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Is this movie and The Punisher (2004) faithful to the comic books?

posted 11 years ago by MarvelFan123
4 replies | jump to latest

Ok, I've been a Marvel and a comic book fan for a very long time; I've read various titles such as The Amazing Spider-Man (1963-1998), Tales of Suspense (from #39), Incredible Hulk, Journey into Mystery with Thor, Wolverine (1982 mini-series) etc.

I've also watched many Marvel movies especially the ones that aren't associated with Marvel Studios but there is one trilogy that I haven't watched yet and that is of course The "Punisher" trilogy. I know that "Punisher" is an anti-hero a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping and torture in his war on crime. He made his very first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #129 and in that particular appearance, he was determined to kill Peter Parker, who was wanted for the murder of Norman Osborn; this version of the Punisher was shown as an athletic fighter, a marksman, and a strategist. There is plenty that I know of this character but I don't want this topic to be flooded with the character's history so I'll just get to the point.

Is this movie and The Punisher made in 2004 faithful to the comic books because from what I've heard so far, people have mixed opinions about both of these movies. Punisher: War Zone (2008) has received a rating of 6.0/10 on this website and has a percentage of 27 on the Rotten Tomatoes. The Punisher (2004) on the other hand has received a 6.3/10 on this website and received 29% on the Rotten Tomatoes website. So do these movies stay faithful to the Punisher comic books? In fact, are these movies worth watching?

Please provide appropriate/honest answers because I'm a serious Marvel and comic book fan :) Thank you.

[–] Norse_Sage 11 years ago

All three Punisher movies are flawed in different ways, but the only one that actually stays true to the comic is Punisher War Zone. It is the ONLY movie that actually gets who The Punisher is, what he does and why he does it right. Ray Stevenson IS The Punisher ripped straight from the pages of the comic. The biggest problem wigh that movie is the over the top cartoonish villains, that ruin every scene they are in.

The 2004 movie is the writer/directors personal loveletter to the cinema of the seventies, forced into a Punisher mold - and he clearly did not understand the first thing about the Punisher. His origin and entire reason for ever becoming the Punisher is replaced by a Mad Max reference, I kid you not. There are also some references to the Punisher comics, but Tom Jane is nothing like the Punisher charcter.

The 1989 movie was made in a time when they were ashamed of making a movie based on a comic, and thus made changes just to remove it from said comic. Lundgren is even further removed from the Punisher character than Jane.

As standalone movies, the 1989 and 2004 are about on par, but both are disasters as Punisher movies.

A great Punisher movie has yet to be made, but War Zone comes the closest, and is the only one where The Punisher character actually stays true to the comic.

Tesla was robbed!

[–] Bully_FU 11 years ago

Have you read "Welcome Back Frank" comic? The 2004 version was close to that. The arc didn't have the origin that is in the movie but that part wasn't too bad. The villain was changed in the movie compared to the comic but a lot of the characters and story was right out of the comic. I think the 2004 version is the best Punisher film not only as a representation of the comics but also just a better movie all around. The 2008 version was so-so IMO.

[–] petrovwulfric 11 years ago

This is a exact note from IMDB which from my understanding is quite accurate to all interviews I've read.

Why wasn't Thomas Jane involved?

Tom Jane walked out on the then in-development Punisher sequel in the spring of 2007, citing creative differences. Rumor has it that Marvel wanted the movie to be closer to the MAX line of the comic, something which was fine with LGF, as long as the Punisher got to keep some redeeming features. On the other hand, Jane wanted the movie to be closer to Taxi Driver, and allegedly wanted to develop Frank Castle in the same direction as Travis Bickle, taking the movie even further away from the comic. (Jane has officially stated that the similarity to Taxi Driver was the main reason he accepted the role in the first place and that he was never a fan of the Punisher comic). Another rumor was that Jane wanted more money than LGF was willing to pay in order to keep him. When both Marvel and LGF refused to give in to his demands, Jane walked out on the movie. Jane's departure caused a rethinking of the movie, and the entire project went through a major overhaul. Everything they had developed thus far was scrapped and production started anew. Marvel, LGF and the director they hired shortly after Jane's departure found a vision that all involved parties could agree upon and production moved forward in one direction. Director Lexi Alexander wrote a new script from page one with only a passing resemblance to previous drafts. Her script was then rewritten and further polished by Iron Man screenwriters Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.

--- and to my understanding...because Thomas Jane walked out of a sequel( sort of sequel/reboot), because of aforementioned events, this says to me(I've read some comics, LOVE THEM) that Punisher: War Zone is the closest to the character. And to ME, it is. I liked The Punisher, but that was before I really KNEW who the character was and what a lot of his story was. Take it or leave it or accept what you want. There it is.

[–] stevieBeBack 11 years ago

Jane has always championed his love for the comics.

Jane seemed to want to make a good movie first, meaning that he didn't want the more outlandish elements of the comics (which work well in the comics) to lessen the seriousnish of the film.

The 2004 film had it's silly moments but it always thrived to be a realistic, non CGi action revenge flick. Warzone adored the comics to its fault.