User reviews

The B-film industry was once a thriving staple of Hollywood, with directors of all walks and ideals being able to make a film as long as they could raise the cash. Roger Corman, a producer and director among many other things, is one embodiment of the independent spirit. Producing over three hundred films in his career, his name is virtually synonymous with B-level schlock, and it is his productions that have given many of today's major stars their start. In fact, you will find three very familiar faces gracing Death Race 2000. Death Race 2000 is one of his more extravagant productions, but do not let that fool you. Even in 1975, the three hundred thousand dollars he spent on Death Race 2000 would have equaled lunch money on The Godfather Part II, released the previous year on a comparatively lavish budget of thirteen million dollars. While I like both films equally, Death Race 2000 impresses me more simply because it manages to entertain me from start to finish without spending enough money to fund an emergency ward for a month.

Death Race 2000's plot is simple enough. Five drivers in customised cars drive across a repressive American dictatorship, starting on the East Coast before making their way to New Los Angeles. Along the way, they may run over any pedestrians for certain scores. Rather than simply being the first to cross the finish line, the winner is he who can accumulate more points than the others. It is this critical difference compared to other racing films from which much of the comedy is derived. Those who have seen the film before will remember Euthanasia Day with a lot of fondness, and the utter incompetence of the resistance movement is hilarious in itself. But the real comedy derives from the individual drivers and their personalities. By far the most normal driver in the competition is Calamity Jane, a woman with a cowgirl fetish and metallic bullhorns on the front of her car. Coming next is Nero The Hero, who will look very familiar to viewers of The Karate Kid. His whole shtick revolves around being a Roman Gladiator, but the film does not really give him enough time to develop it.

Things get really interesting with racer number three, Matilda The Hun. Sporting Nazi symbolism and screaming "Blitzkrieg" whenever she scores a pedestrian, she is the least subtle indication that the makers had their tongues firmly in their cheeks during the creation of the film. Next are the two big rivals in the competition. Sylvester Stallone plays "Machine Gun" Joe Viterbo like a cranky adolescent who has snorted too much cocaine. There is literally nothing on the road he will not kill, and Stallone's trademark slurred speech suits the character to a T. But the real star of the story is Frankenstein, the other previous race winner and a friend of the President. David Carradine plays Frankenstein like a C-grade Darth Vader, delivering much of the comedy. His diversion on Euthanasia Day and the moment where he kicks Stallone's butt are worth watching the film for by themselves. Learning about why he wants to win the race, and what he will do in order to accomplish it, are hilarious in and of themselves. You can sort of see why Carradine and Stallone went on to become headlining stars whilst Kove enjoyed a brief career as the lead villain.

Death Race 2000 is as dated as hell, let's not kid ourselves. The matte painting of the starting race track is more obvious than an undone bluescreen effect. The blood is so fake that it looks pink at times. The editing makes it very confusing to see how one is getting run over, or who is punching whom during the aforementioned Carradine/Stallone altercation. On the other hand, its story of a dictatorship America that uses sport as an opiate for the masses, its portrayal of the media, and its depiction of blind obedience are timeless. They are even more relevant thirty years on than when the film first premiered. I like to think of the incompetent resistance movement as an indictment of the fact that we would have a better government if we had a credible or even opposing opposition. Seventy-nine minutes is too short a time to go into these political subplots at all, but that Death Race 2000 touches on them at all when far more serious and lengthy films made years later cannot even consider them is a credit to Corman and his company. Death Race 2000 is one of those films that should be preserved in a time capsule for the edification of future generations.

I gave Death Race 2000 a seven out of ten. Were I making it today, there are a few things I would do differently. The television segments would have been filmed using video or line removal rather than a camera at a television screen, for instance. Balancing this out, however, is the fact that so many of the shots are so effectively composed that it is no wonder Tak Fujimoto went on to become a multi-award-winning Hollywood cinematographer. In short, if you have not seen Death Race 2000 yet, then grab the new Roger Corman Classics DVD. It will be the best B-film, in fact one of the best films period, you will see all year.

