Cool News
THE PUNISHER: WAR ZONE PG-13ized??
Merrick here...
In the wake of director Lexi Alexander's apparent banishment from THE PUNISHER: WAR ZONE, sources for Latino Review indicate that there's internal discord within Lionsgate about what rating the film should carry.
The first film was released as an "R" and it was understood WAR ZONE would be similarly rated, but it seems this may not be the case.
one of my contacts deep within the bowels of Hollywood and close to the Punisher: War Zone project (source will not be named. Sorry!) told me today that the big fight over the Punisher project is Lionsgate wants a PG-13 cut to be released.
..says THE WRITE-UP over at LR.
I don't know much about PUNISHER so I wouldn't be the person to fairly comment on this matter. Presumably Harry or Moriarty may chime in on the issue in short order, so stay tuned...
-
+ Expand All
-
This just in. Punisher will feature a sidekick named Mutt who carries a butterfly knife, and a villian with a sword. No one will die. No blood will be shown, but tons of toys will be sold.
-
why bother? R or nothing, baby.
-
The clue's in the title - he punishes through extreme violence; that's the selling point. What's Frank Castle going to use in PG13 land - mild language and innuendo? No blood? CGI fluffy bunnies?
-
By the way, sounds crap
-
I never was gonna step up and pay my $10 ...naybe rental best
-
Lionsgate.
BOO.
-
LIONS GATE ARE CUNTS.
Motherfuckers, Ray sounds like the Punisher, looks like the Punisher, let him BE the MAX punisher! -
you know we all knew it was going to be shit anyway. Let them try to claw some money back by selling it to a broader audience. Seriously, who the fuck cares?
-
despite the fact that I think it's crap what LionsGate has done, from Tom Jane to Lexi Alexander, but it's becoming increasing obvious LG doesn't care
-
Yes, you heard me. I can't believe so many people actually liked him. Fuck that guy.
-
thats the nail in the coffin altho i love ray stevenson from ROME
-
Anyway, this sucks, but is anyone really surprized?
-
YOU ASSHOLES!
-
The only thing good about the first was all-out violence of knives going through mouths and heads exploding. Hell, the entire preview for this one was literally nothing but heads being destroyed in various ways. This is a really bad move. They will undoubtedly make less money from a PG-13 version of this because without the violence, there is no reason to watch this. Sad.
-
That makes no sense. The entire point these idiots were making was to go OTT with the violence... but the rating is less? Ah well, for people who liked the original the way it was we can officially say no to this flick.
-
That red-band snippet I saw where he was basically killing everyone through their face at least had me hoping it would just be over the top violence. I don't know the Punisher that well, if at all, but I'm betting he isn't a PG-13 oriented guy. Every time I've ever seen him he's either holding smoking pistols near a mountain of bodies or knifing someone. A pure violent, revenge film would be nice.
-
No freaking way it'll get a PG-13 rating with all the bloodshed in that RB trailer man... no way.
-
I was first and someone called me a twat...
-
I think it was the sound of the last nail being hammered into the coffin.
How hard is this for people to understand? Punisher = Rambo set in the city. Rambo doesn't work as PG-13, and neither does Punisher. Goddammit! -
What a clusterfuck. He doesn't even use the same tactics and weapons that he used in the comics. I'll wait for it to come on TNT!
-
...was the greatest. THey can never take that away from me. Let them rate it PG-13. Then don't see it. It's that simple.
-
Of course a movie can be action packed and violent without actually showing someone brains being blown out. But we are talking about a Punisher movie here and hopefully a Garth Ennis inspired one at that.
Guess I will just wait for the unrated directer cut DVD to come out, and I have a feeling it won't be a long wait either. -
The rating is the least of the problems with this POS franchise.
-
...to get why a PG-13 movie about a murderous, gun-toting vigilante mightn't be the best idea.
-
The Omaha World-Herald reviewer said TDK wasn't very good, and that both IM and BB very both clearly better. Time after time, I'm convinced he is the worst movie reviewer on the planet.
-
money grabbing wankers
-
Fuck PG-13 Punisher. I loved the red band trailer (I'm a metal head so music didn't bother me) and now they want to make it PG-3. WHY! goddammit. Lionsgate suck
-
The only way this is PG-13 and still decent, is if they go TDK route. You cut away without showing the blood, but you still show the brutality of the character. You see The Joker shoot people in the face and such. You see him force mobsters to fight to the death with pool cues. You see just how vicious and insane he is, yet you don't see the blood. Actually, I'm fine with that.
-
LIONSGATE should go with the R-rated version, because PUNISHER fans will want to see it that way. That R-rated trailer is a montage of pure brutality, so brutal in fact that it poses as a kind of curiosity among comic book films. If nothing else, the violent version looks fantastically distinctive. I just hope there won't be some skull-rending heavy metal score. If the film goes PG, I'll wait for the foreseeable "Unrated" dvd.
