Death Race Redux...
Added 11/22/2009
In "Death Race", a 2008 remake of the Roger Corman cult classic "Death Race 2000", the cars are armed and armored, the drivers are (mostly) real killers, and the cross country race of the original has been replaced by a closed-course, high-tech circuit around a dark and forbidding island prison. A solid cast is headed by Jason Statham as Jensen Ames, an ex-con framed for murder to get him behind the wheel of one of the death cars. Joan Allen plays the cooly sadistic prison warden managing and manipulating the pay-for-view race. Natalie Martinez is Ames' tough but attractive navigator. Tyrese Gibson is scary as Ames homicidal main competitor. Ian McShane steals the show as an aging but savy prison car mechanic.
Director Paul Anderson tries to inject a little plot by giving Statham a baby girl on the outside to live for, and a killer on the inside to take revenge on, but mostly this movie is about the violent, almost video game-quality action around the race course. Cars careen around the circuit, firing machine guns and dispensing napalm and other goodies while whittling down the competition. The intervels between race sets provide short opportunities to establish character motivation and set up a double surprise ending.
"Death Race" is stylishly staged violence on wheels. If the viewer is into that type of movie, this is one to watch.
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A much better than I expected.
Added 11/10/2009
I didn't go see this movie in the the theater because I thought this movie wouldn't be worth my money. I was right, however it's worth renting. It was much better than I expected.
The story is the worst part of the movie. First some how our economy virtually collapses over night, and the prison system isn't making any money so they enter reality television with prisoners fighting and racing for our entertainment. Yes you could see that happening a ways done the round by still far fetched.
The acting and actors on the other hand were really good. The all looked like they wanted to make this movie and were having fun. Jason Statham is always great, and doesn't get the credit he deserves for his acting. Tyrese Gibson, Joan Allen, Natalie Martinez and the rest of the actors all did great jobs.
The action was really good and exciting. The races were really well done which added to the movie. Finally I really liked the ending of the move.
Overall a above average movie worth renting.
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Testosterone Ride
Added 10/18/2009
This is the review of Death Race the unrated version (111 minutes)in blu-ray, hi def (the disk contains 2 versions).
WHAT A RIDE! Heard about "chic flicks", well this is definitely a guy film. The experience was riveting and left us speechless. We were transfixed by the non-stop marathon of cars, fights, violence and babes in hi-definition and incredible HD surround sound. Definately a testosterone ride/boost with no redeming qualities whatsoever: none, zippo.
This movie is nearly two hours of pure escapist joy.
Besides extreme non-stop action, it includes an occasional cheesy slow-mo hair-waving in-the-air shots of "babes" getting in and out of cars. Campy yes. Boring no.
Fun yes.
Highly recommended for what it is: fights, extreme racing, lots of gritty action shots.
The end is kind of sappy but what else would you expect?
If you don't take yourself or your movies too seriously you will love this flick.
Wanna laugh? -I actually bought this Blu-ray disc to test out my home theater sound -- only action Blu-ray I could find that day that had dts 6.1 sound. After using the opening scene a few times to demo the sound (the spatial quality of the sound is truly outstanding going around the room in a dramatic fashion), I put it aside. Then one day after a long day outdoors, my brother, a friend and I decided to watch it while our respective spouses and daughters were busy elsewhere. The result is listed above.
Ideal for a projector setup with very large screen. If you have a choice play it back using dts discrete multi-channel.
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Extreme Road-Rage
Added 10/18/2009
4 of 5 stars for the extreme road-rage movie: Death Race. Set in the future where prisons are run by corporations "for profit" they stream on internet a new sport called The Death Race. Prisoners are forced to drive race cars complete with armor and weapons where the goal is to not just win, but, be the only survivor of the race. Our hero (played by Jason Statham, one of my favorites) gets rail-roaded into prison and forced into driving.
This is a sci-fi movie which is richly and expansively photographed. Yeah, special effects, but, mostly great sets and live action. Really a nice blend of reality and effects. Great action, lots of bullets, lots of smash-ups. This is a recommended movie.
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A guilty pleasure
Added 9/30/2009
Paul W.S. Anderson directs "Death Race", which is a remake of the Roger Corman film, "Death Race 2000". This movie, however, is set in the year 2012 when American society is supposedly collapsing and regressing into a barbaric age where prisoners are used for a spectacle car race in a revival of the gladiators and chariot races from the days of the Roman coliseum combats around 80A.D.
