Review of Death Race 2000 (1975) by Filius S — 13 Dec 2015

What Indiana Jones is to Adventure, Star Wars is to Sci-Fi, Goodfellas is to Crime, and Apocalypse Now is to War; Death Race 2000 is to B-Movie cinema.

Join legendary "shoot it quick and cheap so you can get paid" producer, Roger Corman, as he takes you to the dystopian future year of 2000, where the dirty French are ruining the economy and fucking up life for Americans everywhere. Fuck all that though, because ratings are through the roof on America's hottest new TV program: Death Race!

Death Race is a race across America using customized futuristic cars like this and this which are so awesome that there was a rush of exotic car designer suicides the year this film came out. Driving the former car is veteran champion and crowd favorite: Frankenstein (David Carradine), who wears a mask to conceal his disgustingly disfigured face. Driving the latter car is his main competition, Machine Gun Joe (a pre-Rocky Sly Stallone), a mafioso out to win the race at all costs - and cause as much havoc as possible while doing it. This works out in his favor, because in the world of Death Race, it's not just about winning the race, but also killing eager spectators, innocent pedestrians, and good-for-nothing old folks trying to cross the road; each valued with their own points that count towards your final score; if you can survive that long.

The film is a mix of Speed Racer races mixed with the brutality of Twisted Metal. At the time of release, the movie was considered so absurd, that veteran critic Roger Ebert awarded it a stunning zero out of four stars. So how does Death Race 2000 hold up?

Extremely well.

The movie was made for future audiences from the year 2000 who thirst for blood and depraved action, brought on by the dystopian struggle of the common man to forget the plight of day-to-day life. The action is well directed. The acting is funny, stupid, and over the top. The plot is absurd, yet tantalizingly intelligent. The corniness is just charming enough to meet the sweet spot without going into the realm of complete ridiculousness. In the end, Death Race 2000 does what few other low-budget movies could do, creating a microcosm of b-movie tropes that give it legendary placement in the world of cinema.

TL;DR - 8/10.

If you haven't seen this movie, just go out and watch it already. The film is not only one of the best to come from the Roger Corman production line, but simply one of the finest B-Movies ever made. It's nothing high brow, so feel free to smoke a joint, or have a couple of beers, and enjoy the results of a bunch of people getting together, slapping together some props, a script, and some obscure locations, and crafting this visual banquet for your eye stomachs.