Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

The Punisher Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 20, 2016

Mark Goldblatt's "The Punisher" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Australian distributors Umbrella Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; exclusive new video interview with director Mark Goldblatt; exclusive new video interview with Dolph Lundgren; archival audio commentary; gag reel; and a lot more. In English, without optional English SDH for the main feature. Region-Free.

The Punisher

If during the years you have been spending time with Marvel’s famous characters then you probably already know everything there is to know about Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher, the main character in Mark Goldbatt’s film. There are some changes in the order in which a few events from his life are revealed, but they are largely insignificant.

The film opens up a few years after Frank (Dolph Lundgren, Silent Trigger) has disappeared without a trace. When someone begins eliminating the top criminals in Frank’s hometown, his former partner, Jake Berkowitz (Louis Gossett Jr., Diggstown), is ordered to find out who the mysterious assassin is. Jake digs deep and eventually begins suspecting that Frank might be behind the executions.

Around the same time mafia boss Gianni Franco (Jeroen Krabbe, The Fugitive) clashes with the ambitious Lady Tanaka (Kim Miyori, Metro) and piles of dead bodies begin popping up across the city. In the midst of the chaos, Lady Tanaka’s yakuza killers kidnap Franco’s son and she demands that he accepts her plan to restructure the way business is done in the city. Frank enters their bloody war while trying to save Franco’s son and some other children whose parents are on his payroll.

In the audio commentary included on this release Goldblatt explains that he wanted to bring the special ambience of Fritz Lang’s iconic The Big Heat to his film. This was quite interesting to hear because early on before key relationships are established there is a good portion of the film where some of the norish ambience and especially the cynicism that give The Big Heat its identity are certainly easy to detect. Unfortunately, as the film progresses Goldblatt places such big emphasis on the action footage that it becomes virtually impossible to preserve these qualities. In fact, by the time Frank surrenders to the police after he saves the children from the yakuza killers the film already has a lot more in common with American Ninja.

The final third is the film’s Achilles’ Heel. Frank undergoes a cliched character transformation that makes his earlier soul searching look very suspicious. To be clear, it essentially reshapes him into a typical action hero who says and does all the right things buff 1980s male actors did once they were given a fake weapon and instructed to look cool in front of the camera. It was the safe idea for these types of projects and it is exactly how Goldblatt wraps up his film.

* Umbrella Entertainment’s Blu-ray release contains three different versions of the film. The main Theatrical R18+ cut of the film is approximately 90 minutes long. Also included as bonus features are the Unrated Cut of the film and the Goldblatt Workprint Version. Both are presented in standard definition, but the Unrated Cut looks substantially better. The Unrated Cut can also be seen with an audio commentary by Goldblatt.

The Punisher Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1,85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Mark Goldblatt's The Punisher arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment.

I don't have a DVD release of this film in my library to do some direct comparisons, but it is quite clear that the master that was used to produce the Blu-ray release must have been created a while ago. Some of the well-lit close-ups look quite good (see screencapture #2), but a lot of the darker indoor footage has limited depth. There are no traces of recent compromising digital corrections, but the grain is frequently mixed with noise that does contribute to the general flatness that is present during the darker footage. There is room for improvement in terms of color saturation; nuances can be expanded as well. Image stability is good. Finally, there are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, or stains to report. Ultimately, the film can look decent in high-definition, but it is easy to tell that current master is dated and has a certain range of obvious limitations. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your Blu-ray player regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

The Punisher Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

During the elaborate action sequences dynamic intensity is very good. However, it seems like the eventual transitions are slightly uneven and cause minor spikes/drops that could affect overall balance. My guess is that if in the future the audio is fully remastered in these areas balance will be marginally improved. The dialog is stable and easy to follow.

The Punisher Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Violence Down Under - in this brand new video interview, director Mark Goldblatt recalls how New World approached him and offered him to do The Punisher, and discusses some of the controversy surrounding the film (with the main criticism being that it was too violent), the exploitation elements in it, the look of the original Punisher and the character played by Dolph Lundgren, etc. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

• Vengeance is His - in this brand new video interview, Dolph Lundgren recalls how he was hired to play the Punisher and discusses how a lot of the action sequences were done (with some very interesting comments about the Japanese actors that were hired for the film). In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

• Gag Reel - In English, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Trailer - original New World International trailer for The Punisher. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• The Punisher/Unrated Cut - presented here is an Unrated Cut of the film. In English, not subtitled. Standard Definition. Dolby Digital 2.0. (01:29:14).

• Audio Commentary - an excellent audio commentary by Mark Goldblatt for the Unrated Cut of the film. There is an abundance of information about the film's production history, style, and the shooting process in Australia.

• The Punisher/Goldblatt Workprint - presented here is the director's workprint of the film. In English, not subtitled. Standard Definition. Dolby Digital 2.0. (01:37:44).

• Reversible Cover - see the screenshots included with our review.

The Punisher Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I think that this recent release of The Punisher from Australian distributors Umbrella Entertainment is very easy to recommend to fans of the film. It has exclusive new video interviews with director Mark Goldblatt and Dolph Lundgren as well as two different cuts of the film. I ended up viewing the entire Workprint Version which is actually a very different film with something of an Abel Ferrara-esque edge that reminded me of Fear City. The release is Region-Free and perfectly playable in North America. RECOMMENDED.