Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Punisher 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 27, 2018

It may not rise to the level of the warehouse seen in that iconic closing shot of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but I’m starting to wonder if there’s some humongous storage facility somewhere housing tons of old Lionsgate Blu-ray releases that the studio is now unloading courtesy of “combo packs” featuring new 4K UHD releases. I kinda sorta joked about this aspect in our recent Halloween 4K Blu-ray review, where kind of oddly in my estimation the 1080p Blu-ray included with that release was the old 2007 version rather than the 35th anniversary version that came out some years later and which many diehard Halloween fans feel is a much more pleasing transfer of the film. The even more recently reviewed American Psycho 4K also included a 1080p Blu-ray from the veritable dawn of the format, and now Punisher ups the ante by providing a 1080p Blu-ray disc that is so dated it actually contains a tutorial on how to navigate the main menu system! (I pointed out that American Psycho’s original Blu-ray came out so early it’s numbered as 135 in our database, but The Punisher trumps that by being numbered 60.) The “quaintness” of these earlier releases may have some historical value, but as I mentioned in the American Psycho 4K Blu-ray review, there may actually be some added interest simply because the comparisons between early 1080p offerings and more recent 2160p versions of the same film can show just how vastly different things can look (and sound).

For those wanting a plot summary, I refer you to my colleague Martin Liebman's The Punisher Blu-ray review of the original 1080p Blu-ray release. Note that the 1080p video score above is ported over from Marty's review.

The Punisher 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray. This is yet another release where the presentations on the 1080p Blu-ray and the 4K UHD disc are quite different, so caveats are in order.

The Punisher is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 2.35:1. This is just the latest 4K UHD presentation which is manifestly different from the 1080p Blu-ray presentation housed in the same package. Much as I suspect with regard to the 1080p Blu-ray presentation of American Psycho, my hunch is The Punisher was sourced from a master that may have been prepared during the DVD era, and which looks kind of garish and digitally sharpened, something that tends to make an already fairly heavy grain field look pretty coarse at times. Unlike the 4K rendering of American Psycho, the 4K presentation of The Punisher retains the heavy grain of the original 1080p Blu-ray, but for the most part to my eyes it resolves more organically than on the earlier release, with a couple of exceptions. At around 14:37 during the beach sequence things get fairly splotchy looking, especially when the camera includes shots of the sky, with grain tending to clump a bit in unnatural looking aggregations. The entire 4K UHD presentation looks decidedly less garish and more natural than the 1080p Blu-ray, though with that said, in my opinion Dolby Vision and HDR haven't really significantly altered the palette, though some highlights, as in the greens in a mortuary sequence, are noticeably more vivid in the 4K version. Detail levels are improved across the board, and shadow detail is also upped at least marginally in a lot of the darker scenes, though the entire 4K presentation looks a bit brighter to my eyes than the earlier version, which may play into things as well. There are still a couple of almost comically soft snippets, including the first establishing shot of Howard Saint's mansion, that don't look significantly more detailed than in the 1080p version.

The Punisher 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with American Psycho, The Punisher's original Blu-ray release featured only lossy audio, and so a big part of this 4K UHD upgrade is the addition of a really well done Dolby Atmos track. As early as the credits sequence, there is clear engagement of the Atmos channels with gunshots and the like zinging overhead, as well as appearing in the side channels. The film is rife with set pieces which allow fantastic immersion, with both discrete channelization and some well done panning effects creating a very boisterous sonic environment. Ambient environmental sounds are also lifelike, especially during the island sequences. Dialogue, effects and score are all rendered flawlessly, with good prioritization and extremely wide dynamic range.

The Punisher 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Lionsgate has significantly upped the ante with this release by providing actual honest to goodness supplements on the 4K UHD disc, when the "ancient" 1080p Blu-ray had none (other than that exciting tutorial on how to navigate the menu system). While all of the supplements are showing as HD in my Oppo, they all have the look of upscaled video:

• Audio Commentary with Director Jonathan Hensleigh


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 3:12) feature optional commentary from Jonathan Hensleigh.


• Keepin' It Real: Punisher Stunts (HD; 27:45) has some great behind the scenes footage of various action sequences being planned and shot.


• Army of One: Punisher Origins (HD; 12:55) looks at the character's Marvel beginnings, and features a number of interesting interviews with the likes of Marvel's Avi Arad.


• War Journal: On the Set of The Punisher (HD; 29:59) offers even more appealing behind the scenes footage.


• Music Video - "Step Up" Performed by Drowning Pool (HD; 3:24)


• Drawing Blood Bradstreet Style (HD; 6:22) focuses on key art for the advertising campaign.

The Punisher 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My younger son was home from college when both The Punisher and The Punisher: War Zone showed up in my review queue, and in his inimitable manner he informed me, "The Punisher is basically Batman if Batman walked around killing people." I'm not sure if that cogent analysis (?) holds up, but The Punisher is good, sometimes goofy, fun, at least for those not expecting the more novelistic approaches of later Marvel adaptations. Lionsgate has really done a rather nice job on this release, providing upgraded video and hugely improved audio as well as some supplements that were missing in action on the long ago 1080p Blu-ray version. Recommended.