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Theedan on THE PUNISHER ShoWest Screening!
Hey folks, Harry here... I've never been a huge fan of THE PUNISHER... I just never really thought he felt like he belonged in the Marvel Universe... but I'm hoping that I like the film, specifically I'm looking forward to Thomas Jane's performance as folks loved his performance in STANDER during SXSW and Moriarty seemed to enjoy the film quite a bit. I'm curious to see what happens with Thomas Jane and this is his first really big limelight step. Here ya go...
Dear Harry,
This is my first time writing in.
I attended ShoWest in Las Vegas this week and got to sit in on a screening of The Punisher. They said it was the first time the final print was being screen to the public. Aside from a few color adjustments, this was pretty much the finished film.
First let me say that I am a Punisher fan and I was not looking forward to this movie. I hated the fact that it took place in Tampa and not New York, I hated that Thomas Jane had the lead, and really hated the first few trailers.
I went into this film ready to hate it.
It turns out the movie wasn't super painful to watch. It's an O.k revenge movie but it is certainly not The Punisher movie I wanted to see my whole life.
I don't know if you have a gazillion reviews for this pouring in our not, but I could write one if you wish.
Here is some other news.
At the show Avi Arad was on hand and during a luncheon they announced that Iron Fist, Black Widow and Punisher 2 were all in preproduction. A Lion's Gate rep that I mingled with said that Rebecca Rojamin Stamos is begging to play Black Widow. (How many Marvel films can she be in?)
Anyway, let me know if you need a review, please and keep up the great work you do on this site.
Best Regards,
Theedan
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I have NEVER been a Punisher fan. I tried desperately to get excited about the character (Years ago I subscribed to the series, and I even bought the original 4-issue Punisher miniseries), but he is just boring.
That said, I hope the movie doesn't suck. I agree that setting it in Florida over New York sounds pretty assinine. Oh well.
P.S. Tell this lazy reviewer to actually write a review! -
Mar 25, 2004 1:08:08 PM CST
At what points does the Don Pendleton estate sue Marvel and the
by the g-man
Simply put, "the Punisher" is a complete hand over fist rip-off of Don Pendleton's late 60s-early 70s paperback novel character "Mack Bolan: the Executioner." Bolan, like Castle, was a Vietnam vet who watched his family murdered by mob thugs and then spent the rest of his life using military weaponry to wage war on the Mafia. In fact, having read a few of the books waaay long ago, other than a name change and a skull on the chest, there is absolutely nothing different between the two. If this movie looks to make even a small profit, why wouldn't Pendleton sue?
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Without Charles Bronson
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The Poon-isher.
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without Jeff Goldblum spray-painting a girl's ass red.
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Man, they're scrapping the bottom of the barrel now.
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Mar 25, 2004 1:14:10 PM CST
I've never been one to complain here, but THAT was a review?
by franky 5 fingers
Move over Roger Ebert. Anyways, here's my own review of Troy: The movie has sand, Brad Pitt and a fuckload of boats. Still, it wasn't the movie I wanted to see. It just wasn't. Trust me on this.
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I also tried to like the Punisher, unsuccessfully, years ago. Those of you who gave up on him MUST read the Garth Ennis "Welcome Back Frank" storyline, and the new Punisher series that just started up. The new series is GREAT! It combines some of the old, old stuff (like Microchip!) with Ennis' dark, R-rated version of it.
I hope the film kicks ass, because Marvel needs it to.
If it doesn't kick ass, let's hope that it dies quickly and isn't connected to the 'superhero' genre.
I don't think the trailers look all that great, but it might surprise me. -
Well folks I'll put it quite simply, if we don't get behind these flicks the era of the comic book movie will come to an end. Warner are gonna smash a huge nail into the coffin of this genre with Catwoman and possibly Constantine. So try and enjoy 'em while you got 'em. I think the Punisher will be an enjoyable enough romp, although I was rather hoping for a Dirty Harry for the 21st century....
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Yep, mediocre reviews are in these days, and the studios KNOW IT! This review was likely written by Avi Arad himself! We're on to you, House of Idea [sic]!
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The title? School of Punishment. "Punishment is about sticking it to the man!"
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That makes Judge Doom happy down there...
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Yep. sk
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I want a Nova movie! Rich Ryder kicks ass! What justice is there in a world where Iron Fist gets a movie before NOVA???
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Just so ya know, I know Theedan and he's not in anyway involved with any studio, he was just lucky enough to get to go and wanted to share what he saw. And THIS is not his review, Harry wasnt supposed to post this.
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Mar 25, 2004 3:36:52 PM CST
Yeah, but how was the Nickleback/Drowning Pool/Evanescence sound
by cash bailey
I guarantee you, it's got one.
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Mar 25, 2004 6:52:54 PM CST
That was even a review, theedan you fucking retard. Reviews cons
by jigga422
harry WTF are you doing? this is more a blurb than a fucking review.
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I'm a Marvelite from way back, and remember the Punisher's first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man. He was dull then, he's dull now. A guy who shoots people up. Haven't we seen this same story in a thousand Cinemax late night action retreads? No thanks.
