generationofswine Wait they made a Punisher in 1989? For reals? For reals, and this one had a total B-Movie feel to it. Honestly, the B-Movie thing is vibing so hard in the first five minutes that it almost shakes you out of your seat.That isn't a bad thing, it certainly gives the film a dark and gritty feel to it that works well for the subject matter. In fact, the low budget gives the movie the atmosphere that the other Punisher movies only wished they could achieve.It's a dark movie and Dolph Lundgren has dark hair...and it still seems to work.In fact, almost everything about it seems to work in it's favor.It's no where near as bad as the critics stank it was. Its a movie about an insane super-hero serial killer and even in the comic books that is really what the Punisher is, a well armed man that went insane and started killing bad guys in massive numbers.It plays insanely well with the cheap B-Movie feel of The Punisher 1989 and stands alone as the only really good Punisher movie anyone has made.

nicko252008 I Love this movie, waaaaaay better than any other punisher flicks. One of the last great action movies with a body count. Everything nowadays seems so cookie cutter, this movie has it all. Within the first 30 minutes, Gang on gang violence, brutal killings, Boot knifes, Scuba Ninjas, cauterizing of a wound with a fricken Bowie knife, motorcycles in sewer tunnels, Children being kidnapped, and hit in the face, and put up for sale as slaves. I swear I could watch Dolph shoot up casinos for a week. I don't know what all the fuss is about the skull not being on his chest, I mean really!? Your trying to be stealth, not wear a big skull like "hey look at me over hear in the shadows" It makes sense really. More realistic and believable, many times throughout the movie you think the punisher will not make it. The struggle is real. Not to mention he technically isn't a "superhero" Just a mortal in that sense, no need for a silly cape and suit. And as far as how close it is to the comic book.. Stan Lee himself was the Executive Consultant of the movie so I don't know how much more of a accurate depiction of the the punisher you can ever get. *8 out of 10 stars .

SnoopyStyle Frank Castle (Dolph Lundgren) is a former cop who lives in the sewers as The Punisher after his wife and kids were murdered. Mob boss Dino Moretti is responsible but is released after the court fails to convict him. The Punisher kills him and his henchmen. Frank's former partner Jake Berkowitz (Louis Gossett Jr.) gets hounded by Sam Leary to be his new partner. She believes that Frank Castle is still alive as The Punisher despite official denial. Gangster Gianni Franco (Jeroen Krabbé) returns to town while Lady Tanaka of the Japanese Yakuza proposes a partnership with his organization weaken by The Punisher.I appreciate the strip down attempt at a hard-nosed comic book movie. They even kick around some kids. However Mark Goldblatt is not a good enough director. The style and look of it is solidly in a lower level. The action isn't that exciting. Lundgren doesn't do much acting-wise. It gets a bit boring without any compelling acting.

Paul Magne Haakonsen I remember this movie from my youth, especially when Dolph Lundgren was riding his motorcycle in the sewers. For some reason that particular scene stuck with me for years.Having seen the newer movies and thinking them to be adequate action movies, I decided to give this movie a go once again, just for old times sakes.Sure, this movie is from 1989 and yes it bears witness to that, but the movie is still entertaining for what it is. Sure, it is not fully up to par with the newer "The Punisher" movies, but it still holds it own for what it is worth.And yes, the iconic skull is missing from the shirt, but at least the essence of "The Punisher" is there, and at least the knives have the skull on it.It is kind of funny to see Dolph Lundgren with dark hair and that fake five o'clock shadow going on. But he does bring something goofy and campy to the movie and to "The Punisher" franchise. One thing I just didn't get was the sleepy eyes, was that something everyone had to do back in the 80's?There is a lot of action throughout the entire movie, so that at least counts for something, despite the fact that there is a lot of mistakes throughout the movie as well. I mean, for example where they gun down a whole room full of Japanese people, but not a single bullet managed to miss someone and tear a hole in the paper walls behind them. That was just a wonderful scene. Or not to mention when a woman pulls off her earrings to slash The Punisher, but then they had magically reattached themselves to the ears in the very next scene. Was she really that fast? Despite its campy atmosphere, then this 1989 version of "The Punisher" is fun enough to watch once every now and again when you need something completely brainless to watch.And on the plus side, that logo they used for the movie just screams 1980's all over. It looked like something from a Commodore 64 game. It was just priceless.