One of the more… bizarre (ly awesome) things to show at Comic-Con was this fan film called Dirty Laundry, starring “King of the Con” Thomas Jane and Ron Perlman. It’s directed by Phil Joanou and it’s of extremely high quality which is what happens when you’ve got the resources that Thomas Jane is working with.
Jane debuted the film at Comic-Con and just in case you haven’t watched it yet, I’m not going to say any more than that. Just take a look for yourself:
Well then.
Thomas Jane went on Twitter saying that he’s not looking to star in a film as… this character. It’s just a fan film. And everyone knows that Jane is a fan.
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That 10 minutes was better than the last two movies. Dolph still gets props for his trashtacular movie though. This goes to show that it wasn’t Thomas Jane’s fault his Punisher movie wasn’t very good.
Thomas Jane was great in the role in his movie. It was everything around him that sucked. I mean, who would ever have cast John Travolta as the villain?
Face/Off? Broken Arrow? If you’re going for an over-the-top approach for your villain, you can do worse than Travolta.
I saw this linked at other sites, where it was spoiled. I still think it’s excellent. This really should be a television show.
Brilliant, this would be the best show on television if they did it right. This could be the best non-animated comic book television show ever. Better than Smallville, and I have high hopes for “Arrow,” but this could be so much better. The only problem is, it would be so easy to screw it up, they would have to do it exactly like the early comics.
Get someone like Shawn Ryan heading the show and I think it could easily be the best-live action comic tv show ever. A show like this could be done with a modest budget. I don’t know why it hasn’t been done, already. And I’m glad the cop/vigilante slant on the Punisher didn’t make it to even the pilot stage. That simply wouldn’t have been the Punisher in my eyes. Like you said, it’s easy to screw up and it seems that’s all they do with this character.
This was perfect. It’s kind of depressing that he said it was just a fan film.. he tonally hit all the ques perfectly.
I’m not sure if a full length movie would be needed. I would totally be happy if he did a series of short 10min stories on the web.
I concur.
I actually like the Tom Jane Punisher movie a lot more than it really deserves, probably because I watched it before I knew the comic book character
I really liked Tom Jane AS the Punisher. And there were quite a few things about the movie I liked as well, but it could have been a lot better. I did not think he was the problem at all. I would love to see a cable TV series of the Punisher starring him!
DAMN that was awesome. I’d love to see a movie with this character have more of this type of street level tone.
Thanks for posting that.
Man, aside from nailing the character & tone in a way that hasn’t been done before – this was just a really well done short story too. The tension & anticipation of those first 6 minutes was damn near masterful.
I’m not even a big fan of [THE CHARACTER] but I kept seeing other sites (and one of my friends) recommending this, so I gave it a watch, and I think it’s brilliant.
Woke up to this on my Facebook wall. So good, so brutal. Thomas Jane is the man.
I thought it was pretty cool, though the blood squirting was a bit cheap looking, but I get it, very low budget.
This was really awesome. Strange Punisher skull aside I thought it captured the essence & atmosphere of the world of the Punisher really well. Also on a side note, finally a Jack Daniel’s bottle is used realistically! lol : )
Wow….now thats how you do a punisher movie.
I watched this and I’m really torn. On the one hand, the short itself was excellent (acting, production value, story telling, etc..). Really top notch work by everyone involved.
On the other hand, the short pissed me off to no end. Disclaimer that this isn’t a criticism of Thomas Jane nor do I think any of this was done intentionally. However, the film really throws a spot light on a discussion from a few weeks ago on this site about the lack of diversity in comics. (I’ll try to avoid spoiling the short for those who haven’t seen i – but ***SPOILER*** warning).
The characters in the short reinforces the limitations placed on ethnic minorities as agents. A gang, made up largely of African-Americans and other racial minorities, lead by a strong, black man, terrorizing the women and children of the neighborhood. Both white characters watch in horror at the “animals” (I think I remember either Perlman or Jane’s character referring to the gang as such, or perhaps it was “savages”). And ultimately, it takes a white man to save the day. (Watching this short reminded me of the decision to make Kingpin black in the Daredevil movie).
I don’t mean to take away from the quality of this short, but I do think it’s worth taking note of a deeper ideology it can speak to.
I had similar sentiments as well, but these situations do occur. I don’t think it’s encompassing all African Americans, just ones involved in gangs.
I don’t mean to suggest that the situation depicted is somehow fictional. No, the sad truth is that it’s only too real. I guess I’m trying to point to an underlying ideology in the short (and again, not an ideology that I think Jane or Perlman are either subscribing too or somehow intentionally portraying). Put it another way, how come the people watching, commenting, and ultimately resolving the conflict on the streets are white?
I get what you’re saying. Couldn’t help thinking the same thing myself. But didn’t you find some hope in him handing off the t-shirt to the kid at the end? That kid could be the next _________. Like the Miles Morales of this particular universe. I’d pay to see a movie with a black ________. That could be really interesting.
