The Punisher

The Punisher is a 1989 American vigilante action-thriller film directed by Mark Goldblatt, written by Boaz Yakin, and starring Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr. Based on the Punisher character from Marvel Comics, the film changes some details of the character's origin, and eliminates the signature skull logo; instead, The Punisher uses a knife with the skull on its pommel. It was shot in Sydney, co-starring Jeroen Krabbé, Kim Miyori, Nancy Everhard, and Barry Otto. Plot Frank Castle is a former undercover police detective and U.S. Marine whose wife Julie was killed 5 years ago, along with their two daughters, by a Mafia car bomb intended for Frank who is also presumed to be dead. Castle has since become the city's most wanted, and most mysterious, vigilante - known only as "The Punisher". He now lives in the city's labyrinthine sewer-system, having assassinated 125 mobsters (not counting henchmen) in the past 5 years. His work is known by the use of special throwing-knives engraved with a skull. Castle's sole ally in his one-man war against organized crime is Shake (taken from Shakespeare and "the shakes"), a stage-performer-turned derelict who typically speaks in rhyme. The underworld families have become so weakened by the Punisher's guerrilla warfare that kingpin Gianni Franco is forced out of retirement. Franco plans to unify the decimated families. However, this attracts unwanted attention from the Yakuza, Asia's most powerful crime syndicate. Led by Lady Tanaka, the Yakuza decide to take over the Mafia families and all of their interests. In order to sway the mobsters to their cause, they kidnap their children and hold them for ransom. Shake pleads with the Punisher to save the children, who are likely to be sold into the Arab slave trade regardless of whether the Mafia give into the demands. The Punisher attacks Yakuza businesses, warning that for every day the children are held in captivity, he will inflict heavy costs on them in property damage. The Yakuza later capture the Punisher and Shake and attempt to torture them into submission, but the Punisher breaks free and decides the only course of action is a direct rescue.