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Amazon.co.uk Review
Mayhem rules in Death Race, a head-over-heels remake of the Roger Corman cult classic Death Race 2000, in which cars become lethal weapons. The strength of this new version is its total single-mindedness about vehicular homicide; it has the virtue of no cluttering subplots or simpering sentimentality. And banish all memory of the original's wild satirical comedy: Death Race is as grim as a dinner tray to the face (a reference that will be explained in a key sequence). In a slightly futuristic maximum-security prison, cons take part in brutal races around the island prison, their violent deaths watched live by millions of viewers. Jason Statham, possibly cast because of his driving dexterity in the Transporter movies, plays a man wrongly imprisoned for murder. Joan Allen provides her brittle cool as the warden, who recruits Statham to assume the masked persona of a legendary driver called Frankenstein. Tyrese Gibson is Frankie's main rival, Natalie Martinez provides the fetching eye candy, but the acting honours go to Ian McShane, as the philosophical prison mechanic. One misses the cross-country race from the original film, as the setting here is claustrophobic and the cars are largely colorless and indistinguishable from each other. Director Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) continues to display the sensibility of a video-game addict, which will either be a recommendation or a turn-off, depending on your own tastes. At least it doesn't have the hypocritical moral blathering of something like the somewhat similar Condemned--who knew you could be so grateful for simple, straight-forward head-bashing? --Robert Horton
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
`Death Race' is a re-make of the Stalonne movie from the 70's and stars Jason Stratham as a framed prisoner in a futuristic world where convicts are used for entertainment in a web-based show in which they must kill each other in a brutal race. Stratham's character is made an offer where if he takes the place of an severely injured racer, the masked Frankenstein, and wins he is allowed to go free.
It hasn't got the most complex plot, in fact you could probably understand perfectly what is going on if you walked in halfway through but that doesn't stop it from being a very enjoyable action film. The near-futuristic setting, the fast-editing and strong violence make this film very reminiscent of the classic action films of the 70's and 80's, like the original Death Race 2000, The Running Man and the more recent The Condemned.
If you like films with tough good guys, sick and unlikeable bad guys and non-stop action for 100 mins then I definitely recommend this one. 3.5/5.
It hasn't got the most complex plot, in fact you could probably understand perfectly what is going on if you walked in halfway through but that doesn't stop it from being a very enjoyable action film. The near-futuristic setting, the fast-editing and strong violence make this film very reminiscent of the classic action films of the 70's and 80's, like the original Death Race 2000, The Running Man and the more recent The Condemned.
If you like films with tough good guys, sick and unlikeable bad guys and non-stop action for 100 mins then I definitely recommend this one. 3.5/5.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ MEETS MAD MAX 2!!! IT'S EVERYTHING THAT THE ROLLERBALL REMAKE WAS NOT!!!!!
21 Dec 2008
Format:DVD
Taken at face value, this is a cracking mix of prison movie and futuristic thriller.
The stunts/FX look mostly for real, with CG kept to the minimum.
The tooled up cars are the stars here, especially with all the added firepower (spikes, miniguns, RPGs, Napalm etc). The races & chases are the best and most violent since 1981's Mad Max 2 (and better than in the enjoyable Doomsday) and check out one of THE best car rolls that I've ever seen!
A good ensemble cast for this type of movie, and Jason Statham must have spent months in the gym - loved the Slipknot syle mask that Statham races
in too. It's highly stylised action, and the editing/photography is first rate.
Clearly a decent budget; the minigun bullets alone must have cost a packet!
Interesting nod to The Last Boy Scout at the movie's VERY satisying denouement.
Pitched in USA 2012, after an economic collapse, the background to this looks disturbingly credible at this time...
The director takes some stick at times, but this film delivers exactly as it promises, and despite the fact it's big & dumb, it gets the 4 stars from me.
The stunts/FX look mostly for real, with CG kept to the minimum.
The tooled up cars are the stars here, especially with all the added firepower (spikes, miniguns, RPGs, Napalm etc). The races & chases are the best and most violent since 1981's Mad Max 2 (and better than in the enjoyable Doomsday) and check out one of THE best car rolls that I've ever seen!
A good ensemble cast for this type of movie, and Jason Statham must have spent months in the gym - loved the Slipknot syle mask that Statham races
in too. It's highly stylised action, and the editing/photography is first rate.
Clearly a decent budget; the minigun bullets alone must have cost a packet!
Interesting nod to The Last Boy Scout at the movie's VERY satisying denouement.
Pitched in USA 2012, after an economic collapse, the background to this looks disturbingly credible at this time...
The director takes some stick at times, but this film delivers exactly as it promises, and despite the fact it's big & dumb, it gets the 4 stars from me.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
In the near future America's jails are privately run for profit, and the most profitable thing about them are the Death Races, very violent rally car races with offenders at the wheel that are screened to the waiting masses in a fashion reminiscent of the Caesars' circuses in ancient Rome, providing enough bloody spectacle to keep the bored populance amused.
