Home
| Search
| Now Playing
| News
| My Movies
| Games
| Boards
| Help
| US Movie Showtimes
| Top 250
| Register
| Recommendations
| Widgets
Box Office
| Index
| Trailers
| Jobs
|
IMDbPro.com - Free Trial
| IMDb Resume
Copyright © 1990-2008
IMDb.com, Inc.
Terms and Privacy Policy under which this service is provided to you.
An
company.
Advertise on IMDb.
License our content.
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videoscast e troupe completicuriositàofficial sitesfrasi memorabiliOverview
Info principalidettagli combinaticast e troupe completiProduzione/Distribuzionetv schedulePremi & e recensioni
Recensioni utenticommento/recensioneRecensioni dai NewsgroupawardsVotiparents guidealtri film raccomandatimessage boardTrama & Frasi
riassunto della tramaplot synopsisparole chiaveRecensione Amazon.comfrasi memorabiliInfo divertenti
curiositàerroricolonna sonoratitoli pazziversioni alternativeCollegamenti ad altri filmFAQIncassi & e altre info
acquisto di prodottibox office/businessdate di uscitaluoghi delle ripresespecifiche tecnicheversione laserdiscversione DVDinformazioni bibliograficheNewsDeskMateriale promozionale
slogan trailers and videos poster e link Galleria fotograficaLink esterni
link di cinemaofficial sitesvariefotografiesound clipsvideo clipsIMDb user comments for
Death Race (2008)
41 out of 54 people found the following comment useful :-
who needs a plot when there's explosion and mayhem?, 21 agosto 2008
Author: Mr_Wall da San Francisco, CA
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!
26 out of 33 people found the following comment useful :-
Twisted Metal meets Mad Max, 20 agosto 2008
Author: Nervegas da Dallas, Texas
I was able to attend the advanced screening here in Dallas and must say I enjoyed myself immensely. While anyone going into this film expecting anything more then a thin veil of a plot will be sorely disappointed, it will definitely entertain those who have the right expectations. That said, this is a no holds barred, testosterone fueled thrill ride. Think of the game Twisted Metal, then throw in convicts, a greedy warden looking only at the profit and you have Death Race. While the movie has plenty of explosions, machine guns, armored cars, gore and beautiful females, there was enough humor and sentiment thrown in to make it all seem worthwhile. Definitely an entertaining film, and one that any over-the-top action movie junkie will surely add to their collection.
23 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
Fun, very loud and unabashedly dumb., 23 agosto 2008
Author: A_Roode da Halifax, Nova Scotia
I shouldn't write reviews for movies like this because it feels like I'm lining up to kick a puppy. A movie like 'Death Race' can only be judged fairly through a set of lowered genre expectations. I'll try but I'm not making any promises. It is fun, very loud and unabashedly dumb. It was never envisioned to be anything other than an attempt at 'cool.' The average viewer will - without fail - be able to pick out every moment where Paul W.S. Anderson had an idea during the script writing and thought to himself "That'd be awesome!" before looking around the room for someone to high five. I shouldn't pick on him because I actually do enjoy his movies. He isn't trying to make 'Casablanca'; 'Robocop' is more his style. Just without the boring stuff like characterization and development. And as little subtlety, satire or nuance as needed. Unless unintentional or totally by mistake and ironic -- That'd be alright.
This movie's lone strength is the special effects and it lives and dies by the car chase, the machine gun firing and the gory death(s). Michael Bay, eat you heart out. Anderson knows the art of kaboom and action junkees should be satisfied with his efforts here -- especially during the second race when the 'Dreadnought' enters the race. As long as you numb your brain into not asking serious questions about things like physics. Or how massive amounts of armour on a car wouldn't make flesh and soft tissue any safer in horrifying car crashes. Or how the American economy of the Dystopian future has crumbled, but 70 million can still afford the pay-per-view price to watch. Maybe some of the viewers are from Canada.