I felt a little uncomfortable about what could be seen as the short’s racial commentary as well but after two movies featuring cartoony (and in many ways equally racist) Italian mobsters, the street level violence and realistic tone was a welcome change of pace. Also, there’s nothing to preclude Frank from dusting off a group of skin-heads or Klan members in the next short.
That said, the “white man uses a gun to clean up the streets” genre has been the subject of much controversy and debate since “Death Wish.”
I would definitely watch a “Punisher” web-series written and directed by Jane.
This short film proves once and for all how there’s no need for too many chefs in order to produce a good Punisher story. Jane and everyone else involved deserve much credit for putting a very cool piece. Thumbs up!
That was amazing.
Thumbs up! When’s the sequel?
TDK music was distracting but I loved it.
This makes me want a Showtime/HBO series about the street level heroes. Punisher, Daredevil, and all of the guys that really work in the dark streets of New York. I know that it will probably never happen because of money and licensing, but man, I would love that. Matt Murdock and Frank Castle yelling at each other in the middle of the night in Hell’s Kitchen and even using swears? An enticing thought.
Pretty cool. Jane was never the problem with that movie. I’d still cast him today if it were up to me. And you add Ron Perlman to anything and it goes up a notch or two in my book. I wonder if that character will ever get the movie he deserves.
I’m still dying to know the answer to the question though. What IS the difference between justice and punishment?
Anyone else notice the Dark Knight music? Somebody call Nolan and Zimmer. 🙂
Punishment can be given to those who don’t deserve it, but justice is always given to the deserving. i.e. the thug beat and raped the whore who didn’t deserve it, but justice was given back to him. 🙂
I don’t think that’s what they were goin for. Why would the Punisher make a pose a question in which the answer favors justice over punishment? Kinda goes against his creed.
I was really just making a joke because I felt it odd that he never gave the thig the answer. I was waiting for a snappy one liner.
I liked the fact that he asked the question then didn’t bother answering it!
This is how Sorpanos should have ended, with Tomas Jane and the Punisher blowing the entier cast away…
This was really well done for a fan film. Sure, it’s a little skewed ethnically, but that’s the only criticism I had of it (on the other hand, it was a multi-racial gang, and they preyed on anyone regardless of race). Great tension build-up, great acting on all fronts. I thought the end was a nice homage to the Mean Joe Green Coca-Cola ad from the late 70s. I would faithfully watch this show weekly if it existed!
And now I need to go buy a giant Punisher omnibus… Is the Rick Remender stuff any good?
Do yourself a favor – go MAX. You’ll be glad you did.
Read Aaron’s Punisher MAX series it’s simply amazing. Ennis also has a solid Punisher MAX series, I just picked up the first tpb of that series, & plan on reading it soon.
As much as I liked Aaron’s run, the Ennis one is so much more epic. You guys are gonna love it, just wait…
That was beautiful No BS posturing. No inner monologues, no blown out over the top villain, just ass kicking. Punisher year one.
Apart from the blood effects, which is understandable on the poor quality since this is a fan film, this was a great Punisher short. I wish Marvel could get the film rights to Punisher and try another movie with Jane. Cause it’s clear no one else can do a Punisher movie with the three strikes rule.
I loved it, Punisher would be perfect for a TV show.
I’m sorry but woosh. On top of using the Dark Knight score, which was pretty distracting, I just don’t believe that Frank Castle would let a woman get rapped and a kid beat to shit. I understand the idea that he’s “6 months sober” possible indicating he hasn’t been the Punisher for six months, but really. A rape? And a beating? And he’s just going to sit back and let it happen. All it took was a speech from Ron Pearlman?
And let’s talk about racist. Oh wait, there was one white guy in the gang, so this couldn’t possibly have been racist right?
I like Thomas Jane alot, and if this gets him another shot at the Punisher, great. But as a short with a beginning middle and end, this was not good.
What makes the Punisher truly interesting is what motivates him to continue killing after his family’s killer(s) met their fate through his revenge.
This piece touched on that.
What motivates him is a speech. Not a rape or the brutal beating of a child? Woosh. This should have been called “Punisher: Impotent”
Would it have been less racist if it were stereotypical Italian mobsters? Gangs in the inner city are made up of primarily of poor people. **COMMENT MODERATED** And the kid and the woman stood up for themselves in the end so the racism charge is bogus. Criminals are criminals, it’s doesn’t matter their color.
This more of a Punisher origin story. I’m pretty sure the regular Punisher didn’t have a van with a bad muffler and wasn’t not always carrying a gun.
I truly love the “there’s people like this” argument. Because this is a documentary…
oh wait… no… no it isn’t.
And I’d love to bring up the “Italian” argument with a couple of black people and see how that goes over. I’m sure they’d agree with you. Let’s not forget all the white Italians that were in the underground rail road… oh wait… that didn’t happen either…
I see your point now. Because a Punisher fan film is just like the Underground Railroad.
“Cool!”