Review Detail
9.0 5 10
(Updated: September 08, 2012)
Overall rating
8.3
Audio/Video Quality
8.0
Audio Editing
8.0
Visual Editing
8.0
Enjoyment
9.0
I downloaded the full dual layer DVD, to then use my pal DVDShrink on it and was pleased to find that the movies takes about as much space as a single layer disc which is great for my particular burning hardware situation and even if i had the hardware i know from experience fact that dual layer burning is a pain.
It’s clear that leeroy worked hard on making a cool menu and a number of special features, and dumping them is not what I’d prefer to do, for which i can only say sorry.
Onto the actual review
Video quality – Quite good standard definition video is presented, no compression artifacts are noticeable with a proper aspect ratio and thankfully my hardware dvd player supports PAL; but heres the thing: it has been a while since i watched the original movie and I don’t remember if the whole of the movie was as visually dark throughout as is presented here. Even broad daylight scenes in sunny Florida seems to have the light drained out of them and when it’s night or inside non illuminated spaces it was hard for me to make some things out. I’m pretty sure that i was supposed to be able to see The Punisher’s huge chest skull a number of times and it was so dark i just could see a weird smear. Yet overall still quite good – 8/10
Sound quality – Sound quality is also quite good, with no major noticeable edition pops, and only in a couple of places I noticed some sudden volume fluctuations, specially a couple of times when a quite scene shifted to some music. Nothing major, just could be polished a bit more – 8/10
Edit – to be honest The Punisher character has never been one of my favorites, Marvel keeps trying to sell him as edgy corner of their otherwise superhero heavy universe and he often falls into a cliched heavy mobster hating/vengeance territory. For stand alone movie purposes I would have expected a dark tale of vengeance, and that I did not get some years ago.
Now in this edit leeroy gets into the hard labor of removing some very thick layers of cheese that plagued the original release. Dumb comic relief characters have been heavily toned down or almost completely excised – specially Frank’s neighbors!; and whatever else had to be lost in order to remove them is more than justified.
I also read that a post family execution character that would have a love interest was excised, something that I just couldn’t remember even being there originally, yet I agree that that kind of thing would have been so out of place that words couldn’t describe it. Only negative is that I guess we lost Rebecca Romjin from gracing our screens but you can’t have everything.
Other small things are improved, such as a better pace so that the movie doesn’t drag on forever and somehow made Frank seem more smart and cunning with his revenge planning/implementing to me which was really good; specially during the climatic assault on the gathered mobsters and hitmen at the club.
Overall I have to say that I was entertained and enjoyed the experience exponentially more than I did the original, so a major credit goes to leeroy for that; Travolta will never be my favorite actor, and seeing him as a menacing antagonist is just too improbable for me but well thats impossible to fix.
Only one last note: I wish that the scene where Frank’s son gives him the skull t-shirt would have been taken out as i find it very corny.
As I have stated for other reviews, this movie will never be great but this edit has made it watchable. – 9/10
Overall a quite solid 8.33 from me, great job
Review by havok1977 — July 21, 2011 @ 6:25 PM
It’s clear that leeroy worked hard on making a cool menu and a number of special features, and dumping them is not what I’d prefer to do, for which i can only say sorry.
Onto the actual review
Video quality – Quite good standard definition video is presented, no compression artifacts are noticeable with a proper aspect ratio and thankfully my hardware dvd player supports PAL; but heres the thing: it has been a while since i watched the original movie and I don’t remember if the whole of the movie was as visually dark throughout as is presented here. Even broad daylight scenes in sunny Florida seems to have the light drained out of them and when it’s night or inside non illuminated spaces it was hard for me to make some things out. I’m pretty sure that i was supposed to be able to see The Punisher’s huge chest skull a number of times and it was so dark i just could see a weird smear. Yet overall still quite good – 8/10
Sound quality – Sound quality is also quite good, with no major noticeable edition pops, and only in a couple of places I noticed some sudden volume fluctuations, specially a couple of times when a quite scene shifted to some music. Nothing major, just could be polished a bit more – 8/10
Edit – to be honest The Punisher character has never been one of my favorites, Marvel keeps trying to sell him as edgy corner of their otherwise superhero heavy universe and he often falls into a cliched heavy mobster hating/vengeance territory. For stand alone movie purposes I would have expected a dark tale of vengeance, and that I did not get some years ago.
Now in this edit leeroy gets into the hard labor of removing some very thick layers of cheese that plagued the original release. Dumb comic relief characters have been heavily toned down or almost completely excised – specially Frank’s neighbors!; and whatever else had to be lost in order to remove them is more than justified.
I also read that a post family execution character that would have a love interest was excised, something that I just couldn’t remember even being there originally, yet I agree that that kind of thing would have been so out of place that words couldn’t describe it. Only negative is that I guess we lost Rebecca Romjin from gracing our screens but you can’t have everything.
Other small things are improved, such as a better pace so that the movie doesn’t drag on forever and somehow made Frank seem more smart and cunning with his revenge planning/implementing to me which was really good; specially during the climatic assault on the gathered mobsters and hitmen at the club.
Overall I have to say that I was entertained and enjoyed the experience exponentially more than I did the original, so a major credit goes to leeroy for that; Travolta will never be my favorite actor, and seeing him as a menacing antagonist is just too improbable for me but well thats impossible to fix.
Only one last note: I wish that the scene where Frank’s son gives him the skull t-shirt would have been taken out as i find it very corny.
As I have stated for other reviews, this movie will never be great but this edit has made it watchable. – 9/10
Overall a quite solid 8.33 from me, great job
Review by havok1977 — July 21, 2011 @ 6:25 PM
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