Death Warrant (Widescreen)

 

 

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The Sept.14th./90 release of Jean Claude Van Damme's film Death Warrant,did well at the box office.Van Damme at the time was the up and coming new kid on the block and this fresh faced guy with the good physique and great martial moves caught movie goers attention pretty quick.He squeezed his way into the pack which included such established action stars as Chuck Norris,Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
Death Warrant sees Van Damme as Louis Burke,an RCMP officer out of Quebec(I get a kick out of how the writers of his many films have come up with unique or funny ways to explain his Belgian accent!).The film opens as he is on a stake out and he is confronted by the Sandman played by Patrick Kilpatrick.In the canon of Van Damme films this character rates high as one of Van Damme's most evil and twisted nemeses.He fires several shots into the Sandman and he presumably goes down for the final count.
We next find Van Damme attending a meeting chaired by the Governor's assistant Tom Vogler(George Dickerson).It seems there have been a number of killings in the local pen and they want Burke to go into mole mode to find out the dope on what's going down.They cook up a phony rap sheet and plunk him into the slammer post haste and he's off,feet running.Being the new fish he's challenged quite frequently but the info he seeks starts trickling in.
With the help of two inmates,the Priest(Abdul Salaam El Razzac)and Hawkins(Robert Guillaume),Burke slowly finds out the truth.It seems the killings are not only a deadly secret amongst the guards but they are being orchestrated with outside help.They are deliberate killings of newer inmates to harvest their vital organs.On the outside Burke has the assistance of lawyer Amanda Beckett(Cynthia Gibb),who is his liaison and is posing as his wife.Both pool their info and when Amanda finally returns to let Vogler know of what they have discovered,she is confronted with a gun and the ugly truth.It seems Vogler himself deliberately orchestrated the killings initially so he could obtain a liver for his then dying wife.Since then the rest have been for profit.The only thing that saves Amanda from getting silenced permanently by Vogler is the interruption of the tete a'tete by Vogler's wife.
Meanwhile in order to silence Burke Vogler has had a notorious inmate transferred into the prison;none other than the man Burke thought he had killed at the beginning of the film,the Sandman!? In front of the inmates Burke and the Sandman go at it toe to toe.Burke at one point even kicks the Sandman into a fiery furnace,only to see him pop back out shorty after in flames.Getting back up for another go the Sandman is finally finished off for good.Burke leaves the prison,bloodied and into the arms of his new love Amanda.
The plot here while mundane is saved over and over by the solid acting of the cast.Stand outs include one eyed Robert Guillaume as Hawkins,the scary pop-eyed Priest,played wonderfully by Abdul Salaam El Razzac and Sgt Degraf played dog-mean and tough by Art Lafleur.It is the characterizations over plot that dominate the entire film and bring the grittiness of the prison environment to life.The film loses its' impact because it gets off to a shaky and rather slow start.The opening scenes while establishing a raison d'etre for events to transpire later are left to hang with absolutely no thread to join the rest of the plot to,until near the end of the film.And when we finally get that the connecting thread is the Sandman,our credulity is stretched to the max.Burke had pumped enough lead into that creep to fill a 45 gallon drum in the opening but yet near the end he's up and walking around no worse for wear.The Sandman's taunt that he"can't be killed" still doesn't get us totally past this imagination stretch.Is he supernatural? Not likely as Burke does eventually dispatch him to his maker.We're just left to wonder how.
Technically this film DVD release of 2001 while clear could use a proper remastering as it can get a bit too grainy.It is however in in its' original a/r of 1:85:1.It comes with no special features to speak of,is on a one sided disc and is in a thick keepcase.
In conclusion Death Warrant is short on plot but long on memorable characterizations due to its' solid cast.The plot meanders for the first while until settling into a nice groove about 20 minutes in.It is one of his earlier efforts and just an average film.I find it funny that a later and far more outstanding film of Van Damme's like Legionaire(and several others)wouldn't do the box office that this film did.Don't ya just love Hollywood!

Van Damme is in top form in this movie,in terms of physical
conditioning and martial arts moves.there is a bit of acting here,but
the movie mainly focuses on fight scenes,and they are pretty good.the
story is OK,but not overly inspired,by any means.Cynthia Gibb adds some
class as the love interest and Robert Guillame is also good in his role
Patrick Kilpatrick is quite good as the villain in the piece,though his
role is limited,unfortunately.of course there is lots of violence and
action.in this one,which is typical for Van Damme' movies.in my
opinion,this is one of his better movies,at least in terms of action
and showcasing his martial arts skill.don't expect great acting,or you
will be disappointed.but then,you probably don't watch Van Damme movies
for the acting.for me,Death Warrant is 3.5/5

A COP [VAN DAMME] IS ASSIGNED TO POSE AS A NEW INMATE AT A PRISON TO INVESTIGATE THE REASONS BEHIND A SERIES OF MURDERS THAT'RE HAPPENING AT THE PRISON. IT STARTS OUT KINDA BORING, BUT AFTER A WHILE, IT GETS BETTER. THIS MAY NOT RANK AMONGST THE BEST MOVIES THAT VAN DAMME HAS DONE, BUT IT IS A LOT BETTER THAN MANY OF THE VAN DAMME MOVIES THAT'VE CAME OUT IN RECENT YEARS. IT'S WORTH RENTING IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY SEEN THIS.

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4.0 out of 5 stars WOW!! Van Damne is in prison
I liked this movie, filled with a couple of fight scenes.At the end he fights the sandman,across Van Damne kicked his ass.This is a good slambanging Van Damne flick.

Published on Nov 29 2003 by Chase

4.0 out of 5 stars Van Damme takes it to a whole new level...
If you would of said Van Damme back in 1990,people would of responded he was in Bloodsport or Kickboxer which were simply martial art type of films. Read more

Published on April 29 2003 by Zachary

5.0 out of 5 stars Van Damme in Prison!
Van Damme (immortal genius) goes undercover to investigate mysterious murders in a prison. That's the whole plot. How genius of the writers and director. Read more

Published on Jun 5 2002 by Timotee

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure [poo]!
Van Damme goes undercover in a prison to uncover some mysterious deaths. He runs into transvestites, a black man missing an eye and the Sandman, yes! Read more

Published on May 22 2002 by jason

4.0 out of 5 stars Up the Irons
As a longtime afficianado of the Van Damme oeuvre, I can honestly say that this film does right by the requisite cliches (where prison movies are concerned), and is actually not... Read more

Published on Nov 15 2001 by Greekfreak

3.0 out of 5 stars Great action,no plot
good movie overall,i didn't really get the plot it was the action that interested me.watch it.i seriously got lost in the action and wasnt even following the plot. Read more

Published on Jun 25 2001 by vladimir petrov

2.0 out of 5 stars A LITTLE BETTER THAN VAN DAMME'S COSTUMARY TRASH
This is a good movie if you wanna se Van Damme and ignore all the holes in the plot.

Published on Jun 9 2000 by PATHERSON

2.0 out of 5 stars GOOD STRATEGY
Van DAmme knows his real market in the videos, not in the theaters. Because, when you're wasting your time at home with nothing to do, a good-old action movie is a good choice,... Read more

Published on May 9 2000 by Gergellor

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping and entertaining
An enjoyable combination of a fast-paced plot, a voluptuously seedy background and extra-violent action.

Published on April 4 2000 by TheIrrationalMan

5.0 out of 5 stars The best movie ever!
This is a great action movie with wonderful fight scenes. Van Damme rules!

Published on Dec 30 1999

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