Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the US penal system has reached a breaking point. Prisons have been turned over to a monolithic Weyland Corporation, which sees jails full of thugs as an opportunity for televised sport. Adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for violence and a spectacular, enclosed arena come together to form the 'Death Race', the biggest, most brutal event.
Statham's films never promise to be something they're not or offer something they don't provide. Death Race is not an exception.
– James Berardinelli,
ReelViews,
22 Aug 2008
fresh:
Death Race is cartoonishly brutal and pleasantly disreputable.
– Stephanie Zacharek,
Salon.com,
22 Aug 2008
rotten:
The combination of good actors and terrible dialogue might have allowed the film a chance at minor cult status, if it weren't for the frustratingly inept action sequences.
– Peter Hartlaub,
San Francisco Chronicle,
22 Aug 2008
fresh:
Let Death Race serve as a warning, or maybe an inspiration, to any TV producer who says she'd kill for high ratings: Why not stage a pay-per-view car race in which prisoners compete to stay alive on the course?
– Lisa Schwarzbaum,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Aug 2008
fresh:
It's brainless fun, but while Anderson's brilliant staging of the flesh-ripping stunts surpasses Bartel's cheap thrills, this update lacks the sardonic wit and satirical bite of the Corman-produced version.