If you were to put any consideration into serious film criticism where 'Death Race' is concerned, then you'd be the first one. The movie is so predictable, lazy and unambitious that it asks you to hand it the popcorn. In fact, have you seen the trailer? You've seen the film. Tyrese's character is homosexual, which I thought was stunningly inventive given the scriptwriter. Sliding back into predictability, it is used solely to make a few tasteless jokes before being forgotten about. Pretty standard fare for Anderson. If you've watched his other films, you know exactly what to expect. Except less. Brain still hurts too much to think about it. I think the annoying thing is that Anderson has potential. I wouldn't keep going to his movies if I didn't enjoy them. It annoys me when the problems at script level are so apparent. He has a tendency to go to predictable places: Requisite gay jokes for the prison? Check. Incredibly hot women on screen? Cue horny Rap music since I need a musical cue to point out the obvious. I'm annoyed when one character asks another if they think that they're really the best choice of parent for their offspring and the second character says later "Someone once asked me if ..." like they and the audience have forgotten the specifics of the first conversation. The audience doesn't need to be spoon-fed the obvious. It's a weakness that I hope Anderson can shed. He clearly loves making movies. Trusting the audience a little more and giving us some credit might let him make better ones.
The crazy thing is that despite it all, I enjoyed 'Death Race.' It is flawed from top to bottom but wears the flaws so honestly and endearingly that you really shouldn't hold it against the movie. Need to go see a mindless distraction for an hour and a half? 'Death Race' isn't a bad choice. With 'Death Race' you get exactly what you expect and exactly what you deserve.
27 out of 42 people found the following comment useful :-
Fun, Fun, FUN!, 20 agosto 2008
Author: wordmonkey da San Francisco, Ca.
Now here's an exploitation film that knows what a solid B-movie is supposed to be: an action-dense, amped-up, gore-soaked killfest. It's the cinematic equivalent of eating that entire box of Red Vines you bought at the snack bar, using them as candy straws to suck down your extra-large Coke.
As a fan of the original "Death Race 2000," I was pleased to see just enough of a shadow of the original movie inhabiting the skin of the new one. Roger Corman's name on the producing credits gave me hope at the start, and his seal of approval seemed to mean something, perhaps as counterweight to Paul W. S. Anderson's track record of shooting mediocre video game adaptations. Surprisingly, Anderson rises to the occasion, effortlessly elevating a cliché-rich but fast-moving script to the level of a satisfyingly adrenalin-fueled confection aimed like a bullet at the A.D.D.-addled brains of the short-attention-span generation.
Set in an "Escape From New York"-style dystopic prison-culture (that sounds suspiciously like current American society), slaughter happens, stuff blows up, and the weak are culled like bunnies caught in the headlights of gas-sucking American muscle cars. Fans of the "Twisted Metal" video game will love the newest wrinkle in the race, the addition of weaponry – a needed bloody bump for version 2.0. And what a bump it is, with each car's chugging machine guns indiscriminately spewing hot rounds at every foe, shredding Detroit steel like it was used Kleenex. It's unabashed gun fetishism at its gleeful best, and it makes you want to strap an M60 to the hood of your Prius in order to cut your commute in half.
Jason Statham does his standard tough-guy job as the scowling Frankenstein, Joan Allen plays a ball-busting warden (perhaps a bit in the mold of Louise Fletcher's Nurse Ratched), and Ian McShane of "Deadwood" has a solid cameo as the prison-wise mechanic, Coach. Even Machine Gun Joe gets a new incarnation in the form of Tyrese Gibson, who thankfully is nothing like Stallone's blustering Italian meatball.
I loved it, and can't wait to see it again in a theater with enough bass to pump up those impact crunches to the bone-jarring level they deserve.
Yeah!
