|
The Punisher (1989) Starring: Dolph Lundgren Louis Gosset Jr. Plot Synopsis: Based on the Marvel Comic Dolph Lundgren is Frank Castle an ex-cop who lives in the sewers and acts as judge jury and executioner to the city s criminals in retaliation for the unpunished murders of his wife and kids. Frank s ex-partner Jake (Louis Gossett Jr.) finally catches up with the vigilante as he tries to stop the Japanese mob which is trying to take over the city s mafia operation. Review: The Punisher succeeds because it stays true to its origins the Marvel comic of the same name. Studio-engineered films such as Batman never quite capture the mixture of loyalty and betrayal justice and revenge moral ambiguity and emotional truth that are the hallmarks of the graphic novel. Films such as Darkman do. So does The Punisher. Lundgren plays Frank Castle a dedicated policeman whose family was wiped out in a mob hit. He went underground (literally) and as the Punisher has been exacting his revenge killing 125 mobsters in the past five years. But when the yakuza (Japanese Mafia) moves in on the mob s territory and kidnaps their children it s up to the Punisher to rescue the kids. The action blazes Lundgren (a former full-contact karate champ) moves with feral grace the production design is a pleasure to watch and director Mark Goldblatt (whose credits as editor include such big films as Starship Troopers and True Lies) has a clean efficient style. DVD Details: Actors: Dolph Lundgren Louis Gossett Jr. Jeroen Krabba Kim Miyori Bryan Marshall See more Directors: Mark Goldblatt Format: Anamorphic Closed-captioned Color Dolby Widescreen NTSC Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Studio: Live Artisan DVD Release Date: April 20 1999 Run Time: 92 minutes DVD Features: Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
|
