Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
Lions Gate released The Punisher in 2004, a hard-edged revival of the Marvel vigilante built around Thomas Jane's brooding lead performance. Arriving in the wake of early-2000s comic adaptations still finding their footing before the genre's blockbuster consolidation, the film leaned into pulpy, R-rated crime-thriller territory rather than spectacle, drawing on the character's original Vietnam-era backstory reworked for a modern setting. It has since gathered a devoted following among fans who prize its unpolished, grim sincerity over glossier successors.
This cell preserves Frank and Maria Castle together, the domestic core from which the Punisher's entire mythology springs. Maria is Frank's wife, and her presence beside him marks the ordinary family life the character loses before becoming the vigilante audiences know. Collectors seek these two-shots because they capture the man before the mission, the husband and father rather than the avenger, a rare quieter reference point in a film otherwise built on violence. As a 35mm frame drawn from theatrical release stock, it stands as a physical artifact of that origin, not a reenactment or promotional still.
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 two frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even; perforation edges appear cleanly punched with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as two bilateral variable-area lines consistent with a stereo optical track; Dolby Digital data blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the bottom edge, indicating a Dolby Digital optical composite track.
Edge print
Top edge reads 'F01080K4' and partially legible text that appears to read 'EASTMAN' or similar manufacturer code; bottom edge shows partial key numbers not fully legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base carries a blue-violet tint consistent with a colour dye image; the image is dense and dark, suggesting a low-key scene with strong blue cast in the dye layers.
Projection history
No visible splices or cue marks; faint longitudinal lines are present across the image area consistent with projection wear.
Picture
Positive colour image; the two frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot; the dark, blue-lit imagery is consistent with a theatrical release print of a 2004 action feature.
Era check
The composite Dolby Digital plus variable-area optical soundtrack, Eastman colour stock with teal base edge, and perforation style are all 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 000064394
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