-
avoid this like a bad case of CLONE WARS. Thomas Jane is a lot broader actor than most realize and when he left this property it lost all hope. Granted, the first one was pretty shitty due to Travolta, Jane salvaged what he could. This new crap has trouble written all over it. Just look at all the history of this film and how they have to keep meddling with it and its directors before they can decide what to release it as? PG-13? Are you kidding me? They at least had the tone correct in the first film or even in that 80's crap.
-
Aug 15, 2008 11:28:01 AM CDT
~~~Joker to the Punisher: "DID YOUR BALLS DROP OFF?"~~~
by the marquis de side 3
this is serious bad news. first Lexi is off, now this? it just goes to show just how much Marvel needs to go in order to protect their properties.
I wish we could have a Punisher like the Luc Besson films "LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL" or "LA FEMME NIKITA", or even "DISTRICT B13" which are so tight and cool and ruthless. instead we get pansies in the studio calling these shots.
if this is Hollywood's new modus operandi, watering down gritty properties and robbing them of their soul to appeal to more audiences, then this could also mean bad news for an R-rated "ROBOCOP" with Arronofsky. -
Here's the thing: the supposed red-band trailer set to that god-awful metal illustrates that this movie has a problem on both sides:
Lexi's direction -seems- to be pushing this project into an almost ridiculous pulp direction. I submit, as evidence, the exploding heads, Kill Bill/ westernized-Japan-style exit wound bloops of blood etc. That is not Ennis-style Punisher. That is just silly fanboy appeal. And granted -- I thought it was friggin wonderful. And something I would gladly rent as a Direct-to-DVD feature. But, insofar as a mature-treatment of the Punisher... well, I kinda see the Punisher less as a comic anti-hero than as a tragic anti-hero... so the fact that I was laughing and rocking with the absurdity of the death interspliced with what seemed to be some rocking Ennis-styled visualization and grim heroism made me feel that Lexi MAY have been making a movie too much for the fanboys and not enough for filmgoers.
Then again: everything about that trailer made me want to throttle the mogul wonks that more than likely think that there is a TDK-like appeal with a Punisher crowd. I say this only because only a Hollywood slapass would actually throw out a snuff reel as a red band trailer, expose Jigsaw in that trailer and then set it to some ridiculous Mastodon cover band (Dethklok could have rocked that soundtrack better than whatever they hooked up to it). Interference seems likely here, but possibly justified. The Punisher is not about blood-letting; it's about vengeance, punishment, an almost entirely irrational vendetta that is so super-rationalized that, in the mid-seventies, this character would try and take out jaywalkers and purse-snatchers (before Ennis righted the world).
This whole project just seems, early on at least, like the third misstep with trying to film this character (Hey, at least the Hulk is only on one and a half missteps). I'm never one for internal dialogue, but the most we should hear from frank should be a dub of him rationalizing his kills a la the War Journal. The shit that comes out of his mouth, just in the trailer, makes me wince. But, we're off topic.
Should this thing be PG-13? Ab-so-fucking-lutely not. Did Lexi do the perfect cut? Not looking like it right now (but Lord only know who cut and recut the trailer). Why can't Hollywood get one of Marvel's most fun one-dimensional characters right? Because the monkeys and the suits who run Hollywood are such wingnuts that they actually believe that we're as stupid as they think we are.
I understand that we can't get Casablanca or Sierra Madre greenlit anymore. I'm almost OK with that, but for the love of Geebus... can't you Hollywood asscats even get the god-damned Punisher right? *sigh* -
This just went from a likely rental to a won't watch it for free on TBS.
-
bullshit: it is such
-
If its not hard-R, they may as well forget my money. I won't see it unless its an over-the-top gore fest. You hear that Lionsgate -- HARD R, or your movie BOMBS. Thanks.
-
They probably got a real stinker on their hands (Maybe the fault of Lexi Alexander, maybe the fault of way too much studio interferences.) amd their only chance to make enough money with it, is of course to release a PG13 version first, so that all the kids can see it, and then come up with an unrated DVD.
-
a Punisher movie should exist is to showcase it's hardcore badassness in an R rating. Don't bother otherwise.
-
Are you guys kidding me?!? Are you seriously arguing about a rating for a film?
I don't care as long as it's good(hoping for brilliant though). A long time ago I gave up on the rating system as a promise of an adult themed film.
So many outstanding films operated outside the hard 18 rating. Look at The Dark Knight for a recent example. -
I hoped this would be the Punisher where they finally got it right. Now it looks like it'll place third behind the Lundgren Punisher. Frank Castle is a psychopath bent on killing. I got that from the red band. Granted... he's more into efficient killing than creative killing (which is why Lundgren's elevator battle with the ninjas is the penultimate Punisher moment in film), but above anything else he just wants the guilty dead. Jane's Punisher was just SOOOO off-base. Framing the best friend for sleeping with the wife forcing Travolta to do his own dirty work?? Ridiculous! Frank Castle would just walk up and shoot the guy. I got that vibe from the War Zone trailer, even though they went overboard making the kills interesting. If you cut it down to PG-13, then we won't even get that. You gotta remember that Frank Castle is absolutely fucking nuts. He's not a hero. He's a killer that just happens to only kill bad people. That's not good subject matter for kiddie fare. This movie, if done right, should scare the shit out of you. Just like the Ennis books regularly do. Read the Slavers and tell me that's something 13-year-olds should be exposed to.
