Movie: Punisher: War Zone

[Munsu]

For some reason, not until this morning did I ever get in the mood to watch the 2004 Punisher movie. Well, I really enjoyed it... though I don't like the actor, I thought he did fairly well. Overall, the movie was quite enjoyable especially the fight against the Russian.

Now that we've got that out of the way, this fall we'll see a new Punisher movie that simply looks awesome. This shit is going to be great, and it starts off with the great cast they've assembled. Dominique West, which some of you will recognize from The Wire or 300 is simply a great actor, and he'll be playing the villian Jigsaw... then we have Doug Hutchison, who always looks very creapy and demented everytime he acts... then we have Julie Benz who I enjoy quite a lot; she's in Rambo, Dexter, Angel... and last but not least we have Ray Stevenson, Pullo from Rome, playing the Punisher. Ray Stevenson will simply be a kickass Punisher, I'm sure he'll be ruthless. He's a huge improvement from that pretty boy Thomas Jane.

The director is a chick called Lexi Alexander, never seen anything from her... but I've heard good things about her Hooligan movie. From what I've read from her interviews for Punisher, she seems to really want to put a good product forward, full of violence.... which I find great. Here's one of her interviews:
http://movies.ign.com/articles/840/840092p1.html

You can see some stills from the movie here:
http://www.lexialexander.com/


Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on overeager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the "Punisher Task Force" hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.
http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=11932

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/3813/31762largeds4.jpg

[darkshadow]

awesomesauce.

[TwisT]

I loved the first movie. I have always liked Punisher as a character from the comics. It will however feel strange to see a new actor. I'm not a fan of switching actors but hopefully it will be great and i can hopefully get over the whole switch thingy.

Anyone know why they switched? Didn't the actor want to do any more or was it movie company that didn't think he was good enough? Or was he simply not avalible in the time frame they wanted to make it in?

[Munsu]

Thomas Jane decided not to return cause he's a pussy.

[Munsu]

Trailer bitches... looks quite kickass in my opinion:

http://movies.ign.com/dor/objects/382367/punisher-war-zone/videos/punisher2_trailer_061008.html

[Darky]

Man that looked awesome

[TwisT]

Yea this one will be great. Just from watching that trailer you can feel Castles anger and hate, and the action look like it will be really well executed.

[Munsu]

Wow, I was psyched and surprised to see the trailer, I had no clue it was coming out so early.

I’m also blown away that there is such a huge reaction to it. The good, the bad, I love it all. I’ve been getting emails
from all over the world and heard from friends I’ve known in the Karate and Kickboxing circuit whom I haven’t spoken
to in years. I’m starting to realize how huge The Punisher fan base is.

I’m not sure what kind of impression I would get from this trailer if I didn’t actually know the film. I am utterly impressed,
though, they managed to find that much PG rated action footage at all. It had to be a challenge to cut a trailer from our
action stuff without showing any gore and blood.

I’ve been told that you can’t even show heads blowing up in red-band trailers. I hope that’s not true because that would
suck. It’s weird to see Castle shoot all those bullets and not see the thugs who are catching them. That’s the best
fucking part about it!!!

I’m very happy that the hardcore Punisher fans recognized the lines taken directly from the comic books (all credit goes
to Ray Stevenson for that), and that MAX fans appreciated the color theme that was also directly copied from the books.

Yes …don’t expect this Punisher to be set in an ultra-realistic world. Every director has to make a call on the vision
and style of a film and putting The Punisher in a realistic and gritty setting would be like having Det. Vic Mackey of
THE SHIELD run around with a big ass skull on his chest, or Ray Liotta’s character in NARC suddenly go: “Hey, I think
I just saw a guy whose face looks like a Jigsaw puzzle.” Ha, ha.

Real crime stories and comic books are two different worlds for me. It was my first priority to please The Punisher comic
book fans and with all the respect to two wonderful actors, I wasn’t trying to become a member of the Dolph Lundgren or
Thomas Jane fan club. This film is about the mythology of FRANK CASTLE, it is ultra violent and it will look not a little,
but a lot like this:
[Pictures]

I’ve been reading some of the boards out there and I want to give a shout out to the loyal, excited and trusting fans who
have been trying to shut up the haters & trolls in the most hilarious way. Being a little Hooligan girl myself, I’m a sucker
for anybody who fights for their firm (gang) and stands up for a cause. I also need to thank the haters because it is
indifference that would be the real nightmare.

I just saw THE INCREDIBLE HULK and I really, really loved it. Ed Norton rocks and Louis Leterrier did an excellent job
with action, style, pace and everything. If the hate they received for their first trailer is an indication to how well that film
turned out in the end, hell…I want more hate!

So long mates!
Lexi

http://lexialexander.com/

[Stitch]

Sometimes I'd like to get my hands on God.

THIRTEEN!!!

[Munsu]

Here's a new trailer... some scenes are quite extreme, just awesome:
http://movies.ign.com/dor/objects/382367/punisher-war-zone/videos/punisher_warzone_072308.html

[rockmanj]

It looks like it might being big screen justice to the MAX series, which was awesome.

