When I was in high school in the early 2000's, I was really into going to Barnes & Noble regularly to check out the newest issues of magazines like Fangoria and Bizarre (the latter which one of my girlfriend's would grace the cover of later in life, and in a surreal turn of events, I would see my own name mentioned in the interview). This was the heart of an era for re-releasing classic exploitation films on DVD, and during the ongoing coverage of these re-releases, Death Race 2000 was the movie that was mentioned most often, and generally crowned as the true gem of the exploitation genre, if one must be chosen. While I bought the majority of my DVD's at Best Buy (their selection was incredible during that time - I mean I bought Giuseppe Andrews' TRAILER TOWN there, for gods sake), I never saw this one available anywhere. So, it took me over 20 years since coming onto my radar that I finally got to see it (thanks to Amazon Prime Video).
Now, I always figured this would be schlocky but overall just kind of a dumb p.o.s. Of a movie, but it actually manages to be incredibly unique, and holds a pretty impressive amount of cohesion and vision, even after all these years. I found everything from the aesthetics, to the structure of the film, to the style of dialogue, and even the scenes of violence, to be surprisingly refreshing. David Carradine puts in an unforgettable performance as an iconic and unmatched character, while seeing Sylvester Stallone as his character just one year before breaking through with Rocky is wholly surreal.
One of my favorite parts of the whole film was that I was unsure who was the good guy and who was the bad guy, until the very end of the movie, and even then, you're still left with a lot of questions. On that note, I think this may have one of the most nonsensical endings I have ever seen. The final 20 minutes are pure "WTF?". What else could you ask for from an exploitation film?! Gore, vixens, one-liners, loose themes that hardly qualify as relative, and chaotic absurdity.... this movie truly lives up to reputation as the epitome of what defines cult classics and/or B-movies.
Now, I always figured this would be schlocky but overall just kind of a dumb p.o.s. Of a movie, but it actually manages to be incredibly unique, and holds a pretty impressive amount of cohesion and vision, even after all these years. I found everything from the aesthetics, to the structure of the film, to the style of dialogue, and even the scenes of violence, to be surprisingly refreshing. David Carradine puts in an unforgettable performance as an iconic and unmatched character, while seeing Sylvester Stallone as his character just one year before breaking through with Rocky is wholly surreal.
One of my favorite parts of the whole film was that I was unsure who was the good guy and who was the bad guy, until the very end of the movie, and even then, you're still left with a lot of questions. On that note, I think this may have one of the most nonsensical endings I have ever seen. The final 20 minutes are pure "WTF?". What else could you ask for from an exploitation film?! Gore, vixens, one-liners, loose themes that hardly qualify as relative, and chaotic absurdity.... this movie truly lives up to reputation as the epitome of what defines cult classics and/or B-movies.