DEATH WARRANT (1990)
Collector's Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Label: MVD Rewind Collection/4K LaserVision Collection
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 89 Minutes 3 Seconds
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HDR10 2160p 4K Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Deran Sarafian
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Patrick Kilpatrick, Cynthia Gibb, Art LaFleur, Robert Guillaume
Death warrant (1990) is directed by Deran Sarafian (Alien Predators) and was written by David S. Goyer (Dark City) starring fist-foot wunderkind Jean-Claude Van Damme (Cyborg) as an undercover Royal Canadian Mounted Police detective Louis Burke who finds himself way out of his jurisdiction in Los Angeles in pursuit of the savage serial killer "The Sandman" (Patrick Kilpatrick, Class of 1999) who murdered his partner. He tracks him down to a dilapidated warehouse and takes the guy down, filling him with hot lead, before uttering the awful line "You're under arrest". OMG, boring, where's the zingy one-liner? Apparently he hangs around L.A. long enough that he is tasked by the State's Attorney General Tom Vogler (George Dickerson, Death Wish 4: The Crackdown) to go undercover inside a maximum-security Harrison State Prison in California to investigate a spate of mysterious inmate deaths, posing as a armed robbery felon. No one will know his true identity once inside, aside from state attorney Amanda Beckett (Cynthia Gibb, Jack's Back) who poses as his wife and gets information from her conjugal visitations. inside Burke befriends a couple of the inmates, including Hawkins, played by Robert Guillaume, who most of a certain age will remember as the titular character from the hit 80s TV sitcom Benson, but it takes a while to get to what' happening inside, turns out to be a corrupt organ-harvesting operation which involves the prison officials, as well as including nefarious prison guard Sergeant De Graff (Art LaFleur, The Blob) and the prison doc Dr. Gottesman (Armin Shimerman, Arena), as well as someone high up on the food chain outside of the prison. Just as he discovers the truth he is surprised by the return of The Sandman, who apparently did not die after being shot repeatedly by Burke, transferred in to eliminate Burke before he can spill the beans incriminating all involved. The finale features Burke and The Sandman fighting in front of a fiery basement furnace while inmates line-up to cheer on the final showdown, which for some reason brought to mind the cult from the Stallone vehicle Cobra.
The flick is pretty entertaining, JCVD kicks plenty of ass here with Burke getting down to business in short order establishing himself in the prison hierarchy, beating ass and delivering several patented JVCD in the lunch commissary and the laundry room when violent criminals come at him, and that final fight in front of the open furnace-boiler is a banger, The Sandman proves somewhat unstoppable, even surviving being JCVD-kicked into into the fire, emerging to fight again, "You can't kill me, Burke. I'm the Sandman",
before having his head properly impaled and gruesomely twisted to finish the deal.
The flick is pretty dang entertaining, everything feels heightened, there's a proper sense of claustrophobia and conspiracy, and the action set-pieces are well executed and shot. The one scene that had me gob-smacked was during one of the conjugal visits between Burke and his fake-wife, an US attorney, from out of nowhere while exchanging information they just start having sex, which might've made sense had they built up to it, like there was some sort of lingering attraction between them, but nope, and mind you this is just after having been stripped searched by a seedy prison guard, it just seemed very awkward and forced to me, and took me right out of the moment. Also, not the the film felt reality based in anyway, but when The Sandman emerges from the fiery furnace to fight again, it had a supernatural vibe, almost like he was a supernatural villain along the lines of a Freddy Kruger, complete with a burnt face, having already survived being shot six times at the start of the film, it just felt a little incongruous to the prison action-flick that we'd been watching up to this point, c'mon, who's watching early 90's action flicks for realism?
I'm not sure what, but when I was in my teens I had an aversion to '80s/90s action flicks, at least those associated with particular "action-stars" like JVCD and especially Steven Seagal, don't ask me why, I just did. I still watched stuff like Big Trouble In Little China, the Lethal Weapon flicks, and the Stallone and Schwarzenegger vehicle with no problem, but there were a handful of action-stars that just felt cheesy to me, and I counted JVCD among them, but lumping him in with Seagal is a tad unfair, I still think that guy was a clown. Thanks to MVD and their recent 4K JVCD upgrades I have been watching the JVCD flicks first time, I literally have never watched these films at the cinema, VHS, DVD or even Blu-ray, which sort of boggles my mind, I mean these have all had previous home video releases and not once was I ever tempted to pick one up or rent them, such is the power of preconceived biases. So, as these have been released on 4K I've been on a fun action-flick adventure, which has given me a latent appreciation for JVCD and his action-man prowess, I see the appeal that made him such an iconic action star in the 90's, and I no longer have a JCVD aversion, I am a fan, and every time one gets the 4K upgrade I've been having a blast finally catching up them.
Audio/Video: Death Warrant (1990) makes it's worldwide 4K UHD debut on a region-free 4K UHD from MVD Rewind Collection/4K LaserVision Collection with a "16-Bit Scan of the Original Camera Negative" presented in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect Ratio with HDR10 color-grade. The source is in great shape, nary a blemish to note, the naturally course grain is present throughout, and depth and clarity are pleasing. The HDR10 enhanced colors shine, skin tones look accurate, and the black are deep with good shadow detail. The 1080p Blu-ray also looks solid. Audio comes by way of English PCM 2.0 with optional English subtitles, the track is clean and free of his or distortions, dialogue is always easy to discern, the action sequences have some nice impact to them, and the score by Gary Chang (The Island of Dr. Moreau) also sounds great.
Extras are mostly of the archival variety, porting over the Audio Commentary by Director Deran Sarafian, 10-min Interview with actor Patrick Kilpatrick, 7-min Interview with actor Art LaFleur, and adding the newly minted 35-min Defender of Death: Memories of a Van Damme Classics with Cynthia Gibb interview, which is a career spanning look back. We also get a Photo Gallery, the 1-min Original Theatrical Trailer and a Jean-Claude Van Damme Trailer Gallery including Lionheart, Black Eagle, Knock Off, and Double Impact.
This new release from MVD Rewind Collection also includes a Limited Edition Slipcover that gives it the look of a worn/bubbled CED video disc, a Reversible Wrap that features both the MVD Rewind Collection and 4K LaserVision Collection branding with different numbered spines, plus a Collectible Death Warrant “4K LaserVision” Mini-Poster tucked away inside that has that cool retro/worn looking the look of a CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc) video disc with a bubbled-label, which always gives me a nostalgic kick.
Special Features:
- HD Restoration (16-Bit Scan of the Original Camera Negative) of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio in HDR10
- Audio Commentary by Director Deran Sarafian
- Interview with actor Patrick Kilpatrick (HD, 9:59)
- Interview with actor Art LaFleur (HD, 7:20)
- 'Defender of Death: Memories of a Van Damme Classics with Cynthia Gibb' interview (HD, 35:07)
- Photo Gallery
- Original Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:24)
- Jean-Claude Van Damme Trailer gallery including Lionheart, Black Eagle, Knock Off, Double Impact
- Collectible Death Warrant “4K LaserVision” Mini-Poster
- Reversible Wrap
- Limited Edition Slipcover
Buy it!
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