lundgren then starred as marvel comics character frank castle (a.k.a. the punisher) in the 1989 film "the punisher". the film was directed by mark goldblatt, with a screenplay by boaz yakin. although it is based on the marvel comics character, the film changes many details of the original comic book origin and the main character does not wear the trademark "skull". "the punisher" was filmed in sydney, australia and also featured louis gossett, jr., jeroen krabbé, kim miyori, and barry otto. the film received mainly negative reviews, currently holds a 24% "rotten" rating at rotten tomatoes. christopher null gave the film 1 out of 5, stating the film was "marred by cheeseball sets and special effects, lame fight sequences, and some of the worst acting ever to disgrace the screen." whilst criticizing the film's storyline and acting, "time out" magazine concluded the film was "destructive, reprehensible, and marvelous fun".