Death Warrant

Like I keep tellin' youse guys....ya watch a Van Damme flick, ya can't expect any MORE than a Van Damme flick. Why watch the thing then complain "another Van Damme stinker"...that's a no-brainer! To quote Rocky "It ain't so bad!" Van Dumb plays a Canadian undercover cop sent in to root out a whole heapa jail corruption - see? there's a realtime story line - don't knock it!

Patrick Kilpatrick as "the Sandman"....is the star of the flick anyway, even if he HAS nothing whatsoever to do with the story at hand! A mega-tough inmate if ever there was one..."Sandman" looks for all intents and purposes like a close relative of Michael Myers and his climactic set-to with Van Damme is worth the price of at least a small carton of popcorn. "You can't kill me Burke, I'm the Sandman" he utters, shortly after stepping nonchalantly out of a raging furnace no less, totally aflame but otherwise quite unbothered. Naturally Van Dumb proves him wrong on that point! Comical but entertaining stuff.

Certainly not one of JCVD's worst!

The cunning detective named Louis Burke(Jean Claude Van Damme), a Royal Canadian police, fights in an abandoned location with a villain called Sandman. Later Burke is sent prison of Harrison to investigate assassination nine inmates mysteriously murdered. He poses as a prisoner and advocate Amanda(Cynthia Gibb) acts like his spouse. Burke befriends an one-eyed inmate(Robert Guillaume) and the Priest. The Harrison Penitentiary is ruled by a tough sergeant named De Graff (Art Le Flour) and attended by a doctor(Armin Shimerman). Burke must to confront brutal inmates(Al Leong) and his cruel enemy Sandman(Patrick Kilpatrick). Burke and Amanda are only helped by a teen hacker(Joshua Miller) until the stirring and strong final showdown.

This violent film contains suspense, action, tension and spectacular fights. Entertaining movie, thanks to tight pace, skillful edition and well mounted combats. It's tense and exciting , at time lackluster action movie , but the struggles and fighting are well done . Jean Claude is nice as two-fisted hero in this middling budget picture. Interesting screenplay by David S Goyer, today famous as producer and screenwriter of superheroes(Batman, Blade,Ghost Rider). Appropriate musical score fitting to action movie by Gary Chang. Colorful cinematography by Russell Carpenter, a future cameraman of blockbusters (Titanic, Charlie's Angels I and II, Monster in law). The motion picture is professionally directed by Deran Sarafian who achieved success with ¨Terminal velocity¨, though today exclusively directing for television (CSI: Miami, NY, Without trace, Lost). Pointlessly energetic and excessively violent, the film will like the true devotee of main actor. It's a must see for Van Damme fans.

"What is a death warrant?" you may ask. I'm not too sure myself. I assume it must like an arrest warrant, but instead of arresting the target of the warrant, Van Damme gets to kill them. Pretty simple really. I mean, if Jean-Claude was only intending to ARREST the antagonists, it would be a pretty boring movie, right?

Van Damme plays Louis Burke, a Canadian Mountie who never wears the proper Mountie uniform, which is a damn shame because those Mountie hats are cool. Burke is on assignment in Los Angeles, tracking down a villain known as the Sandman, bullet-proof serial-killer extraordinaire. After taking down The Sandman in the first few minutes, Burke is given another assignment: The inmates of the local maximum-security prison have developed a nasty habit of being killed by ice-pick to the head. Burke's assignment is to go undercover (naturally) and find out where all these ice-picks are coming from and who is behind it. Is it a prison-gang war, or a massive conspiracy involving corrupt officials and mad scientists? Have a guess.

Naturally, one would assume that a Van Damme movie - set in a prison - called 'Death Warrant' would be action packed. Unfortunately, 'Death Warrant', much like 'Legionnaire', proves that not all Van Damme movies are excuses for a showcase of spin-kicks. It is a shame that 'Death Warrant' is not as action packed as I would like it to be. There are some cool fights, but it is a fairly slow movie, and the less said about the scenes involving a character called Priest (Abdul Salaam El Razzac), the better. Priest is a weird, weird fellow. I'm pretty sure he is really some sort of alien replicon from the beyond the moon...

Now, I'm trying to judge 'Death Warrant' harshly, I really am. There just isn't enough action, but I just can't speak ill of any movie that was made in the 80s, is about the 80s, or features music and fashion from the 80s. In this case, 'Death Warrant' has 80s music AND a mad scientist. Both big bonuses in any movie's favour. Granted, the mad scientist's screen time is almost negligible, but the presence of a mad scientist makes the coolness metre of any movie shoot straight up.

Sure, 'Death Warrant' may be slow, lack action, and feature a lot of Van Damme acting rather than fighting, but it is entertaining enough (what with the 80s music and all), but it is only for Van Damme fans - 6/10

Most people just don't understand movies.There are different movie genres,and none can really be compared to the other.Take this movie for instance - it's not " Hamlet " nor is it " Jason Goes To Manhattan ".Not to be crass,but Van Damme makes movies not for artistic value,he makes movies you can pop into your VCR or DVD Player when you feel like kicking someones ass.Think of his movies as " Primal Drama ". What's " Primal Drama ",you might ask ? It's movies that are made to appease your inner beast.Just as you might feel like screaming at someone, or breaking a chair over someone's head,you reach for a Van Damme or Stallone movie instead.Somehow,watching the hero in these simplistic displays of eccentric unbelievable melodrama makes life a little easier.Watch an emotional display of comic brutality, and somehow everything's alright again.Look at Van Damme's movies the same way you did Comic Books and you'll understand.Just like Comic Books,Van Damme movies will always have a place in the heart of the Alpha Male.Lowbrow for sure,fun nonetheless. ***** 7 out of 10 *****

This was an intense prison movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme as an undercover cop. "Louis Burke," trying to solve a crime inside a tough prison.

There is excellent suspense, some surprisingly-good photography with excellent closeups and slow-motion. Language-wise, I liked the fact there wasn't a lot of the usage of the Lord's name in vain. All of that help make this better than I anticipated.

The final fight scene is a little long and is Rocky-like ridiculous in that both combatants get viscously beaten to a pulp.....but keep coming back and not even having their hair messed up!! That notwithstanding, it was an entertaining movie and a cut above most martial arts fare.