Death Warrant was always the Van Damme movie I really enjoyed without actually remembering anything about it, other than the character of the Sandman. After a long time of promising myself, I finally got round to buying it on DVD.

The movie follows Louis Burke (Jean Claude Van Damme - Kickboxer), a Canadian cop who recently transferred to the USA to track down the serial killer the Sandman (Patrick Kilpatrick – The Toxic Avenger) who killed his partner. After shooting the Sandman, he is given his next job, to go undercover in a hard as nails prison to find out about the mysterious deaths of a number of inmates. His superiors give him the assurance that seeing as he is from Canada, none of them will know him, and he accepts. His only link to the outside is Amanda Beckett (Cynthia Gibb – Short Circuit 2),who has to pose as his wife, and keep him updated with information. While inside he befriends one eyed black prisoner Hawkins(Robert Guillaume – Big Fish), despite the fact that the prisoners gang together by skin colour.

But while in there, Burke and Beckett learn that the prisoners are the least of his worries, somehow the Sandman has survived, and he has been transferred into the prison, and there are also forces working against him on the outside of the prison …


Death Warrant is one of Van Damme’s more respected movies, which isn’t saying much, but it is actually also one of his best, and one of the better action pictures of its time.

The acting is all pretty good, with even Van Damme pulling out a better than average performance. But Kilpatrick steals the show in his all too brief role as the evil, nigh unstoppable Sandman.

The music is actually a pretty good score by Gary Chang, who also gave Steven Seagal’s best movie, Under Siege, its music.

The movie’s faults are only really in the form of a few story niggles. First of all, the traitors say that they sent in the Sandman when the other prisoners didn’t take out Burke, but the codes for the computer files were all Sandman related words, such as ‘Morpheus’ and ‘Sleep’. This gave the impression that he actually had something to do with their plan all along, but we are expected to believe this is a coincidence? I personally think them tying the Sandman into the plot more would have made the movie even better.
The fact that its never explained how the Sandman survived an entire round of bullets in the chest is also slightly silly, but this is an 80s/90s action picture, where such things are pretty commonplace.
The only other fault I can name isn’t as such a problem with this movie, but a lot of action movies in general. We never find out what happens to truly resolve the story. Sure Burke gets out of jail and Beckett clearly reported the conspiracy to the cops seeing as platoons of them arrive with her at the prison, but what happened to those behind it? Did they get busted? Van Damming them would probably have provided a more closing ending, but as it stands, this is a minor problem.
Other than these, the only problems anyone should have with the movie is if they just dont like Van Damme movies, or action flicks in general.

Where the movie shines, is that it actually has a pretty interesting, for an action movie especially, story. The reason I haven’t went too in depth with the story is that I actually recommend people see the movie if they have any interest in Van Damme, or action movies in general, and didn’t want to totally blow the story.
Another point is that while the movie isn’t overflowing with action scenes, the ones that are there are actually really good. The fact that the story is quite engrossing also meant I wasn’t sitting bored waiting for the next battle to erupt, which has happened in many an action movie.
The story was written by David S.Goyer, who also penned Kickboxer 2 Blade, Blade 2 and the upcoming third entry into Marvel’s vampire hunters movie career, this is a pretty high calibre writer when it comes to action movies.

There really isn’t all that much more I can say about Death Warrant, its definitely one of Van Damme’s best works, and it really should be seen by anyone who likes Van Damme or just loves action movies, because I cant help but feel its one of the best I’ve seen.

I can, in all honesty, say I can overlook the view story flaws, because Death Warrant is frighteningly entertaining, and is possibly the most fulfilled I have been from a DVD in a long time.

Even if it does have a silly title.

Year: 1990
Titles: Death Warrant



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older