Thomas Jane is a pretty cool guy. He’s also a massive fanboy. Here he’s made his own Punisher fan film, starring himself. And apparently its title is Hashtag Dirty Laundry. What makes him qualified to be comicdom’s most violent anti-hero? Well, he did play the role once before, you know. It’s just as dark and violent as you’d expect from Frank Castle, but this time with more appendage breaking. Also with bonus Ron Perlman cameo!! This is a pretty sweet short worthy of a look. I say give Jane another shot if they ever make another feature film. He was certainly the best thing about the 2004 film.
Thomas Jane’s #DIRTYLAUNDRY
I thought the short was similar to what I use to like in some of the best Punisher comics. Minding his own business and trouble shows up.
How could anyone think Jane is the better Punisher? He is short and small and not dark and brooding at all. That was a horrible miscasting. Stevenson is a big mother at 6 foot four and looks how I would imagine the Pun would be in tangible form.
@peyton By your logic, all movies of these types should only have white guys killing other white guys, no other color allowed. You also don’t want any black characters as secondary characters assisting the main, white character, and black villains are strictly out.
So why don’t you say what you really want?
The Punisher is not Spider-Man or Batman, he doesn’t stop every crime on the street, he’s not that type of vigilante. But then you get users like “Claude”, “Mike V” and “BLACKSTONE” that act like know-it-all spoiled brats that are never satisfied with anything they get… even if it’s for free. It has to be done there way in every single way, if one thing is missing or done wrong… they will bitch like crazy and you’ll never hear the end of it.
Somehow these users are the experts in writing and filmmaking, they have all the answers and solutions to stuff like this… sad… it’s really sad…
The type of film that this guy is asking for would only have been 2 or 3 minutes long at the most. Getting a bunch of guns that look real and getting blanks would have cost money and this was a film that was done with 0 money. This film didn’t have a budget at all. Everyone who worked on this film did it as a favor for Tom. They did it on there day off. Even if they used a computer for all the gunfire, it would have looked faked, as it always does.
Without that ten-minute billed up, the bad guys would not have looked as “bad guys”, the hooker wouldn’t have been able to have her justice, Ron Perlman’s character made a point that Frank Castle does come to later in his vigilante career… no matter how many bad guys you kill, it never makes a differences, it doesn’t make the world a safer place. But Frank pretty much says… fuck it!
The Punisher mainly goes after the big fish in the criminal underworld such as the Mafia, organized crime. Sometimes its small time gangs but half the time he’s fighting the Italians, the Russians, the Colombians and the Mexicans… those types of people.
Also, they don’t have the rights to the character, meaning they can’t use or say his name in the film (Frank Castle or the Punisher), copyright and all that. They can barely use the Skull symbol, they use a new design of it, but it only appears for a few seconds. If we see him in action with all the guns, then he can’t be wearing the skull without getting suited from Marvel.
The short film also shows that Frank is still deadly without a gun and a lot of non-Punisher fans like to think he’s completely helpless without some type of weapon that can shoot bullets. He knows Martial Arts like Shorin-Ryu, Chin Na, Hwarangdo, and Ninjutsu and you’ll find that info in “The Punisher Annual” Vol. 2 issue #2, 1989, chapter: “Punisher Fighting Techniques” from pages 49 to 54.
In the 2004 film, knife training included small daggers and the hooked Indonesian karambit, short course in Japanese, Israeli, and Filipino martial arts. He got a little bit of everything in hand-to-hand.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/news/?a=962
This is a great short film…..I would say this is Frank Castle re-reaching his breaking point and then doing something about the violence all around him. Say what you want about Thomas Jane, but he really does know how to play Frank Castle/The Punisher quite well. Dolph Lundgren was never that three dimensional EVER. and Ray Stevenson…….well lets just say though the movie had a ton of action and was a good once or twice watch film it really didnt have a whole heckofalot to do with why Frank Castle became the Punisher in the first place…just alot of mindless violence and no depth or story. To the person that brought up the Unrated Extended cut of The Punisher, you sir really DONT get the point of the unrated extended. The point of that flick was to A. show how awesome Frank Castle was in Iraq so people know how tough he truely was. and B. to show the subtle subplotting that points to Jimmy Weekes’ character as the mole that gave Frank up. While the original cut didnt have that subplot or the amazing action storyboarded intro it did keep Frank Castle’s character likeable…though not as dark. The darker Frank Castle of the comics wouldnt have hesitated to kill his own best friend if he knew his best friend flipped on him and sold him out to criminals and that is no less then the hardcore fans deserved. Yes the unrated extended cut is alot darker & makes it alot harder to sympathize with Frank’s character, but like I said that is something that is very forseeable for Frank Castle to do if pushed far enough. Ultimately I’m glad that The Punisher R rated cut for the theaters didnt have the extras of the jimmy weekes subplot in it because I’m fairly confident that the casual movie goers would have lost all sympathy for Frank Castle’s character and the movie probably would have tanked. Though I am very glad it was put together into an unrated extended cut so as to show the ORIGINAL story line in all its dark unfettered glory. Thomas Jane does play an excellent Punisher and if Marvel and Lion’s Gate wanted to do a new movie I’d hope Thomas Jane would reprise his role as The Punisher and it would take place sometime after the original movie.
