Death Race
Unrated Edition
Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane, Joan Allen, Natalie Martinez
Universal Home Entertainment
Released Date: December 21, 2008
Let’s get one thing out in the great wide open right off the bat: Death Race is not a good movie. It’s completely mindless and filled with over-the-top absurdities (when did the women’s prison get stocked with friggin’ supermodels?) dancing around a very “WWE Films Present” tone.
OK, now that that’s out of the way, I have to admit… Death Race is a pretty damn fun movie. Yes, I really just said that. No, I don’t get it either. Seriously, though, as obvious as it is that the movie won’t be scooping up a collection of Oscars, it’s not out there trying to look like it should be.
Death Race is about an ex race car driver (Jason Statham) who’s out trying to find work in the new great depression (surprisingly fitting) when his wife is murdered and he’s framed for the crime, setting this up to be one of them big, scary movie prisons. The Warden (Joan Allen) offers him the chance to take the place of their most popular (and now deceased) driver so they can make a lot of money off the name with their Internet sensation, the Death Race, where inmates race to the death and where if you win five events, you go free. Without much of a choice, he accepts the offer and attempts to find a way to pull it off.
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