Death Race 2000 (1975)

Review by Mari Lynne Rupp



It's impossible to do this futuristic satire justice in a review, there's too many angles, too much symbolism.
Produced by Roger Corman,Directed by Paul Bartel and starring Sylvester Stallone, David Carradine and Simone Griffeth, it was made in 1975, on the heels of a bloody war abroad when government was truly questioned for the first time since the civil war. The premise is that a new president is chosen by a trans-continental "race" where drivers rack up points for knocking over pedestrians as well as speed and manoevers. To halt this bloody practice, a rebellion has sprung up to stop the mindless violence that futuristic america has seemingly embraced as "entertainment" (not unlike our society today) and bring back what they think is a bit of sanity to the once-great country. How do they do this? By killing the drivers! (Reminiscent of Pro-Life groups killing abortion doctors) The whole movie is narrated by TV announcer "Junior Bruce" (Don Steele) and has a very charistmatic David Carradine as popular favorite "Frankenstein" With Sylvester Stallone before the muscles as Machine Gun Joey. This film is just a fun ride and a great underground statement for its day. It really says a lot about how the world was viewed in the '70s, and any history buff really needs to see this film to grasp the cultural aspect back then.
9/10