[Stitch]

Spike has an exclusive trailer at http://www.spike.com/presents/punisher.

Holy shit @ War Zone's trailers. This movie is going to be all kinds of awesome.

[insane]

i'm gonna watch this movie when it comes out. nice trailer...

[Munsu]

Here's the official site:
http://www.punisherwarzonemovie.com/

Here are three tv spots and a special director's clip:
http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/punisher-war-zone/tv-spot-1
http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/punisher-war-zone/tv-spot-2
http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/punisher-war-zone/tv-spot-3-reborn
http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/punisher-war-zone/director-clip

Here's the 3rd tv spot:
http://marvel.com/news/moviestories.6039.Exclusive_Punisher~colon~_War_Zo ne_Spot

[Munsu]

Watched the movie the other day. Plot wasn't good, but the action was great. In all, if what you're interested is in a kickass action movie, you'll find it here. If you're looking for a Dark Knight type of thing, then you'll be very very disappointed. I recommend it to be people that liked Rambo.

[rockmanj]

Was it gory?

[Munsu]

I'd say... yes. Maybe not much as gore, but lots of blood and heavy, heavy violence.

[Munsu]

Didn't want to start a new thread, so this is as good as any. Here's a 10 minute short of Thomas Jane reprising his role as The Punisher. I thought it was great, have a look.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWpK0wsnitc

[Animeniax]

I grew up reading a lot of the Punisher comics, so he's an iconic character for me. Thomas Jane doesn't cut it as Frank Castle. The guy who played him in the War Zone movie looked more the part.

The violence in this clip is very cartoony, but very visceral and cool.

[Munsu]

I grew up reading a lot of the Punisher comics, so he's an iconic character for me. Thomas Jane doesn't cut it as Frank Castle. The guy who played him in the War Zone movie looked more the part.

I agree.

[Animeniax]

Wow, I just watched the Punisher from 2004 in its entirety... terrible movie. Why does Marvel feel the need to make all of their movies so cartoony and juvenile? The Batman Begins treatment for the Punisher movie would be so much better. From the looks of the preview clip you posted, it looks like they'll keep the same kind of cartoon-violence Punisher from the first movie.

[Munsu]

Wow, I just watched the Punisher from 2004 in its entirety... terrible movie. Why does Marvel feel the need to make all of their movies so cartoony and juvenile? The Batman Begins treatment for the Punisher movie would be so much better. From the looks of the preview clip you posted, it looks like they'll keep the same kind of cartoon-violence Punisher from the first movie.

It's not a preview clip of anything. It's just Thomas Jane, and whomever else was involved, doing a 10 minute short movie for the heck of it.

[Animeniax]

It's not a preview clip of anything. It's just Thomas Jane, and whomever else was involved, doing a 10 minute short movie for the heck of it.

Oh ok, thought it was a preview of a forthcoming new Punisher movie. It could work, but they need better writers if they want to make it a viable franchise.

[Munsu]

Oh ok, thought it was a preview of a forthcoming new Punisher movie. It could work, but they need better writers if they want to make it a viable franchise.

And a more experienced director. I think they had the right idea with War Zone, but a bit of a poor execution. Out of the "superheroes" out there, Punisher seems like the most similar to Batman, and if done well it has the potential to become big.

Another that missed the boat was Spawn, and it's one I would love to see remade. I mean, who in the hell thought it was a good idea to release this movie as a PG-13... even the cartoons are R rated and aired on HBO with nudity and good dosage of violence.

That said, I haven't watched Spawn in a long time. I just got myself the Director's Cut version, don't know if it's any better.

[Animeniax]

I haven't seen War Zone but it's in my rental queue. Definitely better direction will go a long way to making it a good if not great franchise. I say that because the revenge angle is already well covered in movies and the Punisher doesn't have the cool gadgets or villains like Batman. He's basically just guns and death and not much else.

I haven't seen Spawn in a long time either but it could use a remake. The first movie was so cartoony and ridiculous, considering the subject matter. I can see why Hollywood would want to keep it PG-13, but it doesn't do the story justice to water down the fact that he is hell spawn and fighting demons and evil.

[fahoumh]

Wow, I just watched the Punisher from 2004 in its entirety... terrible movie. Why does Marvel feel the need to make all of their movies so cartoony and juvenile? The Batman Begins treatment for the Punisher movie would be so much better. From the looks of the preview clip you posted, it looks like they'll keep the same kind of cartoon-violence Punisher from the first movie.
I also recently watched the same Punisher movie a few months ago and it was nowhere near as good as I thought I remembered...I should have just left it as a distorted memory.

[Animeniax]

I also recently watched the same Punisher movie a few months ago and it was nowhere near as good as I thought I remembered...I should have just left it as a distorted memory.

Maybe the hype/expectation helped you enjoy the movie more back then. I find that I am more forgiving when watching a movie that I've been looking forward to, if it's not over-hyped or if I can enjoy it regardless of the hype. Plus it was 8 years ago (presumably when you saw it). I've gone back and re-watched movies and regretted it... like you said, some things are better left as pleasant memories.

The Punisher felt like an 80s or 90s film to me, not something that would have come out in the 2000s.