The Punisher ( 1989 film ) - wikipedia The Punisher ( 1989 film ) The Punisher Theatrical release poster Directed by Mark Goldblatt Produced by Robert Mark Kamen Written by Boaz Yakin Based on The Punisher by Gerry Conway Ross Andru John Romita, Sr. Starring Dolph Lundgren Louis Gossett Jr. Music by Dennis Dreith Cinematography Ian Baker Edited by Stephanie Flack Tim Wellburn Production company New World Pictures Distributed by New World International Live Entertainment ( US, Video ) Lionsgate ( Current US distributor ) Release date October 5, 1989 ( 1989 - 10 - 05 ) ( West Germany ) April 25, 1991 ( 1991 - 04 - 25 ) ( United States ) Running time 89 minutes Country Australia United States Language English Budget $9 million The Punisher is a 1989 Australian - American action film directed by Mark Goldblatt, written by Boaz Yakin, and starring Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr. Based on the Marvel Comics ' character of the same name, the film changes many details of the character 's comic book origin and the main character does not wear the trademark `` skull '' shirt. Shot in Sydney, Australia, The Punisher co-stars Jeroen Krabbé, Kim Miyori, Nancy Everhard, and Barry Otto. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 Music 6 References 7 External links Plot Frank Castle is the city 's most wanted, and most mysterious vigilante, known as `` The Punisher ''. He has killed 125 criminals in the past five years. An ex-police officer, Castle 's family was murdered in a mob hit, in which Castle was also thought to have perished. This, combined with Castle 's furtive methods of attack, has made the Punisher 's identity a mystery to the general public. Living in the sewers and waging a one - man war against organized crime, his only friend is an old alcoholic named Shake, a former stage actor who speaks in rhyme for reasons unexplained. Now legally declared dead, Castle strikes back from beyond the grave, killing mobsters wherever he can find them. Due to his war against them, the Mafia families have weakened, forcing one of the family leaders, Gianni Franco, to come out of retirement. Franco has a plan to unify the families. This, however, has attracted the attention of the Yakuza, Asia 's most powerful crime syndicate. Led by Lady Tanaka, the Yakuza decide to take over the Mafia families and all of their interests. In order to sway the mobsters to their cause, they kidnap their children and hold them for ransom. Shake pleads with the Punisher to save the children, who are likely to be sold into the Arab slave trade regardless of whether the Mafia give into the demands. The Punisher attacks Yakuza businesses, warning that for every day the children are held in captivity, he will inflict heavy costs on them in property damage. The Yakuza later capture the Punisher and Shake and attempt to torture them into submission, but the Punisher breaks free and decides the only course of action is a direct rescue. He is able to save most of the children with a. 45 Thompson M1928 submachine gun against the Yakuza guards and commandeers a bus to get the kidnapped children to safety. However prior to this Tommy Franco, the son of Gianni Franco, had been taken away to Yakuza headquarters. When driving the busload of kids, the Punisher runs into a police roadblock and is arrested. While in custody Castle is reunited with one of his old partners, who warns his multiple killings will likely get him executed, however at a later point Castle is broken out of jail by Franco 's men. Franco admits he brought this on himself as the hit on Castle 's family was an error, and persuades the Punisher to help him save his son. Castle ironically agrees to work with his old enemy for the sake of stopping the Japanese criminal underworld from taking root in America. Franco and the Punisher raid the Yakuza headquarters, fight and kill all the Yakuza, including Lady Tanaka and her daughter. Upon being reunited with his son, Franco betrays the Punisher, but Castle defends himself and kills Franco. Franco 's son then threatens the Punisher for killing his father, but can not bring himself to hurt him. Castle warns Franco 's son to `` stay a good boy, and grow up to be a good man '', not following his father 's misdeeds. He also warns he will return should the boy commit any crimes, then disappears. The police