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 a gritty relaunch of the Marvel vigilante property, arriving after the character's earlier screen ventures had faded from memory. Positioned as a hard R-rated crime thriller rather than a conventional superhero picture, it leaned into revenge-tragedy plotting and practical violence, anchored by Thomas Jane as Frank Castle. The film found its footing less through box office than through cult reappraisal, prized by genre collectors for its unapologetic pulp sensibility and John Travolta's villainous turn.
This cell centers on Howard Saint, the crime boss whose empire and family losses set Frank Castle's war into motion. As the film's primary antagonist, Saint anchors the plot's engine of vengeance, making his frames a natural point of interest for collectors tracing the story's central conflict. A single-character cell like this one typically comes from character-focused reels or promotional strips highlighting key players, offering a tangible artifact of the man opposite the Punisher himself.
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, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; Dolby Digital data blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, indicating a combined optical and Dolby Digital soundtrack.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote characters reliably.
Base & colour
Base appears with a warm amber-golden tint on the lower strip edge; the image dye layer reads as warm with no obvious red shift or fading.
Projection history
No splices or cue marks are visible; faint longitudinal lines consistent with projection wear are present across the frames.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of a live-action feature matching the film on record.
Era check
The combined Dolby Digital data block and variable-area optical track configuration is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 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 000064454
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
