The last film to be produced by Artisan Entertainment.
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Castle's sidearm for the climactic firefight is a modified 1911-style .45 equipped with a compensator, extended safeties and slide stop, beveled magazine well, and adjustable sights.
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Tampa Bay Lightning hockey player
Vincent Lecavalier and former Bucaneers football player
John Lynch were originally in one of the first scenes of the movie that was eventually deleted.
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The knife that Frank takes from the man attempting to break into Joan's apartment is a Benchmade model 42 balisong. Frank also uses a Strider JW model and an Emerson Karambit.
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When shooting the surprise retirement party for Frank Castle (
Thomas Jane) after the success of the major sting, the group of extras behind the table were directed to make simple cheers once Thomas Jane walked in. This scene was shot several times because a certain actor kept fumbling his lines. On one such entrance of Thomas Jane, he commended the extras and told them that he actually felt like they were real and sincere with their praise for him.
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The bounty hunter's actual name was Harry "Heck" Thornton but was truncated to avoid confusion with the actor
Billy Bob Thornton. In Welcome Back Frank, he does not carry a guitar or sing.
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In order to update the comic origin to present day, Frank Castle's military record was changed from Vietnam to the Gulf War
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The weapon Castle uses in the final shootout is a Colt M4A1 carbine, a shortened version of the M16 rifle. Castle's is modified with a flat-top upper receiver with a Picatinny-type accessory rail, an M203 40mm grenade launcher , and an Aimpoint M68 Close Combat Optic.
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The exclusive club that Howard Saint owns is "Saints and Sinners".
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Before choosing Tampa as the location to both film and set the movie, the director also considered places such as Biloxi, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Galveston, Texas.
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Frank's tenement building was located at the corner of N. Nebraska Ave. and E. Zack St., directly across the street from the Tampa Amtrak station. It was a fairly well known local landmark due to it's unusual shape, but has since been demolished.
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The license plate on Frank Castle's car reads "Year One". This is the auto customizer that worked on the GTO. It was just a coincidence that The Punisher also had a Year One title.
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Micky Duka is heavily based on a character from the comic series, named Mickey Fondozzi, who worked as a mob informant for The Punisher.
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Scenes were constantly scaled back or cut to meet budget requirements. Effects scenes were almost always done the old-fashioned way with old tricks replacing new CGI.
Jonathan Hensleigh discusses this in the commentary track of the original DVD edition
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Wizard Magazine editor
Jesse Thompson appeared as a customer in the diner where Frank and Joan were before Heck comes in. He was not in the final cut.
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Another problem that beset the production was the unseasonably rainy weather affecting Florida at the time of filming.
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The house used as Howard Saint's mansion belonged to ex NBA player
Matt Geiger at the time of filming.
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When Castle is readying himself to administer the coup de grace to Saint, he attaches a shoulder stock to a pistol. This is presumably supposed to be a Glock 18, a version of the Glock 17 9mm capable of fully automatic fire. This is uncertain, however, since the piece never appears again in the film.
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The guns Mickey and Bobby try to buy in the beginning of the movie are Heckler & Koch G36Cs, the compact version of the G36 assault rifle.
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The bourbon Castle drinks throughout the film is "Wild Turkey". In the Jimmy Weeks subplot, we see Jimmy drinking the same brand.
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In a grotesque example of life imitating art,
John Travolta's character starts the film mourning the loss of his son. Six years after the release of this film, Travolta's son Jett died in real life following a seizure.
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Lions Gate purchased Artisan Entertainment midway through production.
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Reboot of 1989's "The Punisher".
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Spoilers
The trivia items below may give away important plot points.
The director's cut of the film features a subplot in which it is revealed that Jimmy Weeks (
A. Russell Andrews) gave information to the Saints about the Castles in order to settle a gambling debt effectively betraying Frank (
Thomas Jane). Frank discovers this and then, in a very dark scene, forces Jimmy to commit suicide. The idea was cut from the theatrical film for pacing reasons.
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The Saints and Sinners Club shootout between Frank Castle and Howard Saint's goons was originally longer, but was cut because of pacing and explicit bloodshed. The only two scenes that were altered because of violence were: 1: The point-blank head shot featured blood squirting from the back of a thug's head. 2: The scene in which a thug is dispatched by way of sawed-off shotgun was also cut. The original scene feature pieces of the thug being sprayed from his wounds.
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The scene in which hot oil is tossed on to The Russian was scaled back due to excessive violence. Originally, blood was supposed to pour from The Russian's eyes, but it was deemed "too much" by the MPAA.
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In the script, Livia Saint was supposed to commit suicide and not be killed by Howard Saint. She died the same way showed in the movie, but in the script she willingly threw herself off the bridge.