Greg Rucka… his whole Punisher/Daredevil/Spider-Man team-up was crap. It was predictable, fighting Ninjas is old and over used (the first sign of no talent in writing whatsoever), the team-up of Spider-Man and Deardevil just to get “Odd Couple” moments and arguments from them was just idiotic.
The OC woman was nothing but a sorry ass excuse of a female Punisher (pointing there guns at each other was a Max Payne/Mona Sax rip-off), and the Punisher already had the whole tough redhead partner (from SEHLID) back in the late 90’s. Making the Punisher look like a poor rip-off of Solid Snake (spiky hair, an eye missing and a beard) and having a redhead female partner (like in Metal Gear) just get new readers is just sad… he is not some great Punisher writer that this idiot is making him out to be…
Regardless of whose interpretation of The Punisher you prefer in the comics, I doubt there’s ever been a version who would just let that kind of brutality go on for as long as it did without acting. He’s too passive to start with and the bit with the whiskey bottle is too frivolous and nonsensical for such a grim and focused character. “The moment where Frank reaches his boiling point, says “fuck this”, and becomes The Punisher” is the moment he watched his family get killed right in front of him.
By the way “Faggoty Fucktard” was meant as an example of the kind of troll speak I despise from so many internet comments. I expect a better class of discussion from the people here. Although the fact that @Nameless made it a point to not just disagree with me (as is his right) but to call my opinions idiotic shows that maybe I expect too much sometimes.
Peyton, I see where you are coming from. I watched the clip and felt a bit uneasy because of all the black criminals portrayed in the film. However, what’s even worse is the amount of PC garbage you’re spewing. The criminals are black, IN THIS CASE. There are white criminals too, but we’re not going to have a multiracial gang “just to have some non black criminals.” Live with it.
This short is basically capturing the moment where Frank reaches his boiling point, says “fuck this”, and becomes The Punisher. Sitting still and ignoring a woman and a child being viciously attacked is indeed uncharacteristic of The Punisher, which is fine since The Punisher doesn’t come to existence in this short until the transaction for the bottle of Jack is completed.
This has potential to become something big, and I hope Marvel realizes it.
First let me say that I’m not calling Thomas Jane or anyone else involved racist. I think this is poor execution that led to a tone deaf piece of work that can be viewed as racist. The message here is if you aren’t an evil violent black person then you are a helpless black victim and need a white guy to come save the day.
I think more people would see it this way if you stripped away a comic book movie character. This is the worst kind of garbage that gives us “nerds” and fans of comics a bad name. That stories can be racist, sexist, homophobic and so on as long as it is in a comic book or has a beloved comic character, we will gobble it up and say its pretty sweet. Meanwhile if this was a short Micheal Bay had done without the frank castle character attached we’d all find something wrong with it
I don’t actually find this video racist. Why? Because it’s not just a white dude beating up a bunch of black dudes, it’s a white dude killing everybody. If the Punisher had been written as a black character, then it would be a black dude killing everybody.
I have to say that the Punisher we see in this seems less like our current Decades-long war vet Punisher from the comics and more like Frank Castle rediscovering his role as a Punisher of criminals after living life as a drifter post 2004s Punisher film. I always liked the way Thomas Jane portrayed the character, though the extended edition’s subplot I found to be ridiculous and I was glad it was cut out. Kickstart this!
The video is racist and disturbing and it is unsettling that most of you see it as anything but.
Help me out here what is the “pretty sweet” part of a video of “frank castle” letting a women get raped and a kid get beaten before he uses a Jack Daniels bottle to produce CGI blood?
Your comparison to Greg Rucka’s Punisher is not the right comparison to be making with this short film. Most people who complained about the 2004 film whinnied that he wasn’t acting like the way he was now… well story wish that wouldn’t make any sense. When you look at the Punisher from 1980’s and early 90’s, he was still a 3-demensional character. It’s only after years of fighting gangs and the Mafia does he become the Punisher that we know today.
That’s one of the many problems they had with the 2008 film, he was such a boring uninteresting character, and one you couldn’t care about. It’s also a problem that the main Punisher comic book has in getting new readers. A lot of Marvel and DC people who mostly read superheroes don’t know what others see in him. A big tough silent guy with guns who kills criminals can be very boring.
This short film could be like what they did with Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, it could just be it’s own story and do another one with the same look, tone and feel but with a more military action Punisher
I’m not expecting everyone to like it 100%… but your compliant and comparison is idiotic
This is how Garth Ennis wrote the Punisher. He wanted to make sure that everyone hated the bad guys, to show how evil they are so when Frank took them out, it was a fitting punishment. That’s called billing up a story and a climax. Greg Rucka’s Punisher is a Punisher that’s been doing this for years, this short film is more based off what happen after the “Year One” storyline because we don’t know exactly when Frank decided to become a vigilante and go after every criminal on the street.
This is also a 3-demensional Punisher and not the one-note cardboard cutout Ray Stevenson’s or Greg Rucka’s Punisher. Here he’s not he’s not hanging upside down, spinning around and shoots two handguns at the same time. He’s not punching a guy’s head off, nor is he saying crappy lines like “Sometimes, I wish I could get my hands on god!”
There have been times where the Punisher was not going to fight every single crime scene he saw on the street. “Army of One” storyline had him killing a mugger, not to save a hooker’s life but because he wanted to kill that thug. When he was in Ireland, there was rioting going on and he didn’t try to stop all of it.
Film adaptations whether they’re based on a book, comic book or a video game are never going to be 100% like their source marital. Deal with it for god sakes. And I’m sorry but Thomas Jane is someone who gets the Punisher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51yegcVDeQM
@Claude: HAHAHAHA!!! Yeah good point. “Faggoty Fucktard”. thats fuckin hilarious! i retract my previous comment & respect your honest opinion of this fan film. No disrespect was intended, nor do i believe you to be a faggoty fucktard. Sir, i would like your permission to use that insult to be used at a later date. i will credit you as well: “this insult was made possible by a grant from Claude. (brought to you by Carl’s Jr.)”
I know it’s just a fan film, I simply had some issues with it I wanted to express. I figured it would be safer to do that here than someplace like Ain’t It Cool News where inside of a minute half the people in the comments would probably have called me a Faggoty Fucktard who should get AIDS and kill himself.
C’mon, y’all. It’s a fan film and it’s done brilliantly by a REAL fan. It’s simply meant to entertain. Yeah, as nerds, we are going to obsess over every aspect of the character, but just look at this as an ELSEWORLDS tale instead of one from the 616. Myself and the office here loved this. I really would love to see him return in a full length sequel. Kickstarter anyone?!?!
The Punisher isn’t an addict trying to kick his habit and suffering the occasional relapse, he is a soldier fighting a war. Since the death of his family that war is literally the only thing he lives for, and he conducts it with finely tuned military precision. If he is basically living in that van then he has weapons in there and those weapons are what he would use, not a “subtly symbolic” bottle Of whiskey.
No, Thomas Jane understands this character just fine. If you look at the symbolism in the film, on numerous occasions he expresses disinterest in the misfortunes of the crime victims. You will see in the convenient store that he says he is “6 months sober” when offered alcohol. This can also be interpreted as ‘sober from violence.’
The fight scene with the bottle of Jack was not only a covert marketing ploy but also symbolism, in that it expresses Castle’s willingness to fight again. Although a little farfetched, his weapon’s purpose was to illustrate the aforementioned rather than to simply entertain.
If you analyze the subtle symbols then the film becomes believable.
I’m sorry but the characterization of The Punisher in this short, like in the 2004 movie, starts off way too passive. In the movie he wasted a bunch of time with stupid head games trying to trick the villain into killing his wife and his right hand man, and in the short he waits until after the girl has been raped and the gang have already kicked the hell out of that kid. And then instead of getting his weapons and dealing with them swiftly and efficiently he engages a group of armed men with a glass bottle for a pointlessly showy and nonsensical fight scene. Read Greg Rucka’s current Punisher series and you’ll see that Thomas Jane really doesn’t understand this character the way he thinks he does.
What is more awesome than this? Only if they make it into a full fledged sequel to the Punisher. Making it rated R this time.
Thomas Jane should be the new Highlander!
My first thoughts, Jesus Christ! I could feel my bones shrieking in horror at the protruding bones. And second, Thomas Jane plays Frank Castle better than anyone else could. Thanks for sharing.
I really wish The Russian could have had more of a part in the 2004 film. 🙂
No, the best thing about The Punisher from 2004 was the Queens of the Stone Age cover of Romeo Void’s Never Say Never.
But the movie was pretty good for a comic book movie. Way better than those horrible Spiderman movies, for sure.
Does Lindsay Funke show up and call him gross?