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PUNISHER: WAR ZONE Post Release - Page 2

post #51 of 598
12/2/08 at 6:55pm
Or a chair leg to the eye, for that matter.
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post #52 of 598
12/2/08 at 6:58pm
I appreciate your review Devin.

I've been waiting for something that's equal parts nuts and fun to break up some of the Prestige season heaviness around lately. I was looking to The Spirit to provide such relief (and I think it still may) but I'm glad to hear there's another to help out. This one with blood and guts! It has become a Definite top priority for Friday.
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post #53 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:09pm
A lot of the bad buzz started once Jane left the project. The '04 version wasn't well received to begin with but Jane wasn't really the one cited as the main problem, so him exiting put a bit of a stain on the film from the outset. Then replacing him with (sorry Rome fans) a real unknown added to the perception that this should have been a DTV affair. Throw in Kurt Sutter wanting his name taken off the script credits and whatever went on with Lexi and you've got a lot of bad press to deal with.

I would have thought the bloody footage released at Comic-Con would have helped the buzz a bit, convinced me this could be a winner, but it seemed to garner little fanfare.

Really wish Lionsgate had opened this Thanksgiving weekend instead of TRANSPORTER 3. I've got a feeling WAR ZONE is gonna get buried since the first weekend after Thanksgiving tends to be a light one box office wise.
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post #54 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:15pm
Thread Starter 
I had a friend who went in for the gig as director before Lexi. He hated the script they had, and he demanded Jane back. I think Lionsgate would have let him change the script (Lexi did), but they wanted nothing to do with Jane.
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post #55 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:16pm
Thread Starter 
Oh, and this movie will likely tank. They've killed it with their marketing. They just missed the boat on this film.
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post #56 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:16pm
It's the best Punisher film.
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post #57 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf View Post
I had a friend who went in for the gig as director before Lexi. He hated the script they had, and he demanded Jane back. I think Lionsgate would have let him change the script (Lexi did), but they wanted nothing to do with Jane.
I would think so, Jane was pretty much the reason why this movie took so long to get off the ground.

I would have preferred seeing the Walter Hill directed Jane sequel, but I'll give this a shot.
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post #58 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:27pm
I think my favorite kill might be the lead parkour guy, who gets thrown off a building and impaled on a metal fance before Castle jumps down from the same roof and uses his face as a ramp.
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post #59 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:28pm
Thread Starter 
And then we get the shot of his body laying there, head swaying in the broken necked breeze.
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post #60 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:30pm
It's so good. The new FRIDAY THE 13th has a lot to live up to.
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post #61 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Nunziata View Post
It's the best Punisher film, as will be elaborated on in the promptly forthcoming new podcast.
Hurray!

I was wondering, how much of a sequel is this? It seems like with the change of star and place, and script tinkering, it could pretty easily be a reboot like Hulk. Does it reference the Jane movie at all, or is it pretty much stand-alone?
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post #62 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:31pm
Thread Starter 
Reboot.
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post #63 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schwartz View Post
Hurray!

I was wondering, how much of a sequel is this? It seems like with the change of star and place, and script tinkering, it could pretty easily be a reboot like Hulk. Does it reference the Jane movie at all, or is it pretty much stand-alone?
Edit: What Devin said.
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post #64 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:36pm
It's funny that they're still using the RAY STEVENSON IS! stuff in the tv spots.
I've also seen ads on tv with a weird OUR FUTURE RESTS IN HIS HANDS type of tagline.

But if Hensleigh's Punisher can make a decent amount of money on dvd (I'm assuming that's why a sequel was considered), Warzone will make a killing.
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post #65 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:38pm
It sounded that way, but good to know. Sounds like they're really embracing psychopath Castle, which would've been hard to align with the surly Castle of Tampa. Not that anyone outside a few basements would care enough to try.
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post #66 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:42pm
I don't know I think the extended cut of the last movie kinda made Castle a bit more of a sociopath, in that he forces his friend to commit suicide.
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post #67 of 598
12/2/08 at 7:59pm
Yeah, I kind of remember seeing that now, but there's still enough fire hydrant shenanigans, popsicle torture, and neighborly sappiness to go around. The Punisher shouldn't pull punches.
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post #68 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:08pm
That's true, the bad tends to outweigh the good with that movie.
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post #69 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Nunziata View Post
It's the best Punisher film.
Even better than Man on Fire?
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post #70 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:09pm
That was boring.
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post #71 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:09pm
Death Sentence?
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post #72 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ Fischer View Post
I think my favorite kill might be the lead parkour guy, who gets thrown off a building and impaled on a metal fance before Castle jumps down from the same roof and uses his face as a ramp.
Wow, that kill is right from the first MAX arc: "In The Beginning" From what I can gleam from these comments this looks to be a cross between the brilliant over the top cartoonishness of Ennis' Marvel Knights run mixed with some of the harder stuff from his MAX run. I'm there.
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post #73 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:14pm
It is, though in the comic doesn't the guy still comes after Castle with the fence sticking through him and then finally gets his face blown off.
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post #74 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BubWilliams View Post
It is, though in the comic doesn't the guy still comes after Castle with the fence sticking through him and then finally gets his face blown off.
Yeah, Pittsy was his name. A sort of Joe Pesci-as-gangster-type spliced w/ a pit bull.
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post #75 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:24pm
Looks like he's the one to get shotgunned in the face while cuffed to the chair. Too bad, I would loved to have seen the fight he Castle had from the comic on screen.
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post #76 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:27pm
That shotgun to the face is so perfectly done, with a great reaction immediately after the blast all in one great wide shot. It's very 1986 Hong Kong, Category III style.
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post #77 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:36pm
Yeah, it actually looks like they tried to have it look like in the comic, where it's just the face that gets blown off.

