The Punisher (2004) on Netflix
R20042h 4mActionCrimeDramaThriller
Undercover FBI agent Frank Castle's last operation ends with the death of Bobby Saint, son of the crime lord Howard Saint. Howard's men travel to the Castle family reunion in Puerto Rico.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb6.4/10183,098 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes30%
Trailer
Plot summary
A sting on an arms deal in Tampa goes wrong when federal agents move in, and Bobby Saint, Howard Saint's son, is killed. The broker of the deal, posing as an arms dealer called Otto Krieg, is in fact the FBI agent Frank Castle, working his final case before retirement. Howard demands to know everything about the man, and when the name Frank Castle comes back to him, he orders the agent killed. His wife Livia says the entire family must die too. Castle, meanwhile, promises his wife Maria and their young son that a move to London will be their last, once they have attended a family reunion in Puerto Rico.
Cast
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Punisher (2004)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While shooting a fight scene in The Punisher, Thomas Jane stabbed his co-star Nash in the collarbone with a blunted butterfly knife after a stunt co-ordinator forgot to swap the props; Nash stayed in character and finished the scene, and the producers handed out cold beers as compensation.
- Thomas Jane was the first and only actor asked to play the title role of the Punisher, but he turned the part down twice because he did not see himself as a superhero actor.
- The film's Tampa location was chosen at the insistence of screenwriter Michael France, who told Marvel and Artisan it would be cheap to shoot there and they would get far more for their money than in New York or Chicago.
- A battle set in Kuwait during the Gulf War was written as the opening scene of The Punisher, but Jonathan Hensleigh could not film it because of the budget cuts, according to the DVD commentary.
- The Punisher was Marvel's first major independent release as an equity owner, a deal in which Marvel supplies characters and creative support to lower-budget films in return for a financial stake in the negative cost.
- Thomas Jane trained for six to seven months with the United States Navy SEALs and gained more than 20 pounds of muscle to play Frank Castle.