-
...That's why he's writing reviews in... Omaha!
-
Too bad with all these extraordinary Marvel movies being made in the last 5 years, they can't get The Punisher right. I guess because First Blood is Punisher, but a thousand times better. I like Frank Castle, but come on, he's just a pissed off dude with guns. How cool of a movie does that make?
-
Damn skippy.
-
Aug 15, 2008 11:55:25 AM CDT
Good news! You evil monsters, isn't there enough blood in the wo
by stalin vs predator
I, for one, hope that it will be also reshot, with a few addded scenes showing Punisher being polite, racially conscious towards minorities and respective of women's plight as well as mindful of their personal space. I hope to see the same in that Friday the 13th remake.
-
Direct to video and be done with it. That's what it looks like. Looks awful.
-
Why is lion's gate wimping out on the rating for this? They used to be pretty cutting age. They must be really worried with this project about meeting their bottom line. Sad.
-
It makes for a horrible movie that MIGHT just be a lot of fun to watch. I'm thinking Clive Owen and carrots...
-
missus creaturecantina, lets NOT use a condom.
-
He was the only great thing in Punisher and he still kicks ass to this day. Shut your dirty word hole!
-
...I WOULD have paid money to check it out at the movie theater. If they make it PG-13, I will wait until somebody I know rents it on DVD and then borrow it.
This is so dissapointing. -
Punisher kills a lot of people. That's about it. He's a simple character.
-
The game was good.
-
for Punisher = WORST DECISION EVER
I say again, WORST DECISION EVER -
still am, kind of. Each of the films so far kind of sort of had some cool parts to it, but overall they've been disappointing. This one looked like it had potential, casting is perfect and it's great to finally have Jigsaw and Microchip in there, as well as finally have him in N.Y. and a correct origin story. But the fear of having a nu-metal soundtrack and cutting it's balls off is making me head for ze hills. Guess I'll wait for the inevitable "Unrated" DVD when the studios scramble to recoup their money after this version flops at the box office.
-
That trailer was clearly playing the RAMBO card of just showing nothing but ultraviolence and knowing that would bring in an audience. They know that's their only hook. I'm sure there are plenty of stupid people working there, but I doubt they're that stupid.
-
Punisher ain't batman, they are both vigilantes, one does not kill under ANY circumstance (PG-13) one relishes killing and pretty much gets off on it (R) do the math
-
seriously, some no-name actor in what looks like a bad direct-to-video flick? the only reason to even bother is if youre gonna go hardcore R rated violence
-
Featuring a Three-way with Veronica while jug heads peaks through the closet door.
-
and streamers instead of headmeat.
-
But Rambo didn't make the kinda bank to justify that hard R. Coupled with the release date, this kinda counter-counter programming is just half-assed at best. Also, wasn't Nikki the Finke going on about how all the Lionsgate projects that were greenlit under their former head are now being eviscerated and otherwise scuttled by the new head in a show of raw balls and little brains? Midnight Meat Train being the prime example of this assclown's hubris. *sigh* I remember when Lionsgate almost had a vision and something to say. As of late, it's just a shit sandwich washed down with a cool glass of douche water. *Ahhhh, refreshing... goes so well with that post-meal enema I was saving up all day for*
-
and film Michael France's Draft instead!!
-
The first Punisher film was total box office crap! I would have rather seen monkeys flinging feces at each other for two hours. Tom Jane blew as the Punisher. This new film showed promise in the trailer but now it looks like the big wig studio tools are going to once again kill it!!!
-
I thought Iron Man was better... I guess I must bow my head and withdraw to a cave!
-
faster than Shumacher...!
-
It's actually a smart business decision. Nobody is clamoring for this movie. It has the stink of death all over it and the first one sucked. Try to get as many people as you can for the four week flame out at the box office then release the unrated dvd. True geeks will be there for both. I loved the punisher the most back in 1989, I was 14 and too young to see an R movie. It probably doesn't make sense to exclude this audience.
-
Not.
add an obnoxious kid sidekick and a talking dog.
nobody that follows garth ennis' Punisher will care about this movie. and there is next to no Punisher market beyond those fans. just release this thing straight to dvd and save yourselves some money.. -
I was on board until they fired Lexi. How can you fire a director AFTER the movie is done??? Are they taking her name off the credits? Did they plan this the whole time? One thing is for certain there will never be another action movie directed by a woman again. EVER.
-
The first time I saw an exploding head, in Scanners I believe I thought it was really really cool. Now, one head exploding is much like another. The thrill is gone. Wait. Maybe if it was Lindsey Lohan's head...hmmmmm.
