Why the 89 version of the Punisher is better than the 04 version.

Following on from my recent charity shop, VHS buy of the 1989 movie adaptation of The Punisher it got me thinking about how much better this version is. I used to rent this from the video shop all the time when I was a kid nearly every weekend. It was The Punisher and The Goonies in rotation.
Now, this is a controversial topic almost. A lot of people would argue the toss over this one with me. But I stand firm in my beliefs that the 1989 version with Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr ( my second favourite black man) is far better. The 2004 version starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta(?) lacked the gritty violence of both the comics and the 89 version. Fair enough, his costume was more faithfull to the original and it referenced the comics a lot more, but the addition of the three neighbours spoiled it somewhat for me. The Punisher was far to human or at least showed his emotions far to much. Something that Frank Castle always had under control.
Now the 1989 version didn't have the costume, but Dolph Lundgren's face is lit to look like the skull. His stubble and the two black eyes are the skull. Plus he had no reservation about using guns and violence, something that they toned down so much in 2004. Dolph blows people away left, right and center. Point blank range with shotguns, impaling them with harpoon guns. Its all in there. He looks like he lives in the sewer, he lacks all the fancy gadgets they introduced in 2004.
1989 Trailer.....

2004 Trailer....

Thomas Jane does a decent enough job of embodying Frank Castle but the addition of John Travolta ruined it for me. The dropping of the mafia ( despite the Saints being some kind of crime family) and the bright weather took away any atmosphere the film created. Now the Dolph version of Frank is so much better. He hardly talks, he has a very dry wit that is sparringly used and he has tons of guns..exactly what the Punisher is meant to have. The supporting cast are decent enough, the gangsters are nasty enough and Dolph's Castle is a lot more believable than Jane's. I rest my case.
Well thats it really, just a little rant after I watched both last night. What a pointless post eh?
Fook.

Ah Temptation!

The new Coalesce album is available on some blogs. Well ahead of its release. What do I do? I need to hear it but I want to wait, but can I? Anyone that knows me knows how much I love this band. So the chance to hear new material before the release date is proving too tempting, bastards. I have the link sat in my bookmarks, taunting me.
I was exactly the same with the final Cursed album, I of course bought it when I could but I had to hear it before that day. This might be a similar situation.
But Oliver did get some bargains this week. From the unmined, treasure chest of charity shop shopping. Oxfam to be exact. For the price of 10 queen heads, I got....

Paul Simon - Gracelands LP
Rainbow - Rising LP
In/Humanity - The History Behind The Mystery LP + 7"

And 2 classic films for my video collection ( thats right, video collection)

The Punisher, the original not the shoddy Travolta remake...


And Patrick Swayze's best film by a country mile....


Superb you more than likely will agree.
So to readress the balance placed on my feeble mind of the imminent Coalesce album..here is something that I have spent more than a fair share of time listening to. Awesome, lo-fi, male/female vocal ambience. Ida, Will You Find Me. Superb stuff.

Ida - Will You Find Me

Enjoy dickheads.