24 out of 38 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Movie, 22 agosto 2008
Author: goalieboy45 da Canada
I went into Death Race with really no idea what to expect from it. I am a big fan of Jason Statham movies but the concept of this movie hadn't really made me too excited to see it. Nevertheless this is a great movie, the humor is spot on throughout the movie, though this is definitely no comedy. The action is fast paced throughout and they come up with some pretty creative ways for characters to get killed. I found the story to obviously be a bit far fetched with it being people racing in a prison and all but never that didn't ruin the movie at all and I ended up loving the storyline. Overall, the acting was great, and it had great effects and a good storyline. I consider this a must watch for those who love action movies. 9/10
21 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
hot women and fast cars, death race is a man's movie, 20 agosto 2008
Author: knapp1991 da United States
I just saw this film last night at a premier in Portland Oregon.Im not gonna give away any of the story because there isn't much of one which is fine in this case. Explolsions and murder and hot women plus Jason statham equals good movie. I went into this film expecting it to be disaster,and i say this only because I'm anonymous... it was good. Plenty of wow moments to cringe at and not just me but the whole audience. The driving does get a little repetitive but kudos to the director Paul w.s. Anderson for mixing it up. Plus it is a revenge story which everyone loves. BOTTOM LINE if you want to be entertained and don't mind a some violence see it it is worth the price of admission.
10 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Blood, carnage, and fast cars. Kinda fun, 23 agosto 2008
Author: C-Younkin da United States
"Death Race" was written and directed by Paul W.S Anderson, a filmmaker whose toiled away trying to make the perfect movie based on a video game. I'll give you a few moments to process that before I say…yeah, that's right, he's made some really terrible movies. "Death Race" actually looks sort of fun though, definitely a racing film that will erase the memory of the "Speed Racer Technicolor Dream-Coat" at least, and Jason Statham is usually so good in movies like this that he'd make "Fast and the Furious" look like "Beach Blanket Bingo" all by himself. This may be Anderson's first real entertaining movie, but there has been some question as to whether it really is his movie. Writer Adam Stone says Anderson stole his work, leading to some speculation of plagiarism and possibly to a denied wide release. So there are two questions, one of course will be answered if your reading this review and the other will be is this movie even worth stealing in the first place?
Statham stars as Jensen Ames, a former professional racer turned Steel-mill worker. It's the future, 2012, and work is hard to find. Ames is laid off from the steel-mill and when he comes home, his wife is murdered by a masked assailant and he is framed for it. Months later he finds himself in Terminal Prison, the bitch to a domineering warden named Hennessey (Joan Allen). Since the prison system has become overcrowded, the prison participates in a death race, a pay-per-view event that allows people to watch cons in cars equipped with machine guns, rocket-launchers, napalm, and other goodies try to kill each other for sport. Hennessey wants Ames to drive and wear the mask of a famous and much-loved competitor, Frankenstein, so that her viewer ratings can stay up, and she makes the promise that if Ames wins the race, he can have his freedom. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Ames will become the new Frankenstein and its not long before he is going up against violent and vicious competitors, including three time winner Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson).
Watching this movie I could just imagine a group of 13-year old boys sitting behind me, each wearing his WWF and Stone-Cold Steve Austin shirts, having a gay old time with it. So much so that I'm surprised the movie actually went for an R-rating. It's incredibly dumb and for the most part un-involving, but going back to the R-rating, it does have some decent carnage. The movie is shot in a dreary blue setting, letting us know that the world is no longer a warm and loving place but a cold, violent and ugly looking cess pool. The story means next to nothing and is mostly a three-stage race that gets increasingly redundant as it goes along. Cars go around in circles really fast, blood, bullets, and explosions ensue, people meet grisly deaths and then everything happens all over again. "Death Race" does have a few actual dramatic car duels however, one where Ames goes up against the man that killed his wife and another when he and Machine Gun Joe go up against a tank. The rest is take it or leave it stuff that will interest you only if your really gung-ho about your blood, guts, and souped-up killer cars.
