MovieChat Forums > Punisher: War Zone (2008) Discussion > Shocking comparison with Howard the Duck

Shocking comparison with Howard the Duck

posted 11 years ago by Chanpuru
7 replies | jump to latest

I just stumbled on a list of Marvel based movies and their respective Box Office grosses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_Marvel_Comics

It isn't an exhaustive list but has most of the movies you would expect to find there. Shockingly the lowest grossing Marvel movie listed...even lower than the infamous failure - Howard the Duck, was Punisher War Zone.

What's particularly surprising is that all the other movies listed at least covered their estimated budget with their world wide grosses. Even Howard the Duck which cost $37m way back in 1986 and made a measly $38m. But 20 years later PWZ cost $35m and only made $10m worldwide!! Holy sh*t!!! That's terrible. Maybe one of the biggest flops of all time. It only made a third of it's budget back, let alone not making any profit. Stunning!!

I guess the question is, whether you like the film or not, why did it bomb so badly? Worse than all the other stinkers on the list??

[–] flurryturryplop 11 years ago

It doesn't have very big names. In fact none. And the other two movies weren't very succesful. This movie was extremely violent and over the top.
All that being said it was a great movie imo.

[–] Chanpuru 11 years ago

It doesn't have very big names. In fact none. And the other two movies weren't very succesful. This movie was extremely violent and over the top.

That's no excuse. It didn't even make it's money back and yet it was made for peanuts. Anyway you slice it, that is shocking.

All that being said it was a great movie imo.

I don't think I've ever had anything close to the Punisher movie that i would want but I guess a combination between elements of this one and the Lungren one would be close.

[–] flurryturryplop 11 years ago

Well shocking, shocking, I think that's a bit of a big word. I do think it isn't fair. Perhaps the movie could have been better promoted, and perhaps the title should have been 'The Punisher: War Zone', or perhaps just 'The Punisher'. This title kind of sounds like it isn't really a legitimate Punisher movie but some direct to dvd movie.
I haven't seen the movie with Lundgren, or Thomas Jane, but I really, really liked this one. It's just extremely funny, and enjoyable. I also like Dominique West in this, I'm a big fan of the Wire, and this is a totally different role but I thought he did a great job. I couldn't hate the guy, because he was so extremely silly. And that's not a bad thing. The movie didn't took itself seriously, it was just about fun, and it worked for me. The only role that didn't really work for me was Looney Bin Jim. He was very well played, but he was genuinely creepy, and that conflicted with the tone of the movie for me. Also the beginning action scene was better than the big army scene, imo (though the last scene 'Great, now I have brains all over me was awesome imo). I just really enjoyed it as a whole. I liked it better than Dredd, a similar movie, but just not as funny. I think Patton Oswalt is totally right with his love for this movie. I usually agree with most of the reviews, but I think they really missed the whole point of this movie, and I don't think it was very difficult to see what that point was. And I think it succeeded in reaching it's goal: over the top fun.

I'm Dutch, so my grammar and my spelling may be off.

[–] Chanpuru 11 years ago

Firstly...what is the problem with the name Punisher: War Zone? It is named after one of the Marvel titles that The Punisher featured in. You're not surely saying the film would have done better if it had a 'The' in the title are you??

Secondly you seem to have wanted it to be even more comedic, which is a problem. The Punisher isn't a comedy.

This is something that both of the last 2 punisher films seem to have gotten a bit wrong in my opinion. The last film (Thomas Jane) had taken it's inspiration from a writer called Garth Ennis who has some dark comedy in his Punisher writing...but I never felt that the film did Ennis's writing justice. That film was good fun, but never felt like it was all that it could have been.

This film (P:WZ) tried to do dark and creepy with some harder action, interspersed with some clowning around and I'm also not sure whether that totally worked either. In short both films never quite got the feel right.

But my core point is that I am shocked at just how badly the films did financially. A huge flop even for a film made on a small budget.

[–] flurryturryplop 11 years ago

I wasn't saying there was anything wrong with the title from a critical and comic book fan point of view. I was trying to find reasons why the movie didn't work commercialy. And yes I think perhaps the sounds better for the layman (which btw I am).
For me it wasn't a problem to watch this movie as a action comedy as it was clearly intended, because I haven't read the comics. It's probably also the only way I could enjoy a guy brutally killing tons of bad guys without feeling that I was watching some sick glorification of 'justified' violence. But I haven't read the comics, sorry.
To me it isn't shocking a movie flops. Strange at most.

[–] shanayneigh 10 years ago

Comparing Punisher: War Zone with Howard the Duck doesn't make a lot of sense. Howard was rated PG while Punisher was rated R. Of course a PG-film has the potential of a higher gross. That's why all (?) other Marvel movies are rated PG-13.

And don't forget that some of the promotion of Howard tied into George Lucas, like in the trailer where they say "coming from George Lucas". George Lucas in 1986 wasn't the joke he is now, but the genius who created the Star Wars trilogy (which ended just 3 years prior to the release of Howard) and Indiana Jones. I remember that all I knew about the movie when I first saw it was that it was made by the guy who made Star Wars. And I remember that I loved it! :)

So Howard had a more beneficial starting point, which makes it that much more surprising that it did so poorly.

Punisher: War Zone didn't open theatrically in that many territories. Here it went straight to DVD and I can't remember seeing any promotion at all.

I honestly expected an utter *beep* movie, an attempt of a quick cash grab, before I saw it. But I was pleasantly surprised. I like this movie too. It's completely different compared with the 2004 Punisher visually as well as tonally. The cinematography, especially the lighting and use of color, is beautiful. And I'm probably in the minority here but I actually prefer Ray Stevenson over Thomas Jane. Stevenson just looks so rough and badass and is closer to my reading of the comics. But to each their own and so on...

[–] Dash_Rendar23 10 years ago

Punisher War Zone is pretty much Batman and Robin (1997) and AVP:R (2007) mixed in with The Punisher. Easily one of the many worst comic movies of all time. The only good thing that came out of Punisher War Zone failing miserably is the fact that Marvel Studios owns the movie rights to the character now and will work hard in redeeming the character after three failed Punisher movies, either by making another Punisher movies or a Netflix tv series.