-
But PG Punisher was ridiculous. I do not want to see a spandex/ kevlar body-suited Punisher with white gloves and boots. Or ever the in-between iteration that Marvel's TV division tried to glom-off on the 90's Spider-Man cartoon. The Ennis vision, like so many other great Ennis creations, is the one that got Punisher greenlit. This whole mess is Hollywood trying to embellish, which is a word two syllables too many in favor of what Holly's trying to do, on Ennis' pretty smart work. You'd think that, with all the success that either faithful reproductions or half-assed smart re-interpretations of comic characters has brought to the bottom line since Sam got a hold of Spider-Man, the studio 'heads' might stop trying to reinvent the late 70s and 80's versions of comic book movies that sucked, sucked their bank accounts and are looked upon as abominations of celluloid. (Actually I guess you could stretch that back to the campy Batman too... but I like West -- he plays himself on a variety of cartoons... and it's his best work -ever- !). Can I get a Michael Bay sucks from the choir?
-
I know I'm alone on this, but I think it's cool that they just keep trying to redo this. I don't understand it but I enjoyed both versions so far for their own reasons and I hope they just keep trying to do it with different actors each time. Every generation needs 2-3 Punishers.
-
The problem is they give as a bad product and we reject it and the story is that "There is no audience for an R rated Punisher" There is no audience for an R rated punisher with a skull T shirt fighting Travoltain Tampa Bay. And There is probably no audience for an R rated Punisher swinging from chandaliers with Newman from Seinfeld as a side kick. But keep making them I'll always sniff, if it smells like doo doo though I'm veering away. Kind of like Alien vs Predator, the take away from Requiem shouldn't be that there is no audience for these movies it should be that there is no audience for awful with these characters.
-
Without the violence there is no weight to a movie like this. So no theater for me I'll wait for the Unrated DVD. Lionsgate heads are a bunch of pussies.
-
I don't know if Lexi's cut would've been any good, but booting her out is bullocks and shouldn't be stood for. I have no doubt that a studio re-cut will be completely shite because that's what studio re-cuts are always like. They might as well make it DTV. I like Ray Stevenson too, too bad the flick will be massacred.
-
Is when I think of Harry's Incredible Hulk review and he describes Marvel Studios as the "Pixar of Superhero movies." I think of that statement, then I think of Incredible Hulk, then I think of Dark Knight, and I just laugh and I laugh. Then I think Bruce Timm's DCAU and who it's not very well known and I start to cry and cry...
-
just sayin'
-
If you recut Pulp Fiction, a GREAT MOVIE, to a PG-13 rating, the movie would be terrible. The profanity and violence are critical to the story and flow of the film. The same thing holds true here. The movie will be limp if every kill shot occurs off-screen, and the Mafia guys are yelling "Darn this guy, I'm getting the heck out of here!!"
-
If you stick to your original "R" rating, more people will see it than those who will be pissed off because you were suddenly castrated and made the film a "Pg-13". Dumbasses.
-
seeing that it seems to be mainly a succession of exploding faces and bloody maimings.
A castrated Punisher. -
Don't get no love at all. Just one craptastic treatment after another. Why? really... Why???
-
Seriously have any of the executives at Lionsgate read any of the Punisher comics?! Have they read Ennis's run on the title?! The amount of sadism and violence unleashed by Castle is closer to their Saw franchise than a silly PG13. Lionsgate needs a clean out at the top.
-
Go back and read their so called Dark Knight "script reviews" and you'll see just how full of shit they really are. Don't trust a single fucking word from those lying Mexicans.
-
...whatever the studio has done to Lexi is a travesty. I don't care if she churned out an awful movie. You don't hire a director, let them film the entire goddamned thing, and then tell them that they have no right to edit the footage that they took.
It's too bad because we just might have gotten a decent punisher movie (even Lexi disliked the trailers that have been released).
The saddest part though, is that if this movie flops or goes DTV, Ray Stevenson's movie career is pretty much over and I fucking adore Titus Pullo. -
Aug 15, 2008 2:57:47 PM CDT
Hey, if it's PG-13 wait for Neftlix and Hard R version
by greatczarsghost
Don't waste your money in the theater or buying the DVD. Just add it to your Netflix que and watch the hard R version.
-
just saying,you know it's true.
-
Wow, there really is zero reason to waste money on this film now. I vowed to watch every Marvel film, but...I totally can't see myself having the willpower to endure this trash. Surely...surely this isn't true?
-
She's usually very outspoken and now nothing...hmmm makes you wonder what's up.
-
Dolph as The Punisher was, well...I 've only seen parts here and there, but it was a low budget shitfest from what I remember. Louis Gossett Junior right off the heels of Iron Eagle III.
The Thomas Jane version was decent at times but, talk about dropping the ball. Those goofball roommates practically ruined the film. I enjoyed the hell out of Travolta (although most didn't), and the scene where he tosses his wife over the bridge was fucking funny. The action scenes were good, but the movie seemed to be straight out of the 80's. It had that Brandon Lee Rapid Fire, or Steven Segal Hard to Kill feel to it. Kinda strange actually. -
I have supported this flick from the beginning....good actors...and the RB trailer....hell yeah. But PG-13....umm sorry no thanks...The Punisher ain't for tweens its for hardcore action loving fans. What is he gonna do...tickle the bad guys to death....talk it out....geez come on Lions Gate whats next PG-13 Saw flicks?
-
These kind of decisions should be made BEFORE the flick is made. Know your audience, Hollywood. If you're cutting the violence down to PG-13, I hope the material will support such a translation. -Good luck with that.