arrive, only to find no trace of the Punisher. Meanwhile, at his lair, Castle lets the audience know that he will be waiting in the shadows, serving his own brand of justice. Cast Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle / The Punisher Louis Gossett Jr. as Jake Berkowitz Jeroen Krabbé as Gianni Franco Kim Miyori as Lady Tanaka Bryan Marshall as Dino Moretti Nancy Everhard as Sam Leary Barry Otto as Shake Brian Rooney as Tommy Franco Zoshka Mizak as Tanaka 's daughter Larry McCormick as TV newsreader Kenji Yamaki as Sato Todd Boyce as Terrone Hirofumi Kanayama as Tomio Lani John Tupu as Laccone Giancarlo Negroponte as Musso May Lloyd as Julie Castle Brooke Anderson as Annie Castle Holly Rogers as Felice Castle Production Production took place in Sydney. The film was given a worldwide theatrical release, except in the United States, Sweden, and South Africa. The film was originally slated for a US release in August 1989, as trailers were created by New World promoting the film. The film premiered in Germany and France in October 1989 and it was shown months later at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Sci - fi Convention in July 1990. However, the film never received a wide theatrical release in the United States due to New World 's financial difficulties and its new owners not having an interest in theatrical distribution. It was sold to Live Entertainment ( now Lionsgate ) who released it direct - to - video on VHS and Laserdisc in June 1991. It finally premiered at the 2008 Escapism Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina where director Mark Goldblatt screened his own personal 35mm print ( which he showed again in April 2009 at the Dolph Lundgren Film Fest hosted by the New Beverly theater ). Reception The film received mainly negative reviews. It currently holds a 28 % approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 3.5 out of 10. The site 's consensus states : `` Despite the seemingly indestructible Dolph Lundgren with a crossbow, The Punisher is a boring one - man battle with never - ending action scenes. '' Christopher Null gave the film 1 out of 5, stating the film was `` marred by cheeseball sets and special effects, lame fight sequences, and some of the worst acting ever to disgrace the screen. '' MTV.com cited it as an example of a failed comic book film, complaining that the film omitted aspects of the character that made him compelling, and would have served better following closer to the plot of the source material. Whilst criticizing the film 's storyline and acting, Time Out magazine concluded the film was `` destructive, reprehensible, and marvelous fun ''. TV Guide 's movie guide gave the film three out of four stars, praising Lundgren 's portrayal of the character and compared the characterization of the Punisher to that of Frank Miller 's re-imagining of Batman in The Dark Knight Returns. They further praised the film 's atmosphere, calling it `` genuinely comic book - like, rather than cartoonish ''. Music Main article : The Punisher ( 1989 score ) A full orchestral score was composed and conducted by Dennis Dreith at the Warner Bros. soundstage in Burbank, California. A CD of the soundtrack was not released until July 19, 2005 ( Perseverance Records, PRD006 ). The CD includes the complete multi-track stereo recording, as well as a 22 - minutes interview with the composer Dennis Dreith and the director Mark Goldblatt. Perseverance Records also released a new 5.1 mix as a SACD, in collaboration with Tarantula Records ( TARAN001 ). The American DVD release only contains a monaural ( single track ) soundtrack, despite the film being mixed in Dolby Stereo. The 2013 German and UK Blu - ray / DVD editions were presented with 2.0 and 5.1 ( Dolby Digital and DTS - HD MA ) sound tracks although the UK disc was made from mono tracks. References Jump up ^ `` THE PUNISHER ( 18 ) ( CUT ) ''. British Board of Film Classification. April 4, 1990. Retrieved September 5, 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` The Punisher ''. Dolph-ultimate.com. Retrieved June 29, 2010. Jump up ^ Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970 - 1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p126 Jump up ^ `` The Punisher ''. