Actors try to add a touch of class to a picture that's utterly crass.
Comment
08/22/08
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
Top CriticNo fancy talk here, just solid, monosyllabic obscenities; no flights of digital fancy, just souped-up monster cars flipping end over end in a napalm blaze and crashing in a crunch of flaming metal ouch.
08/22/08
It is an assault on all the senses, including common. Walking out, I had the impression I had just seen the video game and was still waiting for the movie.
08/22/08
Top CriticDirector Paul W.S. Anderson is one of Hollywood's most consistent directors - he can always be counted on to make a terrible movie.
08/22/08
The movie makes no demands on its audience, except to cheer in all the right places.
08/21/08
Like big steaming chunks of charred animal flesh, or a fleeting glimpse of a gal's ample cleavage, Death Race taps into something very primal (and very male) about the action movie experience.
08/21/08
Even though DEATH RACE is pretty bloody, and had some cool moments, the overall experience is mind numbing and a little depressing. It's sad to think that this is Anderson's best effort since 2002, and that it's still as bad as ever.
08/21/08
If you're considering seeing Death Race this weekend, send me ten bucks and I'll personally come to your house and punch you in the face instead. It will be more dramatically rewarding.
08/21/08
Yes, it's a big ball of stupid, and yes, it's pretty damn fun.
08/21/08
The flick is mindless fun. Any guy who wears Chuck Taylors, kills people in amazing ways and just spouts off amazing dialogue is totally cool in my book.
08/21/08
The movie is almost a lot of fun, were it not for the fact that Anderson lacks a knack for clarity and lightness; he shakes the camera too much and cuts so fast that the race becomes a blur.
08/21/08
We're in for a bumpy ride on Anderson's Bi-polar express where the line between homage and ripoff is never as blurry as his action sequences. His Ben-Hur chariot race would have needed nothing more than one set of horses, a couple human heads and a wheel.
08/21/08
Made for that dude down near the front of the theater who screams out, "DAAAAAMN," every time a character meets his untimely demise. Either you're that guy or you are not.
08/21/08
Brit writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson obviously realizes that he isn't there to make Hamlet. He's got a job to do and he does it effectively and competently.
08/21/08
Death Race roars, rages and races down the track, all velocity and visceral violence, unencumbered by logic, sense, reason or dignity.
08/21/08
While Anderson's speedy send-up would definitely have benefited from more intentional humor and less angst and schmaltz, the director can be given kudos for knowing what fans of extreme violence demand: There's hard-R mayhem-a-plenty here!
08/21/08
exists so critics will have something to put on their year-end "Worst Of" lists.
08/21/08
If a movie could drag its knuckles on the ground, Death Race would leave eight little tracks in the sand.
08/21/08
Mmmmmm... it tastes like sleaze.
08/21/08
...should give fans of the genre just what they're looking for.
08/21/08
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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