Punisher: War Zone
Punisher: War Zone[5] is a 2008 comic book film based on the fictional Marvel Comics vigilante and antihero the Punisher. The film is a reboot rather than a sequel to 2004′s The Punisher,[6] and is the first film to be produced under the Marvel Knights production banner, which will focus on films for mature audiences. British actor Ray Stevenson replaces Thomas Jane as Frank Castle.
- Director : Lexi Alexander
- Release Date : 5 December 2008
- Genre : Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller
- Tagline : Vengeance has a name.
- Runtime : 103 min
Cast
- Ray Stevenson : Frank Castle
- Dominic West : Billy Russoti / Jigsaw
- Doug Hutchison : Loony Bin Jim
- Colin Salmon : Paul Budiansky
- Wayne Knight : Micro
Official Site : -
Infamous vigilante and anti-hero Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) is six years into his vengeance-driven zeal as the Punisher when he brutally assaults a “beat the rap” party for notorious mob boss Gaitano Cesare. During the course of the massacre, he is alerted to the fact that Billy Russoti (Dominic West) has escaped to his recycling plant hideout by Detective Saffiotti (Tony Calabretta) who along with Detective Martin Soap (Dash Mihok) were staking out the party. Castle infiltrates Russoti’s hideout and murders Nicky Donatelli (Romano Orzari) as he is exiting the bathroom. The ensuing gunshot alerts Russoti, and a brief fire fight between he and Castle ensues, ending in Russoti being thrown into a glass-crushing machine which only ends up hideously disfiguring the overeager gangster. Another gun fight takes place between Frank and Russoti’s men. Castle, who has taken cover behind the body of Donatelli, realizes that the man he killed was wearing a wire. As the police arrive Castle exits through the roof of the recycling plant. Read more
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Punisher: War Zone Trivia
- The character of NYPD Detective Marty Soap comes from the series “Welcome Back, Frank”, the series that brought The Punisher back (after a long hiatus) by Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon and Jimmy Palmotti. “Weclome Back” also featured the characters of The Punisher’s apartment neighbors Joan, Spacker Dave, and Mister Bumpo, as well as the over-sized villain, The Russian. All of those characters appeared in the 2004 film.
- Thomas Jane was originally attached for the lead role.
- The character of Microchip was considered for the first Punisher, but director Jonathan Hensleigh had such an intense hatred of the character that he was left out of the final draft.
- Doug Hutchison initially passed on the project because he didn’t respond to the script nor the role of Looney Bin Jim. Director Lexi Alexander called him to pitch the movie and her vision and, by the end of their phone conversation, Hutchison had already changed his mind and accepted the role.
- The hotel Jigsaw (Dominic West) tells The Punisher (Ray Stevenson) to meet him at is the Bradstreet Hotel. This is a reference to Timothy Bradstreet, who was the long running cover artist for “The Punisher” comics.
- This is the first movie by Marvel to use the ‘Marvel Knights’ logo.
- Director Lexi Alexander said that she was against using the Skull emblem on Ray Stevenson’s costume. However, fans wanted it to be more prominent than it was in the 2004 film. She described this design as “pre-schoolish” in an interview and eventually compromised with a degraded and worn skull image (similar to the 2004 movie).
Punisher: War Zone Mistake
- It makes no sense for the FBI to release Jigsaw and Looney Bin Jim from their custody, especially without surveillance. Even though they want them to go after the Punisher, they know full well that they intend to kill the family of the dead undercover FBI agent and will kill more innocent people in the process, which they do.
Punisher: War Zone Quotes
- Frank Castle: Sometimes I would like to get my hands on God.
Billy Russoti: [from trailer] Let’s play a game!
Billy Russoti: [from trailer] Welcome, welcome, welcome.