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 28, 2010. Jump up ^ Christopher Null ( 2004 ). `` The Punisher ( 1989 ) ''. filmcritic.com. Retrieved February 28, 2010. Jump up ^ Downey, Ryan J. ( 2002 - 04 - 25 ). `` Will ' Spider - Man ' Fly ? ''. MTV.com. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 07. Jump up ^ `` The Punisher ( 1989 ) ''. Time Out. Retrieved February 28, 2010. Jump up ^ Staff. `` The Punisher Review ''. TV Guide. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 07. External links The Punisher on IMDb The Punisher at Rotten Tomatoes The Punisher on Dolph-Ultimate.com The Punisher at Oz Movies The Punisher at Superheroes Lives The Punisher Created by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru and John Romita Sr. in `` The Punisher Strikes Twice ! '' Characters Supporting G.W. Bridge Rachel Cole - Alves Rampage Lynn Michaels Mickey Fondozzi Microchip Martin Soap Nick Fury Enemies Barracuda Bullseye Bushwacker Damage Hitman Hood Jigsaw Kingpin Lady Gorgon Ma Gnucci Olivier Rapido Rev Russian Saracen Sniper Thorn Comics Main 1986 series 1987 series 1995 series 1998 series 2000 series 2001 series 2004 series 2009 series 2011 series 2014 series Spin - offs War Journal 1988 series 2006 series War Zone 1992 series 2008 series 2012 series 2099 Punisher Max Other Punisher P.O.V. Archie Meets the Punisher Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe The Platoon The End In the Blood 5 Ronin In other media Films The Punisher ( 1989 ) score The Punisher ( 2004 ) score album Punisher : War Zone score soundtrack Dirty Laundry Do Not Fall In New York City Avengers Confidential : Black Widow & Punisher Video games The Punisher ( console ) The Punisher ( computer ) The Punisher : The Ultimate Payback ! The Punisher ( 1993 ) The Punisher ( 2005 ) The Punisher : No Mercy Television Daredevil ( season 2 ) The Punisher ( TV series ) Related articles Alternative versions Garth Ennis The ' Nam Palm Beach Punishers Shadowmasters Live - action theatrical films based on Marvel Comics Franchises Ant - Man Ant - Man Ant - Man and the Wasp Avengers The Avengers Avengers : Age of Ultron Avengers : Infinity War Untitled Avengers film production Blade Blade Blade II Blade : Trinity Captain America Captain America ( serial ) Captain America ( 1990 ) Captain America : The First Avenger Captain America : The Winter Soldier Captain America : Civil War Daredevil Daredevil Elektra Deadpool Deadpool Deadpool 2 Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four ( 1994 ) Fantastic Four ( 2005 ) Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer Fantastic Four ( 2015 ) Ghost Rider Ghost Rider Ghost Rider : Spirit of Vengeance Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Hulk Hulk The Incredible Hulk Iron Man Iron Man Iron Man 2 Iron Man 3 Punisher The Punisher ( 1989 ) The Punisher ( 2004 ) Punisher : War Zone Spider - Man Spider - Man Spider - Man 2 Spider - Man 3 The Amazing Spider - Man The Amazing Spider - Man 2 Spider - Man : Homecoming Thor Thor Thor : The Dark World Thor : Ragnarok Wolverine X-Men Origins : Wolverine The Wolverine Logan X-Men X-Men X2 X-Men : The Last Stand X-Men : First Class X-Men : Days of Future Past X-Men : Apocalypse X-Men : Dark Phoenix Single films Howard the Duck Red Sonja Man - Thing Doctor Strange Black Panther The New Mutants Venom Franchises from Marvel Comics imprints Kick - Ass Kick - Ass Kick - Ass 2 Kingsman Kingsman : The Secret Service Kingsman : The Golden Circle Men in Black Men in Black Men in Black II Men in Black 3 See also Marvel Studios Marvel Cinematic Universe films Marvel One - Shots Item 47 Agent Carter All Hail the King No Good Deed Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Punisher_(1989_film)&oldid=817778642 '' Categories : 1989 films English - language films Punisher films 1980s action films 1980s thriller films American films American action thriller films Films about revenge Films shot in Sydney Vigilante films Yakuza films New World Pictures films American crime drama films Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from September 2014 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Čeština Deutsch Español فارسی Français 한국어 Italiano עברית Polski Português Русский Shqip Suomi Svenska Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 30 December 2017, at 14 : 43. 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Question: when did the first punisher movie come out
Answer: April 25, 1991