tylergfoster

I still remember seeing this movie in theaters and being unable to even process the fact that The Punisher punches someone so hard in the face that their face breaks and his fist goes into the inside of their skull. If that's not a sign that you're watching one of the best, most ridiculous B-action movies you'll ever see, nothing is. And that's like, the halfway point.

Yavin

Wow, I can't believe I still have this movie in my unwatched pile. Time to rectify that, I think.

stingermck

I still chalk up the face punch, that the guy was a heavy drug user so his bone and tissue was soft. Or something.

Who am I kidding, Frank kicks ass!

tylergfoster

It does seem possible he was treating himself to so much nose candy his skull was weakened right in the area Frank ends up punching. While I don't need an explanation to like this scene, this is definitely a thought that I had.

Solid Snake

How about we just take the most realistic approach to this?

Frank Castle is a tough as fuck motherfucker. I don't want to be punched by Ray Stevenson either. And having RS being The Punisher only extends my fear of punches from him. I can believe a man can punch that hard....especially if it's The Punisher.

Dr. DVD

Just finished watching the Blu-Ray from Netflix. I have to say that if you like your Punisher unforgiving, relentless, and fucking brutal, this is your movie. The action was top notch and they pretty much rectified the lack of violence factor people complained about in the first version in the first five minutes. Overall, it felt like a Garth Ennis comic come to life.

However, Frank Castle aside, I didn't really feel too engaged by any of the characters. The acting was very bad for the most part and the villains were a bit too comedic for my taste. I am just a casual fan of the comics (read Ennis' run), so I have a question: were Jigsaw and Loony Bin Jim that talkative in them? I found they're constant attempts to be funny kind of distracting at times.

Overall, ** 1/2 stars out of five, with one star being given expressly for the action.

Troy Stiffler

I still cringe at the "Lionsgate Violence" in this one. I mentioned it before - whoever they work with, they put out some violent, gory, gutwrenching shit (Rambo, War Zone, Saw, The Genetic Opera, etc.). I watched it a few times and still go to my happy place during the 'glass crusher' scene. Some of it was just gross.

I agree that it wasn't necessarily engaging. It had moments of awesomeness. I love how Frank just blows everyone away. It's all head shots and shit. A street goon gets hit head-on with a rocket launcher. And the "if I see you in hell" scene was fucking riveting.

Didn't really care for the (over)use of color. Too many neon lights and whatnot - seemed out of place.

Troy Stiffler

Haha. Anyone interested in death punches should check out Tales From the Crypt: Demon Night. I can't find a clip online. But there's a classic one.

Gunde

Just a recommendation of this weeks episode of the "How Did This Get Made" podcast.
Fan Patton Oswalt and director Lexi Alexander is in studio talking about "Punisher: War Zone".
Very funny and informative

http://www.earwolf.com/show/how-did-this-get-made/

Numanoid

I've got P:WZ coming from Netflix today, in fact, based on that podcast.

DJariya

Interesting bump.

Nick Santora, the co-showrunner of Breakout Kings on A&E, is credited as a co-writer on this. I recall he tweeted that even he thinks this is a piece of shit and is pretty embarrassed by it.

islandclaws

He shouldn't be. It's fucking insane and awesome.

Boba Fett

I'd be more embarrassed to be the co-showrunner of Breakout Kings than the writer of this.

RocShemp

Breakout Kings was fun. This movie, on the other hand, was a double shit sandwich. I'd side with Nick Santora on this one. Didn't know he co-wrote this.

Tarantino

This movie was awesomely bad. So much so that I loved every second of it. If you watched this movie & didn't like it, then you just don't get what they were going for.

Side note, I know Kurt Sutter wrote a draft of this that was completely different. I'd love to read that one.

majorjoe23

Frank Castle's baby got kidknapped by an Irish guy.

Solid Snake

Are you serious?

majorjoe23

No, just a joke about the lame last season of Sons of Anarchy.

Tarantino

DJLinus

I finally got around to listening to this. Great stuff. I can't imagine Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Jigsaw.

I've been down with this podcast since the beginning (in fact, I'm listening to them take down Leprechaun in the Hood right now), but I like the format shake up and I look forward to them doing more episodes that feature a movie's participants. This one was really informative yet still funny and it answered the podcast's titular question.

Solid Snake

Finally heard the podcast. Kept forgetting to hear it. Damn. FPJr. COULD have been Jigsaw and he did a fucking damn good audition? I'd like to see that.

stingermck

6 year bump for a great article. In fact there have been several articles lately about War Zone's legacy. History has been very kind to it. Hard to believe its been 10 years already.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/punisher-war...rio-1830877179

Edit to add more stuff to read:

https://www.polygon.com/2018/12/5/18...est-adaptation

Ten years ago this month PUNISHER: WAR ZONE was unleashed on an unsuspecting public. It remains the grittiest (sorry LOGAN) most violent and funny (sorry DEADPOOL) @Marvel movie to date. @Lexialex created the look of the @netflix Marvel universe. All hail Lexi! https://t.co/61uD1u8ecT

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) December 5, 2018

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mrhan

^ Cool read. Thanks.

Obi-Wanma

Yeah, I didn't like it when it came out and still don't.

Why So Blu?

It's such a grindhouse film - love it!