Action Death Race (2008)

Tom

An Old Friend
Death Race (2008)

Starring: Jason Statham
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

U.S. Opening Date: August 22nd, 2008


Jason Statham leads the cast of an action-thriller set in the post-industrial wasteland of tomorrow, with the world's most brutal sporting event as its backdrop. A penitentiary full of felons has inspired the jailers to create a grisly pastime ripe for lucrative kickbacks. Now, adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for televised violence and a spectacular arena come together to form the "Death Race."

Three-time speedway champion Jensen Ames (Statham) is an expert at survival in the harsh landscape that has become our country. Just as he thinks he has turned his life around, the ex-con is framed for a gruesome murder he didn't commit. Forced to don the mask of the mythical driver Frankenstein -- a crowd favorite who seems impossible to kill -- Ames is given an easy choice by Terminal Island's warden (Joan Allen): suit up or rot away in a cell.

His face hidden by a metallic mask, one convict will be put through an insane three-day challenge. Ames must survive a gauntlet of the most vicious criminals in the country's toughest prison to claim the prize of freedom. Driving a monster car outfitted with machine guns, flamethrowers and grenade launchers, one desperate man will destroy anything in his path to win the most twisted spectator sport on Earth.

 
Just saw this one, didn't do anything for me. The original Death Race 2000 with David Carradine & Sylvester Stallone was a dark drama that, even for 1975, was a bit campy. The 2008 remake seems almost like a SyFy movie-of-the-week telling of the story.

(Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen it yet....)


Instead of a cross-country race the new version is simply a shipping terminal port; think of an oval NASCAR track in the middle of a bunch of warehouses & industrial buildings. Instead of taking down a dictatorial President the new version kills a corrupt warden. Instead of trying to end the brutal races that give points for killing civilians the new version is inmates killing inmates whose goal is to escape.

Even the premise of Frankenstein has been watered down. The original Frankenstein (Carradine) was a product of the state who rebelled and wanted to bring down the ruling powers by using their own gladiatorial games against them. Along the way he is helped by the descendants Thomas Paine who are looking to repeat history with a revolution. The new Frankenstein (Statham) is a race car driver framed for murder and plots his escape in order to be reunited with his baby daughter. Along the way he is helped by other inmates for their own various reasons.

Unless you are a dedicated Statham fan I can't imagine anybody else liking the 2008 version.
 
Just saw this one, didn't do anything for me. The original Death Race 2000 with David Carradine & Sylvester Stallone was a dark drama that, even for 1975, was a bit campy. The 2008 remake seems almost like a SyFy movie-of-the-week telling of the story.

(Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen it yet....)



Instead of a cross-country race the new version is simply a shipping terminal port; think of an oval NASCAR track in the middle of a bunch of warehouses & industrial buildings. Instead of taking down a dictatorial President the new version kills a corrupt warden. Instead of trying to end the brutal races that give points for killing civilians the new version is inmates killing inmates whose goal is to escape.

Even the premise of Frankenstein has been watered down. The original Frankenstein (Carradine) was a product of the state who rebelled and wanted to bring down the ruling powers by using their own gladiatorial games against them. Along the way he is helped by the descendants Thomas Paine who are looking to repeat history with a revolution. The new Frankenstein (Statham) is a race car driver framed for murder and plots his escape in order to be reunited with his baby daughter. Along the way he is helped by other inmates for their own various reasons.

Unless you are a dedicated Statham fan I can't imagine anybody else liking the 2008 version.


Totally agree! The original version is a B-Movie classic!
 

Similar threads

Death Factory (2002)
Genre: Horror
Director: Brad Sykes
Release: 2002-11-05
Replies
1
Views
1K
Back
Top