Death Race 2000 (1975)

the audience applauded

How sad is this?

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I gave this an 8 because it does so well what it intends to do. It does not intend to be The Godfather or Braveheart. It is intends to be a great B-movie cult flick that is so silly of sorts that it is crazy genius. The beauty is in the casting, too, which carries the schlock. One of a kind and mandatory viewing for every movie buff. A timeless work of art. Btw: The 2050 follow-up is not close.

Roger Corman-produced low-budget classic, directed by Paul Bartel, about a future where an annual race is held where the drivers score points by running over and killing pedestrians. The reigning champion is a masked driver named Frankenstein (David Carradine), whose new "navigator" is a woman with ties to a resistance movement looking to overthrow the despotic President. In typical Corman fashion, the movie came about because Corman wanted to capitalize off of Rollerball, another movie about a violent future-sport. While I do like Rollerball, this one is more fun to watch, in my opinion. The movie has a great cast playing assorted colorful characters. In addition to David Carradine, there's Mary Woronov, Martin Kove, Louisa Moritz, Simone Griffeth, Joyce Jameson, and Sylvester Stallone (in one of his first big film roles). There's satire, action, droll comedy, and intentional corniness. Despite the futuristic plot, this is totally a product of its time. Probably not something for all tastes but few things worth enjoying are.

In a fascist dystopia future, five racers; Calamity Jane, Matilda the Hun, Nero the Hero, Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Sylvester Stallone) and Frankenstein (David Carradine) travel across the country to win the TransContinental Roadrace. Running over people scores the racers points. Annie Smith is Frankenstein's navigator and possibly plans to kill him as part of an anti-race resistance.It's a campy cult classic. This world is outrageous and silly. However it's a one-joke world and not that funny. It may be a good drinking game. There is no doubt of the movie's camp credentials. It isn't anything more than that.

People tend to compare Paul Bartel's "Death Race 2000" to Norman Jewison's "Rollerball". I saw it as more analogous to Sidney Lumet's "Network", Peter Hyams's "Stay Tuned", and the "Hunger Games" franchise. All these movies depict the United States as a society whose idea of entertainment is the lowest, cruelest material. The difference is that "Death Race 2000" and "Stay Tuned" are comedies. The former is the sort of movie that encapsulates the '70s, while the latter was probably inadvertently predicted the rise of reality shows. Another movie that loosely resembles "DR2000" is the Italian mondo movie "Cannibal Holocaust". In one scene a character says that the audience likes having its senses assaulted. Here we see the drivers killing pedestrians, and the race's audience loves seeing it.Of course, it's possible to ignore all that and simply accept the movie as a zany exploitation flick. It's certainly an enjoyable one. David Carradine, Simone Griffeth and Sylvester Stallone all appear to be having fun with the material. Paul Bartel later directed "Eating Raoul", in which he cast himself and "DR2000" co-star Mary Woronov.Really fun movie.