10 Things You Didn’t Know About Death Warrant

1990’s Death Warrant is not as revered as other Jean-Claude Van Damme classics like Bloodsport, Lionheart or Kickboxer but the movie will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first JCVD movie I saw in theaters.

When news broke that Death Warrant was getting a special edition Blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing I was amped. I could not wait to revisit this piece of nostalgia from my formative years and I given Scorpion Releasing’s track record, I knew this would be a quality release and I was not wrong.

Along with the new 2K scan, the Death Warrant Blu-ray included some special features, like interviews with stars Patrick Kilpatrick and Art LaFleur (one was great and one was precisely the thing you hope to avoid with these types of bonuses) and a commentary with Director Deran Sarafian.

The special features were the source material for this post, 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Death Warrant…

1. In the opening scene where Jean-Claude Van Damme’s character, Louis Burke, is on his radio talking to a fellow member of the law enforcement community, the voice on the other end of the radio was that of director Deran Sarafian. 

2. The basement of the abandoned Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles doubled as Harrison State Prison for many scenes including the prison mess hall scene. While Death Warrant was filming in the basement, the Richard Gere and Julia Roberts movie Pretty Woman was filming upstairs at the Ambassador. 

3. There was one set that had to be built for the movie, The Harrison State Prison cell block was actually a set built in a warehouse in the Los Angeles area. 

4. Louis Burke’s prisoner number of 72689 is based on the day Death Warrant went into production, July 26th, 1989. 

5. Director Deran Sarafian and writer David S. Goyer visited both Leavenworth and San Quentin Prisons to conduct research prior to production to give the prison scenes in Death Warrant a more authentic feel. And that desire to achieve authenticity is why actual prisoners were bused in to play extras in the movie.

6. Patrick Kilpatrick who played the menacing Christian “The Sandman” Naylor, originally auditioned for the role of Sergeant DeGraf. Kilpatrick prepared for the audition by working with the LAPD to show him proper use of the police baton. The DeGraf role ultimately went to the very capable Art LaFleur of Zone Troopers fame. 

7. Producer Mark DiSalle was the one who had the idea to shave portions of The Sandman’s hair to make him appear to have some sort of genetic defect.

8. Deran Sarafian did not believe that Van Damme’s character should be a highly skilled fighter like he had been in his previous films, Bloodsport and Kickboxer… but JCVD won that debate.

9. The scene where Sergeant DeGraf meets his demise moments before he is about to kill Hawkins (Robert Guillaume) in the prison kitchen, was shot in the main kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel. This was the exact location where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated on June 5, 1968. 

10. The final fight scene between Burke and The Sandman was shot in a single day at the power plant located in Long Beach, California. Jean-Claude Van Damme sat in on the editing process of the final fight and it ended up being a learning experience for Sarafian, who would go on to use many of the editing tricks he picked up from Van Damme in his future movies.