Death Race 2000 is the finest example to show how easy it actually was back in the seventies to come up with a timeless cult film. Honestly, anyone could have invented an outrageously exaggerated premise like this but the fact that it was actually Roger Corman who dealt with it just proves how eminently he ruled the B-movie circuit back then. Death Race 2000 is one of the most entertaining films ever made and I, for one, can't imagine someone not loving the severely ridicule story of a coast-to-coast car race where the contesters score points by wiping pedestrians off the road. Silly, yes…but even more ingenious, flamboyant and offensive. Pure cult, in other words, and fundamental viewing for every soul who ever showed interest in extravagant film-making! The script is stuffed with imaginative findings (euthanasia day at the hospital!) and downright UNsubtle protest towards the American way of life (a factor that determines Death Race 2000 as cult even more). Considering it's a Corman production, the film also contains explicit violence, provoking messages and a truckload of sleaze! All the elements that guarantee untamed cult success! Of course it has to be said that it could have been an even better film if Corman and director Paul Bartel focused on a more proper elaboration of the versatile idea. The rivalry between Carradine and Stallone, for example, should have resulted in a more intriguing sub plot and even though DR 2000 already contains much absurdity as it is, the premise surely had potential enough to add even more sick jokes and cynical situations. David Carradine acts deliciously as always and Stallone is excellent as well. Death Race 2000 is cinema that separates the men from the boys, people! Stop exploring the cult genre in case you didn't had the time of your life watching this film.

Death Race parodies so many things it's hard to know where to begin. America-centrism (the government blame the French for everything), professional sports, pro wrestling (the drivers are badly acted "theme" types), Big Brother, and just about everything else you could name. At the same time it panders to the blood lust of the audience with cartoon violence. Sylvester Stallone is hilarious as a driver with the mannerisms of a 30's gangster, practicing on his accent for the Rocky movies. A must -see.

"Death Race 2000" is a low budget genre melting pot from 1975 starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone as two of five feuding race car drivers competing in a futuristic sport that is won based on racking up points from killing pedestrians and others. Based on a 1956 short story, it's a highly satiric sci-fi actioner that uses ironic and downright sadistic touches to examine America's abhorrent fascination with violence.

The ridiculously contrived and outlandish futuristic setting was put into heavy rotation during the mid-70's in several other films ("Westworld"; "Soylent Green"; "Logan's Run") as a means to tell downbeat and cynical stories that allowed the audience to escape their own reality, but still experience a certain catharsis.

In the case of "Death Race 2000" the results are a mixed bag, as the over the top material races from dark comedy to "Sleeper"-like sci-fi to undercooked romance and back again. It works because of the tongue-in-cheek direction of Paul Bartel, who would go on to helm the brilliant dark comedy "Eating Raoul". The whole thing is great fun, and has a surprising innocence underneath all of the mostly cartoonish violence.

This said, the main gripe would have to be the inconsistent pacing, as the race and the story took breaks between laps, which leaves the viewer peeking at their watch.

David Carradine plays legendary driver "Frankenstein" who runs the annual cross-country race in the future year 2000(!) which is televised to a nation of oppressed citizens for their entertainment(very much like the Roman Empire) There are no rules, since the goal is for the racers to rack up points by hitting as many pedestrians as possible, some of whom willingly sacrifice themselves, and others who don't seem to have a clue what's going on...

Violent but funny film has a carefully controlled performance by David Carradine, and many flamboyant ones from the others(including Martin Kove and Sylvester Stallone) Carradine must deal with treachery from his co-pilot, who is part of a resistance movement meant to overthrow the president, who no longer lives in the country.

Effective satire offsets the graphic violence, and chase scenes are well staged, leading to a most satisfying(and ironic) end.

In a fascist dystopia future, five racers; Calamity Jane, Matilda the Hun, Nero the Hero, Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Sylvester Stallone) and Frankenstein (David Carradine) travel across the country to win the TransContinental Roadrace. Running over people scores the racers points. Annie Smith is Frankenstein's navigator and possibly plans to kill him as part of an anti-race resistance.

It's a campy cult classic. This world is outrageous and silly. However it's a one-joke world and not that funny. It may be a good drinking game. There is no doubt of the movie's camp credentials. It isn't anything more than that.

David Carradine stars in this classic cult creation. Deathrace 2000 is the 20th anniversary of the murderous trans-continental road race, or, in the words of the US president "what you all want".

You could lose this film in the repertoire of John Carpenter. If you're a Carpenter fan, you really need to see this. Much is made of Corman's production of this film, but this is really not a Corman film in any sense - except for its very obviously low budget. Paul Bartel (of Eating Raoul fame) deserves the directorial credit here, and he really did well given the mediocrity of the material he had to work with.

Ostensibly, the film is about a race involving five participants - Frankenstein (Carradine), Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Stallone), Calamity Jane (Woronov), Mathilda the Hunn, and Nero the Hero - all of comic book stature. They are joined by navigators who double as concubines, which, I suppose, illustrates the trust and intimacy a driver must have with any partner involved in a high speed transcontinental race where the goal is to kill as many pedestrians as possible along the way. About a quarter of the way through the film, it becomes clear that the real story is about the connection between the US government, religion, mass-produced violence and a resistance movement, all focused on either promoting or ending the race once and for all. As despicable as the empowered elite may be in this film, the critique of the media is even more scathing.

