Wikipedia

Death Race 2

Death Race 2 is a 2010 action thriller film directed by Roel Reiné and written by Tony Giglio. A co-production between Germany and South Africa, it is the prequel to 2008's Death Race (which is itself a prequel to 1975's Death Race 2000) and the second installment in the Death Race franchise. The film stars Luke Goss as Carl "Luke" Lucas, a convicted getaway driver sentenced to life in a notorious private prison where he is forced to fight to the death live on the titular reality show in a bid for freedom. Fred Koehler, Tanit Phoenix, Robin Shou, Lauren Cohan, Danny Trejo, Ving Rhames, and Sean Bean appear in supporting roles; Koehler and Shou reprise theirs from Death Race.

Death Race 2
Home video cover
Directed byRoel Reiné
Screenplay byTony Giglio
Story by
Based onCharacters
by Paul W. S. Anderson
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJohn McKay
Edited by
  • Radu Ion
  • Herman P. Koerts
Music byPaul Haslinger
Production
companies
  • Universal Pictures Productions GmbH
  • Moonlighting Death Race Films C.C.[1]
Distributed byUniversal Pictures Home Entertainment
Release dates
  • December 27, 2010 (2010-12-27) (United Kingdom)
  • January 18, 2011 (2011-01-18) (U.S. and Canada)
Running time
100 minutes
CountriesGermany
South Africa
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6–18 million

The film was produced not as a Death Race sequel but as a prequel that tells the origin story of franchise protagonist Frankenstein sans the directorial involvement of Paul W. S. Anderson (who stayed on as co-producer instead) and appearance of Jason Statham. Reiné signed on to direct and shooting began in South Africa earlier in 2010. Universal Pictures released the film direct-to-video through its home entertainment division on January 18, 2011, although it set the earliest release date for the United Kingdom, December 27, 2010. The film was well received by most critics, who praised the action scenes and supporting cast. A direct-to-video sequel, Death Race 3: Inferno, was released in 2013.

Plot summary

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Getaway driver Carl "Luke" Lucas attempts to rob a bank for crime boss Markus Kane. During the robbery, two officers coincidentally enter the building. Luke tells his accomplices to abort, but they refuse; Luke intervenes, but it results in the death of one of the robbers. Luke kills an officer and dumps off his accomplices to fulfill Markus's wishes. Luke is captured following a chase and sentenced to prison. Six months later, he is transferred to Terminal Island.

Terminal Island is a private prison controlled by Weyland Corporation, which hosts "Death Match", a televised pay-per-view competition where two dangerous convicts are forced to fight to the death or submission. The prisoners are given access to weapons or defense items to use during the fight by stepping on a marked plate in the arena. Death Match is hosted by September Jones, a former Miss Universe who lost her crown due to allegations of having a sexual relationship with the judges. She now works for Weyland Corporation owner R. H. Weyland to generate profit from the pay-per-view subscribers of Death Match. Luke meets Lists, Goldberg, and Rocco, as well as catches the attention of September after test driving a dilapidated car and protecting the cowardly Lists from an attempted assault.

Luke rejects September's proposal that he fight in exchange for privileges in prison and spurns her sexual advances. In retaliation, September chooses Lists to fight in a Death Match against a physically imposing black opponent, Big Bill, from whom Luke protected him. Luke jumps over a barbed fence to fight for Lists and is briefly assisted by convict and ring girl Katrina Banks. A riot breaks out during the fight sparked by racial tension; convicts force their way into the arena, and some of them attempt to rape the female convicts. Katrina defends herself and helps the other women, who are then evacuated. When guards intervene, Luke surrenders. Markus, worried that Luke will trade information on his crimes for immunity, discovers his location at Terminal Island while watching Death Match. Luke is treated for his wounds and sparks up a conversation with Katrina, whom he thanks for assisting him.

Markus puts a $1 million bounty on Luke's head and convinces some of the prisoners to kill him. Meanwhile, September comes up with the idea of converting Death Match into a race-car match where the contestants will have to race each other in heavily-armed vehicles over three days. Weyland likes the idea enough to incorporate freedom as prize to whoever manages to win five races in what he names "Death Race". Luke joins the race with a pit crew comprising Lists, Goldberg, and Rocco, during which other prisoners try to kill him to earn Markus's bounty. The female convicts are brought back to play navigator for each racer, and Katrina is paired with Luke.

After winning the first race, Luke is congratulated by Weyland, who brings in Katrina as a prize. Once left alone, Luke and Katrina briefly banter with each other and have sex. Later, Katrina is brought to Markus, who offers her freedom if she kills Luke within 48 hours.

