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Death Race

Death Race (2008)

August. 22,2008
|
6.4
|
R
| Action Thriller Science Fiction

Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the US penal system has reached a breaking point. Prisons have been turned over to a monolithic Weyland Corporation, which sees jails full of thugs as an opportunity for televised sport. Adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for violence and a spectacular, enclosed arena come together to form the 'Death Race', the biggest, most brutal event.

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AverageJoesDriveInPodcast
2008/08/22

I watched this one once when it was on Netflix. I wasn't wowed by it, but I also didn't hate it either. It was one of those is what it is films for me. I picked this up on Blu Ray for a couple of dollars. I figured it was at least good enough for a 2nd viewing, and who knows, maybe my opinion will change a little. The first time around I rated it about a 4.5 or a 5 out of 10.This time around I watched the unrated version. While I still don't think this is a great movie, I did like it better than my first viewing. Honestly, story-wise it's very paint-by-numbers. You can easily figure out how things are going to play out before they happen. Even though it doesn't deviate from the standard action movie formula, it's at least entertaining. There's some good gore. The FXs are solid for the most part and it's never boring. This ends up being right in that sweet spot for me for an action film. You don't have to think too much, it's so outlandish you roll with what's going on even if it's farfetched. 99% of the time when I watch an action film I just want to be entertained. That's just what Death Race managed to do. I'm glad I snagged it and added to the collection. My Rating: 6/10

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adonis98-743-186503
2008/08/23

Ex-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates must brutalize and kill one another on the road to victory. Liked it or hated it this remake is way better than the original over the top and cheesy 70's film starring Sylvester Stallone it's more brutal, more serious and more action packed with a lot of car racing and explosions and Jason Statham is pretty awesome and it sucks that he never returned for the sequels. Another great thing about it Ian McShane as Coach and Joan Allen as Hennessey both great actors and great in their roles, if you like this over the cop full of explosions and gore kind of films you will not be disappointed by Death Race (2008).

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JPfanatic93
2008/08/24

A good remake keeps the message of its predecessor intact, just altered to fit and reflect the times that influenced its own production. Since Paul Bartel's and Roger Corman's original exploitation movie Death Race 2000 didn't pretend to have a message to speak off, but instead aimed to be a simply entertaining action flick hellbent on giving spectators a gory thrill ride filled with absurdist jokes making fun of politics for the heck of it, there was room for negotiation in that regard when the time was deemed right to tell the story again. The good-humoured gags and slightly satirical and subversive elements were brusquely traded in for a more serious approach, as the new Death Race is set in a bleak world where the economy is in such a shambles the huge masses can only be appeased by watching other people, worse off than they are and pushed into a life of crime, engage in excessively risqué driving behavior. Inmates are offered a chance to reclaim their freedom in return for surviving a race where they must win by avoiding lethal obstacles and more importantly, each other as the goal is to viciously dispatch other contestants. Enter Jason Statham, who by now is well known for playing tough characters who won't tolerate such conditions and fight back with a vengeance.Statham plays Jensen Ames, an honest man skilled in driving who lost his job and subsequently his wife, quickly framed for her death and sent to serve for life in jail. The wicked warden of the prison, an ice cold Joan Allen, obviously with a sinister agenda of her own, offers him a potential way out by competing in her 'Death Race' programme under the guise of a recently deceased racing legend called Frankenstein, a favorite of the crowd. Of course Ames turns out just as efficient a driver as he works his way through the game, brutally taking out many an adversary along the way and annoying his most fierce opponent, Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson). As he discovers there's more to his inclusion in the race than simply his established skill set and the warden may have been involved in the murder of his wife, Ames' objective evolves from winning the race to escaping it. Names and a general premise are about as much as this film and its Seventies' counterpart have in common. Very different in style, the modern version is an effective popcorn flick of an action film, but lacking a character of its own and feeling a tad generic overall. No poking fun at politics here. Prison clichés cannot be avoided, as is the case of sidekick typecasting (an old mentor, a nerdy technician, a hot dame as co-driver, you get it). About as inventive as the character set-up gets is Joe's status as a (black) homosexual, a notion with which nothing is done in the course of the film. Why would it anyway? The film is all about racing kick-ass cars making kills.What Death Race lacks in terms of characters it more than makes up for when it comes to its real stars, the four-wheeled (or more) monstrous machines that form its main attraction. Various grizzly hot-rods adorned with all kinds of deadly accessories have been assembled by a clearly enthusiastic design and stunt team, guaranteeing quite the spectacle as they are pitted against each other in road racing, asphalt blazing fury. The plethora of grotesque vehicles – including an impressive monster truck loaded with ingenious weaponry – steering and hacking their way through a course of rusty, rundown warehouses makes for an eerie, hopeless post-industrial look reminiscent of such classic action fare the likes of Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, except with the constant attention of the panoptical media at its back dominating every move of the race to ensure audience attendance. And despite the blandness of their characters, the cast does a solid job making this grim world feel convincing, Statham doing what he does best (and we wouldn't have it any other way). However, under the direction of action specialist Paul W.S. Anderson (not that Paul Anderson, as this one is not known for his carefully balanced quality storytelling), the movie never conveys the idea that it might revolve around more than just decently dynamic action scenes. If it's spiffy cars you want, it's spiffy cars you get, might as well have been the film's tagline. All else is merely secondary.As a whole, the major differences between this latest Death Race and the original are the result of a bigger budget and scope. A true message is still not a thing of note. The 2008 version simply looks cooler and feels slicker because it had the money at its disposal, but it plays it safe by staying in its comfort zone, solely delivering action while devoid of surprise, instead of throwing oddities and black humour in the mix like the original could afford for being a smaller, independent production. Nevertheless, its tactics proved successful enough to spawn two direct-to-video sequels, and so the premise returned to its more exploitative roots (just not in a particularly good way).

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Voaides Ciprian
2008/08/25

One of the favourite actors of the genre action, Jason Statham, here it comes again in an impossible situation.In Death Race, British actor must support a scenario arch-known, not only because we are dealing with a remake of a film from the '70s. Somewhere in the near future, the hero is put in jail (wrongly of course) in a maximum security prison, whose main difference from other such "establishment" is the mobile film: a "Death Race" with more cars with weapons of all kinds. Everything is allowed, and prize survivor is even much-needed freedom.An explosive film, full of action and suspense, twists and beautiful women, what to say, Jason Statham plays only films that you keep you eyes glued to the screen from the first second to the last sound in the film. Sensational video.

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