Unofficial Punisher short film

[Nelson/Murdock]

i really liked the slow build up, the tension was so thick. but i didnt like it was built up due to the fact that he was being apprehensive. i dont buy the punisher could be watching those horrible things happen to women and children and not act.

Here's the back-story for the short, straight from Tom Jane:

"...the idea was, Frank is trying to take a breather after one particularly hard mission - which has forced him to blow his hideaway and lose everything - again. Something that Frank is pretty used to by now.

He's managed to escape relatively unscathed, but all he's got left is a .45 or two. He's got to rebuild his life all over again.

He's stolen a van and parked it on a forgotten street in the ghetto, where he climbs into the back and gets a few hours of much deserved sleep. Morning comes and he decides he might as well wash the blood out of his uniform, and put something in his stomach.

His day hasn't even started yet when sure enough, trouble finds him. Again.

The last thing he wants to do is get involved with some street punks war party. Capiche?"

 

[kguillou]

I could only imagine what it was like watching this short WITHOUT knowing it was a Punisher short film. I would've gone crazy!

 

[BattleCat]

Ray Stevenson felt like a cartoon character. Janes character was far more authentic.

This x100!! But then again, all of war zone felt like a cartoon.

 

[Darthkush]

Liked it didn't love it. Like others have said, it takes a bit too long for Punisher to react. I don't think he would've let it go on quite that long. That being said, I believe Jane really loves this character and deserves another shot. I don't care how it's done. New film, new tv show or even him teaming up with other marvel characters in a film. It can all work. He can hunt Spider-man in Amazing part II(like he did in the 90's spidey cartoon), he can show up in Cap II or(my personal fave idea), they can have him and Wesley Snipes Blade and bad place, even Nic Cage's Ghost Rider all team up for a movie. THAT would be worth paying to see in a theatre. Just let him play PUnisher again.

 

[cherokeesam]

Liked it didn't love it. Like others have said, it takes a bit too long for Punisher to react. I don't think he would've let it go on quite that long. That being said, I believe Jane really loves this character and deserves another shot. I don't care how it's done. New film, new tv show or even him teaming up with other marvel characters in a film. It can all work. He can hunt Spider-man in Amazing part II(like he did in the 90's spidey cartoon), he can show up in Cap II or(my personal fave idea), they can have him and Wesley Snipes Blade and bad place, even Nic Cage's Ghost Rider all team up for a movie. THAT would be worth paying to see in a theatre. Just let him play PUnisher again.

I think the delayed reaction is showing Frank just getting tired of it all. Crimefighting, whether professional (cop) or amateur (vigilante) is a never-ending thing, and there's no way that even Punisher can stop every single punk and thug out there at every single second of every single day. Perlman is like the mentor figure who reminds him of his "mission."

But yeah, Jane definitely loves the character, and it's clear he wants to step back into the role. I sure hope Marvel Studios takes him up on that.

 

[marcvader]

I wouldn't mind him doing a few more of these shorts.

 

[Duke]

That was an incredible short film done by Tom Jane. I always liked his version better than Ray Stevenson's film.

 

[Radioactive1980]

That was killer. Three things tho-

1) You could see Jane was not in punisher shape, if he ever officially portrays Frank again I want him in Navy Seal shape once more.
2) It would have been better with original music instead of TDK music
3) ...I can't remember 3, I'll get back to ya.

 

[Bruce Banner]

This is one of those rare things that pop up that I didn't expect, an actor returning to a character he played awhile back, all because he wanted to?

Sure, I'm down.

 

[Paradox1]

The short was really well done the choregraphing in the fight sequence really well done for a fan film. You have to give the man respect for really loving the character that much. Its kind of unheard of really which is really mind blowing and hopefully this catapults Frank Castle and Thomas Jane back together again in a more deserving vehicle for success.

 

[\S/]

I disagree with a lot of you here: if I had to choose from Ray and Tom, it's Ray for me. Bigger, more intense, like a walking tank. Tom Jane was good, but the voice and his size just didn't work for me.

That said, the best guy for the role of Frank Castle from Ennis' MAX is Richard Burgi. He's 54 and has most recently been seen in 24, Desperate Housewives, and Chuck. He was also in the great series The Sentinel and is well-known for his role in the DTDVD Starship Trooper films and Hostel (none of which I've seen)http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7277/29richardburgijpg.jpg.

Here's the best "Punisher-esque" photo of him I can find:

Put this guy in a TV series on AMC. If they will allow the gore we see on "The Walking Dead," Frank's antics won't be any more shocking.

Start the series off with an adaptation of one of the MAX stories. My favorite is "Mother Russia."

If they're faithful to the material, they'd have a winner.

 

[Paradox1]

Can't disagree more Burgi is way too old now even in his Sentinel days I couldn't see him as Castle. He doesn't have the malicous intent of the eyes of Stevenson or Jane he looks too nice.

 

[\S/]

^^^You realize the MAX Punisher is 60 and older, right?

 

[EML420]

He doesnt look 60 in the comics that for sure.

 

[Tao43]

^^^You realize the MAX Punisher is 60 and older, right?

