Fresh
It's brainless fun, but while Anderson's brilliant staging of the flesh-ripping stunts surpasses Bartel's cheap thrills, this update lacks the sardonic wit and satirical bite of the Corman-produced version.
Nigel Floyd, Time Out
Death Race
Get ready for a killer ride.
2008 · 1h 45m · R
Action, Science Fiction, Thriller
Directed by
Paul W. S. Anderson
Overview
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.
Director and cast
- Paul W. S. Anderson Director
- Jason Statham as Jensen Ames
- Joan Allen as Warden Hennessey
- Ian McShane as Coach
- Tyrese Gibson as Machine Gun Joe Mason
- Natalie Martinez as Elizabeth Case
- Max Ryan as Pachenko
- Jason Clarke as Guard Ulrich
- Frederick Koehler as Lists
- Jacob Vargas as Gunner
- Justin Mader as Travis Colt
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
41%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Let Death Race serve as a warning, or maybe an inspiration, to any TV producer who says she'd kill for high ratings: Why not stage a pay-per-view car race in which prisoners compete to stay alive on the course?
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Rotten
The combination of good actors and terrible dialogue might have allowed the film a chance at minor cult status, if it weren't for the frustratingly inept action sequences.
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
Fresh
Death Race is cartoonishly brutal and pleasantly disreputable.
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
Rotten
Statham's films never promise to be something they're not or offer something they don't provide. Death Race is not an exception.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
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