DVD
REVIEW: DEATH RACE
12/19/08
SYNOPSIS:
Jason Statham leads the cast of an
action-thriller set in the post-industrial wasteland of
tomorrow, with the world's most brutal sporting event as its
backdrop. A penitentiary full of felons has inspired the
jailers to create a grisly pastime ripe for lucrative
kickbacks. Now, adrenalized inmates, a global audience
hungry for televised violence and a spectacular arena come
together to form the Death Race.
REVIEW: What’s the name of that particular movie
showing on a cable channel, Spike or FX or one of those?
Isn’t it called “Movie for Guys That Like Movies”? Well,
this one belongs in that category. This of course means that
I enjoyed it. Tough guys, hot girls, fast cars, heavy
artillery, and good ol’ fashioned fights equals a very fun
movie. It is intense, action packed, dark, violent, ragged
and rough around the edges. What more would you want? Oh,
I’m sorry, you want a good story to go with that . . . well,
you don’t quite get all you want with this movie. The action
is great, sharply captured and displayed, but the story is
typical, predictable, and weak. This flick reminded me a lot
of The Running Man with the Governor. The premise is just
too far fetched and the setting of the story established in
the beginning is really unnecessary. But who cares! It’s all
about the action, right?
This film really seemed like a life size video game. That is
both good and bad; good for the action, bad for the quality
of the movie. The acting was as good as you would expect for
this genre highlighted by Jason Statham as Jensen Ames,
Tyrese Gibson as Machine Gun Joe, Ian McShane as Coach, and
the coldest most ruthless prison warden you can imagine,
Hennessey played by Joan Allen. You’ll be surprised on how
chillingly intimidating Joan is while playing this role.
Hard times call for hard games and hard games have to be run
by hard people and Hennessey is perfect for the job. For
her, nothing else matters but viewer demand for the race,
and I do mean nothing. Even though the characters are
generally appealing and as varied as the competitors in the
Olympics, their development is almost non-existent. We get
two or three sentences of background and they are thrown
onto the track. I would have liked a little more background
on these people. Luckily the actors gave decent performances
because the script didn’t help either. It was
simple/borderline childish. But then again, it’s all about
the action, right? The soundtrack was pretty good though.
You can understand why this movie was made this way once you
establish that Paul W.S. Anderson was the Writer, Director,
and Producer. With his involvement in one or all of those
capacities in such movies as the Resident Evils, Mortal
Kombat, and Alien vs. Predator, it is clear how this one
follows suit and how it also looks like a video game. He can
successfully add this one to his collection. If you are
caught up with all the summer blockbusters and it’s your
turn to pick a movie to see and you’re in the mood for some
down and dirty action, this is not a bad choice. Oh and
ladies, even though I mentioned that this is a man’s movie,
you do get some eye candy with Mr. Statham. Don’t worry
guys, we’ve got a hot new lady to sweeten our vision as
well. Remember the name Natalie Martinez who plays Case.
Hey, it’s all about the action, right?
Film
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
DVD: The DVD is
presented in 2.35:1 aspect ration preserving the
theatrical presentation of the film. The picture is
complemented with a 5.1 Dolby Digital audio tracks
in three different languages, English,
Spanish and French.
The DVD includes the
theatrical and the unrated versions of the movie.
The unrated version is 6 minutes longer that the
theatrical version. The special features are
very slim in this DVD release. It only contains 2
special features, with a total running time of 26
minutes. The first one is "Start Your Engines: Making A
Death Race" A 20 minutes documentary behind the
scenes in the making of the film. The last one is
"Behind The Wheel: Dissecting The Stunts", in which the
cast and crew talk about some of the driving stunts in
the film. "Finally the DVD Feature Commentary
With Director Paul W.S Anderson and Producer Jeremy
Bolt", which i found to be the most interesting feature of
the DVD.
VIDEO:
2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English,
Spanish and French
5.1 (Dolby Digital).
Subtitles - English Spanish
French - Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Theatrical and
Unrated Extended Versions of The Film
Start Your Engines:
Making A Death Race: From pre and post-production to
the casting of Jason Statham, this bonus documentary takes
viewers on set to see how a huge, stunt-driven Hollywood
movie was made. (19:42)
Behind The Wheel:
Dissecting The Stunts: In this featurette, the many
jaw-dropping stunts in the film are documented including
interviews with the cast and crew. (7:50)
Feature Commentary
With Director Paul W.S Anderson and Producer Jeremy
Bolt
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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