Good point...I didn't realize until I looked up his profile on IMdB that he is in his mid 40s now. I suppose he is way too old to play a tough guy like Punisher anymore.
The script from the original movie was ass, but you're absolutely right that Dolph is pretty much the perfect guy for the role.
I don't know mid forties wouldn't be too much of a stretch... Wife and kids, He could have done special ops in... uh... the First Gulf War Maybe? Oh crap I got nothin' but this. When his family was killed in the midst of a Mafia shootout, Frank Castle put his military training to use -- waging a one-man war on crime. As the Punisher, Castle became the scourge of the underworld. The mere mention of his name strikes terror into the hearts of criminals everywhere. They all know the Punisher plays for keeps. Real name: Frank Castle (born Castiglione) Occupation: Former United States Marine turned professional vigilante Identity: Known to legal authorities Legal status: Citizen of the United States with a criminal record, listed in Marine records as a deserter Place of birth: Queens, New York Group affiliation: None Base of operations: Mobile, usually in New York City First appearance: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #129 Height: 6' Weight: 200 lbs. Eyes: Blue Hair: Black Abilites: The Punisher possesses the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in intensive regular exercise. The Punisher is a thoroughly seasoned combat veteran of exceptional skills. A former U.S. Marine Captain with a distinguished combat record who has undergone SEAL (Sea Air Land) training, UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) training, and LRPA (Long Range Patrol) training, Frank Castle is well versed in the arts of warfare and hand-to-hand combat. Armed solely with conventional weapons and motivated by a fanatical hatred for criminals like those who murdered his family, the Punisher has single-handedly incapacitated up to a dozen well-armed and experienced opponents in a single encounter and escaped uninjured. Weapons: The Punisher constantly employs an arsenal of portable weaponry. His most commonly used personal weapons are the Vietnam era M16 automatic rifle in .223 caliber; a Sterling Mark 69mm, 34-round clip fed, semiautomatic rifle converted to automatic fire; a 14-round, 9mm Browning Llama automatic pistol; a Government issue .45 caliber automatic frame re-chambered for 9mm ammunition with a replaceable barrel to convert it to .223 caliber ammunition; and a 4-shot derringer in .223 caliber (Thus, he needs to carry only two types of ammunition.) History: Frank Castle was a career U.S. Marine, who served five years in Vietnam, and worked as a special forces trainer in upstate New York. While picnicking in Central Park, Frank's wife and children were caught and killed in the crossfire between two warring factions of drug dealers. On that day, Frank vowed to use his skills and experience to wage a one-man war on crime. He set out to punish all criminals, and more often than not, that punishment takes a very lethal form indeed.
I really liked the Punisher when I was a teenager (and Jim Lee's awesome art in Punisher War Journal was clearly a major influence on Rob Liefield) but I found it too reactionary as I got older. It just seemed like a comic for Pat Buchanan-types. No diss to anyone else who likes it - some people can get past the political implications of a Punisher charater better than I can. I still have an issue where the Punisher fights Daredevil and Punisher War Journal #1.
A little over 3 years later, I finally watched this movie. Holy god was it awful. I did a quick search on The Punisher, and this is all that came up, so I hope there wasn't another thread where this was discussed more in depth. My fears that Thomas Jane would be a bad Punisher were not unfounded...but there wasn't ANYTHING else in this movie that was worth a damn anyway, so he might as well have just mailed in his performance (which I think he did). So little of it makes sense, so many unbelievable plot holes, and so many cheesy, corny lines that don't work unless they are coming from a believable tough guy, which Jane is not. Anyway, sorry to resurrect a 3 year old thread, but that was my quick review. Carry on.
i came into this thread, read teh first post and thought, "WTF? they just had a remake of this movie. they're doing it again? and with the same freakin' actor?" then i read the date and realized somebody bumped it.
I can't believe how excited I was for this movie before a single frame was even shot. I wish Clutch could run this through his QP calculator and remove it. They are making a sequel, but with the same writer/director coming back, you can't really expect an improvement.
Best part of the movie was Kevin Nash knocking Castle around the apartment. Jane did better than I thought he would but still. Ugh. Travolta was horrible.
Since this thread started, I did get a chance to meet Bruce Campbell, which was far cooler than this movie that he had nothing to do with.
Me too. Met him when he was in town doing an autograph session for his latest book. Took a few pictures with me, talked for a couple of minutes, even asked about my job as a (former) corrections officer. All in all, a very nice guy.
Did that movie even make money? I don't think I actually know anyone that saw it in the theaters. Looking at IMDB, it looks like it barely covered it's $30 million estimated budget. I don't know why they'd make a sequel and I don't know how it got a 6.2.
In the movie he robs the money launderer that killed his family. I don't know how he does it in the comics, but taking money from the criminals to go after criminals has a certain symmetry to it. It's funny that this thread got bumped because I recently dug up my old divx copy of the movie, quite a coincidence.