Carradine is race hero Frankenstein. Sly Stallone plays his arch-rival Machine Gun Joe Viterbo, and an ensemble cast of fellow racers, media mavens, politicos, and willing and unwilling victims of "the great race" lend strong support. The acting is predictably campy and sometimes just a little too B grade. But the occasional pacing disaster just enhances the humor-value of the film. Stallone is particularly amusing, and gets great support from his sidekick. Carradine is typically bizarre, and even parodies himself with a few poorly choreographed kung fu techniques during his absurd fight scene with Stallone. As short as he is, Stallone is still a much larger and more fit man than Carradine, but gets handily whooped. The cinematographer makes no effort to hide the absurdity of this scene.

The script for this film is a series of well-delivered clichés strung together with cleverly choreographed racing action sequences. As such, it parodies tough-guy talk in films and in real life. The photography is excellent, and on par with John Carpenter's straightforward visual subtlety.

This film appears, at first blush, as a comedic celebration of violence. But it's really a very campy comment on the use of violence in sport and entertainment, as a way to distract and desensitize the public from serious issues such as economic stress, collectivist totalitarianism, the enshrinement of mediocrity, and "minority privilege" (a euphemism for rule by an entrenched powerful elite). The film is dated and does not need to be seen ten times to get it (though I just completed about my 12th viewing).

The political messages are worth hearing, the humor is worth paying attention to, and, if it's your first time, you will likely find this movie quite entertaining.

How can one movie be so bad but so wonderfully good at the same time? Death Race 2000 accomplishes this. Set in the `future' of 2000, racers gear up to race in a cross county road race to see who can finish 1st with the most points. How do they collect points? By running people over of coarse. This movie is a far throw from the multimillion-dollar movies of today, but yet, tends to be as good, if not better, than some of the newer movies. It not only tells a fun and enjoyable story, it has fun sets and props. With a minimal budget this movie was able to make some *very* cool looking cars. This movie was meant to be taken seriously, but that is what makes it so good. It has laughable acting and a strange plot. If you enjoy older sci-fi movies, and David Carradine, you have to see this movie. This movie is a *must* see for all the campy movie fans, and sci-fi fans alike.

In a dystopian future, a cross country automobile race requires contestants to run down innocent pedestrians to gain points that are tallied based on each kills brutality. Starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone.

When I was younger and my family would go for a drive, my father would often make the remark that if he swerved and hit someone, it would be worth twenty points. In my youth, I never really understood where he picked it up from, but now I think it is safe to say that "Death Race 2000" was his source.

While this movie is fairly cheesy, it is fun in a way most other films simply are not. I would not even call it a "dark comedy" because the violence is not dark, it is just campy. Beverly Gray calls it "comically macabre".

There is some strong underlying message about American values that could be interpreted differently by different people: is America an inherently violent nation? Or are we a nation trying to maximize our freedoms? (This dispute comes into play when "rebels" show up who wish to end the race and restore the old America.) What is interesting is that Corman was known to be anti-authority, so he should be saying that this race is barbaric. Yet, he clearly understands that the viewer enjoys the death scenes... without them, the film would be nothing. What does this say about us, or about him?

Stallone has a surprisingly small role, despite being the secondary character. He does not speak much and seems to be in the movie for no other reason than to use violence against women. In the vernacular, he "keeps his pimp hand strong".

David Carradine, who never busts out many a karate move in this film, is the real hero. He plays the race's most popular character ("Frankenstein") who has allegedly been pieced back together year after year. His bondage gear outfit and smooth Carradine attitude make him a clear favorite for movie viewers, as well.

All in all, this film is a cult classic and deserves to be. Corman wanted to compete with "Rollerball" (1975) for a fraction of the cost, so he purchased Ib Melchoir's "The Racer" and went from there. I think he succeeded. I do not know how much money each film made, but I know of nobody today who is out there calling "Rollerball" the better film.

It must be some sort of film watchers blasphemy having seen the Statham reboot before having watched this one. I have no excuses, this just never made its way on my pile before. Until now! I must say it delivered in a lot of ways, while also being a bit of a fun mess.

I have to admit that I really enjoy the dedication to camp and style that the old cult movies have. As I watch a plethora of bad movies, cult movies, and new and unknown films, I find myself enjoying the films that at least stay with their premise. Films that know they are weird and off-putting, yet stay the course. It's what makes a memorable film even if it's a cult classic b-movie. Death Race 2000 grabs a hold of its world and squeezes the weird juice from it. Didn't need a high budget to be entertaining, didn't need to make sense to be entertaining. It just made me believe in its Schtick and had me go along for the ride. Something that seems to be missing in newer indie films for the most part.

