But Jason Statham can talk the torque as former racing driver Jensen Ames.
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09/26/08
Death Race (2008)
43
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:143
Fresh:61
Rotten:82
Average Rating:4.8/10
Consensus: Mindless, violent, and lightning-paced, Death Race is little more than an empty action romp.
Theatrical Release:Aug 22, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $36,064,910
Synopsis: The Roger Corman-produced cult favorite DEATH RACE 2000 (1975) gets an update in this reworking from action director Paul W.S. Anderson (RESIDENT EVIL). In a role sure to please fans of his work in... [More]
Starring: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
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Reviews for Death Race
Anderson serves up an unashamedly guilty pleasure that hits every note, particularly when the racing starts.
09/26/08
The remake illustrates only how low modern action movies can stoop. Necks are broken, guts eviscerated. Fans of impaling and decapitation will not be disappointed.
09/26/08
Banish all memories of the original and you’ll find this a slick throwback in the Doomsday mould. Tearing across the screen with all guns blazing, it’s disposable, enjoyable trash.
09/26/08
With face carbon-frozen in rage and mid-Atlantic scowl in place, the Brit export is fast proving himself the most reliably fun actor on the scene, standing a good chance of becoming this generation’s Charles Bronson if he keeps making movies like this.
09/26/08
Anderson's remake of the 1975 Paul Bartel cult film Death Race 2000 is surprisingly effective bonehead fare.
09/26/08
Once out of the starting grid, the film proceeds to edit the action so dementedly that one struggles to work out whose car just exploded, who flipped over and who's driving the one with the missile-launcher on the roof.
09/26/08
This sci-fi fantasy about crazy Mad Max races in a high security prison is 8,000 horsepower of pure auto-erotic carnage.
09/26/08
Crude, rude, testosterone-clotted, meat-headed fun, mind, but its loud and proud lack of pretension is a relief compared to the pseudo-profundity of many blockbusters.
09/26/08
It’s nothing more than an enjoyable, ridiculously macho B-movie romp, but it’s Anderson’s best movie since the underrated Event Horizon. Perhaps, at long last, he’s starting to find his - yep - top gear.
09/26/08
It’s brainless fun, but while Anderson’s brilliant staging of the flesh-ripping stunts surpasses Bartel’s cheap thrills, this update lacks the sardonic wit and satirical bite of the Corman-produced version.
09/25/08
Director Paul WS Anderson has stripped out the satire and black comedy of Roger Corman's 1975 original and left us with just a straight homicidal Grand Prix.
09/25/08
Like a monster car rally without a Truckosaurus in sight, this is more about the smashes and crashes than the vehicles themselves
09/11/08
While the tone is right, the action is cobbled together in such a way that the only thing viewers will experience is motion sickness.
09/09/08
To a seasoned moviegoer who saw the original film, this version offers nothing new but updated armored cars.
09/06/08
[Anderson] misses out on the original film's theatricality of the racers and the dark humor of making targets out of pedestrians - a satire on the audience bloodlust to which Anderson cluelessly panders.
09/05/08
Check out the 1975 original instead, kids. It has cars running over old people and women!
09/02/08
a balls-to-the-wall tank-ful of amiable idiocy, fast-paced enough to keep anyone's eye on the road.
09/01/08
...enough turbo-charged adrenaline to satisfy...the No Fear t-shirt crowd.
08/29/08
Running an economical hour and 45 minutes, Death Race is all muscle, no fat. Anderson and his exceptional cast tell their tightly built story and get out of the way.
08/29/08
Latest News for Death Race
January 03, 2009:
Social commentary on greed and war along with sexed up female con backseat drivers, is thin pretext for the incessant, at times visually surreal heavy metal havoc orgy of war machine, napalm shooting designer macho-mobile boy toy vehicular homicide. 
More...
December 28, 2008:
Social commentary on greed and war along with sexed up female con backseat drivers, is thin pretext for the incessant, at times visually surreal heavy metal havoc orgy of war machine, napalm shooting designer macho-mobile boy toy vehicular homicide.
More...
September 26, 2008:
Exclusive: David Carradine Cameo in Crank 2 says Statham
It's not just Death Race that boasts a cameo from legend David Carradine. According to star Jason Statham, speaking to RT this week ahead of the UK release of Death Race, the... More...
September 26, 2008:
RT Interview: Jason Statham Chats Death Race, Crank 2 and The Sweeney
RT catches up with Jason Statham to learn more about the Death Race and grill him on upcoming turns in Crank 2, Transporter 3 and the possibility of an appearance in Nick Love's... More...
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