Death Race 2

DEATH RACE 2 is a surprisingly entertaining little straight-to-video sequel to the Jason Statham starrer, itself a remake of a Roger Corman cult classic of the 1970s. I'd even go so far as to say this is as much fun as the first film, although it has only a fraction of the budget and only one returning cast member, as far as I can tell. For DEATH RACE 2 captives the vibrant, adrenaline-fuelled spirit of the first film and Dutch director Roel Reine, himself a veteran of a dozen B-movies, proves to be a better director than Paul W. S. Anderson.

To be sure, this is far from a great film and it falls down particularly in regard to the actors, all of whom are ill-serviced by their parts. Luke Goss is nothing more than a dome-headed dunderhead, an obvious stand-in for Statham but one that lacks that actor's trademark intensity and scowl. Lauren Cohan fares little better as an overly-obvious arrogant journalist type, while Danny Trejo has virtually nothing to do in the stock role of car mechanic. The two big names present in the cast, Sean Bean and Ving Rhames, are particularly wasted, given roles which require them to sit around and do absolutely nothing else. Each has about five minutes screen time tops.

Still, the screenplay is packed with violent incident, which is always good, and I like the way the smaller budget is disguised by having combatant vs. combatant fights early on instead of car chases. There's only one real chase here, towards the end, which is pretty decent, although I could have done without the laborious twist in which it turns out that…well, you'll have to watch it for yourself to find out. Even with the many detractions, DEATH RACE 2 is a B-movie done right, with all of the high-octane action you could hope for.

If there is a straight to DVD movie that is good than this would be your cup of tea. Now i was not a huge fan of the first one it was just a fun action movie with lots of deadly car crashes. This one almost tops it and believe it or not the acting is not horrible for a direct to DVD smash up. If you are bored one night and just want to watch a fresh and fun movie go get this. This movie takes place before the original and how Frankenstein was invented. Don't expect academy awards won here, the action scenes are done very well and the racing was done just as well as the first if not better. If you are looking for popcorn fun than this would be it.

First things first. This is a mid/low budget sequel following a partially successful remake of a classic 70s cult movie. So it is obvious that this film is going to blow!

Well it does, but not that bad. The action is great, the spirit of the uber-powerful uncaring corporation is encapsulated superbly by Lauren Cohan; Tanit Phonex is painfully beautiful and the plot chugs along happily.

You can't take the film too seriously, I mean it appears that barbaric, run-for-profit women's prisons of the future all provide their inmates with extensive make-overs before a riot, but it is good fun.

The main stumbling block is the dialogue, it really is awful. I sincerely mean that, awful.

This film greatly out-stripped by expectations (which were low) but if you like action and gorgeous women then this is definitely for you.

Okay, first of all, why did the world need a prequel to the 2008 movie "Death Race", which was a re-make of the classic 1975 movie "Death Race" (aka. "Death Race 2000"). This 2010 prequel was rubbish.

First of all, let's break it down into bits. The story - total rip off of the 2008 version. Nothing new to be seen here, and in fact there were so many similarities to the 2008 version, that it was just painfully embarrassing to look at. Made you wonder if the producer of this sequel was upset about not making he 2008 version, so he just copied that one and changed bits here and there.

Then, of course, there were the mistakes in the movie. The woman states there are 9 cars, and the prisoners rush and fight each other to get to the cars, fair enough. And remember, this is supposed to be on live TV. Yet for some magical reason, the producers had managed to create these segments with the drivers and the cars they were in, sort of presentations of the car and whose driving them. Wow, what a ridiculous mistake that was. I laughed so hard when they started to flash these sequences. It was an epic fail.

Now, don't get me wrong. The movie wasn't all bad. There was a lot of action and explosions in the movie, but it hardly made it worth the effort of sitting through it. "Death Race 2" is nothing more than a cheap rip off of the 2008 "Death Race" movie.

A sad, sad day for movie history. If you liked the 1975 or 2008 versions, stay well clear of this 2010 version, trust me. I am sure "Death Race 2" will appeal to new viewers, but for those having seen one or both of the previous movies, this is a slap in the face.

Even with names like Danny Trejo, Sean Bean, Ving Rhames, Robin Shou, and Luke Goss on the cast list, this movie fails to impress. And how these people agreed to do this movie is beyond me. Haven't they seen the 2008 version? Didn't they read the script? Didn't they catch on to how much of a knock off of the 2008 version this was going to be?

I must say that this movie was a major disappointment, and in my opinion, the movie shouldn't have seen the light of day.

Firstly, this shouldn't have been named "Death Race 2" as it is a prequel (Does this mean the previous entry would now be the 3rd chronologically?).

Surprised to see Luke Goss in the lead, thankfully, he has a good supporting cast around him, who do the best they can with the material given.

At first, I expected this to be terrible. The first 10 minutes were pretty pointless, thankfully, once we get to the prison, the movie picks up.

It's always tough to do a prequel, as you have to show the history of things already established in the series (thanks to George Lucas, prequels have become a popular thing), however, this was actually pretty well done, and thankfully there's no glaring mistakes like not recognising droids!

This movie excels in the action sequences, as did the Statham one, and this is exactly why we watch these types of movies. It's not Shakespeare, it's not cognitive, it's switch your brain off and enjoy the carnage and the attractive women.

I went into this with low expectations. I didn't even know about this until I was in the mood to watch the Statham one, and when I couldn't find it to stream, I decided to buy the bluray and was surprised to find a trilogy box set. I expected 2 and 3 to be utter garbage, but this pleasantly surprised me and now I've got a bit more hope for the 3rd when I watch that next.