I know this really wasn't a review of Death Race 2000 more than me wondering why we don't see movies like this anymore. Even though we live in a world of streaming sites that buy anything. Still, you've probably seen or talked about this before and as always I find myself late to the game. Death Race is fun and should be watched even for its flaws and dated everything.

'Death Race 2000', like 'Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls', 'The Omega Man', 'Repo Man' and 'Rock'n'Roll High School', is one of those dependable all time favourite trash classics that I watch regularly and never fail to get a smile out of. Anytime you're down just put 'Death Race 200' on and you're guaranteed to be cheered up! Directed by the late Paul Bartel ('Eating Raoul', 'Lust In The Dust')), co-produced by b-grade legend Roger Corman ('Bloody Mama', 'House Of Usher'), and co-written by Charles Griffith ('The Wild Angels', 'Little Shop Of Horrors'), this is simply one of the most enjoyable and entertaining exploitation movies of all time. The setting is the near future where a totalitarian regime keep the populace happy with a violent and extremely popular sport of hit and run car racing. The champion of the people is Frankenstein (David Carradine - 'Boxcar Bertha', 'Q') who has to race against a flamboyant group of rivals, led by his mortal enemy Machine-Gun Joe Viterbo (Sly Stallone!) who is intent on knocking him off the top. The other drivers include such cult figures as Mary Woronov ('Chopping Mall'), Roberta Collins ('Caged Heat'), Martin Kove ('The Karate Kid'), Leslie McRae ('Blood Orgy Of The She Devils') and Fred Grandy ('The Love Boat'). This is a rip roarin' non-stop action-packed black comedy that is an absolute hoot! I can't recommend this one highly enough. Essential viewing!

Death Race 2000

The one thing to look forward to in a dystopian society is the live broadcast of the annual human blood sport.

Thankfully, this post-apocalyptic action movie has full coverage.

In the year 2000, a band of rebels plot to usurp the omnipotent Mr. President (Sandy McCallum) by sabotaging a state sanctioned death race across country in which racers garner points by running over pedestrians

While their efforts work on lesser racers like Machine-Gun Joe (Sylvester Stallone), Nero the Hero (Martin Kove) and Matilda the Hun (Roberta Collins), it fails when it comes to the mysterious wheelman Frankenstein (David Carradine).

Produced by B-Movie schlockmeister Roger Corman, this 1975 adaptation of an obscure fantasy novel was and is still ahead of its time in terms of apocalyptic parables - but not so much in the over-the-top acting or trashy special effects.

Incidentally, if a points system were instated, hit-and-run drivers would come forward.

Yellow Light

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**SPOILERS** After the disastrous stock market crash of 1979 the US was left with no means of economic support and degenerated into a fascist dictatorship. It was in 1980 that the unelected chief of state known only as Mr. President, Sandy McCallum, inaugurated the exciting and dangerous Transcontinental Road Race to distract the American public from the real crisis at hand. A dark and dismal future for themselves and their children.

It's now 2000 and former two-time Transcontinental Road Race champ and national hero Frankenstein, David Carradine, is back fully reconstructed-after a number of near fatal crashes-and ready to defend his title. What Frankenstein is really interested in is to end the race in an earth shaking fashion. Not by just winning it but putting an end to Mr. President's fascist regime as well as Mr. President himself.

Fast and furious racing action without the use of computer enhanced special effects makes "Death Race 2000" fun to watch even though the race calls for the running down and killing of innocent civilians in order to score points, as well as finish first, to win it. Frankenstein's chief rival is the Chicago mobster Machine Gun Joe Viterbo, Sylvester Stallone. Veterbo is nothing but a brainless thug who's had it in for the man of "nuts and bolts" since he beat him hands down in his two previous races against him.

While the race in going on the great, to the tenth power, granddaughter of the American Revolutionary Thomas Paine the feisty Thomasina Paine, Harriet Medlin, and her band of modern 21th Century American revolutionaries are attempting to sabotage it and at the same time assassinate Mr. President when he hands out the winning prize, together with a handshake, to the winner of the race.

Not as corny and unbelievable as people thought at the time of its release back in 1975, the same year that the similar movie "Rollerball" came out, "Death Race 2000" shows how a dictatorial regime can come to America by using both entertainment as well as patriotism as, like a Trojan Horse, its cover.

****SPOILER****Frankenstein despite giving the impression of being a company man was really fed up with Mr. President and everything that he stood for. But it took the grueling three day 3,000 mile Transcontinental Road Race, that almost cost Franknsein his life, for him to finally achieve his life long dream: At the winners circle in New L.A where the race came to its bloody and destructive end.

