The Punisher (2004 film)
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The Punisher is a 2004 movie, based on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher, starring Thomas Jane as Frank Castle and John Travolta as Howard Saint, the money launderer who orders the death of Castle's entire family. The story and plot were mainly based on two Punisher comic book stories; “The Punisher: Year One” & “Welcome Back, Frank” along with scenes from other Punisher stories such as “Marvel Preview: Featuring The Punisher #2”, “The Punisher: War Zone” and “The Punisher War Journal.
Contents |
Plot
Former Delta Force operative and FBI undercover agent Frank Castle had it all: a loving family, a great life and an upcoming desk job. On his final assignment, Castle plays his undercover role perfectly, but the operation spins out of control and a young man, Bobby Saint, is inadvertently killed. Unfortunately, Bobby is soon revealed to actually be one of the two sons of Howard Saint, a ruthless mob boss. Inflamed by the death of their son, Howard and Livia Saint prepare a wholesale mission of vengeance (they do not know that Bobby was not killed by Castle, but betrayed and gunned down by one of his own men). Castle's worst nightmare is about to come true, as Howard Saint's lieutenants perform a massacre at the Castle family reunion; among the victims are Frank's wife, his son and his parents (in a deleted scene, it is revealed that Castle's comrade, Jimmy Weeks, sold him out to the Saints). Castle himself is shot multiple times by the killers, who then leave him for dead after rigging nearby fuel pumps and the dock to explode. Castle is blown off the dock by the shock wave, then is rescued and nursed back to health by a local witchdoctor who was out to sea when the massacre took place.
Until this moment, he has spent his entire life adhering strictly to the law. However, even five months after his family's murder, Castle sees that the authorities have no intention of pursuing the men responsible, since Howard Saint has them in his pocket, thus making him and his entire gang above the law. Drawing upon all he has learned in 20 years, Castle sets in motion a diabolical plan to punish all of those responsible. In the process, Saint learns that Castle is alive, and sends two assassins to kill him. First is Harry Heck, and second is The Russian, although both are killed by Castle.
The film ends with an explosive finale as all of Saint's men, including his other son, are eliminated, when Howard Saint, having been manipulated into killing both his wife Livia and his secretly homosexual best friend, Quentin Glass, since he didn't know that Glass was gay, and believed Livia (who is implied by dialogue to have been a Little Cuba Neighborhood prostitute before meeting Howard) was capable of cheating on him even after more than two decades together, is dragged by a Lincoln Town Car into a bomb-laden parking lot after being shot and fatally wounded in the chest by Castle and killed in the explosion. The burning cars in the parking lot make a shape of the skull similar to the one in his T-shirt. Before Castle left he leaves a portion of Howard Saint's money for his neighbors, one of whom, Spacker Dave, had been tortured earlier on for information about Castle (he refused to cooperate, and Quentin Glass pulled out all of his piercings). His revenge is taken, but now will continue his vigilante mission against others who deserve punishment, known only as The Punisher.
Cast
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Thomas Jane | Frank Castle / The Punisher |
| John Travolta | Howard Saint |
| Will Patton | Quentin Glass |
| Rebecca Romijn | Joan |
| Ben Foster | Spacker Dave |
| John Pinette | Bumpo |
| Samantha Mathis | Maria Elizabeth Castle |
| Marcus Johns | Will Castle |
| A. Russell Andrews | Jimmy Weeks |
| James Carpinello | Bobby Saint John Saint |
| Laura Harring | Livia Saint |
| Eddie Jemison | Micky Duka |
| Kevin Nash | The Russian |
| Mark Collie | Harry Heck |
| Roy Scheider | Frank Castle, Sr. |
| Tom Nowicki | Lincoln |
Before actor Thomas Jane became the Punisher, director Jonathan Hensleigh and Avi Arad have said in many interviews that Jane was the first and only actor to be asked to play the title role. Jane initially turned down the role twice, as well as a part in the first X-Men movie and a few other comic book movies, the reason for that was because he did not see himself as a superhero actor. Jane said that when they asked him the second time to play the Punisher that what really got him interested in playing the part was when Arad sent Tim Bradstreet's artwork of the Punisher. After finding out what kind of character the Punisher was, he accepted. In addition to reading as many Punisher comics he could find to understand the character, Jane became a fan of the Punisher. Jane trained for 6 or 7 months with Navy SEALs and gained more than twenty pounds of muscle for the part.
Release and Reception
The Punisher opened in 2,649 theaters on April 16, 2004 and grossed $13,834,527 over it's opening weekend. It was the second highest grossing movie of the weekend behind Kill Bill Volume 2. The film has a domestic gross of $33,810,189 and a foreign gross of $20,889,916, giving it a worldwide total of $54,700,105.
On its release on April 16, 2004, it was met with mixed reviews.The film holds a 28% rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 157 reviews. Many have defended the movie stating that compared to most comic book based movies, it is a well done throwback to the old school action movies of the 60s and 70s. Despite mixed reviews from fans of the comic, the movie did very well on DVD and video.
Novelization
The novelization of the movie which has Jonathan Hensleigh's original script and screenplay and a mini comic book by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon that came with the DVD (the first and only DVD mini prequel comic book and only 10,000 produced) has it that Frank Castle fought in Iraq in the Gulf War (Frank was awarded the Bronze Star after the war), in Bosnia in the Bosnian War and was a member of the Delta Force, CTU (there is no relation to the Jack Bauer character that works for CTU on the TV series 24) and the FBI. The novel also has it that the setting of the Vietnam War, which is a big and important part of the Punisher’s past in the comic book, had to be replaced by having him in the Gulf War and as an undercover agent in the FBI. He spends months deep undercover surrounded by people who would simply blow his head off if he slipped up. The writer says that getting into character as these people were starting to taint Frank (this is also seen in the mini comic book) that he seemed to enjoy it too much when it came to killing the bad guys. Living on the wrong side of the law for a time, even if it wasn't for the job, is something else that explains his assuming the mantle of the Punisher.
DVD sales
The Punisher DVD was released on September 7, 2004 and sold nearly 1.8 million copies in its first five days and netted $10.8 million in rentals its first week out, making it number one in DVD sales. It then sold $18.7 million. Sales continued at a steady pace, ultimately topping 4 million units. During October, The Punisher DVD rentals were still in the top ten and various cable and satellite providers had started to offer The Punisher as a pay-per-view feature. Between worldwide movie box office and DVD sales, it grossed $115 million ($55 million worldwide + $60 million from DVD sales). It was reported in 2005 that along with other movies that the 2004 Punisher DVD commentary by Jonathan Hensleigh and “Making of the Movie” are used in some film classes to help beginning film directors get started since the film was a low budget movie.
Extended cut
An Extended Cut DVD was released on November 21, 2006 with 17 minutes of additional footage. Features also include a black and white stop motion animated scene, set in Kuwait based on and done by artist Tim Bradstreet, and a Punisher comic book gallery. An extended version of "In Time" by Mark Collie also appears in the closing credits of the extended cut DVD.
The Punisher was released on Blu-ray Disc on June 27, 2006.