Jason Statham is framed for murder and brought into a prison specifically to be a racing driver, replacing recently (but secretly) deceased legendary masked driver Frankenstein. It's all a lot of fun as he tries to survive on the race track and at the same time works out who really killed his wife and how to take revenge. The grand finale is all rather well done and highly entertaining.
The movie makers have obviously immersed themselves in the prison movie genre, and no hoary old cliché is left unclichéd. Many scenes are reminiscent of Shawshank Redemption (with TV's very own Lovejoy Ian McShane adding the gravitas in the Morgan Freeman role of old prison hand and mentor) and the setting of the prison on an island almost has to be homage to all those Alcatraz movies. The scenes when Statham is first introduced to the inmates look like a Face/Off rip off. But while it might not be original it is exceedingly well done, meting out lots of exciting car racing, a fairly easy to follow plot and a grand thrilling finale in which you know what the result is going to be, it's just fun seeing the inventive way in which they get there.
The film is a remake of the 1970's Roger Corman classic `Deathcar 2000'. It is a total reinvention, but still pretty effective and entertaining. In a nice touch David Carradine, who plays Frankenstein in the original film, voices the `real' Frankenstein seen briefly at the beginning of the new film. It's never going to be a classic, but it is a highly effective and entertaining action film that ticks all the boxes. A little less cliché and more originality wouldn't have gone amiss, so only 4 instead of 5 stars.
Jason Statham is framed for murder and brought into a prison specifically to be a racing driver, replacing recently (but secretly) deceased legendary masked driver Frankenstein. It's all a lot of fun as he tries to survive on the race track and at the same time works out who really killed his wife and how to take revenge. The grand finale is all rather well done and highly entertaining.
The movie makers have obviously immersed themselves in the prison movie genre, and no hoary old cliché is left unclichéd. Many scenes are reminiscent of Shawshank Redemption (with TV's very own Lovejoy Ian McShane adding the gravitas in the Morgan Freeman role of old prison hand and mentor) and the setting of the prison on an island almost has to be homage to all those Alcatraz movies. The scenes when Statham is first introduced to the inmates look like a Face/Off rip off. But while it might not be original it is exceedingly well done, meting out lots of exciting car racing, a fairly easy to follow plot and a grand thrilling finale in which you know what the result is going to be, it's just fun seeing the inventive way in which they get there.
The film is a remake of the 1970's Roger Corman classic `Deathcar 2000'. It is a total reinvention, but still pretty effective and entertaining. In a nice touch David Carradine, who plays Frankenstein in the original film, voices the `real' Frankenstein seen briefly at the beginning of the new film. It's never going to be a classic, but it is a highly effective and entertaining action film that ticks all the boxes. A little less cliché and more originality wouldn't have gone amiss, so only 4 instead of 5 stars.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
"..AWESOME ACTION.."
This film is a big highlight of statham's already massive career, a great film full of blood, gore, sexy girls, violent crashes and a brilliant cast to pull it all off. Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. Drury
Death Race
I bought this film for my son who is into fast car smash em up movies (and for myself as I am a huge Jason Statham fan)
It arrived very quickly and was in excellent... Read more
It arrived very quickly and was in excellent... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sammii
Great film
Its not really about the cars or the racing, but a dramatic story of a wronged man getting revenge. Set in a brutal world with some dark humour. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Reg Dawson
death race
if you want action violence fast cars or statham then you will love this film.this is a classy movie with all the thrills spills and action you have come to expect from jason... Read more
Published 6 months ago by jed
All Action Thriller
From start to finish this is an all action movie. The story line is futuristic believable, and the acting first rate. Jason Strachan, one of my favourites, does it again.
Published 7 months ago by Mithril 13
if this was for real, i would go to prison for life.
if you haven't seen these yet, watch the second film first. i've been told that dr2 was the first film but there wasn't anyone big enough to make it sell so they made dr1 and... Read more
Published 10 months ago by mark strangward
better than I thought it would be
a bit like a modern running man, lots of action and fast cars and guns. it will win no oscars but as far as plot goes it easy to follow and turns out to be quite a good action... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. Pj Williams
DUMB BUT FAIRLY ENJOYABLE
It gets ever more difficult when reviewing films to decide whether to base my score on a purely individual basis or to take into account previous scores I have given to other... Read more
Published 13 months ago by 747Rick
Thrills, spills and cars - better than expected
Firstly, I've never seen a Jasan Statham film before and was quite impressed. Obviously he is type-cast as always. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Paul H
Well i never...
About a week before I bought this, my friends were discussing how epic Death Race was. I was standing there, thinking death race, what is that? Read more
Published 16 months ago by Jamesyadams
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