Death Race (2008)

Director:

Paul W.S. Anderson

Writers (WGA):

Paul W.S. Anderson (screenplay)
Paul W.S. Anderson (screen story)

Release Date:

22 August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Get ready for a killer ride.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Warden | Murder | 2012 | Armored Car | Title Appears In Writing

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jason Statham	...	Jensen Ames
Joan Allen	...	Warden Hennessey
Ian McShane	...	Coach
Tyrese Gibson	...	Machine Gun Joe Mason
Natalie Martinez	...	Elizabeth Case
Max Ryan	...	Pachenko
Jacob Vargas	...	Gunner
Jason Clarke	...	Guard Ulrich
Frederick Koehler	...	Lists
Justin Mader	...	Travis Colt
Robert LaSardo	...	Hector Grimm
Robin Shou	...	14K
Benz Antoine	...	Joe's Navigator #1
Danny Blanco	...	Joe's Navigator #2 (as Danny Blanco Hall)
Christian Paul	...	Joe's Navigator #3

Also Known As:

Death Race 3000 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and language.

Runtime:

USA:111 min (unrated version) | 98 min (theatrical version)

Country:

USA | Germany | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44430) | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | Ireland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:18A (British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Finland:K-15 | South Korea:18 | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R16 | Japan:PG-12 | Sweden:15 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Germany:18 | France:U | Argentina:16 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Cité du Cinéma, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Shot in 50 days.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): One of the characters remarks that the .50 caliber bullets will go through the Tombstone in a few seconds. But a .50 caliber round wouldn't even make a dent in 6" of solid steel.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Case: [while being shot at during Death Race] Damn it!

Movie Connections:

References Ben-Hur (1959)

Soundtrack:

Maybe Tomorrow

who needs a plot when there's explosion and mayhem?

2012 the economy has hit bottom, broke through and has kept on descending. Along the way prisons have been handed over to the private sector that have chosen to make a profit by broadcasting gladiatorial style death matches starring the inmates, with the reward to the inmates after 5 victories – FREEDOM Enter Jensen Ames (Jason Stratham) a recently unemployed steel worker and former race car driver who lost his license but no matter how bad things are, he's a happy man as long as he has his family.

That is, until he's set up for the murder of his wife, imprisoned, and forced to compete in Death Race if he ever hopes to see his daughter again.

But enough of the plot! A paragraph blurb at the start and 8 minutes of character development is pushing the limits of this flick and that's not why a person would see a W.S. Anderson/Jason Stratham action flick and besides, a plot would allow "plot holes" and who needs to deal with that headache? The rest of the movie takes place in the 3 days of Death Race. The first 2 days are competition/elimination rounds reminiscent of Mario Kart as if it was designed by some rogue member of GTA on a disgruntled day but who loved the hidden short cuts and power-ups.

Amongst all the adrenaline filled action, Anderson makes sure to toss in the occasional character development or when he's feeling really daring he'll toss in some pseudo-dramatic realization our hero comes across which helps remind the movie-goer that the movie has a plot rather than just a string of explosive action sequence. All of this is done with the utmost use of cliché and designed to inspire the excitable little 12 year old boy in many of us to stay riveted in our seats as we wait for Jensen to strike with angry revenge for all he's been through.

The movie is everything a modern day movie aficionado should not like. It's brainless, sexist, ridiculously violent, and lacks any redeemable qualities. These are also all the reasons why I had so much fun with the movie. I went seeing what I expected and that's exactly what I wanted to see!