Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Lionsgate released The Punisher in 2004 as part of a mid-2000s push to bring Marvel's darker antihero properties to the screen before the studio system fully embraced shared universes. Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh and starring Thomas Jane as Frank Castle, the film leaned into pulpy crime-thriller territory rather than traditional superheroics, drawing on the character's roots as a vigilante shaped by loss and vengeance. John Travolta's turn as the villain gave the production a marquee name and a sense of theatrical menace that set the tone for Castle's war against organized crime.
This cell isolates Howard and Livia Saint, the crime family at the center of that conflict. Howard, played by Travolta, serves as the film's primary antagonist, a powerful figure whose empire becomes the target of Castle's retribution, while Livia represents the domestic and emotional core entangled in that world's violence. Pairing them together points to their shared narrative weight as the Saint household, a fixture of interest for collectors tracking key antagonist pairings and character-defining stills from the production.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour release print of The Punisher (2004).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no visible torn or missing perforations.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single-track analog stripe.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at the resolution and angle shown.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight warm-blue tint consistent with a colour dye-coupler print stock; dye image appears intact with no obvious fading.
Projection history
Fine longitudinal lines consistent with projection wear are visible across the frame area; no splices or cue marks seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of a 2004 theatrical feature.
Era check
The single variable-area optical track alongside a colour positive image on what appears to be a safety base is consistent with a standard 35mm theatrical release print from the early 2000s.
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 000064391
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