During the second race, Luke intervenes in an altercation between two other racers and saves Triad member 14K. As a result, 14K claims to be indebted to Luke. Later in the same race, Katrina warns Luke about Markus's offer. Having discovered that their car was sabotaged by one of their pit crew members, Luke ejects Katrina from the car, which crashes after being hit with a heat-seeking missile fired by Big Bill (who is then killed by his navigator after he accidentally killed his pit crew). Katrina and Luke's pit crew fail to save him from the burning car, leaving him engulfed in flames. Unbeknownst to everyone but September, Luke survives albeit badly burnt; she urges him to race in a mask as "Frankenstein".

As the last race begins, a Triad assassin sent by 14K raids Markus's mansion and executes him as a favor to Luke. Lists kills Rocco, who tampered with Luke's car, and Luke kills September by running her over with his car, before he races with the other competitors.

Cast

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Additional members of the cast include Patrick Lyster as Warden Parks, DeObia Oparei as Big Bill, Hennie Bosman as Xander Grady, Joe Vaz as Rocco, Danny Keogh as Dr. Klein, Warrick Grier as Calin, and Tanya van Graan as Holly.[6]

Production

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A newly-bought Ford Mustang for Death Race 2 was destroyed and converted into that in the first (pictured), to provide continuity between the two films.

A sequel to 2008's Death Race was announced on November 13, 2009, when casting on the project had begun.[7] Paul W. S. Anderson did not return to direct the sequel (which had been written by Tony Giglio and tentatively titled Death Race: Frankenstein Lives) but stayed on as producer with Jeremy Bolt and Mike Elliott,[7] nor did Jason Statham reprise his role as he was reportedly working on The Mechanic.[8] On March 1, 2010, it was reported that director Roel Reiné had been filming Death Race 2 in South Africa and Sean Bean had joined its cast of Luke Goss, Lauren Cohan, Ving Rhames, Danny Trejo and Frederick Koehler.[9] The direct-to-video film serves as the prequel to Death Race (which is itself a prequel to 1975's Death Race 2000[10]), featuring an origin story for its protagonist Frankenstein.[9] The film was a co-production between Germany and South Africa.[1]

Shooting on the film lasted 30 days on a $6–18 million budget.[5][a] On directing the film, Reiné preferred using three of the cars from its predecessor for continuity and shooting the car action scenes as realistic as possible. Newly-bought units of these cars, which included a Ford Mustang, were destroyed and then converted into those in the first film. An abandoned cement factory was used to stand in for the prison.[3]

Release

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Universal Pictures released the film direct-to-video through its home entertainment division on January 18, 2011,[13] although it set the earliest release date for the United Kingdom, December 27, 2010.[4] Both the DVD and Blu-ray contain two versions of the film—rated and unrated—as well as bonus contents including featurettes on the cars, stunts and canonicity of the film, deleted scenes, and a feature-length commentary by Roel Reiné.[11][13] According to The Numbers, home video sales for the film have totaled $8.4 million in the United States and Canada;[14] it reported that the film sold 218,000 ($4.04 million) DVD copies in its opening weekend, making it a decent debut for a straight-to-DVD release. In contrast, 50,000 Blu-ray copies were sold on the same weekend.[15] Universal released on similar formats a double feature two-disc set comprising the film and Death Race on October 9, 2012.[16] Death Race 2 was included in the "Death Race: 4-Movie Collection", which Universal released on similar formats on October 2, 2018.[17]

Sequel

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Main article: Death Race 3: Inferno
Further information: Death Race (franchise)

The worldwide reception to Death Race and its prequel successor prompted Universal to enter production on Death Race 3: Inferno, a direct-to-video sequel to Death Race 2 and the third installment in the Death Race franchise. Reiné returned to direct Inferno (which was shot in Cape Town, South Africa later in 2011), as did Luke Goss, Danny Trejo, Ving Rhames, Fred Koehler, Robin Shou, and Tanit Phoenix to reprise their roles from Death Race 2; Dougray Scott and Hlubi Mboya were cast in newly-added roles.[18] The film was released on January 20, 2013.[19]

Reception

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Between the relentless bloodbath and the thrilling lack of logical consequences, Death Race 2 never fails to astonish and entertain.

—Debopriyaa Dutta, /Film[20]

The film was well received by most critics upon its release.[21] IGN found the film to be "a decent follow-up" to its "highly mediocre" Paul W. S. Anderson-directed predecessor with a "carefully fleshe[d] out" origin story for franchise protagonist Frankenstein despite recycling "the same testosterone-fueled homoerotic innuendo, tiresome plotting, action set pieces set to grating death metal and rap, and bored genre clichés" of the latter.[11] Reviews in Dread Central, DVD Talk, and Den of Geek concurred that the film was superior to its predecessor,[4][5][10] while that in Total Film said otherwise;[22] the former further praised it as "a movie made with a far greater amount of reverence for the source material than Anderson's quasi-remake".[10]