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post #78 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:43pm
Delightful! It's good to hear that it's gruesome and ultraviolent and all, but the big question is: how does Julie Benz look with dark hair?
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post #79 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:45pm
This sounds awesome. I hope it does better than Doomsday did, box-office wise, I want more splatter action.
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post #80 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:53pm
I don't know it's being released on the same day as Frost/Nixon and those Frank Langella fans are rabid motherfuckers. But really, I don't think too many violent movies have ever really done all that well in December. I'll guess and say it'll probably do as good as the last one.
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post #81 of 598
12/2/08 at 8:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nekkerbee View Post
the big question is: how does Julie Benz look with dark hair?
OK, but she's easily the worst thing in the film, until she mostly drops her accent for the last scene.
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post #82 of 598
12/2/08 at 9:08pm
So Julie Benz gets the one-two wham-bam of both Rambo and Punisher? Fantastic.
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post #83 of 598
12/2/08 at 9:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BubWilliams View Post
I don't know it's being released on the same day as Frost/Nixon and those Frank Langella fans are rabid motherfuckers.
Not just that but there are some people who have massive hard-ons for 70s era David Frost. SEXY!

And after looking at that panel of someone taking a shotgun to the face I have to ask? Who wants stroganoff?
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post #84 of 598
12/2/08 at 9:58pm
Any "war journal" type VO?
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post #85 of 598
12/2/08 at 10:37pm
i'm so hard right now
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post #86 of 598
12/3/08 at 12:38am
Damn you, Devin and Russ, I need to see this movie yesterday.
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post #87 of 598
12/3/08 at 2:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ Fischer View Post
That shotgun to the face is so perfectly done, with a great reaction immediately after the blast all in one great wide shot. It's very 1986 Hong Kong, Category III style.
Finally a worthy successor to Johnnie To’s The Big Heat? Awe. Some.
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post #88 of 598
12/3/08 at 3:31pm
I'm glad. I could use some Franchise HOPE, after Lucasfilms (and supposedly TRANSPORTER 3) took a big chunk of it away this year. TDK and HB 2 counter-balanced it, thank the film Gods.
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post #89 of 598
12/3/08 at 3:42pm
I had no interest in this at all. Now it's very much on the before noon $5 matinee Sunday things to do. I hope it's as fun as you all are saying, but if it's not, hey, it's $5.
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post #90 of 598
12/3/08 at 3:53pm
Well, now I know where I'm going to be on Friday night
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post #91 of 598
12/4/08 at 12:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan "Nordling" Cerny View Post
I had no interest in this at all. Now it's very much on the before noon $5 matinee Sunday things to do.
This, but on Friday (technically 12:20pm). I told one friend about the CHUD reaction, and he didn't believe me. He can't go, but another friend, with whom quoting glorious trash is a fun habit, was in as soon as I read him the last paragraph of Devin's review.
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post #92 of 598
12/4/08 at 12:56am
This better be as awesome as it's being built up to be, I'm going to the midnight, and I need the taste of Transporter 3 washed out of my mouth.
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post #93 of 598
12/4/08 at 1:17am
In addition to TRANSPORTER 3 I need the taste of WANTED, DEATH RACE, RIGHTEOUS KILL, and MAX PAYNE washed out of my mouth. WAR ZONE better do the trick because Certs sure as hell ain't.
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post #94 of 598
12/4/08 at 10:21am
what's the best Punisher comic to read? Punisher MAX?
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post #95 of 598
12/4/08 at 10:42am
Pretty much.
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post #96 of 598
12/4/08 at 10:47am
BluelouBoyle, I prefer the Marvel Essential Punisher 2 written by, Mike Baron, that was when The Punisher had his own book. The Punisher was best in the 80's to late 90's when Microchip was his tech guy sidekick, he created the Battlevan, and Frank Castle was in his running and gunning glory. Essential Punisher 1 covered alot of his earlier appearances including team ups with...Spider-Man before he had his own monthly title.
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post #97 of 598
12/4/08 at 12:40pm
The old Mike Baron stuff is great - Frank is a little more thoughtful and human, but still a killer.

But I love the Max stuff. Just fantastic. "Slavers" was a particularly good arc.
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post #98 of 598
12/4/08 at 4:10pm
If War Zone doesn't die the horrible death at the box office like we all expect it to and manages to make enough money to justify another Punisher outing with Stevenson Slavers would be the absolute best comic book story to adapt for that longshot sequel.
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post #99 of 598
12/4/08 at 4:34pm
That would be cool, both for a great story, and for opening people's eyes to the massive human trafficing problem many are unaware of.

But you'd need to include plenty of VO. What makes the (good) Punisher comics such great reads, is that he narrates his own adventures. We read his thoughts, and Castle's head is an interesting place.

The Thomas Jane film never felt like a Punisher story to me until he started writing the journal towards the end. (That film had other problems of course.)

As much as I'm looking forward to some crazy ultra-violence when I see this film, I don't think they'll even capture the feel of the better comics without including Frank's commentary. Like in the sample from this thread: "You have to be fucking kidding me. His next step is a reflex action." etc.
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post #100 of 598
12/4/08 at 9:37pm
I heard every action scene is replete with copious amounts of death metal music. Is this true, and if it is, is it really that distracting enough to stop me from going to see it?
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