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Death Race 2000 / Death Sport
2 DVDS/APPROX 163 MINS/1975-1976/USA R18+
2 DVDS/APPROX 163 MINS/1975-1976/USA R18+
6.5
In the 1970s, American sci-fi turned bleak and dystopic. Horrors of over-population, disease and post-apocalyptic panic began to proliferate.
Amongst these films was the James Caan film Rollerball, which drew attention to the violent madness of American spectator sport with a futuristic
postulation of modern gladiatorial combat on the sports field. Exploitation producer Roger Corman knew there was a trend here and so followed
with the low budget, Paul Bartel directed Death Race 2000, a film that proved successful enough for Corman to produce a sequel of sorts,
Deathsport and be remade 30 years later as Death Race by Resident Evil director Paul WS Anderson.
Paul Bartel’s Death Race 2000 is an audacious satire of American spectator sport, here a quasi-religious cult of monstrous portions. Hailed as
“the greatest sporting event since Spartacus”, the title race has five participants in a cross-country skirmish to eliminate the opposition and score
points by killing and maiming bystanders and unfortunate pedestrians. Vehicular damage, frenzy and a chaotic score dominate in a film that was to
prove a major influence on Australia’s hit Mad Max films. It’s a case of death by carnage to television and radio coverage with running
commentary, done as camp satiric black comedy.
Death Race 2000 has subplots concerning a pseudo-terrorist organization looking to stop the inhuman race, a pre-Rocky role for Sylvester
Stallone and a witheringly caustic indictment of American show-business. In tone and texture it balances the two Jim Sharman midnight movies –
The Rocky Picture Show and Shock Treatment – with a nihilistic look at the absurdity of revolution and the oppression of media spectatorship.
David Carradine heads an amusing cast, including Bartel cohort Mary Woronov, in an entertaining satire which takes some targeted swipes at
American socio-cultural mores.
Death Sport is heavier, with brooding organ music and a sense of dull oppression replacing the zesty satire of the original. In comparison to
Death Race 2000, which was futuristic but recognizably similar, Death Sport is a pure fantasy of post neutron bomb devastation, mutants and
motorcycles. Without the contemporary relevance that made the original successful as satire, the follow-up is dreary and ponderous, a futuristic
barbarian movie of silly dialogue and laser effects outweighing message. It’s a shame that what started as sharp sociological black comedy should
end up as such a mindless fantasy.
In a futuristic society, the fascistic authority wants to mythologize the riding of “death machines” (motorcycles) and so targets riders known as
Guides, capturing and forcing them into a survivalist gladiatorial arena sport. Whilst Death Sport is a weak film, it is intriguing as a hybrid of
exploitation genres: it borrows from westerns, motorcycle films, barbarian fantasy, Roman gladiatorial epics. These were all genres that producer
Roger Corman was involved in during the 1970s and in Death Sport he tried to combine them to create a new direction in exploitation. Sadly, the
sheer silliness of Death Sport ensured that its imitators were far more inspired by Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.
The two films on this 2 DVD Set offer an intriguing contrast in tone within so-called B-movie exploitation film. Whilst Death Race 2000 emerges as
the most interesting, Death Sport makes for a valuable accompanying piece – a sci-fi bikie curio – but although perhaps more ambitious in its
generic borrowings it is less targeted in script and direction. Star David Carradine’s presence in the second film gives it a touch of the Zen martial
arts philosophy in his hit TV series Kung Fu. Well worth a look for fans of classic exploitation cinema, especially to those who enjoyed the recently
released Death Race with Jason Statham.
Amongst these films was the James Caan film Rollerball, which drew attention to the violent madness of American spectator sport with a futuristic
postulation of modern gladiatorial combat on the sports field. Exploitation producer Roger Corman knew there was a trend here and so followed
with the low budget, Paul Bartel directed Death Race 2000, a film that proved successful enough for Corman to produce a sequel of sorts,
Deathsport and be remade 30 years later as Death Race by Resident Evil director Paul WS Anderson.
Paul Bartel’s Death Race 2000 is an audacious satire of American spectator sport, here a quasi-religious cult of monstrous portions. Hailed as
“the greatest sporting event since Spartacus”, the title race has five participants in a cross-country skirmish to eliminate the opposition and score
points by killing and maiming bystanders and unfortunate pedestrians. Vehicular damage, frenzy and a chaotic score dominate in a film that was to
prove a major influence on Australia’s hit Mad Max films. It’s a case of death by carnage to television and radio coverage with running
commentary, done as camp satiric black comedy.
Death Race 2000 has subplots concerning a pseudo-terrorist organization looking to stop the inhuman race, a pre-Rocky role for Sylvester
Stallone and a witheringly caustic indictment of American show-business. In tone and texture it balances the two Jim Sharman midnight movies –
The Rocky Picture Show and Shock Treatment – with a nihilistic look at the absurdity of revolution and the oppression of media spectatorship.
David Carradine heads an amusing cast, including Bartel cohort Mary Woronov, in an entertaining satire which takes some targeted swipes at
American socio-cultural mores.
Death Sport is heavier, with brooding organ music and a sense of dull oppression replacing the zesty satire of the original. In comparison to
Death Race 2000, which was futuristic but recognizably similar, Death Sport is a pure fantasy of post neutron bomb devastation, mutants and
motorcycles. Without the contemporary relevance that made the original successful as satire, the follow-up is dreary and ponderous, a futuristic
barbarian movie of silly dialogue and laser effects outweighing message. It’s a shame that what started as sharp sociological black comedy should
end up as such a mindless fantasy.
In a futuristic society, the fascistic authority wants to mythologize the riding of “death machines” (motorcycles) and so targets riders known as
Guides, capturing and forcing them into a survivalist gladiatorial arena sport. Whilst Death Sport is a weak film, it is intriguing as a hybrid of
exploitation genres: it borrows from westerns, motorcycle films, barbarian fantasy, Roman gladiatorial epics. These were all genres that producer
Roger Corman was involved in during the 1970s and in Death Sport he tried to combine them to create a new direction in exploitation. Sadly, the
sheer silliness of Death Sport ensured that its imitators were far more inspired by Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.
The two films on this 2 DVD Set offer an intriguing contrast in tone within so-called B-movie exploitation film. Whilst Death Race 2000 emerges as
the most interesting, Death Sport makes for a valuable accompanying piece – a sci-fi bikie curio – but although perhaps more ambitious in its
generic borrowings it is less targeted in script and direction. Star David Carradine’s presence in the second film gives it a touch of the Zen martial
arts philosophy in his hit TV series Kung Fu. Well worth a look for fans of classic exploitation cinema, especially to those who enjoyed the recently
released Death Race with Jason Statham.
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