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DEATH RACE

Starring: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Ian McShane, Tyrese Gibson and Natalie Martinez

Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson

R for strong violence and language

By John Delia

The DVD of Death Race has appeared on retailer’s store shelves, but this video shouldn’t be on the shelf for long. Packed with high-octane bonus features and an unrated version of the film, Death Race packs a wallop.
The film itself shows like a video game, it runs like a video game and it feels like a video game, but Death Race is a bone-crunching movie. Hard punching, heart throbbing action with a heated storyline, it slams into your television or computer screen with all the power of some of Paul W.S. Anderson’s previous big screen winners; Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil and Alien vs. Predator.
The film follows the story of Jensen Ames (Statham), a former champion racecar driver who gets framed for the murder of his wife and is sent to Terminal Island, a New York prison set in 2020. Only the most vicious of prisoners are housed on the Island and Warden Hennessey (Allen) uses her scheming creative juices to get a lot of cash from their notoriety. Creating a race where top drivers chosen from the inmate’s race to a finish creating death and mayhem along the way, and it’s computer televised. The brutal ‘sport’ has a favorite called Frankenstein and when the hideous driver gets pulverized one race day in a burst of fire, the warden must find a way to replace the icon without loosing the ratings. When Ames arrives at the prison, the warden cooks up a scheme that includes him and Frankenstein.
The special effects team deliver the gunfire and spectacular explosions. Bullets pelting the back of cars, missiles slamming into walls, spikes ripping tires and total chaos are the best ways to describe the action in the film.
As for the acting, there isn’t much need for any. Much like The Terminator and Die Hard, a few good phrases, some dialogue for plot and it’s a wrap. Statham does his best Transporter, Crank, and War impression and that’s all he really needs. But there’s one actor that needs to be mentioned and that’s Joan Allen. Her interpretation of the evil warden is right on the money. She totally does a convincing job showing that power can be truly diabolical.
Anderson continues to keep the flames burning with super powered characters doing his bidding. Resident Evil and Alien vs. Predator have to be two of the most high-energy flicks ever made. With Death Race, it’s just another day at the office. Throwing anything explosive he can into the film, not overdoing the dialogue or bothering to present a complicated plot, Anderson gives the ultimate in mindless chaos. Just what the action lover needs to escape a day at the office or a week of pounding the books.
The bonuses on this disc include some extremely entertaining features. While I liked the making of called Start Your Engines: Making A Death Race with explanation by director Anderson, I enjoyed the second feature about the stunts even better. The feature is called Behind the Wheel: Dissecting the Stunts and it blew me away. The amazing thing about it is the number of cars they needed to make the film, with no CGI being used, stunt drivers driving the cars, the special ramps, wires, battering rams, and special rigs to throw cars through the air. When you see cars flipping through the air and slamming into a barrier, it is all for real. Even Statham and several other actors drive their cars and do some of stunts in the film.
Please note that the film is rated R for ultra violence, language and brutality, so please do not let the youngsters play the DVD.

FINAL ANALYSIS: Death Race is a high-octane film for explosive action lovers that plays excitingly well on the small screen. (4 of 5 Palm Trees)