At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Most people don't even know that this movie exists and that's just sad.I didn't watch it til recently because I assumed Lundgren would suck, he usually does. I was very wrong, this is Lundgren's best work ever.He is a very believable Punisher, a much better performance than Rocky IV.For a low budget movie,they hit a home run.It's basically the same movie as the newer Punisher flick,it's just his origin.This never had a theatrical release and Marvel really dropped the ball on the that one.It's their character and it's a good movie, they should have done whatever needed to be done for this to be released.It would have been a huge success but they just let it go straight to video.What a shame. Watch it.

Oh my god in Haiti this is like the perfect storm of Dolph, dolphins, dead bodies and Daniel-Day Lewis.Here we have a comic book character Come To Life and Leap Off The Screan.There are Ninjas. There are Nives. There are people who Explode. There is a boat.When the world spun into existence, this is the reason, the culmination of all things, this is Dolph playing The Punisher. If ever there was a reason to buy a VHS tape of a movie off a junky hobo for 2 dollars this is it. This is it.Apples/Orangines

I don't like the Punisher character and this was from the time before Marvel made good movies, but it turned out to be quite acceptable. I found it pretty entertaining. I thought Dolph Lundgreen in the main role was just an imposing figure and an impassive face. It turns out that his expressions while shooting were hilarious (especially when he shoots up a clandestine casino) and that action-wise, he held his own, perhaps even better when fighting hand-to-hand. I read that they took real martial artists and that Dolph was a former karate champion, so although there's no elaborate fight choreography, it works anyway. The scene where he shoots a crossbow in a guy's chest and rappels down a rope while shooting bad guys made me laugh out loud. Of course, he has an apparently fake beard that distracts and sometimes awkward, yet enjoyable, lines, but his physique makes up for it. He looks the part despite the lack of skull emblem. The story involving the Japanese mafia trying to take over the Italian one could have been worse despite involving the kidnapping of kids.Other scenes of interest were Dolph taking down guys silently one by one at the start, him against a bunch of Yakuzas in a carnival house, and the brawl near the end when the lights go red. Yeah, the Punisher is unbelievably lucky in not being shot so much, especially the way he moves while shooting instead of taking cover, but I didn't mind. What impressed me perhaps the most was the acting by the 2 main bad guys, especially the mafia boss Franco. They were serious, not campy at all and they were credible in their roles. The Italian mobsters were more corny, while the Japanese were just expressionless fighting machines. So for an 80s action movie, it's far from the top, but it deserves a better reputation than it has. Of the 3 Punisher movies, I still prefer the second one with Thomas Jane though.Rating: 6.5 out of 10 (good)

The Punisher is based on the - particularly violent - Marvel comic book of the same name from the seventies, where a former FBI agent has his family murdered and goes out for revenge his own way.Whereas today, Marvel movies are given huge budgets ala The Avengers, Thor and Iron Man, this one was handed out to a little-known Australian company to make. The results being that The Avengers, Thor and Iron man it is not.Every character is pretty stereotypical and one-dimensional. The dialogue is a bit forced. The budget is slim and the story hardly inspired. All in all, it has all the hallmarks of a disaster in the making. Yet it's actually pretty cool... if you know what you're getting.It's a blatant B-movie. It's like actually watching a live action comic book. You wouldn't expect Oscar-worthy dialogue and acting from a comic book, would you? Hopefully not. So don't expect it here. It's a movie designed to munch popcorn to. It has plenty of explosions, killing of badguys and cheeky one-liners from our strong and silent hero, The Punisher.They ever remade it (twice), but, despite having bigger budgets, better acting and more bankable stars, neither seemed to quite capture the raw comicbook style which the 1989 version managed.If you're a fan of cheesy eighties action (think Commando, Rambo and almost any Jean Claude Van Damme film) then give this one a go. It's short and to the point, but mainly great mindless fun.