-
Aug 15, 2008 4:38:09 PM CDT
HAHAHAHA!!!! The original Punisher is the funniest shit ever!!!
by fartedinthefaceofhollywood
Remember that car chase in the first Punisher flick where hes being chased by that guitar playing assassin, well they both take an exit off the highway they are on and OUT OF NOWHERE a red bouncy ball flies in the middle of the exit and then OUT OF NOWHERE a little girl runs in the middle after it....MUHAHAHAHA!!! what kinda stupid shit is that, oh yeah....because lots of little girls play with bouncy balls next to exits of highways. A friend of mine and myself caught this movie on TV one night, we were both drinking and laughing our asses completely off watching this shit...hell, calling it shit MAY be giving it too much credit.
-
and then get rated PG-13? Red band trailers are reserved for R-Rated material. So the trailer will have more violence and blood and guts than the actual movie. Has this ever happened before?
-
First off, the dude who played Titus Pulo is a shit actor who just so happened to land a good role with Rome. Secondly, he's too old for the role, and doesn't look a drop like Frank Castle - all I'm looking at is Titus Pulo with a flak jacket. Third, Jigsaw looks like a faggot. Fourth, don't even release this stupid piece of shit movie if it doesn't include a fuckload of "R" rated violence. Fifth, just let this franchise die already. Stupid bunch of cocksuckers - how do you fuck up the simplest character in the Marvel Universe?
-
Somehow the suits at Lionsgate are looking at 'The Dark Knight', its PG-13 rating, and its $450 million (and growing) pot and think that that is a indication that less is more, as in more dollars. I guarantee you that a lot of studios are looking at the success of TDK (and Iron Man, also PG-13, and $317 million and getting weird ideas about what makes a successful comic book base movie. I was actually somewhat interested in seeing this (although I'm not a Punisher fan) because of the over the top violence. Hell even the 'Hulk' did relatively well this year and it was PG-13 also...seeing a pattern here?
-
DAMN.
-
I just emailed someone someone over at Lionsgate to ask her specifically about this. She said the red-band trailer speaks for itself. There's no way to present the movie as a PG-13 title without cutting it down to about 20 minutes in length.
Calm yourselves. Jesus, you're worse than a bunch of gossipy housewives. -
...I just e-mailed God through that same imaginary Intermailweb, and he's confirmed it - you are full of shit. And Lionsgate is the front for a NAMBLA kidnapping club.
-
I think this one will sink the franchise for at least a decade or 2. It provides a catch-22 for directors, if you make it too tame the fans will not like it, if you make it too violent it's not bankable by the studios. What's going on here shows any potential directors that trying to make a Punisher movie for Lions Gate will assuredly be a massive struggle between vision and studio bullshit.
-
He seems to know where I work and what I do for a living, so he's the expert.
-
Aug 15, 2008 5:31:38 PM CDT
I know I'm going to get perpetually violated for saying this but
by smackfu
I just watched Death Sentence on cable again the other day and I think that's as close to a real Punisher movie as we'll ever get. Bacon may not have had the skull on his chest, but he was basically Frank Castle.
-
...That is seriously the funniest news I've ever heard. Lets release a fucking trailer that is nothing but incredibly gory violence, and then cut it all from the film! They shoot it in a crap location, with a script so poor that the star walks, hire a director from the very bottom of the can't direct for shit barrell, then fire them. Now they want to make a PG-13 cut from a film specifically designed around the concept of ultra violence. How can these people not lose their jobs?
-
...When the point of your film is graphic violence, cutting away from it wont be fine. TDK actually was a great film, with interesting ideas and characters, where the violence was necessary to the story, but not the ENTIRE story. Just watch The Punisher trailers. Theres nothing to this film but a pissed off guy killing people violently.
-
Aug 15, 2008 7:01:21 PM CDT
having recently watched the mist i thought id go and watch the p
by mr_x
it was a great movie, made great by TJ perfromance. travolta semed to try and channel his Gabriel Shear character in swordfish but it really didnt help. that and the casting of that weird headed black fisherman was extremely strange. all in all though, i reeally did like his punisher. and i would have liked to see him in a sequel. with a pg rating TJ is better off from this disater in the making.
-
do they really think they're going to get someone better to finish, especially at this stage? How could they even make changes at this stage if the movie is 90 percent done? I liked Hooligans, so it can't be that terrible. I'm gonna guess this rumor isn't true, but if it is then this movie just went from having a small chance to being utterly fucked.
-
Whoever has taken over Lionsgate is a fucking idiot. I hope that crappy Dane Cook/Kate Hudson(lol) comedy BOMBS.
-
...I've read some good reviews so far. The short story was solid. The director...Well, hes hit and miss. Strange that Lionsgate would dump their bread and butter, i.e, violent exploitation movies. When you have a market cornered, just stick with it douches. Your never going to be a real studio, so be happy pumping out Nu-Cannon material for us genre fans.
-
then they can hire a real director (lexi is hot and she can kick my ass, but a director she is not) get a real script and lets see the ennis punisher
-
As a general rule, PG-13 movies make more money but PG-13 sequels to R rated movies never work.
