Death Warrant is one of the forgotten Jean-Claude Van Damme movies in his early ascent towards B-Movie Superstardom. The kind of film that you may vaguely remember the VHS cover for but nothing else from. Though this prison action drama features a fairly sharp early script by David Goyer.
Canadian Detective Louis Burke (Jean-Claude Van Damme) successfully finds and puts away serial killer Sandman (Patrick Kilpatrick). While still on loan, the California Governor’s office wants him to go undercover in a maximum-security prison to find out why inmates keep getting murdered. Burke finds more than he bargained for as the prison system is more corrupt than he even thought, and his own ally is a lifer (Robert Guillaume) and a rookie DA (Cynthia Gibb). As he gets closer to the truth of what is happening to these prisoners, someone from his past comes to get their vengeance.
One thing that always seems to separate Van Damme’s films from the lower-rung B-movie stars’ films of the 1990s was the villains and supporting cast. Van Damme never let his ego get in the way of casting a great actor or an actor with a looming presence as the villain. The same goes for the supporting roles, which were always populated by a who’s who of character actors of the time. Death Warrant has an especially good cast with the likes of Robert Guillaume, Art Lafluer, and Patrick Kilpatrick. They all make Van Damme better, forcing him to up his game and not rely on any sort of tough-guy antics that many lesser actors do.
The action is actually the only thing that’s slight in the film. The set pieces are good but never reach the dizzying heights of films like Bloodsport, Kickboxer, and Lionheart. Though the final battle between Kilpatrick and Van Damme is ridiculously over-the-top in the best way. Set in the prison boiler room, the final fight feels right at home in the lunatic world of Mortal Kombat as it does here.
As late ‘80s/early ’90s prison thrillers go, Death Warrant is one of the top-tier films of the subgenre. The smart writing and central mystery at the core of the film are what elevates it beyond some sort of exercise in brutality. Minus the mental gymnastics that the film does to justify Van Damme’s accent, the film is a lean and mean action film.
The Transfer
The HD Restoration (16-Bit Scan of the Original Camera Negative) of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio in HDR10 is another excellent transfer by MVD Entertainment’s Laser Vision Collection. The image is crisp, sharp, and without defects. Russell Carpenter’s 35mm shot action film gets a huge uptick in vibrancy and detail because of the HDR encoding. MVD’s Rewind Collection continues to produce truly wonderful transfers for cult films, especially the early work of Jean-Claude Van Damme.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1: DEATH WARRANT 4K – SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio Commentary by Director Deran Sarafian
DISC 2: DEATH WARRANT BLU-RAY – SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio Commentary by Director Deran Sarafian
Interview with actor Patrick Kilpatrick
Interview with actor Art LaFleur
“Defender of Death: Memories of a Van Damme Classics with Cynthia Gibb” interview
Photo Gallery
Original Theatrical Trailer
Jean-Claude Van Damme Trailer gallery including Lionheart, Black Eagle, Knock Off, Double Impact
The archival Audio Commentary by Director Deran Sarafian opens with the fact that he did not know who Jean-Claude Van Damme was at the time he was hired. Some of the details include his cameo appearance in the film; the collaboration between himself and JCVD – which went into the cutting and shooting style of the fight choreography; the rushed nature of the production and lack of understanding of what the budget was; the process of being hired on the film; the work it took to turn a hotel in DTLA into the prison; the inspiration he took from various other films including the work of Walter Hill and Clint Eastwood; the contributions to the film that Robert Guillaume brought; research that he did before the film at prisons and if it helped or not; the various tricks that were employed to help the visual style of the film; a discussion of coming up the ranks for Roger Corman; the collaboration with Cynthia Gibb; a morbid fact about the hotel kitchen they were filming the finale in; a larger discussion of the work of screenwriter David Goyer; a larger discussion of the work of cinematographer Russell Carpenter; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; and much more.
Interview with actor Patrick Kilpatrick (9:59) – in this archival interview with Kilpatrick opens with the beginning of his career in New York City and how Death Warrant was his first role when he first moved to Los Angeles. The actor goes on to discuss how he got the role of Sandman; auditioning for other famous movie monsters, including for Michael Mann’s Manhunter; the physically taxing nature of an action film and smart costume choices to help him through stunts; the lack of dialog in the original screenplay; working with director Deran Sarafian, Art LaFleur, and Van Damme; and more.
Interview with actor Art LaFleur (7:20) – in this archival interview with LaFleur opens with how he got the part and working with director Deran Sarafian. The actor goes on to discuss his approach to the role that he took; working with Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, and Patrick Kilpatrick; filming on location in the Ambassador Hotel in DTLA; and more.
“Defender of Death: Memories of a Van Damme Classics with Cynthia Gibb” interview (35:05) – in this archival interview with Gibb opens with how she began as a child actor and was cast in Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories. The actor goes on to discuss her career in Soaps and Movies before getting Death Warrant; the tools she developed at her time working in Soaps; being cast in the film; working with Van Damme; the love scene that was deleted; the complexity of the action scenes and the reasons they were not invited to set when those were being filmed; what she loved about the David Goyer script; and more
Photo Gallery (10:00) – the gallery consists of poster art, production stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and more.
The Jean-Claude Van Damme cult classic Death Warrant gets a 4K UHD Upgrade Edition loaded with special features.
