Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Benedito Dias Rodrigues 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

Predrag 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.

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.

bowmanblue The Punisher is based on the - particularly violent - Marvel comic book of the same name from the seventies, where a former FBI agent has his family murdered and goes out for revenge his own way.Whereas today, Marvel movies are given huge budgets ala The Avengers, Thor and Iron Man, this one was handed out to a little-known Australian company to make. The results being that The Avengers, Thor and Iron man it is not.Every character is pretty stereotypical and one-dimensional. The dialogue is a bit forced. The budget is slim and the story hardly inspired. All in all, it has all the hallmarks of a disaster in the making. Yet it's actually pretty cool... if you know what you're getting.It's a blatant B-movie. It's like actually watching a live action comic book. You wouldn't expect Oscar-worthy dialogue and acting from a comic book, would you? Hopefully not. So don't expect it here. It's a movie designed to munch popcorn to. It has plenty of explosions, killing of badguys and cheeky one-liners from our strong and silent hero, The Punisher.They ever remade it (twice), but, despite having bigger budgets, better acting and more bankable stars, neither seemed to quite capture the raw comicbook style which the 1989 version managed.If you're a fan of cheesy eighties action (think Commando, Rambo and almost any Jean Claude Van Damme film) then give this one a go. It's short and to the point, but mainly great mindless fun.