Death Race (2008) [Blu-ray]
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close  Death Race (2008) [Blu-ray]
Rated:  UNRATED 
Starring: Joan Allen, Ian McShane, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson.
Director: Paul WS Anderson
Genre: Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
DVD Release Date: 12/21/2008

Welcome to the Death Race, where hardened convicts and smoking-hot navigators race tricked-out cars in the most twisted spectator sport on Earth! Sentenced to the world's most dangerous prison for a murder he did not commit, Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) has only one chance to get out alive - win the ultimate race to the death. Also starring Tyrese Gibson, Death Race is a "supercharged, sick and satisfying" (Nathan Lee, The New York Times) ride that will keep you pinned to your seat all the way to its insane, metal-crushing end!

User Comment: Mr_Wall from San Francisco, CA, 21 August 2008 • 2012 the economy has hit bottom, broke through and has kept on descending. Along the way prisons have been handed over to the private sector that have chosen to make a profit by broadcasting gladiatorial style death matches starring the inmates, with the reward to the inmates after 5 victories – FREEDOM Enter Jensen Ames (Jason Stratham) a recently unemployed steel worker and former race car driver who lost his license but no matter how bad things are, he's a happy man as long as he has his family.

That is, until he's set up for the murder of his wife, imprisoned, and forced to compete in Death Race if he ever hopes to see his daughter again.

But enough of the plot! A paragraph blurb at the start and 8 minutes of character development is pushing the limits of this flick and that's not why a person would see a W.S. Anderson/Jason Stratham action flick and besides, a plot would allow "plot holes" and who needs to deal with that headache? The rest of the movie takes place in the 3 days of Death Race. The first 2 days are competition/elimination rounds reminiscent of Mario Kart as if it was designed by some rogue member of GTA on a disgruntled day but who loved the hidden short cuts and power-ups.

Amongst all the adrenaline filled action, Anderson makes sure to toss in the occasional character development or when he's feeling really daring he'll toss in some pseudo-dramatic realization our hero comes across which helps remind the movie-goer that the movie has a plot rather than just a string of explosive action sequence. All of this is done with the utmost use of cliché and designed to inspire the excitable little 12 year old boy in many of us to stay riveted in our seats as we wait for Jensen to strike with angry revenge for all he's been through.

The movie is everything a modern day movie aficionado should not like. It's brainless, sexist, ridiculously violent, and lacks any redeemable qualities. These are also all the reasons why I had so much fun with the movie. I went seeing what I expected and that's exactly what I wanted to see!

Summary: who needs a plot when there's explosion and mayhem?

IMDb Rating (04/22/15): 6.7/10 from 95,442 users
IMDb Rating (04/22/15): 6.8/10 from 12,044 users
IMDb Rating (07/24/12): 6.8/10 from 8,374 users

Additional information
Copyright:  2008,  Universal Studios
Features:  • Start Your Engines: Making A Death Race
• Behind The Wheel: Dissecting The Stunts
• Feature Commentary With Director Paul W.S. Anderson And Producer Jeremy Bolt
• D-Box Motion Enabled
• Blu-ray Exclusive U-Control
• Digital Copy Of Death Race For Portable Media Players
Subtitles:  English, Spanish, French
Video:  Widescreen 2.35:1 Color
Screen Resolution: 1080p
Audio:  ENGLISH: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
SPANISH: DTS 5.1
FRENCH: DTS 5.1
Time:  1:45
DVD:  # Discs: 1 -- # Shows: 1
UPC:  025195056625
Coding:  [V4.5-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC
D-Box:  Yes
Other:  Producers: Paula Wagner, Paul WS Anderson, Jeremy Bolt; Directors: Paul WS Anderson; Writers: Paul WS Anderson; running time of 105 minutes; Packaging: HD Case.

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