The Punisher (1989)

This was one of the movies I watched as a kid that made me appreciate the art form of the bad action film. Between DTVC Hall of Famer Dolph Lundgren, Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr., and the sheer volume of violence and bloodshed, it's a perfect ten in my book. The makers of the '04 version tried to make their film equally as pornographically violent, while distancing themselves from this amazing predecessor. What we got was a grimacing Thomas Jane, a disturbingly bad scene where Tucker from Flash Forward had his piercings ripped out, and the perpetually bad John Travolta reprising his role as the bad guy from Battlefield Earth. Ridiculous.

This version of The Punisher stars Dolph as the Marvel hero Frank Castle, who sees his family blown up by a mafia placed car bomb. Dolph survives, but only Louis Gossett Jr. suspects this, and as a vigilante known only as the Punisher starts gunning down mob members. When the Yakuza moves into town, the Punisher has to work with his old target dummies to take them down too.

According to IMDb, 91 people were killed in this film. I knew there were a lot, so I wasn't surprised by that. The violence, though, is done in a sort of Robocop way that's more awesome than hard to watch (as opposed to a Hills Have Eyes, or Touristas per se). This is bad action at it's finest, and leaves many wondering why the '04 version was even made, let alone made so poorly with a template like this to work from. The mowing down of 20 ninjas at once is way better than Keanu Reeves beating up a bunch of karate dudes in The Matrix. Dolph also crashes through a casino ceiling and mows down a bunch of people there at the beginning of the film, which is how the newer version of Ocean's 11 should have been. I mean, if you're going to remake a movie that had dudes like Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Cesar Romero, why do what Soderberg and Clooney did, when you can do what Dolph did.

This is one of two films where Dolph works with Oscar winner Louis Gossett jr., the other being Cover Up. I'd like to see more of these collaborations. Dolph needs more guys with mustaches to co-star with, and why not have it be the best. I mean, what else is LGJ up to nowadays anyway?

This is also Dolph's second dealing with the Yakuza, the other being Showdown in Little Tokyo. If I have one complaint with this film, it's that they, unlike Showdown, didn't cast Cary Tagawa as the head baddie. It was a missed opportunity that would have made a great film like this a Casablanca type.

In terms of the Dolph factor, I know when we first heard of this film, my friends and I were a little skeptical of him sporting a black-dyed dome. It didn't really matter though, when he's hanging from the ceiling spraying a crowd of illegal gamblers with myriad bullets. I didn't mind him straying from his classic blond hair for one picture, especially with him doing such a faithful portrayal of one of my favorite comics.

From what I've been able to find out, this film is out of print due to the crummy '04 version being in the market. If this is John Travolta's doing, it's just another reason to be pissed at Quentin Tarentino for creating this monster also known as the post-Pulp Fiction Travolta. Sure, he was great in Saturday Night Fever, but after that, not so much, and we shouldn't be subjected to his crummy Punisher when there's a great one out there with a real mensch like Dolph in the lead.

If you can find this film used, buy it. It's a must have for any action collection. It's a classic along the lines of Robocop, The Terminator, and Bloodsport. It wasn't a major theatrical release in the States because New World Pictures went bankrupt (ibid). If you've never seen this before, you can't honestly call yourself an action fan (just like you can't call yourself a Red Sox fan if you've never heard of Mike Greenwell--but I digress). So if you like bad action and haven't seen this, you need to go out right now and find this. You won't be disappointed.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098141/

Looking for more action? Check out my short action novel, Bainbridge, and all my other novels, over at my author's page! Click on the image below, go to https://www.matthewpoirierauthor.com/