Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
The Punisher arrived in 2004 from Lionsgate, a gritty reboot of Marvel's vigilante built for the post-Blade, pre-MCU landscape when comic properties were testing darker, R-rated ground. Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh and led by Thomas Jane as Frank Castle, the film leaned into revenge-thriller mechanics rather than spectacle, with John Travolta's crime boss Howard Saint anchoring the villainy. It found its audience through home video and cable more than box office, becoming a cult favorite for fans of early-2000s Marvel adaptations before the genre's tone shifted permanently.
This cell preserves Howard Saint alongside his consigliere Quentin Glass, the criminal empire's public face paired with its quieter enforcer. Saint drives the plot's engine of vengeance against Castle, while Glass, played by Will Patton, supplies the organization's calculating undercurrent. Collectors seek this pairing because it captures the film's antagonist core together, the two men whose scheming sets the entire story in motion. A frame like this functions as a character study piece, valuable for anchoring the villain side of the Punisher mythos on film.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of The Punisher (2004).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible 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 the lower edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the lower edge, indicating a combined optical and digital soundtrack.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers clearly.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-amber tint consistent with a colour print stock; dye image appears saturated with no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible running through the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of The Punisher (2004).
Era check
The combination of dual bilateral variable-area optical track and Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early-to-mid 2000s, matching the 2004 release date of the film on record.
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 000064423
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