-
the problem with the last punisher wasn't travolta or jane it was the sucktastic writing. Stamos's ex as the dowdy frightened chick? The whole story cornholed into an opportunity for Frank to reconnect to his feelings. Bad writing is particularly lethal when it hits a concept and characters that aren't in truth that deep.
-
Silly to see so much love for an angry guy that shoots people. But what do I know.
-
We're talking about a guy who played jumprope with Eastern European entrails. R = Punisher, and remember what happened with the last R-rated Punisher? REMEMBER!? They couldn't even make a ballsy movie with the free reign they had in the last one, and now they want to cut it down to be LESS bloody!?
-
Is it a plant..? A person.. with no brain..? I'd like to know..
-
This movie will be fucking goddamn stupid... At least I know this in advance, instead of having this rage AFTER spending money for tickets. Hell, next they'll want to put nipples on his body armor... fucking sad, sad, sad.
-
Regardless of being a crap studio, this is a clever move to generate interest in a SECOND reboot of a character that apparently is fruitless on the big screen. They won't make this PG-13. This isn't wishful fanboy thinking, either. I don't care much for the Punisher as a movie. For me, Castle is most effective as a comic book character. On film he comes off as extremely derivative unless he's got some Marvel buddies to play with. But I digress...this is a way for Lionsgate to get us to turn our heads and say WTF?! Looks like it's working. I'd say within a few weeks: "Despite rumors, Lionsgate has never considered The Punisher: War Zone as receiving anything less than an R rating."
-
I'll be sitting this one out.
-
Why do you always feel urged to share your lack of knowledge with us in just about every article you post up? Most of the people who contribute to AICN tend to have in depth knowledge on just about everything and anything, but we are always reminded...by yourself that you are a clueless wonder. You are nothing but a transcriber of other people's emails. Get the fuck out of AICN once and for all.
-
I'm all for a good Punisher movie, but It's starting to look like the Hulk: Cool character with a lot of potential, but they keep finding new ways to screw it up. This new Punisher guy just looks like a goof to me. Totally unconvincing.
-
As if the film didn't look like pathetic b-movie crap already, they have to water down the crap. These movies should've been terribly hard edged, no remorse, balls-to-the-wall urban revenge action films. A PG-13 Punisher? Frank Castle wants his balls back!
-NJM -
I firmly believe this will be better than the last one and coulda been great.
-
Nuff said.
-
...until the studio started fucking with it. First they change all the music, now they want a PG-13. You know what, fine. Fuck them and their piece of shit fucked up PG-13 abortion of a Punisher movie.
-
Now they're gonna make a STV movie I won't even bother renting.
-
Apparently, Hollywood either (1) doesn't like to make money, or (2) is too stupid to understand that the MAIN reason people would go to see a movie called "The Punisher" is TO SEE PEOPLE PUNISHED!!!And yet, they don't even think twice about pumping out another SAW film every 1-1/2 years. No... I don't understand such idiocy, either. :(
-
it was like when i saw the ridiculous girly terminator in sarah connor chronicles, in one scene she was fuckin checking her hair on a mirror (in a girly way)
-
DAMN YOU, GEORGE LUCAS!!!
-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgBD94cs0T8
-
Lionsgate know this, and are just trying to cut their losses.
-
Bring back Dolph!
-
and give punisher a cgi talking grenade as a sidekick named greenie grenade with his own personality and everything! and punisher teaches him how to make friends! and greenie meets a girl grenade (gerti) and falls in love!
-
All of the Punisher:War Zone info that has been spread here is WRONG. Please read this info from Steve Gainer the cinematographer :
http://www.ray-stevenson.com/community/index.php?topic=504.msg10369#new -
That's one reason to see it.
-
The fight with the Russian was great. Unfortunately, the tone of the film was wildly erratic. The comedic sidekicks felt like they walked onto the set from a different movie. Oh well, The Punisher is a mediocre character to begin with. If they continue to fuck it up, then it's no skin off my back.
-
Thomas Jane version. Which one had an entire sequence involving a faked parking ticket? Which one had a bad-ass ninja lady who thought nothing of harming innocent children? Which one featured a hammy Scientologist as the villain? Which one had a higher body count? No further questions, your honor.
-
That's actually a really cool idea, except the whole cheesy Peter Parker universe doesn't seem to mesh well with the darker tone of Punisher. Still, I think it would be kind of cool if they could pull it off.
-
I suggest a new title..."THE ADMONISHER: BAD HAIR DAY"...for f@#Ks sake...he's the PUNISHER...he shoots..stabs...explodes people..he doesn't scold for spiking punch at the prom....I guess he might..but still.