Jason Statham has been set up for the murder of his wife and ends up in a penitentiary full of hardened criminals where he is procured as the replacement for a recently killed racer, named Frankenstein, whose face was so badly scarred that he wore a metal mask and hence his name. Paul W.S. Anderson has directed other sci-fi movies, notably the Resident Evil movies, Event Horizon, and Alien vs. Predator. Here again he uses his considerable skills as a director to deliver this tongue in cheek thrill ride. Joan Allen also stars as the evil jail house warden whose only interest is in the ratings of the death race TV show and the money garnered from the death races. What's not to like in this entertaining spectacle which is spiced up with the sexy Natalie Martinez as Statham's assistant navigator, and the gloriously metallic music supplied by Paul Haslinger?
The blu-ray comes with the theatrical and unrated versions of the movie. I think I actually prefer the theatrical version a bit better just because the ended is concluded in the rapid fire manner of the rest of the film, whereas I find the unrated version drags the ending out a bit in comparison. All in all this is one riotous film.
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Death Race Redux...
Added 11/22/2009
In "Death Race", a 2008 remake of the Roger Corman cult classic "Death Race 2000", the cars are armed and armored, the drivers are (mostly) real killers, and the cross country race of the original has been replaced by a closed-course, high-tech circuit around a dark and forbidding island prison. A solid cast is headed by Jason Statham as Jensen Ames, an ex-con framed for murder to get him behind the wheel of one of the death cars. Joan Allen plays the cooly sadistic prison warden managing and manipulating the pay-for-view race. Natalie Martinez is Ames' tough but attractive navigator. Tyrese Gibson is scary as Ames homicidal main competitor. Ian McShane steals the show as an aging but savy prison car mechanic.
Director Paul Anderson tries to inject a little plot by giving Statham a baby girl on the outside to live for, and a killer on the inside to take revenge on, but mostly this movie is about the violent, almost video game-quality action around the race course. Cars careen around the circuit, firing machine guns and dispensing napalm and other goodies while whittling down the competition. The intervels between race sets provide short opportunities to establish character motivation and set up a double surprise ending.
"Death Race" is stylishly staged violence on wheels. If the viewer is into that type of movie, this is one to watch.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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A much better than I expected.
Added 11/10/2009
I didn't go see this movie in the the theater because I thought this movie wouldn't be worth my money. I was right, however it's worth renting. It was much better than I expected.
The story is the worst part of the movie. First some how our economy virtually collapses over night, and the prison system isn't making any money so they enter reality television with prisoners fighting and racing for our entertainment. Yes you could see that happening a ways done the round by still far fetched.
The acting and actors on the other hand were really good. The all looked like they wanted to make this movie and were having fun. Jason Statham is always great, and doesn't get the credit he deserves for his acting. Tyrese Gibson, Joan Allen, Natalie Martinez and the rest of the actors all did great jobs.
The action was really good and exciting. The races were really well done which added to the movie. Finally I really liked the ending of the move.
Overall a above average movie worth renting.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Testosterone Ride
Added 10/18/2009
This is the review of Death Race the unrated version (111 minutes)in blu-ray, hi def (the disk contains 2 versions).
WHAT A RIDE! Heard about "chic flicks", well this is definitely a guy film. The experience was riveting and left us speechless. We were transfixed by the non-stop marathon of cars, fights, violence and babes in hi-definition and incredible HD surround sound. Definately a testosterone ride/boost with no redeming qualities whatsoever: none, zippo.
This movie is nearly two hours of pure escapist joy.
Besides extreme non-stop action, it includes an occasional cheesy slow-mo hair-waving in-the-air shots of "babes" getting in and out of cars. Campy yes. Boring no.
Fun yes.
Highly recommended for what it is: fights, extreme racing, lots of gritty action shots.
The end is kind of sappy but what else would you expect?
If you don't take yourself or your movies too seriously you will love this flick.
Wanna laugh? -I actually bought this Blu-ray disc to test out my home theater sound -- only action Blu-ray I could find that day that had dts 6.1 sound. After using the opening scene a few times to demo the sound (the spatial quality of the sound is truly outstanding going around the room in a dramatic fashion), I put it aside. Then one day after a long day outdoors, my brother, a friend and I decided to watch it while our respective spouses and daughters were busy elsewhere. The result is listed above.
Ideal for a projector setup with very large screen. If you have a choice play it back using dts discrete multi-channel.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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