Death Warrant: Collector's Edition – MVD Rewind Collection (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1990
Director: Deran Sarafian
Writer: David S. Goyer
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, Cynthia Gibb, George Dickerson, Patrick Kilpatrick

Release Date: August 11th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 89 Minutes 3 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10
Rating: R
Sound: LPCM Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $49.95

"Undercover detective Louis Burke is sent into a brutal maximum-security prison to investigate a string of mysterious inmate deaths. Inside, he discovers a deadly conspiracy involving corrupt officials and a horrifying organ-harvesting operation using prisoners as unwilling donors. As Burke navigates the violent world behind bars, he must confront ruthless guards, hostile inmates, and an old nemesis known as the Sandman—a psychotic killer Burke once put away. With time running out and danger closing in, Burke must rely on his wits and martial arts skills to survive, expose the truth, and bring justice to those behind the murderous scheme." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (4K UHD), 4.25/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "HD Restoration (16-Bit Scan of the Original Camera Negative) of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio in HDR10."

Death Warrant comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 56.7 GB

Feature: 56.2 GB

The source looks comparable to the one used for Scorpion Releasing’s 2020 Blu-ray release. Flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity is solid, black levels are strong, and there are no issues with compression or digital noise reduction.

Death Warrant comes on a 50 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 37.5 GB

Feature: 23.5 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM stereo mix in English with removable English SDH. The track sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and action scenes sound appropriately robust.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an archival audio commentary with director Deran Sarafian.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include an extensive stills gallery, a theatrical trailer (1 minute 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actor Patrick Kilpatrick (9 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actor Art LaFleur (7 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Cynthia Gibb titled Defender of Death: Memories of a Van Damme Classic (35 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Deran Sarafian, and a Jean-Claude Van Damme trailer gallery including Lionheart, Black Eagle, Knock Off, and Double Impact.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a collectible Death Warrant “4K LaserVision” mini-poster, and a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

Deran Sarafian directed Death Warrant. He’s most known for Terminal Velocity.

A detective goes undercover at a prison where several inmates died mysteriously.

After the one-two punch of Bloodsport and Kickboxer, Jean-Claude Van Damme hit his stride in the 1990s. Most action films from this era require some leap of faith due to their ridiculous premises. That said, Death Warrant takes things to the extreme with a detective being asked to go inside of a prison full of cold-blooded killers, some of whom he may have arrested.

At its core, Death Warrant is a police procedural set inside a prison. While the protagonist uses his wits and fighting skills to uncover information, he’s not only in his search, but an attorney on the outside also assists him. If it were not for their romantic entanglement, their pairing has all the elements of a buddy cop film.

The opening setup does a superb job of introducing detective Louis Burke. He’s searching for a serial killer named The Sandman, and when Louis arrives, he discovers a lifeless woman’s bloody corpse. The look and tone of this scene are so much darker than the rest of the film, which at times comes off as goofy.

While Jean-Claude Van Damme (Hard Target) is the main draw of Death Warrant, there is an ample amount of screentime devoted to Cynthia Gibb’s character, an attorney named Amanda Beckett. They deliver well-rounded performances that greatly benefit from their onscreen chemistries. When it comes to the rest of the cast, they all deliver enthusiastic performances that never fail to entertain.

The narrative clocks in at a very manageable 89 minutes. There is not fat that needs to be trimmed, and things tend to move quickly. While it is easy to see where things are going, the narrative saves two major twists, one at the start of the finale act and the other for its climax. Despite not being as action-heavy as most Jean-Claude Van Damme films, what action there is always delivers. Ultimately, Death Warrant won’t top most Jean-Claude Van Damme fans' best-of lists, and yet it is still a lot of fun.

Death Warrant gets a solid release from the MVD Rewind Collection that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and informative extras. Recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer