This may come as a shock to you: THE PUNISHER, the ‘original’ film starring Dolph Lundgren, was never released in theaters here in the US. No joke, the film is a bonafide ‘straight to video’ action flick. And all these years I assumed it made its way into theaters back in 1989…
Not that it’s THE PUNISHER’s fault for being a STV. The film’s distributor, New World Pictures, actually went bankrupt before the film was to be release, which sent it flying into video stores and not multiplexes. Well all that is about to change…
Next month is the 5th annual Escapism Film Festival out of North Carolina, a festival that showcases action-adventure, science fiction, fantasy, exploitation, animation, comedy, and cutting-edge thrillers. This year’s Escapism is a special year, as the Festival is hosting THE PUNISHER’s US theatrical premiere, (almost) 20 years after it’s original release!
Not only that, but Mark Goldblatt (the film’s director) will also be in attendance for the premiere. But you can just watch the flick on DVD, why hit it up in the theater, you ask? The version that will be premiering is Goldblatt’s director’s cut, the original cut he put together before the MPAA made him trim it down for that elusive R rating. That’s right baby, it’s the unrated director’s cut of an already ridiculously violent film!
This event keeps getting cooler and cooler by the moment. Escapism Fest starts Friday, October 17th through Sunday, October 19th–THE PUNISHER will be premiering Saturday, October 18th at 7:30pm. This is the only showing of the flick at the Festival so you better f*cking not miss it!
For more information on the event, click HERE, and if you’re even remotely close to where this festival is held, I suggest you try and hit this screening up–the unrated version of THE PUNISHER? Too f*cking cool for school. I wonder if that means an unrated DVD is almost upon us? With the release of PUNISHER: WAR ZONE coming this December, I would say that isn’t too far fetched… hmmm….
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