With having last seen the film 10 years ago on a murky,cut UK Video,I was thrilled to recently hear from a friend that the German DVD company Laser Paradise had recently brought out an uncut,DVD edition of the movie,which led to me deciding that it was time to witness Frank Castle take his revenge again.
The plot:
Having spent the last 5 years living under an alias of "The Punisher" and also having killed over 100 gangsters who were connected to the brutal murder of his wife and child, former cop Frank Castle receives news that the lead gangster connected with the murder of his family (Gianni Franco) is returning to the city,so that he can take control of the family "business".
Prepairing to at last find the retribution that he has been searching for,Castle is shocked to discover that his plan may not be as easy to carry out as Frank originally hoped,due to the sudden arrival of a Yakuza gang into the city,who are determined to wipe Gianni's turf clean and transform it into theirs.Finding himself bang in the centre of the turf war between Franco and the Yakuza,Castle decides that the only way he can get revenge for the murder of his family,and to also clean up the streets,is to punish everyone on both sides.
View on the film:
Pulling the movie out of the tar pit that the BBFC had left it in with terrible Video editions, (which had the added "bonus" of 90 seconds of footage being cut for the UK ratings board)the Laser Paradise editions breaths new life into this raw piece of Comic-Book pulp,with the picture and sound being cleaned up to a pristine condition,which allows the viewer to see and hear everything The Punisher discovers as he walks the grime covered road to revenge,with the added 90 seconds,also finally allowing the film to deliver its bare-knuckle punches.
Kicking the movie into high-gear right from the start,with a stylish credits scene that is covered in waves of Dennis Dreith's hummable theme tune,director Mark Goldblatt brilliantly shows Frank Castle being unable to find a place to free himself from the darkness in his heart,thanks to Goldblatt showing that the slime which is rotting the city away is not being hidden underground,but instead overflowing the entire city,with Goldblatt keeping primary colours away until the very end,(where Frank may be about to gain retribution) so as to show that the bleak,filthy city is reflecting Castle's own darkness.
Keeping the plot pretty straight forward,the screenplay by Boaz Yakin contrasts the stern,nail-gun nihilism that Castle displays by making each of the Yakuza (who by pure chance,are all martial arts experts!) and Gianni's gang wonderfully deranged and completely unlikeable,with every single member of the gangs being more than happy to shoot/stab the other in the back at the merriest whiff of being "the boss" of a piece of turf,who if they are extra lucky,may also be looked upon as the person who destroyed The Punisher's rampage of revenge.
Despite not wearing the "Skull t-shirt" that has become the trademark of the character,Dolph Lundgren still gives an excellent performance,that along with having Lundgren show some impressive fighting skills,also allows Dolph to get surprisingly deep to the heart of Castle,with a great,non-fighting scene between The Punisher and his former,fellow cop Jake Berkowitz (played by a very good Louis Gossett Jr.) being a particular highlight of the film.Along with getting to the inner turmoil of Castle,Lundgren makes The Punisher's road to revenge one that is a gritty,action packed thriller,with The Punisher being shown to do everything from blowing up a gangsters entire mansion,to stabbing a Yakuza with a lampoon,as he shows to each of them,that none of them will escape unpunished.
The plot:
Having spent the last 5 years living under an alias of "The Punisher" and also having killed over 100 gangsters who were connected to the brutal murder of his wife and child, former cop Frank Castle receives news that the lead gangster connected with the murder of his family (Gianni Franco) is returning to the city,so that he can take control of the family "business".
Prepairing to at last find the retribution that he has been searching for,Castle is shocked to discover that his plan may not be as easy to carry out as Frank originally hoped,due to the sudden arrival of a Yakuza gang into the city,who are determined to wipe Gianni's turf clean and transform it into theirs.Finding himself bang in the centre of the turf war between Franco and the Yakuza,Castle decides that the only way he can get revenge for the murder of his family,and to also clean up the streets,is to punish everyone on both sides.
View on the film:
Pulling the movie out of the tar pit that the BBFC had left it in with terrible Video editions, (which had the added "bonus" of 90 seconds of footage being cut for the UK ratings board)the Laser Paradise editions breaths new life into this raw piece of Comic-Book pulp,with the picture and sound being cleaned up to a pristine condition,which allows the viewer to see and hear everything The Punisher discovers as he walks the grime covered road to revenge,with the added 90 seconds,also finally allowing the film to deliver its bare-knuckle punches.
Kicking the movie into high-gear right from the start,with a stylish credits scene that is covered in waves of Dennis Dreith's hummable theme tune,director Mark Goldblatt brilliantly shows Frank Castle being unable to find a place to free himself from the darkness in his heart,thanks to Goldblatt showing that the slime which is rotting the city away is not being hidden underground,but instead overflowing the entire city,with Goldblatt keeping primary colours away until the very end,(where Frank may be about to gain retribution) so as to show that the bleak,filthy city is reflecting Castle's own darkness.
Keeping the plot pretty straight forward,the screenplay by Boaz Yakin contrasts the stern,nail-gun nihilism that Castle displays by making each of the Yakuza (who by pure chance,are all martial arts experts!) and Gianni's gang wonderfully deranged and completely unlikeable,with every single member of the gangs being more than happy to shoot/stab the other in the back at the merriest whiff of being "the boss" of a piece of turf,who if they are extra lucky,may also be looked upon as the person who destroyed The Punisher's rampage of revenge.
Despite not wearing the "Skull t-shirt" that has become the trademark of the character,Dolph Lundgren still gives an excellent performance,that along with having Lundgren show some impressive fighting skills,also allows Dolph to get surprisingly deep to the heart of Castle,with a great,non-fighting scene between The Punisher and his former,fellow cop Jake Berkowitz (played by a very good Louis Gossett Jr.) being a particular highlight of the film.Along with getting to the inner turmoil of Castle,Lundgren makes The Punisher's road to revenge one that is a gritty,action packed thriller,with The Punisher being shown to do everything from blowing up a gangsters entire mansion,to stabbing a Yakuza with a lampoon,as he shows to each of them,that none of them will escape unpunished.