DEATH RACE
(UNRATED EDITION) (2008)
Death Race (Unrated Edition) (2008)
Actors: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane,
Natalie Martinez
Directors: Paul W.S. Anderson
Writers: Paul W.S. Anderson, Charles B. Griffith, Ib Melchior, Robert
Thom
Producers: Adam Merims, Dennis E. Jones, Jeremy Bolt
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen,
NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Region: 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Release Date: December 21, 2008
Run Time: 105 minutes
Movie:
 
Disc:
 This
over-the-top remake of the 'Seventies cult Roger Corman flick is as guilty a
pleasure as you're likely to find.
With the U.S. economy in collapse and gladiatorial blood
sports on the rise, the corporate forces running the penal system hit upon a
brilliant notion. They rig hot rods with machine guns, place condemned
prisoners behind the wheel, and let them strafe their way around a track for
the chance to earn their freedom.
As a satire, Anderson's crude swipes at our current
economic woes never reflect the courage of his convictions. It also loses a
great deal of its predecessor's soul - it doesn't even have joyful bits of
naughtiness like Euthanasia Day and if you don't have Euthanasia Day, you
really don't have Death Race, do you?
Still, Death Race is supposed to revel in
meaningless sadism. It's supposed to be cheap and tacky and brazenly
exploitative. Complaining about all that is like critiquing Yellow
Submarine for being full of Beatles songs. Death Race is exactly
what its creators wanted it to be and exactly what fans of quick, dirty
thrills expect.
THE DISC: The producers apparently put the
Death Race DVD together with the intention
of maximizing marketing potential and minimizing cost. Only one disc is
included, and the bulk of it is taken up with a ballyhooed "unrated" cut
alongside the theatrical version. There's about six additional minutes of
material included -unremarkable, but evincing the same cackling misanthropy
that makes the rest of the film such a hoot. That doesn't leave much room
for many other extras: just a pair of behind-the-scenes docs totaling about
30 minutes and a fitfully interesting audio track from Paul W.S. Anderson
and producer Jeremy Bolt. Those looking for anything more have clearly come
to the wrong movie.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The original running time was 105 minutes. The running time
of the unrated cut is 111 minutes.
- Rob Vaux
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