Punisher War Zone DVD

I'm very surprised at the negative reviews I've heard and read for this movie. It's based on a comic book character who, after the murder of his wife and children, has crossed a line and become a vigilante/executioner of the most murdurous of criminals. Its not a particularly new idea for an action movie, but in Punisher: Warzone everything is done nearly perfectly in my opinion. To start with, Ray Stevenson is absolutely outstanding as the Punisher. He is completely believable as a totally lethal and terrifying force of vengeance, as well as being able to show the pain underneath and the memory of the man he once was and the life he had. There are only a few moments when the Punisher flashes back to what happened to motivate him, but Stevenson clearly makes it all work. Everyone else in the cast is terrific as well. Colin Salmon is excellent as always as Budiansky, a cop determined to bring the Punisher in, and Dominic West has a blast as Jigsaw, the brutal villian. Everyone was just great, and I also was very taken with the young actress who played the daughter of a slain policeman, and who (along with her mother) is protected by the Punisher. That young girl was excellent in portraying a bit of innocence and beauty in a very rough movie. As for the action, they pulled no punches here! Decapitation, exploding heads, neck snapping, a knife through the top of the skull, etc - a very high body count! It is extreme action and was perfectly suited to the Punisher character. Definitely R rated and a total blast to watch. To be clear, I am no fan of pointless violence, but in Punisher: Warzone it was totally appropriate for the character and was fantastically well choreographed. And now my favorite part of the film: the gun handling. Again, I am as worried about gun violence as anyone, but it is the main part of this character, and in this film, it was AWESOME. This movie has the best and most exciting gun handling/reloading action scenes that I've ever seen. In watching the featurettes you see the extensive training that Stevenson went through to become proficient at it, and he and the men who trained him and choreographed the fights did a perfect job. Every scene where the Punisher uses one of his many weapons is different and incredibly exciting. I left out a good many plot points and twists, but I'll let new viewers find them out for themselves. So, to wrap up my rushed review: Punisher Warzone is an absolutely outstanding action movie, perfect for the character. Ray Stevenson is perfectly cast and MUST come back for a sequel (there MUST be a sequel). The rest of the cast is excellent, and the action is brutal and terrific. I give this one a 10 out of 10. I enjoyed this movie so much that I see I forgot to mention the quality of the actual blu-ray disc of Punisher: Warzone. To make it short and sweet: the picture quality is in the top three of the several dozen films that I've seen on blu-ray and the menu system is pretty unique here - when you access the menu while watching the movie, the film reduces in size to allow a sort of picture-in-picture layout for the extras, scene selection, etc. Very cool. I have only a 5.1 sound system and cannot process the full, hi-def sound, but what I did hear was, not surprisingly, excellent and held up well with the pristine picture. By the way, as with some other reviewers, I was shocked to find that the director was a woman. Lexi Alexander did a fantastic job with this film and also MUST come back for the sequel. If this is the way the girls make action movies, then I want them on ALL of them! hah. Read more

I loved this movie. Looks great on 4K Read more

Perfect movie! Read more

I had this on BD and I was constantly trying to get it in 4K, but the pricing and upscaling kept me away. Then, I finally got a hold of it at the right price! I'll try to keep this short. The other two attempts at an on-screen Punisher - were HORRIBLE! The first one was fair for the budget, and the Travolta one was boring and horrible. This one came with the look, the purpose, the violence and the essence of - The Punisher! However, like The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil and a couple of other Marvel titles, this one did not do as well at theaters because people were not sure if they could trust it, as they could not with previous renditions. Like THIS Punisher, The Incredible Hulk was also the best version of that character. I'll just get to the point. The video is in Dolby Vision - which seems to be more of a selling point (it sold me), because this was not a native 4K title, so it's use was not really needed. Plus, the film's color palette does do anything for DV. The film is kind of dark (in settings, not visually) and there are not a ton of color variety per scene. When compared to the BD (which I had), you get an uptick in color and a slight in resolution - but the biggest benefit is the sound! Atmos effects are not totally robust and in constant use - but it can be there. The non-Atmos surround sound is MIND BLOWING! It is constantly busy, and it is crips, clean and strong! In fact, I watched another Atmos film (The Fifth Element) after, and the sound quality had clear differences. Although it is not fair to compare since that film came from the 90's. If you want your system to work - THIS is one title to get! The sad part is the film's state - Ray Stevens, died, so any sequel that I was badly waiting for - either will not be, or they will once again have to find another Punisher actor! Ray Stevens was the only actor to capture the comic look of The Punisher. Disney/Marvel, have made popular super-hero films - even with the obscure like Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Ghost Rider, Black Panther and Captain Marvel. Films like The Fantastic Four, The Punisher, the Hulk, Daredevil and Howard the Duck - cannot seem to get it together. Even Spider-Man had rough times - until they got it together, but even now - Spider-Man is still not totally solid - but it makes money. The Punisher one of those characters who popular in the comics, but cannot seem to translate into a good film, but when it does - it does not make money. That is due to the lack of trust, as previously stated. If you have the BD - you can keep it. I had it, but the DV and Atmos sold me on this, and it also has the BD, so I figured that I was gaining and not losing. Besides, I prefer to have it the best quality - even though it was 2K, so the regular BD basically is the best... As of now, this stands as THE best Punisher movie. Hopefully, we will get another... Read more