Death Warrant Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Death Warrant Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 6, 2026

The underlying premise of Death Warrant is not exactly new or innovative, and there are numerous examples of films going back to the veritable dawn of the talkie era which have exploited the idea of an "undercover" type of some sort infiltrating a supposedly secure environment in order to do a little investigating. Public Hero Number 1, White Heat, Bedlam, Shock Corridor and Brubaker are just a few films that could be so aggregated, and that's just some of the list of movies that came out before Death Warrant (the idiom has continued unabated with more recent efforts ranging from Shutter Island to the television miniseries Black Bird). Of course none of those efforts had the unique participation of the Muscles from Brussels, which according to your personal proclivities may be either a good or a bad thing. Death Warrant is one of two Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicles MVD Visual has released within the past couple of weeks (the other is the already out Lionheart 4K), which follow MVD's previous releases of Double Impact 4K and Knock Off 4K.

Death Warrant received a 1080 release from Metro Goldwyn Mayer back in 2012, and Brian Orndorf's Death Warrant Blu-ray review covers plot information, a list of supplements (not much), and an assessment of the technical presentation.

Death Warrant Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Death Warrant is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual's MVD Rewind Collection (with an additional 4K LaserVision Collection imprint) with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Brian was generally well pleased with the look of the now pretty old Metro Goldwyn Mayer 1080 presentation, and the good news is at least by way of cursory screenshot comparisons this new edition looks very similar, especially in terms of color timing. The back cover of the 4K UHD release (which was sent for purposes of this 1080 review as well) maybe a little oddly lists a "2HD (?) restoration (16 bit scan of the original camera negative)", with that "2HD" I guess meaning 4K. This is another appealing upgrade, though I'd probably argue some of the biggest differences are probably going to be most observable in the 4K's HDR presentation. While as mentioned above, color timing is very similar to the old Metro Goldwyn Mayer 1080 release from years ago, there are any number of pretty impressive moments of pop, including the many blue tinged sequences (including the opening), and, later, some pretty evocatively lit vignettes that can range from orange to green to red. The film's darkest moments (and there are a lot) tend to be a bit murky. Grain is once again very heavy quite a bit of the time, with a chunky yellow quality. I've attempted to reproduce some of the screenshots Brian uploaded to accompany his review both here in this review and in the Death Warrant 4K Blu-ray review so that those interested can do side by side comparisons at full resolution.

Death Warrant Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While I frankly doubt whether the LPCM 2.0 track on this disc is materially different than the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track on the old MGM 1080 presentation, I'm maybe a bit more amenable to the lack of surround activity than Brian was in his review. While not incredibly forceful by today's standards, this track does deliver some sonic energy, especially in some of the chaotic prison scenes. Gary Chang's score also sounds fine throughout. Dialogue is presented without any issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

Death Warrant Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Patrick Kilpatrick (HD; 9:59)


• Interview with Art LaFleur (HD; 7:20)


• Interview with Cynthia Gibb (HD; 35:05)


• Photo Gallery (HD; 10:00)


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:36)


• Audio Commentary by Director Deran Sarafia is accessible under the Audio Menu.

Additionally, Trailers for several other MVD Rewind releases, including some of those above referenced Van Damme outings, are offered.

MVD sent their 4K UHD release (which includes a 1080 disc) for purposes of this 1080 review, but I'm assuming this standalone edition also features the poster, reversible sleeve and packaging that the 4K release does.

Death Warrant Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

MVD has been providing Jean-Claude Van Damme fans with a host of 4K releases lately, and this one should be appreciated by fans as well. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements are also appealing. Recommended.