Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Released in 2004 by Lionsgate, The Punisher arrived amid a wave of Marvel adaptations seeking to translate comic book vigilantism into gritty, R-rated crime cinema. Starring Thomas Jane as Frank Castle, the film leaned into revenge-thriller conventions rather than superhero spectacle, positioning itself closer to Death Wish than to the era's more polished franchise fare. It found its audience among collectors drawn to darker, character-driven adaptations, and remains a touchstone for fans tracking the Punisher's various screen incarnations before later reinterpretations.
This cell isolates Frank Castle in his identity as the Punisher, armed, the defining state of the character once he sheds Frank Castle the family man and grieving veteran. Collectors seek this pairing of names because it marks the narrative turn where personal loss converts into calculated violence, the moment the character becomes the vigilante the title promises. Whether drawn from trailer material or an in-film sequence, a cell like this represents that transformation in physical form, a single frame of stock connecting an ordinary man to the armed persona that defines the franchise.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of The Punisher (2004).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data block pattern visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the opposite edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer text or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight warm-amber tint consistent with a colour print stock; dye image appears intact with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the two right-hand frames appear to be consecutive frames of a single shot, and the subject matter is consistent with a theatrical release print of The Punisher (2004).
Era check
The combination of variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and colour print stock on an amber-tinted base is consistent with a mid-2000s theatrical release print.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000064382
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
