Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
The Punisher arrived in 2004 through Lionsgate and Artisan Entertainment, part of a wave of Marvel adaptations that leaned into R-rated grit rather than blockbuster spectacle. Thomas Jane stepped into the role of Frank Castle, a former Delta Force operative and FBI agent turned vigilante after the murder of his family. The film sits apart from its glossier superhero contemporaries, favoring a revenge-thriller tone closer to a Death Wish lineage than a comic-book spectacle, which is part of why it retains a dedicated following among genre collectors today.
This cell centers on Frank Castle himself, the character whose name doubles as his mission statement. Collectors seek out Castle material because he anchors the entire narrative, a man defined by loss and singular purpose rather than superhuman origin. A cell simply marked with his name suggests a foundational frame of the character, the kind of moment that establishes who he is before the vigilante identity fully takes hold. For archival purposes, this represents Castle as the film's core presence, unaccompanied by allies or adversaries, isolated in frame as he is in his mission.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of The Punisher (2004).
Gauge
35mm, 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.
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 strip in the inter-perforation zone on the same edge; a DTS timecode line also appears present as a thin stripe adjacent to the optical track.
Edge print
Not clearly legible in this capture; faint edge markings are present but cannot be quoted with confidence.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; the dye image reads as a colour positive with no obvious red shift or significant fading visible.
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 shot and the subject matter is consistent with a live-action theatrical release matching the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a colour positive print, variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and apparent DTS timecode stripe is consistent with a mid-2000s theatrical release print, matching the 2004 release date 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 000064446
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