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Bronson is the all time greatest vigilante hero. Thomas Jane doesn't hold a candle! Garth Ennis' idea was to have Rutger Hauer as The Punisher - which, if you think about, just plain WORKS. He's the right age to be a Vietnam vet and Hauer can still kick as much ass as Jane can anyday. Think about it.
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Mar 26, 2004 3:09:42 AM CST
Punisher = guy wuith alot of guns and who wants to get revenge..
by bong
What a novel concept! Heck slap on that black trenchcoat (very unique) and that skull t-shirt...amazing new idea!! Love it!!
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If you look at the cover of Marvel Preview #2, way back there in the seventies, you can see the Punisher on the cover. Underneath the illustration you will notice that there is an interview with Pendeleton himself. I think that he must have been fine with the character.
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Oh-kay...
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Mar 26, 2004 8:11:36 AM CST
I WAS HOPING FOR A VISUALLY STYLISH PUNISHER MOVIE ... with the
by jdanielp
Yeah, ... they should have filmed in New York or Detroit, ... someplace that would actually HAVE the right type of visuals. I never would have imagined a MIAMI Punisher, that's for sure. I may end up waiting for DVD after all, sorry to say. Hollywood just needs to have more repect for these comic book characters and do them right. -- In some ways, the Punisher is like Batman. As a wanna-be movie director, I would have desired to make use of shadows and sillouttes (and IMPACT), much as should be done with any Batman movies to come.
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I simply asked: "Nordling, what the hell are you talking about." How is this a question worthy of deletion? I really don't know what the hell he's talking about.
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An average movie is far worse than a bad one.
Hope a FF live action materializes before the comic landslide ends.
And I hope Beast in X3 blue fur incarnation. -
Mar 26, 2004 8:20:43 PM CST
Probably the Pendleton estate will sue Marvel at about the same
by jasonpratt
Tom Clancy's "John Clark" character is, for all practical purposes, a more realistic Mack Bolan. They even physically look the same. (Check out Clancy's _Without Remorse_ for the story/method similarities.)
Pendleton's estate has had decades to do something; if they haven't done it already (and probably they long ago reached quiet settlement), then I doubt they will in the future.
Although a successful Punisher film franchise might turn the ticket. {g} (Or might not. _Sum of All Fears_ did okay at the box-office, and Liv Schrieber looks and acts a whole lot more like Mack Bolan than Willem Dafoe in _Clear and Present Danger_... {g!}) -
I don't see why everyone's hating the casting. Thomas Jane's a good actor who just hasn't had his breakthrough role yet. Would you jackasses rather have Dolph Lundgren?
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...they've made a hero out of The Punisher, much the way they made the murderous Maximus a "hero" in GLADIATOR. The one thing about the character that I've always believed makes it a compelling one is that the Punisher is fucking nuts. Not straightjacket nuts, but nuts, nonetheless. There's a huge moral question posed by this character, in the older comics. In fact, the real heroes in the Marvel Universe go out of their way to stop Frank Castle from killing. (Batman couldn't even help himself in the JLA/Avengers crossover.) In the new film, they've gone out of their way to make him seem sane, to rationalize his behavior, to justify the fact that Frank Castle is a mass-murderer. The only way you can make this movie and have it be interesting is leave a huge question mark over the character, to make the audience wonder whether they should be rooting for him or not. Hensleigh, Jane & Co. have killed that. They've made the choice for us - the wrong choice. He's too sympathetic. That's one area where the original movie got the character *right*. Lundgren's Punisher was a sociopathic prick. He wasn't anybody you would want to hang around with. He treated his best friend like shit, bullied his sidekick, and almost didn't go save the kids that had been kidnapped by the Yakuza. And, he had no qualms about killing a man in front of his own son, and then handing the kid the gun and telling him to shoot him if he had the guts. There isn't anything that fucked-up in this movie. This movie says, "It's okay if Frank Castle kills hundreds of people, because his entire family got killed." It's a bunch of crap. Vigilantism, and wholesale execution - even of criminals - is not a rational response to crime, and to ignore the hypocritical nature of this character is to completely miss the boat on it. Too bad....
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The idea of an ex-military vigilante going after guys who kill his family is one of those free-floating concepts, at this point. If the Pendelton estate were to sue Marvel over the character of The Punisher, they'd also have to go after Paul Schrader for both TAXI DRIVER and ROLLING THUNDER, and the RAMBO and DIRTY HARRY films, and countless others.
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Only in the perfect happy land of dwarves serving beer would this movie happy.
But ofcourse it would still be secondary to KRULL AH YEAH!
"Krull rules all." This has been a PSA -
You hit the nail on the head. Garth Ennis worked his ass off to restablish that ambuigity about the character and with one $30 million dollar movie, they've wiped the slate clean. Ennis has said, again and again, that the Punisher is a *serial killer*. He's not a hero. He's a serial killer - it just so happens that the people he kills are murderers/rapists/theives, the real dredge of society. The audience should not feel comfortable rooting for this guy during the movie. He's not even an "anti-hero", really. He's just a force of nature, slaughtering criminals across the city. It could have made for a very compelling, disturbing movie but the filmmakers went the easy route. They turned him into a vigilante hero but, sad news, Thomas Jane ain't no Charles Bronson.
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Romijn-Stamos is naturally a dead ringer for Yelena Belova but she could make a decent Natasha with a little work.
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