THE PUNISHER (Mark Goldblatt, 1989)

[BrunnenMatt]

where did you find that info?

Here . I was looking for the cheapest place to import "The Mechanik [Extended Version]" including shipping prices, and clicked on his name to find "Cover Up" and notice it sitting with his other DVD's !

When I saw Digi-pack listed, I thought it was the bootleg but notice the release date , and other shops are listing German 5.1 and only a Surround track for English . Most German shops have it now listed and one did list it with Uncut, but I believe it when somebody can confirm it, here's hopping .

...BMatt

[Jox]

You're right! At last we could have it with better than a mono track! Actually here says that 5.1 would be only for the german track, surround for english
http://www.cinefacts.de/dvd/db/details.php?id=27883

[Jox]

UNCUT VERSION ARTWORK


CUT

[BrunnenMatt]

Looks like it has been delayed to the 30th June now! Starlight: "The Punisher German website.

Some more details on a 2-Disc Limited to 500 pieces, Punisher set now! XT-Video: The Punisher German website.

...BMatt

[Jox]

well I don't this XT Video label but it looks like a big bootleg to me...

[BrunnenMatt]

well I don't this XT Video label but it looks like a big bootleg to me...

XT Label is a Austrian company, I have only known them to do Horror & Exploit movies before. The company usually do a limited run of 666.

I love cover B, but have placed an order for cover C for the Lundgren close-up.

...BMatt

[Jox]

The thing is I doubt very much that they acquired rights to release the workprint version.

[BrunnenMatt]

I just wanted to add Cover A and Cover B are the only limited DVD's, Cover C is the regular DVD. The link above explains it better. Changed my order to Cover B, I did notice more people are buying Cover A.

Did anybody order the R2 German (Digipack) release? If so what versions is it? R-Rated or Unrated, and whats the English audio track? Mono, Stereo or Surround.

...BMatt

[BrunnenMatt]

Review can be found here for the Austrian 'XT Video' release: Punisher DVD Review (German Language).

From various sources the workprint is included as 'Deleted Scenes' on the German 'Starlight' DVD, and the quality is poor like the 2 pictures on the link above.

My XT-Video is still in transit , but each day it’s a bit closer .

...BMatt

[Jox]

Of course the workprint's quality is poor, I could have told you that, it's a DVD transfer of a VHS copy's copy. I got this workprint a two or three years ago (I actually recently obtained a workprint of another different cut) from http://www.asylum00.com/ and obviously XT Video obtained it the same way and just used it. I heard they got sued for a special edition of Phantasm or some film like that...

more screenshots here http://www.gmrmedia.com/dolph/dolph-in/punisher.html

I'll get Starlight's german official release

[BrunnenMatt]

The German release also use the workprint as Deleted Scenes so this may also be an un-official release?, since another German company 'Marketing Films' got in trouble over Phantasm too.

Both DVD's got taken off the market, but that dose happen to a lot of DVD's from around the world. I believe the initial pressings of "The Devil's Advocate" also got pulled from shelves, and 'Warner Bros' got sued over this and had to alter part of the movie.

Just recently the 'special edition' of Ghostbusters in the US also got pulled because of a phone number on the back of the DVD, another movie was "Sleepaway Camp" what had a 'red cross' logo.

It does seem that the German 'Starlight' company also had the same workprint in their procession? Who knows if both these company are un-official (bootlegs)? It wouldn't surprise me!

It does also seem that the DVD might be missing 10 seconds still. The uncut Japanese DVD had a time of 89.20 mins (NTSC), and the XT-Video and Starlight both use a NTSC-PAL transfer and have a time of 89.10 mins (PAL)?

The German DVD also has a nice Digi-pack, I saw some pictures of the inside awhile ago and it looked really good! I probably would also get the German release since it would be a better option to watch the workprint as Deleted Scenes rather then the complete movie .

...BMatt

[Jox]

The German release also use the workprint as Deleted Scenes so this may also be an un-official release?

Starlight is a legitimate German distributor, if I'm correct it was formerly known as Highlight which released The Punisher and Cover-Up theatrically in Germany...

[BrunnenMatt]

Both transfers (XT-Video and Starlight) are in very bad shape! Both transfers are from the old German 'Highland' bootleg. I have watched the XT-Video transfer and was surprise how good it looked then the fun began when the additional scenes showed up . The scene at the port (Harbor) had a blue tinge, the casino scene looked black & white (similar to sin city) with a touch of color, some added scenes where out of focus, and the unrated version only adds up to about 8 seconds of footage. The additional scenes are great but the quality is inconsistent!

Stay away from the XT-Video release since it 20 Euros, My friend has the Starlight version coming, I think its about 11 Euros and would be a better buy if you want one of the releases. A lot of people say its the same as the XT-Video and a couple people confirmed the 'Unrated' version is the same quality/transfer as the 'Highland' print .

...BMatt

[BrunnenMatt]

Just wanted to post an update on the German "Unrated" release! Unfortunately the movie is cut by 1 second , it misses a close-up of the nanny's face when she is shot reading a story to the kids.

Quality is better then the Austrian release, but at least you can enjoy the film with the additional footage .

...BMatt

[Tom]