MAX Punisher is not in the 616 universe, therefore it is not cannon. 616 Punisher was de-aged due to the Bloodstone at the end of Franken-Castle.

 

[Grommers]

I absolutely of this short film. I was a big fan of the 2004 thomas jane punisher. I felt that it set up nicely for a truly crazy punisher in the sequel. Alas it never came to be.

This was really nice homage as one thing I personally love about the punisher that other heroes don't seem to cross into are the rapists, the child killers, etc.

The really messed up individuals, and this really crosses that line, and I can't help but feel good when the punisher(thomas jane) kills everyone there, as sad and sadistic as that is. (It is pretty, you take a step back.)

I'm really hoping there ends up being potential for him to reprise his role, because between fans and viewers, they say the reason the 2004 movie did so well, was because it never felt punisher enough. But myself personally felt right. It showed castle slipping further and further into the "punisher" node, as the movie progressed, and by the end he does some pretty badass things. He didn't one day just snap, as he sees more and more of the corruption, he becomes more...brutal.

I envisioned with the last line of the 2004 movie - that the next movie would be much like this 10 minute film..just probably closer to 2 hours, with tons of brutal kill scenes, lots of sick psychos getting killed, and the inclusion of other dudes from the punisher comics.

 

[\S/]

MAX Punisher is not in the 616 universe, therefore it is not cannon. 616 Punisher was de-aged due to the Bloodstone at the end of Franken-Castle.

You may not like it, but it's definitely canon, and truer to the Punisher's characterization than ANYTHING involving the Bloodstone or that atrocious Franken-Crap.

Go and hunt down Punisher: Circle of Blood (first mini), Punisher: War Zone (original Chuck Dixon title, first storyline) and read "Mother Russia."

Then get back to me on whether the crap "canon" Punisher is even worth the time it takes to write about it here.

 

[Paradox1]

^^^The Punisher War Journal comic book run is what I grew up on in the 80's and I don't care for the MAX series like I don't care for anything Ultimate. I don't want to make it sound like I'm bashing it but Punisher has been around for a long time and everyone is entitled to their definitive Punisher series and your coming off like a young punk who thinks he knows it all cause he read a couple MAX Books. There is a lot of history that built up over the years far before any Max series was ever made that made the Punisher so extremely popular .

 

[Red.Star.Killer]

Punny had three movies and not a single one did good. The '89 Dolph Lundgren method went straight to video and didn't get a theatrical run. LionsGate made a terrible move of putting Frank against Kill Bill Vol.2 & Man on Fire with Denzel a week later in 04.

Then War Zone came out in 2008 in december and one could argue that releasing a violent movie like this in december around the holidays was a bad move, but not having an obvious fan-favorite (TJ) in the role and the bad handling of the source material did not help either.

Getting Jane back could get a lot of fans back but if Marvel ever decides to do another movie a few things have to be addressed.

1. R-Rated simply doesn't make money. Sure you have exceptions to the rule like Prometheus. But Prometheus had an A-List cast with a big name director. Punisher can get it, but it will cost and punisher unfortunately won't warrant the cost. So it has to go PG-13 to put asses in seats. The current Batman movies, Matt Damon's Bourne movies, and Daniel Craig's Bond films show you can have great action/violence with a PG-13 rating. Plus it's more effective as it causes audiences to use their imagination which is worse than what actually is.

2. Tom Jane doesn't like the superheroes, Marvel wants to do the cinematic equivalent of their comics which entails interaction with supers. Marvel calls the shots so Jane can't pull that, "This isn't the character, this is the character ****". If Jane can play well with others and not do an Edward Norton and let marvel do their thing then let it ride.

3. If Marvel decides to go the route of Hulk and cast another actor, they need to get someone who is unknown and surround them with affordable big names. That way the actor can make the role their own and can stand out ala Hemsworth. Or get a recognizable face that can draw a crowd but isn't that big like Christopher Meloni or anyone else.

If all of that falls into place there's something Frank has yet to have: a franchise. But Marvel has since given the rights to Fox to make a TV show. So who knows if anything will come from that. Comcbookmovie.com recently posted an interview from Collider with Marvel Co-President Louis D'Esposito who discussed Ant-Man, doing three films a year instead of two, and the possibility of Marvel doing an R-Rated movie someday.

http://collider.com/louis-desposito-item-47-ant-man-interview/181138/

"16:21 Talks about the possibility of doing smaller characters in smaller budget films that could be rated R. He says they discuss it, but to get through all the noise of all the other films that are released they have to spend a lot of money. If they’re spending that money, they’re gonna want to spend it on a tentpole film".

Basically, they only care about the movies they know can make money and Punisher, Blade, Moon Knight, etc. are at the bottom of the list.

 

[Tao43]

You may not like it, but it's definitely canon, and truer to the Punisher's characterization than ANYTHING involving the Bloodstone or that atrocious Franken-Crap.

Go and hunt down Punisher: Circle of Blood (first mini), Punisher: War Zone (original Chuck Dixon title, first storyline) and read "Mother Russia."

Then get back to me on whether the crap "canon" Punisher is even worth the time it takes to write about it here.