-
Stupid fucking studio head hacks. Is Lionsgate afraid that their just may be another franchise out there that will compete with their beloved piece of shit "SAW" franchise? And are they afraid that this franchise just might be more successful because of the already established cult following of the character. I am the biggest Punisher fan around, and he is one of the main reasons I started reading Marvel comics in the first place, not Spider-Man, not X-Men, not Iron Man, not Captain America. And I was pissed when the first one came out. I had been looking forward to it for months. I was ecstatic when I heard about the casting of Thomas Jane, and even more happy when I saw that he had buffed up, and heard that he had trained with the Navy SEALS to learn hand-to-hand combat fighting techniques. Now, I don't know where the hell any of that training came in in that piece of shit crapfest that WASN'T a Punisher movie. Great casting choice there moron over the decision to cast one of the hottest women on the planet to play one of the dumpiest, ugliest, or most ordinary looking women in comic books, as Joan the mouse. And John Travolta?? What the fuck was that all about? Was he supposed to be a scary mob boss? I've had shits that were more scary and more threatening than he was. And I may be wrong, but he never really punished anyone in that movie, he just annoyed them severly. Oooohh, he's so tough, throwing money out the window making other people on the street below rich. Ooooohhh, he is setting up Howard Saint's gay lawyer friend to take the fall. And what was up with the bow and arrow??? The prefers to run in guns blazing, kill first, ask no questions later as opposed to the stealth mode tactics that they had him using in that movie. So, when they released the teaser of this new one those few months ago, I was ecstatic. That minute and a half of the teaser was better than the entire 2 hours of that other movie that was calling itself the Punisher. Ray Stevenson looks almost exactly like he walked right out of the pages of the comics. I'm sorry, but I think his sneeze could kick Thomas Jane's Punisher's ass. And then the red band trailer came out, and I was saying to myself, Yes!!! This is it, this is the Punisher. When I found out that one of the writers was Kurt Sutter, I was even more excited than ever. Having seen what he has done in his writing on "The Shield" and how that show is a hard R-rated show on basic cable, and how it is brutal, gritty, and realistic, and just one of the best damn shows I've ever seen, I couldn't wait to see how he brought those writing chops to this franchise. And now this bombshell. No, we can't have a gritty, brutal, violent Punisher movie. We have to make him a pussy and not show how graphic his kills are. We want to cater this to little kids, because we all know how great of a role model he is for kids. Sorry Lionsgate, but The Punhisher is not kiddy fare, and he isn't kid friendly. There's a reason why other superheroes in the Marvel universe are afraid to work with him, and some are even afraid of him. There's a reason why he has had one of the biggest manhunts in comic book history after him. He's the ultimate anti-hero. Everything that all of the other heroes aren't. With the exception of Wolverine, one of the few who can violently, brutally kill a villian, then go have a beer 2 seconds later without even batting an eye over it. This is why I hate studio heads. They think they know what the fans want, and sadly, they don't. I once asked a studio rep for WB why they don't make the "Harry Potter" movies longer, and she told me that kids don't want to sit there for that long. BULLSHIT!!!! Kids are reading these 700-800 page books in a day or two, don't give me that bullshit that they wouldn't love to escape into that world for more than just 2-2 1/2 hours. and besides, LOTR, Pirates, and other long movies that have been extremely successful have just proven that audiences do what longer movies and are willing to sit there for that long. So that shoots that illogical statement down.
-
ooooooh Lionsgates
-
It wasn’t perfect but they channeled enough of Garth Ennis’s MAX series to get over a few bumps. The first film ended with The Punisher fast becoming the bleak, hardcore murder machine of the comics and I think a sequel, done with the right people, could have been awesome. Ennis made The Punisher relevant and I wish they would make a film that could emulate his success.
-
...at it's hearts core. I honestly feel The Punisher has been not handled properly in his last 2 film outings. The worst part is, it's a simple story. There are no crazy continuity nuances to fuck up. I honestly feel that at least half the people on this forum could write and direct a damn good Punisher film. With that being said whats really good Lionsgate?
Do you have another shit sandwich to serve? Anything has to be better and less corny than John Pinette in the Tom Jane version.
As a lifelong fan of the Punisher as a wee lad, please, please, please..let me get what I want: VIOLENCE. Oh and a cool score/theme wouldn't hurt either....
I MEAN C'MON! FOR FUCK SAKES! THEY MADE BLADE (A THIRD TIER MARVEL BLAXPLOITION HORROR ERA CHARACTER) AND MADE IT FUCKING REALLY COOL!
Damn.
www.myspace.com/jerryhorror
www.jerryhorrorlives.com -
It's 80's cheese but there are some pretty hardcore moments, specifically when he grabs this little female martial arts villian by the neck and snaps it with brute force.
-
No one else seems to have a grasp on the character. He's written both the definitive ironic and serious takes on the character.
-
Liongates fuckd up again first this and ow the upcoming Kiddie Avengers OVA? Fuck you hacks!And yes,everyone knows that Lundgren's Punisher is the best........Evar!!
-
...our Punisher didn't even have a skull due to legal bullshit. He lived in the sewers! But, dammit he had a theme song! And we were grateful and watched it once a week! THERE WEREN'T NO HIGH FANGLED WATCHMEN MOVIES COMING OUT! WE DIDN'T HAVE NO SUPERHERO GENRE!
BUT, BY GOD! WE HAD CANNON PICTURES AND A AN AMERICAN NINJA AND WE WERE HAPPY!
