The new Death Race, loosely based on 1975’s cult favorite Death Race 2000, imagines a time in the not-so-distant future when sensation-hungry audiences tune in to watch violent demolition derbies in which convicts in race cars smash and maul one another. The future already is here.
This ultraviolent movie has been engineered to stimulate exactly the kind of audience blood lust that the script ostensibly deplores. Young males will lap up the gore, though the movie won’t reach beyond the core audience of car nuts and action freaks.
Once upon a time, producer Roger Corman and director Paul Bartel made a campy B movie that reveled in violence but also had a sense of humor. Most of the comedy is missing from this more realistic remake, which begins at full blast with the obligatory frenetic cutting and deafening sound effects.
