Starring: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Ian McShane, Tyrese Gibson
Its seems inadvertently that i have become some sort of fan of Jason Statham movies. This is the third film from his illustrious career that i have reviewed in the past couple of weeks. I have not seen the Transporter film as yet but i’m sure that one will be coming my way soon. I have to say the highlight is still my Snatch DVD but i’m willing to be open minded with the newer films.
Death Race was originally made in 1975 and was set in the year 2000, starring Sylvester Stallone and David Carradine. This version is set in 2012 and is based on roughly the same theme. A sort of real life wacky races but with serious weapons – not cartoon ones. A lot more glamorous than the original the film is set in times of high unemployment and general social disorder. The biggest show on TV is Death Race, set on Terminal Island and watched by millions – it is basically a lot of life sentence criminals who are allowed to race obscene vehicles in a bid to win their freedom… or die. Most die.
It also has echoes of the early Schwarzenegger film, ‘Running Man’ – only this time with cars. We can only hope that these types of programmes will not actually become the future of reality TV. They are a sort of high tech modern age version of how the crowd bayed for blood at an ancient Gladiatoral fight in the Colloseum.
As a film its very watchable, the plot obviously very unlikely but this film is not about the plot… like the majority of the Jason Statham movies i have seen. Apparently the trasporter is worth checking out, maybe thats next on the hitlist.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Writer: Paul W.S. Anderson