I did enjoy the Dolph Lundgren version as a kid.
Of course, I also enjoyed dry humping my parents couch as well.
www.myspace.com/jerryhorror
www.jerryhorrorlives.com
-
WHy can't they just trust the directors....seriously green street hooligans was sooooo good.
Punisher....there's no way can be good as a pg-13 HE'S THE PUNISHER! -
and making The Spirit into Sin City............when they should be doing the OPPOSITE
-
Because the comic book was SOOOOOO for children. Movie executives are idiots. I hope it sucks! I really wish Hollywood would make more movies aimed at adult audiences, instead of just RUINING good stories for the sake of making a buck before all the shitty reviews come out.
-
The difference here is the movie was original written and shot as being a rated R film.......and now apparently is being cut up for a pg-13
-
Lionsgate was perfect as a mini-studio that would push for shit that can't get anywhere else. so a lot of edgy stuff, horror movie, etc...but now the new boss want to transform into a big studio and wants to do be "respectable". and in this that's the fans and moviegoers that are screwed.
-
Now the movie i wasn't going to see because it looked like straight to video shit is going to be dulled down to a PG-13!!! NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo
-
Dolph Lundgren's Punisher was the definitive version. Wow. Sucks to actually see that in print.
-
I know the first PUNISHER wasn't amazing, but Thomas Jane has always been a favorite--and his non-inclusion makes this unwatchable.
-
Seriously, they've struck out three times in a row with the bat on their shoulder. They can pull off Watchmen ostensibly without a hitch but doing an admirable adaptation about a vigilante with a wide array of guns is out of the realm of their abilities? I just don't get it.
-
I don't care what this movie is rated, I still probably won't see it until it comes out on DVD, if then. The first one was flawed, but watchable. This second one, just judging from the trailers...looks like complete crap. It looks like a DTV sequel that tried too hard and is now doomed. Oh and by the freaking way, colored lights, explosions, and blood do not make a movie good. Stories make movies good. Without a good story...all you end up with is an over-hyped flop with lots of boom but not enough bang...if you catch my meaning.
-
damn straight. had never thought of it that way before.
The Punisher title is never going to be done justice with the current studio in possession of the property. -
I agree. Hell, theres a few movies are more Punisher like: Death Wish, Man on Fire, The Brave One...I'm sure theres a few more.
-
Even now he could play the Punisher.
-
have worked in a projection booth in UK for some time, a few years back we got a trailer for the Coen's Intolerable Cruelty rated 15, when the film came out it was rated 12a. Strange eh?
-
In which Dreamworks gains the rights to the property and casts Shia LABOUFFY in the role as a "young, hip, newly formed" Punisher, executive produced by Spielberg of course, with an $80 mil. budget. Marvel will disown the product after seeing an early cut. After this oddly humorous, extraordinary cinematic bomb, in 2015 EDKO Films in China will form a co-production with Marvel in which Chow Yun Fat will play "nasty gangster" who gets "blown up 'real good" by newly-cast Punisher Tom Cruise, in an extraordinary career comeback, takes over the production and turns it into a tragic drama about a former secret agent who "just can't stay out of the game". Marvel will disown this project as well, finally settling on their own interpretation in the spring of 2018, with the now Academy-Award nominated Louis "I'll eat the rotten cherries off of Marvel's toes" Lettier, who "re-interpets" The Punisher as an angry disgraced scientist, on the run from the government and hoping to re-unite with his *SPOILER ALERT* long-lost love, who is surprisingly still alive. Starring a grizzled Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, Marvel and Lettier will denounce any criticisms of the extremely obvious similarities to The Incredible Hulk. After that, Marvel finally gives up on The Punisher, until in 2028, a new star arises, raised by two *extremely* talented actors, that's right folks, David, adopted son of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (now divorced), will exclaim how he "grew up reading Punisher," but felt that Hollywood "never quite got it right -- I want to add an African spin to it!"
-
Shout out to Tugg_to_Glam_Girls!
CANNON PICTURES FUCKING RULED!
emmm...Anyways, trust me the flick is gonna be rated R. I promise you all that. Will it be any good? Hmmmm, we'll see. The film is dropping December 8th...which can only mean one thing: counter programming! Yes, while every sucker with a brat has to sit through a shit fest cartoon (Hey, Bolt might be good. MIGHT.)
Idiot tattooed savants whom smoke cigars and crave some carnage will be in cinema 5 that day.
Oh and fan flicks just...it's like being in a cover band, no matter how good you are..you're a cover band (and cover bands at least get paid) But, seriously, I am this fucking close to making my own fucking Punisher film. Not that hard folks, pretty simple little story...where all the bad guys die in horrific ways. I can't believe I'm saying this...but, "Death Sentence" was a far better revenge film than The Punisher (200?).
Dolph Lundgren, we ain't got no skull shirt that fits you.
www.myspace.com/jerryhorror
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 209 total posts 207 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 97 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 144 total posts 77 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 68 total posts 68 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 67 total posts 67 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 64 total posts 60 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 480 total posts 55 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 53 total posts 50 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 118 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 182 total posts 27 posts