Statham is perfect for this type of role though, giving Ames a gruff, hardcore quality that's even more high octane than the cars. And Joan Allen is his perfect antagonist. Icy, manipulative, and devious, she makes Hennessey one of the better villains to come out this summer. Its just too bad she's not apart of a better movie. And like always, Ian McShane is gravel-voiced testosterone. I think that Tyrese Gibson is falling into a pattern here and I hope someone takes him out of it soon. As he showed in "Baby Boy", he is a much better actor than being the sidekick in racecar movies.
"Death Race" has some fun and the actors do what they can, but its not so much a movie than an excuse to watch carnage and fast cars. When you see an action movie that's this dumb, you know the summer is pretty much over.
4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
I'm in love ..., 28 agosto 2008
Author: DewClaw da Central Massachusetts
Natalie Martinez has to be the hottest babe to adorn the screen since, well since Franka Potente in "Lola rennt". I'm shocked she hasn't appeared in more on the big screen. This film, unlike so many, delivers exactly what coming attractions drew me to expect--fast pacing, minimalist plot (not a bad thing in this genre), under-spoken hero, villains with big black hats, and enough voluptuousness to sate the testosterone rushes. And of course there are homages to so many precursors, starting with Corman's original "Death Race 2000", on to "Mad Max", and ending with "Death Proof". So back to my first thoughts... Just where can I get videos of Natalie's TV series appearances in "Saints and Sinners" and "Fashion House"?
4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
The death race!, 29 agosto 2008
Author: helmutty da Singapore
As many comic books, games and original movies are being remade, director Paul W.S. Anderson is not new to those remakes. He adapted Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat and AVP. Now he remakes the original movie Death race 2000. Not surprising. While watching this movie, I realised that he still has his habit of making games plots. Death race plot is quite similar to those racing or survival games plot. It reminds me of DOA (Dead Or Alive) which Paul produce.
The story: Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) is framed for murdering his wife. He is then sent to jail. Hennessey (Joan Allen) picks him to join the brutal surviving game. He has to kill the other inmates who join the game. The prize is to get his freedom. Every inmate will get his own partner. The partners are mostly some hot chicks. From there, exciting vehicles chases scenes and blood ooze out. There isn't much gore but there are blood and language. The plot is so simple but the idea and the chase scenes make my heart pound. It is like watching a survival game unfolding by itself.It just explode the screen and your time and nothing else. And you won't care about the plot, you will just care about the thrilling game.
Overall: Those expecting a move to kill time, this is one. Those who want to watch another "The Dark Knight" movie, this is not the movie. It is not bad for mindless action flick.
5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
"Now that's entertainment!", 26 agosto 2008
Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) da Chicago, Illinois
I wasn't looking for anything deep, I wasn't looking for anything serious, no Oscar winning actors, no award winning script, I just wanted an action movie, this summer we got Death Race, a movie where the script and characters are just never explored, but the action is non stop and so exciting. I don't know why, but we just need action movies like that and one of the things that I did enjoy about this was that it reminded me of those old grind house films that have quick editing and fast paced stories that are just awesome stories to watch because of the stunts. This is a different form of The Fast and The Furious, only just not with all the fancy gadgets which I like. Also, Jason Statham, this guy is just awesome in action movies, he makes such a great lead in any action role and is such an awesome tough guy that you don't want to mess with.
Based off the 70's film "Death Race 2000", it's 2012, the economy is in bad shape, employment is down, but entertainment is up, especially in prison where racing has become the new gladiator fights. Jenson's wife is murdered and he is framed for it, landing him him in prison, where he is approached by the leader of the Death Race program, Hennessey, and she offers him to race for his freedom if he can make it out alive. But there's something a little deeper when it seems like he was put in prison on purpose so he could race.
Death Race is just pure entertainment, it's nothing original, we don't really know the characters that well or what their motives are, but the reason why this movie is enjoyable is just the awesome action that is endless. I loved the editing, it made the race scenes that much more exciting. I would recommend this movie if you are looking for fun, like I said before we just need a pure action movie sometimes and Death Race is a perfect film on that level. I had a great time watching this movie and am looking forward to seeing it again for a good time.
7/10
Add another comment
Related Links