The Punisher (1989 film)

The Punisher is a 1989 film adaptation of the comic book of the same title. While having a modest commercial success, it has been panned by several fans for its inaccuracies, involving changing the character origin story and him not wearing his emblematic skull shirt.

The Punisher (Dolph Lundgren) is a one-man weapon against crime; in the past five years, he's killed over 125 people. In reality, The Punisher was once Frank Castle, an ex-cop whose family was murdered by mobsters. Legally declared dead, Castle strikes back from beyond the grave by killing mobsters wherever he can find them. As a result of Frank's one-man war, Gianni Franco takes control of the various mob families and moves to tie them together as one unit; this attracts the attention of the Yakuza, which decides to take over the families and all their interests -- and kidnaps the mobsters' children to force loyalty to their cause. With no other choice, Franco teams up with The Punisher to fight for the lives of the children of the people Frank has fought against for five years (while, at the same time, fighting alongside the man who killed his family).


 * Badass Biker: Frank in the 1989 film.
 * Wrote the Book: In the 1989 film, Jake refers to himself as "the man who wrote the book on busting bad guys".