| | | Get Ready for a Killer Ride.
Features: Unrated, English, Spanish, French
Sentenced to the world's most dangerous prison for a murder he did not commit, Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) has only one chance to get out alive -- win the ultimate race to the death.Also starring Tyrese Gibson, Death Race will keep you pinned to your seat all the way to its insane, metal-crushing end!
"...delivers the goods without all the preachy moralizing about violent entertainment and cultural ruin." Ken Fox, TV Guide
"Noisy, brutal, bloodthirsty fun!" Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times
"...authentically nasty, with a good old-fashioned sense of laying waste to everything in sight..." Nathan Lee, The New York Times
"...looks smarter, talks sassier and moves faster than almost anything else on the market." Richard Corliss, Time
"A high-octane, adrenaline-fueled thrill ride." Tim Estiloz, The Comcast Network
Editor's Note
The Roger Corman-produced cult favorite DEATH RACE 2000 (1975) gets an update in this reworking from action director Paul W.S. Anderson (RESIDENT EVIL). In a role sure to please fans of his work in CRANK (2006) and the TRANSPORTER films, Jason Statham is Frankenstein, the fierce driver portrayed by David Carradine in the original. The script, also by Anderson, largely does away with the original's satirical elements in favor an increased number of breathtaking crashes and stunt driving. In 2012, the American economy has collapsed, and prisons have been taken over by corporations. Overseen by Warden Hennessey (Joan Allen), Terminal Island prison generates immense amounts of revenue with pay-per-view broadcasts of "Death Race," in which inmates participate in an auto race where anything goes. New inmate Jensen Ames (Statham), who has been framed for the death of his wife, is chosen to take over the role of Frankenstein, the contest's recently deceased masked star driver. His chief competitor, Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson), unaware that a new man is behind the mask of his old rival, will stop at nothing to win. With Case, a sexy navigator from the nearby women's facility, and a trusty pit crew led by wise veteran Coach (Ian McShane), Ames has a good shot at winning. If he does, he's been promised his freedom---but the race holds more obstacles than he can imagine, and ratings are more important to Hennessey than being true to her word. Loud, gory, and lightning fast, DEATH RACE is geared to the video game generation, right down to the graphics that appear onscreen during the race's TV broadcast. Once again, Statham creates a great hero to root for in a performance that rises above the copious stunts and visual effects. Allen, in uncharacteristic role, is suitably imposing as the steely warden.
| Features | BD Live: My Commentary, My Chat, My Scenes Sharing, & Exclusive Content | | U Control: Picture In Picture & Tech Specs (Unrated Version Only) | | Audio: English DTS HD 5.1 Surround Sound | | Audio: French, Spanish DTS 5.1 Surround Sound | | Create Your Own Race | | D-Box | | Dubbed: French, Spanish | | Feature Audio Commentary With Director Paul W.S. Anderson & Producer Jeremy Bolt (Unrated Version Only) | | Featurettes: Start Your Engines - Making A Death Race, & Behind The Wheel - Dissecting The Stunts | | Includes A Digital Copy Of The Film For Portable Media Players! | | Includes Both Original Theatrical & Unrated Extended Versions Of The Film! | | Interactive Menus | | My Scenes | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | This Is A Blu-Ray DVD Made For Blue-Laser Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture & Sound |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Universal |
| Release Date: 1/3/2010 |
| Running Time: 216 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2008 | | Catalog ID: 61106621 | | UPC: 00025195056625 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew | Tyrese Gibson | | Jason Statham | | Ian McShane | | Joan Allen | | Paul Haslinger - Composer | | Charles B. Griffith - Source Writer | | Paul Anderson - Producer | | Jeremy Bolt - Producer | | Paul Anderson - Screenwriter | | Roger Corman - Executive Producer | | Ryan Kavanaugh - Executive Producer | | Paula Wagner - Producer | | Robert Thom - Source Writer | | Don Granger - Executive Producer | | Dennis E. Jones - Executive Producer | | Scott Kevan - Director of Photography | | Paul Anderson - Director |
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| | Professional Reviews | Los Angeles Times
"Paul W.S. Anderson's remake is noisy, brutal, bloodthirsty fun....Anderson's version goes its own frenetic way, and it's one of those vicious larks that just plain hit the spot." 08/22/2008New York Times
"DEATH RACE is a supercharged junkyard apocalypse powered by an unabashed relish for brutal comeuppance and a flair for delirious vehicular mayhem." 08/22/2008 Empire
3 stars out of 5 -- "The adherence to practical stunts results in some impressive chases, punctuated by gunfire, fireballs, rolls and spectacular collisions." 10/01/2008 p.68 Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "Anderson's unapologetically silly yet thoroughly entertaining film sees him going from adapting videogames to making his own." 03/01/2009 ReelViews 7 of 10
Paul W.S. Anderson's (the Alien vs. Predator guy) creation is weak when it comes to things like plot, character, and acting, but it's very good at provoking visceral reactions, and that's largely what the picture's audience will be in multiplexes for...This is The Fast and the Furious or Speed Racer on steroids, although it is more about violence and gore than cars. None of the vehicles are slick and sleek; they're armed and armored tanks, with jets that spew smoke, oil, and napalm, and fully operational machine guns mounted on hoods and roofs. The race course is modeled after a video game. As the drivers buzz around the track, smashing into other cars, there are "power-ups" to hit. The first car to glide over these power-ups can have its weapons activated or cause a deadly obstacle to spring up in the middle of the road in front of an opponent...Death Race makes a few weak attempts at satire, emphasizing how bloodthirsty the human race is, paying $99 a round to watch human beings get blown up and shredded. It's not a unique idea, having provided the backstory for more than one action movie (the most famous of which may be Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Running Man). Heavy-handed satirical elements represent nothing more than frosting on the bloodsoaked, action-packed cake, however. This movie is about mayhem on wheels, tough guys viewers can root for, and villains whose comeuppances audiences crave. That's what Death Race is all about and, for what it is, it does a solid job. - James Berardinelli
Reel.com 5 of 10
Movies like Death Race exist so critics will have something to put on their year-end "Worst of" lists...Technically, it's a remake of Paul Bartel's schlocky Death Race 2000 from 1975. But director Paul W.S. Anderson also uses his gig as an excuse to revisit every innocent-man-behind-bars cliche that has been introduced from then 'til now...Set in the apocalyptic future of 2012, Death Race imagines a flawed and brutal penal system where private corporations run prisons for profit and the inmates at the Terminal Island Penitentiary are forced to compete in a televised NASCAR-esque sprint to the death...I wouldn't hire Anderson to helm a beer commercial but then again, I don't work for Universal. The studio had to know what they were getting, however, once they handed Anderson the keys to this vehicle. The Brit filmmaker is the thinking man's Uwe Boll whose illustrious credits include adaptations of the video games Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil...Stock characterization and predictable developments are expected. But couldn't Anderson at least nail his race footage? Erratic editing and horrific zooms butcher already repetitive racing sequences. Washed-out production values and a bleak color scheme often make it hard to distinguish which menacing road warrior is leading the race. The gratuitous violence is sadistic in nature, pausing only when Anderson's misogynistic camera lingers--in slow motion, of course--on Natalie Martinez and her curvaceous female co-stars. - Sean O'Connell
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