The action scenes were singled out by most for further praise,[21] with their quality described as "solid"[8] and "nicely staged".[23] Total Film gave a mixed response, calling the "Death Match" scenes a guilty pleasure and the final racing scenes "anti-climactic ... akin to watching someone else's drunken game of Mario Kart".[22] Dread Central, Fearnet, and Salon described the film as an entertaining full-bore action romp[8][10][24] and DVD Talk called it "an intermittently entertaining actioner",[5] while The A.V. Club found it boring and nowhere near as "damn good" as its predecessor.[2]

IGN and Screen Daily found the film's production values spectacular for a direct-to-video release,[11][23] while ComingSoon.net criticized them as shoddy and went on to say: "The whole production is just pathetic".[25] Den of Geek acknowledged that the film "still had moments of unfinished effects, including some green screen shots, but, if anything, it added to the B-movie charm",[4] and Fearnet said it was "also quite a bit better than what normally passes for a 'DTV sequel'".[24] DVD Talk stated: "The most impressive aspects to director Roel Reiné's film are the stunt work and crisp cinematography, giving fans of the first film another round of brutal races and beatings, only this time the picture appears to embrace its feral nature with a little more spunk."[5] IGN praised Reiné's direction, "not to mention inventive camerawork",[11] while ComingSoon.net criticized it as prioritizing style over substance.[25]

Screen Daily found the film well cast[23] and IGN called the cast "pretty terrific",[11] while Total Film said the performances were "awful".[22] Den of Geek, Total Film, and Screen Daily felt that Luke Goss was a fine substitute for Jason Statham,[4][22][23] and DVD Talk moderately praised his performance in "a thankless role".[5] Most reviews further praised the supporting cast, particularly Sean Bean, Ving Rhames, and Danny Trejo,[21] whom Den of Geek and Fearnet credited with adding entertainment value to the film.[4][24] However, Den of Geek said the film limited Tanit Phoenix and Lauren Cohan to playing one-dimensional roles for which they were photographed in a sexually objectifying way. "I think what's more of a shame, though, is that the female cast wasn't given the same attention as the male," wrote the website.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ Sources vary on the actual amount of the film's budget, which Reiné has quoted at less than ten percent of its predecessor's.[11][12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c B., Brian (March 2, 2010). "Death Race 2 Principal Photography Has Begun". MovieWeb. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Modell, Josh (January 26, 2011). "Death Race 2". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "How To Make A Death Race". Total Film. Future Publishing. December 27, 2010. pp. 1–8. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bowles, Duncan (December 15, 2010). "Death Race 2 review". Den of Geek. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Orndorf, Brian (January 18, 2011). "Death Race 2 - Unrated". DVD Talk. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  6. ^ "Death Race 2 - Full Cast & Crew". TV Guide. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Miska, Brad (November 13, 2009). "Movies 'Death Race: Frankenstein Lives' Begins Casting". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Calhoun, Bob (January 22, 2011). "The "Death Race" prequel that's better than it should be". Salon. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Kit, Borys (March 1, 2010). "Sean Bean vs. Luke Goss in 'Death Race 2'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 3, 2010. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d Barton, Steve (January 22, 2011). "Death Race 2 (Blu-ray / DVD)". Dread Central. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Shaffer, R. L. (January 20, 2011). "Death Race 2 Blu-ray Review". IGN. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  12. ^ Strowbridge, C. S. (June 24, 2024). "Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Death Race 2". The Numbers. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  13. ^ a b McCutcheon, David (October 6, 2010). "Death Race Lives On". IGN. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  14. ^ "Death Race 2 (2011)". The Numbers. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  15. ^ Strowbridge, C. S. (February 1, 2011). "DVD Sales: New Release Takes Top Spot". The Numbers. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  16. ^ "Death Race / Death Race 2 Double Feature [Blu-ray]". Amazon. ASIN B008R65XVA. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  17. ^ Miska, Brad (August 2, 2010). "Home Video 'Death Race: Beyond Anarchy' is Finally Coming Out". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  18. ^ McCutcheon, David (December 17, 2011). "Death Race 3 in the Works". IGN. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  19. ^ "Death Race 3: Inferno". IGN. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  20. ^ Dutta, Debopriyaa (June 23, 2024). "The Correct Order To Watch The Death Race Franchise". /Film. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  21. ^ a b c Malone, Alicia (December 29, 2010). "Exclusive: Death Race 3 revving up!". Moviehole.net. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  22. ^ a b c d Geary, Dan (February 2011). "Bland Theft Auto". Total Film. No. 176. United Kingdom: Future Publishing. p. 138. ISSN 1366-3135. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  23. ^ a b c d Adams, Mark (January 21, 2011). "Death Race 2". Screen Daily. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  24. ^ a b c Weinberg, Scott (January 7, 2011). "DVD Review: 'Death Race 2'". Fearnet. Archived from the original on January 9, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  25. ^ a b Brevet, Brad (January 18, 2011). "Blu-ray Review: Death Race 2 (Unrated)". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
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