DVD Reviews

Death Race 2 (Unrated)

 The Set-Up:

 When Death Race 2000 was famously remade into Death Race by director Paul W.S. Anderson back in 2008, I am pretty sure no one expected or demanded that any kind of sequel was necessary to continue the carnage.  Although cheesy at the highest levels, Anderson’s film pretty much embodied everything we needed to see to get the idea…cars, convicts, babes, and mayhem all rolled into one.  But for those who were not paying attention, the film opened with Frankenstein’s last race to win his freedom from prison, resulting in his death and then being replaced with Jason Statham’s character to keep the Frankenstein persona alive for broadcast ratings. 

The Movie:

Death Race 2 covers the events leading up to that point, thus making it more of a prequel than a sequel.  Expert driver Carl Lucas (Blade II’s Luke Goss) is imprisoned after a heist goes wrong and he refuses to give up his mob employer (The Hitcher’s Sean Bean) that hired him for the job.  When inside, he’s forced to become part of “Death Match” a televised blood-sport of convict combatants fighting each other with a series of weapons for viewing pleasure, put together by an eager journalist (The Vampire Diaries’s Lauren Cohan) and her corporate boss (Pulp Fiction’s Ving Rhames) with the prison’s reluctant assistance.  Through a series of events, “Death Match” evolves into “Death Race”, and suddenly the convicts get to a chance to race for their freedom.  With the help of fellow inmate Goldberg (Machete’s Danny Trejo), and female convict Katrina (Tanit Phoenix), Lucas tries to avoid a bounty on his head while surviving the grind of the race, only to meet with fate when he suffers severe burns after a fiery crash and becomes the sensation known as Frankenstein after he recovers.

If you are bearing in mind that this continuation of the Death Race series is a straight-to-DVD effort that had nowhere near the budget of the first film, and is not directed by Paul W.S. Anderson this time out (although he does get story credit), then you may think Death Race 2 is commendable in a B-movie way.  But when it boils right down to it, the film doesn’t bring anything new to the table.  It is pretty much the same carnage without the glossiness of fine editing, well-paced action, and good sound mixing to back it up.  While it may be interesting to see how it connects to the Statham film through Frankenstein’s origins, the process of how the Death Race was created, and a couple of returning characters like Lists (Frederick Koehler) and 14K (Mortal Kombat’s Robin Shou), Death Race 2 is still a step down from its predecessor. 

The DVD’s Video & Audio:

On the DVD end there is a plus side but also a negative one too.  For picture quality, the look of Death Race 2 on screen is pretty good.  Things are bright and well visible when they need to be, the darker scenes do not reflect any unbalanced black levels, and the film is almost free of grain.  The audio content is another story.  Although Death Race 2 sports a considerably strong Dolby Digital 5.1 track, whoever did the sound mixing was way off course.  The car revs, the bullets, and the explosions all come off substantially soft for this kind of movie. 

The DVD’s Bonus Features:

The Audio Commentary with Director Roel Reine gleefully details his personal touches on the "Death Race" universe.  Artistic choices are discussed, along with casting tidbits, but the majority of the chat is reserved for technical challenges (Reine operated the camera himself, keeping him close to the action). 

The Deleted Scenes return little bits of non-vital connective tissue to the story, but the main addition here is a moment of torment for Lucas, showing the character ravaged with guilt for his bank robbing misdeeds.  The Deleted Scenes Montage is a series of images and explosions that didn't make the final cut, showcasing just how much effort went into the 30 day shoot. They can be viewed with or without an introduction from director Roel Reine.

The Race Begins is a whole bunch of promotional hoopla, but the behind-the-scenes footage presented is amusing, highlighting a hurried, sweaty shoot crammed with stunts and special effects.  Cheating Death isolates the physical effort of the crew, who took to the fringes of South Africa to stage car chases and fistfights. Seeing how the pieces are put together is mildly entertaining.  Fast Cars & Firearms highlights the personalities of the automobiles and how they reflect their nutty drivers. Armament is also explored. There is no Trailer attached to the extras.

In Conclusion:

Death Race 2 as a straight-to-video release isn’t all that much of a wasted effort, but neither is it very high on the priority scale.  It’s shameless material much like its predecessor but with less energy and style, making it an inferior sequel (or prequel).  Still, any fans of Death Race 2000 or the remake are more than likely not looking for a ton of substance to satisfy their craving, so Death Race 2 may be right at home in that department.

Review By Ryan Young