsreader), Kenji Yamaki (Sato), Todd Boyce (Terrone), Hirofumi Kanayama (Tomio), Lani John Tupu (Laccone), John Negroponte (Musso), Noga Bernstein (Ginny), Emma Soloman (Ginny's Girlfriend), Courtney Keiler (Sophia), Emily Nicol (Cathy), Cathy Stirk (Catarina), Dominic Baudish (Dominic), Robert Fraser (Robert), James Klein (Nicholas), Fotis Pelekis (Mario),

IF SOCIETY WON'T PUNISH THE GUILTY, HE WILL.

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Mark Goldblatt. WRITER: Boaz Yakin. PRODUCER: Robert Mark Kamen. CO-PRODUCER: Su Armstrong.  EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Robert Guralnick. ORIGINAL MUSIC: Dennis Dreith. DISTRIBUTOR: Artisan Entertainment

QUOTES

Sam Leary: How long do you think someone can live after you've ripped out their heart? Frank Castle: A long...time.

FACTS

RELEASE DATE: 1989 BUDGET: $9 million (USA) SHOOTING DATES: August 1988 - 91 people are killed individually on screen in this movie, not including those who die in masses in explosions, etc. - Was originally banned in South Africa and then released straight to video two years after it's release.

Punisher: I punish the gulity! Drunk: And as a result the innocent must suffer?

Punisher: I still talk to God sometimes, I ask him if what I'm doing is right or wrong, I'm still waiting for an answer, and until I get one, I'll be waiting, watching, the guilty will be punished!

Jake: What the fuck do you call 125 murders in 5 years? Punisher: Work in progress.

CRITICAL COMMENTS

Gianni Franco: There's a limit to revenge, you know. Punisher: I guess I just haven't reached mine yet.

"The Punisher is just pure cinematic punishment for everyone...it stinks worse than a rotten fish left out in the sun for a week." -- Ziggy Realm

Frank Castle: If you're guilty, you're dead.