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 darker, R-rated Marvel properties to theaters, years before the studio system built around shared universes and softer tones took hold. Thomas Jane starred as Frank Castle, and the film leaned into pulpy revenge cinema rather than superhero spectacle, drawing on the character's punishing, morally bleak roots. It found its audience among genre collectors more than mainstream critics, and has since gained a following as a snapshot of a rougher, more grounded era of comic book adaptation.
This cell centers on Mickey Duka, the small-time informant played within Castle's orbit of Tampa lowlifes and helpers. Duka is a minor but memorable figure to collectors, part of the film's texture of desperate, morally gray side characters who populate Castle's war against the men who wronged him. A 35mm cell bearing his name preserves a single frame of that character's screen presence, a physical fragment tying back to the print struck for theatrical release.
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 frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, with what appears to be a second encoded track adjacent to it, consistent with a stereo or Dolby SR optical arrangement; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are not clearly distinguishable at this size.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
The base carries a warm amber-gold tint on the lower strip edge; the dye image reads as a colour positive 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; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of The Punisher (2004).
Era check
The colour positive stock, optical soundtrack configuration, and amber base tint are all consistent with a 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 000064441
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