The Film
Death Warrant is one of the forgotten Jean-Claude Van Damme movies in his early ascent towards B-Movie Superstardom. The kind of film that you may vaguely remember the VHS cover for but nothing else from. Though this prison action drama features a fairly sharp early script by David Goyer.
Canadian Detective Louis Burke (Jean-Claude Van Damme) successfully finds and puts away serial killer Sandman (Patrick Kilpatrick). While still on loan, the California Governor’s office wants him to go undercover in a maximum-security prison to find out why inmates keep getting murdered. Burke finds more than he bargained for as the prison system is more corrupt than he even thought, and his own ally is a lifer (Robert Guillaume) and a rookie DA (Cynthia Gibb). As he gets closer to the truth of what is happening to these prisoners, someone from his past comes to get their vengeance.
One thing that always seems to separate Van Damme’s films from the lower-rung B-movie stars’ films of the 1990s was the villains and supporting cast. Van Damme never let his ego get in the way of casting a great actor or an actor with a looming presence as the villain. The same goes for the supporting roles, which were always populated by a who’s who of character actors of the time. Death Warrant has an especially good cast with the likes of Robert Guillaume, Art Lafluer, and Patrick Kilpatrick. They all make Van Damme better, forcing him to up his game and not rely on any sort of tough-guy antics that many lesser actors do.
The action is actually the only thing that’s slight in the film. The set pieces are good but never reach the dizzying heights of films like Bloodsport, Kickboxer, and Lionheart. Though the final battle between Kilpatrick and Van Damme is ridiculously over-the-top in the best way. Set in the prison boiler room, the final fight feels right at home in the lunatic world of Mortal Kombat as it does here.
As late ‘80s/early ’90s prison thrillers go, Death Warrant is one of the top-tier films of the subgenre. The smart writing and central mystery at the core of the film are what elevates it beyond some sort of exercise in brutality. Minus the mental gymnastics that the film does to justify Van Damme’s accent, the film is a lean and mean action film.
The Transfer
The HD Restoration (16-Bit Scan of the Original Camera Negative) of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio in HDR10 is another excellent transfer by MVD Entertainment’s Laser Vision Collection. The image is crisp, sharp, and without defects. Russell Carpenter’s 35mm shot action film gets a huge uptick in vibrancy and detail because of the HDR encoding. MVD’s Rewind Collection continues to produce truly wonderful transfers for cult films, especially the early work of Jean-Claude Van Damme.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1: DEATH WARRANT 4K – SPECIAL FEATURES:
DISC 2: DEATH WARRANT BLU-RAY – SPECIAL FEATURES:
The archival Audio Commentary by Director Deran Sarafian opens with the fact that he did not know who Jean-Claude Van Damme was at the time he was hired. Some of the details include his cameo appearance in the film; the collaboration between himself and JCVD – which went into the cutting and shooting style of the fight choreography; the rushed nature of the production and lack of understanding of what the budget was; the process of being hired on the film; the work it took to turn a hotel in DTLA into the prison; the inspiration he took from various other films including the work of Walter Hill and Clint Eastwood; the contributions to the film that Robert Guillaume brought; research that he did before the film at prisons and if it helped or not; the various tricks that were employed to help the visual style of the film; a discussion of coming up the ranks for Roger Corman; the collaboration with Cynthia Gibb; a morbid fact about the hotel kitchen they were filming the finale in; a larger discussion of the work of screenwriter David Goyer; a larger discussion of the work of cinematographer Russell Carpenter; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; and much more.
Interview with actor Patrick Kilpatrick (9:59) – in this archival interview with Kilpatrick opens with the beginning of his career in New York City and how Death Warrant was his first role when he first moved to Los Angeles. The actor goes on to discuss how he got the role of Sandman; auditioning for other famous movie monsters, including for Michael Mann’s Manhunter; the physically taxing nature of an action film and smart costume choices to help him through stunts; the lack of dialog in the original screenplay; working with director Deran Sarafian, Art LaFleur, and Van Damme; and more.
Interview with actor Art LaFleur (7:20) – in this archival interview with LaFleur opens with how he got the part and working with director Deran Sarafian. The actor goes on to discuss his approach to the role that he took; working with Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, and Patrick Kilpatrick; filming on location in the Ambassador Hotel in DTLA; and more.
“Defender of Death: Memories of a Van Damme Classics with Cynthia Gibb” interview (35:05) – in this archival interview with Gibb opens with how she began as a child actor and was cast in Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories. The actor goes on to discuss her career in Soaps and Movies before getting Death Warrant; the tools she developed at her time working in Soaps; being cast in the film; working with Van Damme; the love scene that was deleted; the complexity of the action scenes and the reasons they were not invited to set when those were being filmed; what she loved about the David Goyer script; and more
Photo Gallery (10:00) – the gallery consists of poster art, production stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and more.
Original Theatrical Trailer (1:36)
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Double Impact (1:39); Lionheart (2:01); Black Eagle (2:13); Knock Off (1:57); The Go-Go Boys (2:27);
The Final Thought
Death Warrant continues MVD Entertainment’s curation of the best cult classics in 4K UHD. Highest possible recommendations!!!
MVD Entertainment’s 4K UHD Edition of Death Warrant is out now
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