Punisher: War Journal

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Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2008
Original Running Time:
102
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
91
Time Cut:
11
Subtitles Available?
Available in HD?
Brief Synopsis:
A movie of The Punisher that feels more in line with the character and takes out the overindulgence the movie tends to have.
Intention:
I could see what they were tying do with the movie, but it was burred under a lot of over the top moments.
Other Sources:
Punisher War Zone Blu Ray
Fan Films:
- Killzone
- Skull
- No Mercy
Music:
- Apocalyptica : Cohkka
- Filter: Hey Man, Nice Shot
- Metallica: Welcome Home Sanitarium (string quartet cover)
- Quake Soundtrack: Various Tracks
- Zombie (Acoustic Cover by Dave Winkler)
Special Thanks:
Thank you Dwight Fry for helping to make this release the best could possibly be.
Release Information:
Digital
Cuts and Additions:
- Trimmed the amount of time Punisher(Frank) stands on the mobs dinner table

- Cut some of the mob people at the tables deaths. He’s sitting in one spot too long and needs to be moving faster or there is just no way he is surviving this scene.

- Speed up the kicking the soup into the guys face by 50%. Again, it just moves too slow.

- Trimmed some of the time spent hanging from the chandelier. Same reasoning as the rest of this scene.

- Cut the Jumpy Flippy Guys at the docs minus the one scene where they pick up the cash. Now when Billy say to “do your monkey thing” it now has different context, but we are not supposed to like this guy.

- Moved the scene when Billy (not jigsaw yet) finds out Nicky was a rat to after the Basement scene with Budiansky (who I will now just call Booty) and Soap meet. This way I can cut the whole plastic surgeon part that directly rips off Batman 89.

- Cut the shot of the plastic surgeon with the scissors in his head. He doesn’t exist in this cut of the movie. Now when Pittsy is looking away it’s because it’s the first time seeing Jigsaw.

- After Jigsaw breaks in to get Loony Bin Jim (LBJ) I cut the scene after LBJ says “no brother, fatso’s mine”. He get’s to become too much right away and this character needs to be dialed back. Sometimes it’s just better to hint. More creepy that way.

- Cut LBJ breaking all the mirrors. We only see him breaking one. The scene as a whole feels too silly otherwise.

- At Micros house when Frank says that he’s done Micro talks him back by reminding him that Jigsaw will be going after Mrs Donatelli and her daughter. So I cut away after Frank says Jigsaw is the last one and he’s done. Again I am cutting the jumpy flippy guys. There is no need for this subplot. Frank knows where the Donatelli’s live. He was just at their home trying to drop off cash. So him showing up to rescue them later still works because he is only staying around to stop them from getting killed anyway.

- Cut Frank and Booty fighting and Frank getting arrested. That also means he doesn’t sit in the back of the police car. Soap and Booty said earlier that they were going to be listening to the police band and listen for what crimes are happening, so if Booty hears there is a call at his friends widow’s home, it’s not odd they would also show up to check it out. We don’t need Frank to tell them to go there.

- Slight rearrangement of scenes at the Donatelli home.

- Cut Booty asking Soap how Frank escaped from the car.

- Cut LBJ making a cat sound in the interrogation room at the station.

- During the Jigsaw recruitment speech I never cut back to Jig and LBJ because I don’t like the flag floating behind them. Again the movie just goes too far. So I am using scenes from the special features and some fan films off YouTube as cutaways to represent what Jig is talking about in those moments.

- Cut scene at police station when Booty tells Soap that he is helping Soaps Partner (meaning Frank). Booty has no reason to suspect this now.

- Cut shots of LBJ walking around.

- At the raid in the Hotel, cut shot of guy smoking in the elevators head exploding.

- Trimmed fight between LBJ and Frank to remove LBJ dialog. He comes across a bit more menacing fighting silent.

- Cut Franks line at the end of the hotel scene “This is just the beginning”, It doesn’t fit.

- Cut LBJ random laughing through out the movie where I could.