I avoided DEATH RACE 2000 for a long time because I thought it would be too violent and sadistic just like the remake with Jason Statham. But I figured that since it was made in the 70s it couldn't be that bad. And it isn't. Special effects have gotten much better. The blood in the remake looks real. Anybody can tell that the blood here is fake. The violence is also quite minimal. I mean, there's a scene where a guy's head gets crushed under a car tire but trust me, it really isn't as gory as it sounds.

The movie is only around 75 minutes long, which is as long as it needed to be. There really aren't any scenes that I thought were unnecessary. I really liked the story and the political commentary. The action scenes were pretty good for a movie that cost just $300,000 (around $1.5 million in today's money) to make. I still can't get over the fact that this spectacular (and I promise I'm not using that word sarcastically) movie was made for only that much money. (By the way, I didn't give this movie 10 stars for being good AND inexpensive, just for being good. I'm just saying that the fact that it was inexpensive is amazing given how good it is.)

Anyway, another thing that I really liked about this movie is that it is really funny. I don't want to give any specific examples since DR2K is so short and it's best if you watch it without knowing much about it, but there are some scenes that might seem sadistic at first but really aren't.

This isn't a movie that takes itself too seriously, which I really liked. Here's the thing. Every dystopian movie has an absurd premise. I can't think of a single one that doesn't. So why are they so serious? (There are maybe a few exceptions, like LOGAN'S RUN, which is somewhat serious but not excessively so.) Take THE HUNGER GAMES for example. It's so serious but, ultimately, the premise is quite ridiculous. The makers of DEATH RACE 2000 knew they were making a movie with a droll premise and apparently didn't hesitate to make it lighthearted and humorous. I thought it was hilarious how Matilda the Hun, the Nazi driver, yelled "Blitzkrieg!" every time she ran someone over. Sylvester Stallone as "Machine Gun" Joe Viterbo has some really great lines such as "You lousy stinking dirtball. You've got two seconds to live!"

I can't believe that the late Roger Ebert gave this movie 0/4 stars. That was another reason why I avoided this movie for quite a long time. Now don't get me wrong, I really liked reading his reviews and I agreed with his opinions on many of the movies that he reviewed. But go look up his review. It's really not a review of the film itself. It's more of a criticism of movie theaters that don't enforce MPAA ratings.

DEATH RACE 2000 is one of the most entertaining movies I've ever seen. You might think it's a movie that's so bad it's good but it's not. It's just good.

Another cheap and cheerful outing from the unbelievably prolific House of Corman (IMDB credits him as producer on no less than 380 films!) 'Death Race 2000' is full of hilariously under-cranked race scenes, terrible dialogue, performances so over-the-top as to raise suspicions of pharmaceutical abuse, special effects that Tom Savini would have been ashamed of as a teenager experimenting in his garage, cheap sets, and bargain-basement costumes. And yet it all seems to work, thanks to Corman and Bartel, who manage to infuse everything they touch, however close it gets to exploitation, with an infectious charm and innocence that's just plain fun to watch. It's of equal interest to experience such a vivid time capsule of mid-seventies counter-culture politics. But despite all the veiled references to Vietnam, Watergate, government corruption and public apathy, any real satirical power is lost beneath the weight of such broad, slapstick comedy.

A surprisingly funny, OTT sci-fi action. It was banned in Sweden a long time, and now I recently taped it uncut from television. I didn´t expect much and I was pleasantly surprised. An example of good, fun low budget filmmaking.

Wonderful B movie shot in the style and acting of cheap porn of that era. Then again some of this cast have history there. That said, this has some great humour and does play the 1984 political thread well. As for storyline think of this combined with Escape From New York another golden oldie. What's new in 2018, Death Race, Beyond Anarchy ???. They're so out of ideas they're digging up stories almost half a century old or copying comics. Seems to be a lack of original stories to tell.

"Death Race 2000" is a Sci-Fi - Comedy movie in which we watch a car race in a dystopian future. In this race the drivers have to run down pedestrians in order to gain points and the one with the most points wins.

I liked this movie because it had a simple and nice plot that contained plenty of action scenes combined very well with comedy. The direction which was made by Paul Bartel was good and he presented very well the dystopian future along with the choices of his main characters. The interpretations of both David Carradine who played as Frankenstein and Sylvester Stallone who played as Machine Gun Joe Viterbo were very good and their combination worked very well. To sum up, I have to say that "Death Race 2000" is a nice action movie and I recommend you to watch it because I am sure you will enjoy it and you will laugh, too.