Punisher Fan Film

Thomas Jane returns as The Punisher!
Of the three “Punisher” movies, I can’t tell you which one I’ve enjoyed most. The low-budget Dolph Lundgren effort of the late ’80s had it’s moments, the Thomas Jane-starrer was big on character and I appreciated getting to know Frank Castle, and the most recent, “Punisher : War Zone”, was just a hell of a lot of fun- namely because it seemed intent on pissing off the MPAA with it’s incessant, cartoonish violence.

And again, I’ve liked each actor that has played the Marvel comics vigilante in their own ways too. Dolph Lundgren and “War Zone” headliner Ray Stevenson probably match the look of the character best, and they also had the physicality required to convince audiences of the character’s bad-assness, but because of his slightly more convincing knack of performance art, Thomas Jane probably made us feel the most for Castle.

Jane starred in the 2004 “Punisher” film and was due to reprise the role for the sequel – that would become “War Zone” – but ultimately dropped out because of a problem with the script. Assusingly, Jane wanted much of the sequel’s silliness and ridiculous violence compensated with a deeper plot. So, despite Jane’s love of the character, and enthusiasm for headlining more ‘Punisher’ movies, he passed the baton over to “Rome” alum Ray Stevenson.

To say it was a surprise when at Comic-Con yesterday Jane unveiled a short ‘fan’ film he’s made, again starring as Frank Castle/The Punisher, is an understatement.

Not sanctioned by Marvel, but merely something he and his producing partners put together for a bit of fun (or so they say; it’s probably Jane’s way of winning the movie series back), ‘Dirty Laundry’ is a short that has The Punisher going up against a bunch of thugs who interrupt him while washing and drying his clothes at a local laundromat. Castle heads to a liquor store and purchases a bottle of booze (the cashier is played by Jane’s friend and ‘Hellboy’ himself Ron Perlman), before taking out every gang member but one with the bottle. That remaining gang-member is taught a lesson… Castle-style.

The new ‘Punisher’ logo, by Tim Bradsheet, featured in the short.

So what do you think, guys? Will this well-received short film by enough to entice Marvel to rehire Jane to be their Punisher!?

non_amos wrote:Webhead, I just read that same article on my own & was gonna post it but I see you beat me to the punch!

Of interest here is that Ron Perlman is involved. Guess he's getting that itch too huh, especially with the recent talks about HELLBOY 3. Also, like Colors points out, Thomas Jane is to be commended as well for even still giving a hoot about this character or it's fans. This is like a breath of fresh air. We already know that Samuel L. Jackson has comic book film fever & I'm sure he's not the only one. It sure beats the Tom Hardlys & Josh Hartnetts of the world.

As for Jane playing Punisher, I've not yet watched this short but I did save it. Here's what seems to be the opinion in some cases. Ray Stevenson actually looked more like the character plus the origin was probably more in line with the comics too. However, Thomas Jane is the one that seems to have actually 'won the hearts' of the fans regardless of the 'physicality' or whatever. So I guess we'll just have to see where this goes then.

thecolorsblend wrote:The Jane Punisher movie came out in 1994, huh? Yeesh...

Anyway. It'd be nice to be able to see it before rendering a verdict. Even so, I do like the idea of an actor caring enough about a comic book character to pull a stunt like this. I'll never criticize an actor for having a passion for these characters so anything he wants to do like this is a-okay as far as I'm concerned.

thecolorsblend wrote:The Jane Punisher movie came out in 1994, huh? Yeesh...

Apologist Puncher wrote:2004, actually...

Apologist Puncher wrote:It would be so, so easy to make a good Punisher film. I just can't fathom how they have gotten it so wrong three times now.

thecolorsblend wrote:they've all had their relative strengths and weaknesses. To me, the clear weakest link is the Thomas Jane version. Florida? Are you fucking kidding me?!

James Stocks wrote:Can we all pretend WAR ZONE never happened and give Thomas Jane back the role he was born to play?

non_amos wrote:My sentiments exactly! As for Jane ignoring the crime around him in that short, I got the impression that he just 'didn't want to get involved'. I guess you could compare it to how duh Nolan is treating the latest version of Batman, who after the events in TDK 'went into hiding' for 8 years, i.e., he didn't want to get involved. It's like both of these characters are trying to 'wash their hands' of any involvement. In Jane's case it takes Ron Perlman. In Bale's case I assume Morgan Freeman or a severe thrashing at the hands of duh hulking 190-lb. 1/6 scale Hardly Bane. The end result though is that both get back in the game.

Why did Jane even do this short film & present it at Comic Con? Wasn't this the equivalent of him handing the studio his resume? Trying to convince them to give him another chance? I say give him the chance. Reboot, again. Do like James stocks suggested, pretend that War Zone never happened. Since most of the general population never saw it anyway, it shouldn't matter. A certain wall-crawler should've mattered a lot more but people bought that reboot. As for Jane's version having Florida, I don't know how they'll correct that. Maybe they need to pull a TIH & just do a brief origin in the opening credits that can differ from the 2004 film & then hit the pavement running!

The reason fans buy Jane's version is because his acting is convincing which I have no doubt that if he can get the right director & script then we may finally have a definitive Punisher film. Maybe Stallone does need to direct?

non_amos wrote:My sentiments exactly! As for Jane ignoring the crime around him in that short, I got the impression that he just 'didn't want to get involved'. I guess you could compare it to how duh Nolan is treating the latest version of Batman, who after the events in TDK 'went into hiding' for 8 years, i.e., he didn't want to get involved. It's like both of these characters are trying to 'wash their hands' of any involvement. In Jane's case it takes Ron Perlman. In Bale's case I assume Morgan Freeman or a severe thrashing at the hands of duh hulking 190-lb. 1/6 scale Hardly Bane. The end result though is that both get back in the game.

non_amos wrote:I still haven't watched Dolph Lundren's version so I can't judge that at this time. I have seen the other 2 versions. I think the point about the 2004 film is that Jane wasn't really the problem, it was no doubt the script & the direction. Ditto for War Zone. People seemed to think that Ray Stevenson made a believable Punisher but obviously the direction & the script were crap. But out of all versions Thomas Jane is the one that the fans really want to play the character.

thecolorsblend wrote:Things like that are more story-oriented though. I'm guessing Jane or one of his cohorts developed this "story". And I'd say it's incidental to the true point of the video, which is more about tone and presentation.

They wanted a grittier, more violent Punisher. Character elements like Castle's reluctance to get involved are the things any hack writer would get sussed out in a second draft of the script at the latest. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic but I'd like to think it'd never get as far as principal photography before it got corrected.