All 3 Punisher Movies Ranked, Worst To Best

The Punisher has starred in 3 feature films of questionable quality but which movie about the homicidal vigilante Frank Castle is ultimately the best one? The first Punisher movie starring Dolph Lundgren arrived in 1989 but was never released theatrically in the United States. The Punisher, starring Thomas Jane as Frank Castle, wouldn't return to the big screen until 2004 and a reboot starring Ray Stevenson titled Punisher: War Zone was released in 2008.

Every Punisher movie was a critical and box office disappointment. Yet despite having different directors, stars, and budgets, the rotten ratings of The Punisher films on Rotten Tomatoes are remarkably consistent: the 1989 and 2004 Punishers are at 28% Rotten and Punisher: War Zone is only a tick better at 29% Rotten. Because Dolph Lundren's version had no U.S. release, it missed out on a big box office chunk, but Thomas Jane's 2004 outing is the highest-grossing Punisher film, earning $54-million (from a $33-million budget) worldwide and it did well financially on DVD. The final film, Punisher: War Zone, was a disaster, grossing just $10-million worldwide (from a $35-million budget).

While The Punisher's peak popularity in Marvel Comics was in the late-1980s and early 1990s, Frank Castle continues to have a dedicated following, especially in the last two decades as the Punisher's infamous skull logo has become a controversial symbol for law-enforcement and the military in the United States and overseas. The Punisher's best live-action incarnation thus far came on Netflix when Jon Bernthal starred as Frank Castle in Daredevil season 2 before headlining two seasons of the well-received TV series, The Punisher. Since then, The Punisher's rights have reverted to Marvel Studios, which could either continue Bernthal's version or reboot The Punisher for the fourth time.

To be fair, all of The Punisher movies were made in a different era. Now, Marvel Studios and DC Films are consisting delivering globally popular blockbusters while superhero properties like Netflix's The Umbrella Academy and Amazon's The Boys feature anti-hero comic book characters that are also crowd-pleasers. The Punisher movies all resulted from either filmmakers or the studio, Lionsgate, not fully understanding or willing to invest in the property. A character as enduringly popular as The Punisher will eventually get another crack at big-screen glory under the Marvel Studios banner and it will very likely succeed given their track record. But until The Punisher returns, his cinematic legacy remains three bad movies that aren't regarded very fondly, even by Frank Castle's most devoted fans.

3. The Punisher (1989)

In 1989's The Punisher, Frank Castle (Dolph Lundgren) is a former undercover NYC police detective who becomes a vigilante after his family is murdered by the Mafia. After five years as The Punisher, Castle has killed 125 mobsters, and he finds himself hunted by both the Mafia and the Yakuza, who are trying to take over crime in New York. The main plot of the movie involves Frank trying to save the kidnapped children of his Mafia enemies from the Yakuza, who are going to sell them to the slave trade. The Punisher also co-stars Louis Gossett, Jr. as Jake Berkowitz and Jeroen Krabbe as mob boss Gianni Franco.

Directed by Mark Goldblatt, The Punisher was shot in Sydney, Australia, which doubled for New York City, on a $9-million budget. Among the many problems with The Punisher, including its messy action and wooden acting, was the fact that the film bears little resemblance to Marvel's comics. Even as Tim Burton's Batman set box office records in 1989, there was still low regard for comic books among moviemakers, and accuracy to the source material was not considered a virtue. Hence, Lundgren's Punisher never wears his famous skull logo and the only hint towards the Punisher of the comics are the skull-tipped knives he throws. The Punisher was released theatrically in some countries but it went direct-to-home-video in the United States. However, compared to some of Marvel's other embarrassing efforts at the time, like the 1990 Captain America movie and 1994's The Fantastic Four, The Punisher comes off as a relatively decent B-movie - but it's still quite bad.

2. Punisher War Zone (2008)

PUNISHER: WAR ZONE, Ray Stevenson, 2008. ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection

In Punisher: War Zone, Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) has been The Punisher for five years and he attacks a party thrown by the mob, killing most of the guests except for Billy Russoti (Dominic West), who is horribly disfigured and becomes Jigsaw. Castle then learns that one of the mobsters he killed was an undercover FBI agent, so he goes to make amends to his wife Angela (Julie Benz) and her young daughter. Meanwhile, Jigsaw frees his deranged brother, Loony Bin Jim (Doug Hutchison) and they go after Angela, who falls under the Punisher's protection. After Jigsaw takes Castle's partner, Microchip (Wayne Knight) hostage, the violence and mayhem culminate in a bloody shootout in a hotel with an army of gangsters pitted against The Punisher who kills them all, although Microchip is murdered by Jigsaw. Castle eventually kills the villains and continues on his life as The Punisher.

After 2004's The Punisher did well enough in DVD sales to warrant a sequel, director Jonathan Hensleigh and Thomas Jane both dropped out because of problems with the screenplay. Lexi Alexander stepped in to helm the film, becoming the first woman to direct a Marvel movie, and Ray Stevenson from HBO's Rome took over the role of Frank Castle. Alexander's War Zone took its cues from The Punisher MAX comics, although she blames Marvel and the studio for the incoherent final cut of the film. Despite escalating the blood, bullets, and gore, which the filmmakers hoped would please fans, War Zone bombed at the box office. The film's story is another uninspired revenge yarn and, as Frank Castle, Stevenson is nothing more than a grim and imposing action figure. The most memorable aspect of Punisher: War Zone is Dominic West from HBO's The Wire going completely over the top as Jigsaw. Ultimately, Punisher: War Zone over-delivered on violence, if nothing else.

1. The Punisher (2004)

Thomas Jane as Frank Castle in the 2004 version of The Punisher

When an FBI hit on a Tampa Bay, Florida, smuggling operation results in the death of the son of crimelord Howard Saint (John Travolta), he orders the murder of the agent in charge, Frank Castle (Thomas Jane). Saint's men massacre Castle's family but he survived the attack and goes into isolation. Living in an apartment building and surrounded by a strange cast of neighbors, Castle plots revenge against Saint and enacts an elaborate plot to dismantle Howard's criminal empire. After Saint sends a hitman named The Russian (Kevin Nash) after Castle, who barely survives, Frank writes a manifesto before going after Howard Saint in his home. Once Saint and all of his associates are dead, Castle becomes The Punisher to continue his one-man war on crime. The Punisher also stars Rebecca Romijn, Ben Foster, and John Pinette as Frank Castle's neighbors.

A-list screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh made his directorial debut with The Punisher, which adapts the Marvel Comics Welcome Back, Frank and The Punisher: Year One. The Punisher is Frank Castle's cinematic origin story, although budgetary issues set the film in Tampa instead of New York City, and Castle was changed from a former Marine to an ex-Delta Force veteran and FBI agent. Not only is Travolta woefully miscast as the ruthless Howard Saint, but Hensleigh's vision of The Punisher has Castle using "guile" against his enemies so that instead of just blowing them away with firepower, Frank first concocts wacky schemes like making Saint think his wife is cheating on him with his gay best friend. Hensleigh saves the ultraviolence for the third act, with the brutal attack by The Russian followed by Castle finally taking up arms, donning The Punisher's skull logo on his flak jacket, and bringing the heavy ordinance (and, strangely, a crossbow) to Howard Saint's door. Even before a DVD director's cut added 17 minutes of footage, The Punisher is a drag that takes too long to deliver the goods. But Jane is a charismatic Frank Castle and, compared to the other films, 2004's The Punisher ends up being the best of the lot.

Next: MCU Phase 4 Already Has The Perfect Way To Bring Back Bernthal's The Punisher