I have been reading Punisher tales way before Circle of Blood when he would occasionally show up in Spider-Man and Daredevil. I read every issue of Circle of Blood, the first series in the late 80's by Mike Baron and Klaus Jansen (Bill Reinhold was my favorite artist on that series), War Journal by Carl Potts and Jim Lee and the numerous creator changes afterword, and War Zone by Dixon and Romia Jr, even the 'Nam tie-ins, have every issue of Welcome Back Frank, the Marvel Knights series and the entire MAX run.

Don't assume that just because I said MAX Punisher isn't canon, that I don't like it. Nowhere in my post did I say that.

I didn't read Franken-Castle, I was only reading the MAX series at the time. I gave the relaunched 616 title a shot (when it came out during Civil War) and did not like it. I just kept up with what was happening with the character in the 616 universe.

I do like Rukka's run.

 

[\S/]

^^^The Punisher War Journal comic book run is what I grew up on in the 80's and I don't care for the MAX series like I don't care for anything Ultimate. I don't want to make it sound like I'm bashing it but Punisher has been around for a long time and everyone is entitled to their definitive Punisher series and your coming off like a young punk who thinks he knows it all cause he read a couple MAX Books. There is a lot of history that built up over the years far before any Max series was ever made that made the Punisher so extremely popular .

I doubt I'm qualified to be a "young punk" since I'm thirty-six years old.

I've been reading Punisher comics since the first mini-series, which I mentioned in my last post (I'm guessing you missed that part)

I was a hardcore Punisher fan in the mid-80s up until the "death" storyline and the multiple Punishers. That's what ended my collecting and reading of The Punisher, Punisher War Journal, and Punisher War Zone.

The reason I'm such a big fan of the MAX stuff (though not Ennis' Marvel Knights stuff) is because it felt like the logical progression of those early comics, especially the work of guys like Grant and Dixon.

My point about the new stuff out today is that it's simply not that good. Yes, Frank Castle started out as a guy in a "super suit" targeting Spidey, but that was a brief iteration. The "truer" or at least more consistently upheld portrayal began with "Circle of Blood" and continued until the end of the Punisher title. After that, we had that "angel" nonsense and then Ennis on MK.

To me, the Franken-Castle, Bloodstone, fighting super-villains stuff is veering away from the heart of the character in the same way the Adam West Batman series abandoned the core heart of The Batman. Same with the vastly-overrated Grant Morrison run on The Batman.

But hey, people like that Morrison crap and they like Franken-Castle/MU Punisher stuff. No accounting for taste, right?

 

[metaphysician]

Honestly, I think the Dixon Punisher was much better than the Ennis Punisher. . .

 

[\S/]

Honestly, I think the Dixon Punisher was much better than the Ennis Punisher. . .

I could almost concede that. The thing Dixon's Punisher didn't do was revel in violence and torture to the degree Ennis' does. Not that he didn't enjoy torture and violence; that opening "War Zone" arc definitely proves that he did.

The Ennis stuff is good because it was the first time Marvel finally went back to the Punisher of the 80s and 90s after meandering for so long.

Of the two, I think Dixon's work is much more fun to read.

 

[Red.Star.Killer]

These are my favorite versions of the punisher in no particular order.

1. Steven Grant & Mike Zeck

One of my favorite takes on the character! It set the tone for many years to come. Dark, bloody, grim, and full of desolation for a soldier with a never ending war. That and some damn great artwork as well as very human moments for a still relatively new to vigilantism Frank Castle.

2. Chuck Dixon & John Romita Jr.

My second favorite version of The Punisher as it showed the eventual progression of Castle into something less sympathetic and more hardened. Still human vulnerability but a lot difficult for it to show. A wilder more animal like Punisher.

3. Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, and John Romita Sr.

Where it all started! A human and very effective Frank in his prime! Spider-Man, Moon Knight, Daredevil, Night Crawler, it didn't matter. Now sure this one isn't perfect and he's more of an action adventurer than a cold blooded vigilante but I'll damned if I don't miss this version! Everyone likes to complain and yell Frank can't cut it in the Marvel U, well this one sure as bad place did.

4. Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon, Tim Bradstreet, Tom O"Brien, Darick Robertson, Lewis Larosa, Leandro Fernandez, Doug Braithwaite, Lan Medina, and Goran Parlov

Garth Ennis along with these various artists crafted a Frank that was not only a force of nature, but a back to basics version that led into the evolution of the MAX monster that everyone knows and loves dearly. This was done by taking bits and pieces of what worked and letting Ennis do his thing, along with giving Frank some very sickening people to deal with. The Slavers to me is one of those rare arcs that does so much justice to a character that it serves as a legendary moment, which every character should have.

 

[Microchip]

Looked really good, I enjoyed watching it thoroughly. I actually liked that he didn't jump right in. Kind of stared, like "Ehh. Who even cares anymore." And then it slowly builds until he's finally pissed off to go over and kill them all.

This short little film also felt different from a lot of what's out there. I think it could work on a larger scale, and for cheap. I hope that Jane gets the chance to do that. I'm not sure it'd make the money to justify it, or if Marvel would condone an R-rated film. I know I'd watch it.