User reviews

7 reviews
 
86%
 
14%
5-7 stars
 
0%
3-5 stars
 
0%
1-3 stars
 
0%
Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.9(7)
Audio Editing
 
9.3(7)
Visual Editing
 
9.6(7)
Narrative
 
9.6(7)
Enjoyment
 
9.4(7)
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Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
It has been a very long time since I watched this - probably over 10 years. My copy was literally collecting dust. This effectively made me a borderline new viewer as I did not remember much of what I previously saw. I was confident lantern51 would do good work this as I was impressed by his edits of the Amazing Spiderman movies. I was not disappointed.

The dark shade coloring of the movie really fit with the dark tone the movie was giving off. The added musical score also amplified the dark feelings while I watched this. I could tell in various instances where things were cut, but the transitions put in place smoothed those out to minimize any jarring effect.

I personally felt the narrative was logical and flowed quite well throughout my viewing experience. Major credit to lantern51 on this. This is not always easy when cutting material throughout a movie, and even rearranging scenes. As referenced above, I am a partial first-time viewer so I could not rely on my memory to fill in the gaps.

Some of my enjoyment was hindered by the gore in this movie. As I have gotten older, I have gotten progressively more turned off by overly bloody material. This is not the editor's fault obviously, but this is something to keep in mind for others reading this review who are considering to watch this.

Overall, this was a fun watch. I want to express my gratitude to the editor for the hard work put into this and sharing the edit with me. I do recommend others to watch this if an opportunity arises.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
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Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
ABSOLUTE BANGER!!!

This is what i always thought the original version was going to be before i watched it for the first time and realized that it was a total mess lol. I absolutely love the new moody look of the movie, all the new music you've added were also made up for a nice touch. Overall, this is a really enjoyable and straight to the point edit. Great job, Lantern51!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
A
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Now THIS is the Punisher movie I have been looking for!

Dark. Violent. Unapologetic.

The original War Zone was a tonal mess that was only saved by Ray Stevenson's pitch perfect casting.

Lantern51 has cleverly retuned the movie by de-emphasizing or completely removing the over the top moments, thus allowing the strengths of the film come to the foreground. Along with some solid scene cuts/trims, the tonal realignment is done mostly two ways. One, a completely new colour scheme. The bright rich inappropriate colour palette has been replaced with a washed out, gritty, grunge landscape. And two, this new colder, darker, semi-apocalyptic look is supported by an almost all new soundtrack that enhances the grittiness, tension and despair.

While I was not a fan of every new music choice, the song used after Frank kills the uncover agent was inspired. There is extensive and impressive audio replacement throughout this edit. The vast majority of it is masterful, and it is only in the final climax it is slightly noticeable due to original spill and the unavoidable side effect limitations of the software used.

Lots of great cut work throughout this edit, which improves pacing and narrative immensely. Jigsaw and LBJs' performances do at times feel at odds with the new edited tone, but for the most part, they now come across far more ominous and threatening. For me, the only casualty of the new structure is there is no clear reveal of Soap's true intentions, thus he comes across even more oddball and eccentric. But my favourite piece of editing is the new version of Jigsaw's recruitment speech -- brilliant stuff!

The bookend War Journal entries were nice touches and I think, as another reviewer commented, it would have been nice to have had a couple more scattered throughout the narrative for more insight into Frank and to re-enforce the fan edit concept.

When one considers the original source material, this fan edit is an impressive accomplishment. The fan editor easily met and exceeded his goals.

Good stuff!!! :)

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Overall rating
 
8.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
8.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
lantern51 has turned Punisher into an old school 80's style action flick. Its lean and mean, losing all the camp and silliness of the original. It has an almost cypia tone moody look and a terrific soundtrack. The Punisher now comes accross as a man haunted by his past and despite his no compromising violonce still has a moral code. I love how lantern51 had a clear vision of what he wanted this edit to be and focused tightly on that.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
(Updated: April 11, 2022)
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Very enjoyable edit, the removal of the silliness of the villains is without a doubt the best change you made, no more over-the-top acting and weird performances from Looney Bin Jim and Jigsaw, less clownish, more disturbing and menacing. The action is fast-paced and flows very well. Also, the top-notch music you added was wisely chosen, I loved every single one.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
D
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