DVD review (region 1)
Directed by Paul WS Anderson
Starring Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Ian McShane, Tyrese Gibson, Natalie Martinez
Release date Out now

In the near future, Jensen Ames (Statham) is framed for the murder of his wife and sent to a maximum-security prison. Once there the sadistic warden (Allen) talks him into enrolling in the Death Race – an ultra-violent car race broadcast to the viewing public…

Producer Jeremy Bolt may insist that Death Race is an “an A-movie, not a traditional B-movie”, but he’s not fooling anyone; this is a good old-fashioned exploitation picture that just happens to be blessed with a blockbuster budget.

The latest slice of sci-fi hokum from Paul WS Anderson is nominally a remake of Paul Bartel’s demented 1975 thriller Death Race 2000. However, the Death Race of 2008 (set in 2012) is more like a slick blend of The Fast and the Furious and trashy futuristic prison classics like Wedlock, Fortress and No Escape.

Anderson ditches his usual reliance on lame CGI in favour of practical stunts, and he employs a rough and ready docu-style of shuddering cameras and sudden zooms. It works well: the car chase scenes are destructive, thunderously exciting and very, very noisy. And that’s before the ‘Dreadnaught’ shows up (reminiscent of something from 1982’s low-budget Battletruck, only a lot cooler). Anderson tops it all off with hot girls, sweary dialogue and crowd-pleasing violence (lesson learned: never claim that “You can’t touch me!” in a race to the death). What more could you want in a movie like this?

Statham has built himself up as something of an unlikely action hero in recent years, updating the classic tough guy of the 1980s with a new leanness and permanent sneer. One again he makes for a winning hard-as-nails hero, smashing cars out of the racetrack and scrapping with guards and prisoners, but never once losing his cool.

Three times Oscar-nominated Joan Allen is a more unlikely choice for the traditional sadistic warden role. But she seizes on the chance to crank up the ham – “OK c***sucker, f*** with me and let's see who s**** on the sidewalk!” she spits, in a line so good they play it again after the credits.

Of course, the story is staggeringly dumb from beginning to end, but this is exactly the film you know it’s going to be – and exactly the film you want it to be.

Aside from Jason Statham’s complaints that he wasn’t allowed to eat burgers and cake, everyone sounds like they genuinely had fun on the accompanying ‘making of’ featurette. After watching them crash cars and blow stuff up you can see why. The DVD also offers the choice of watching two fractionally different versions of the movie, the theatrical cut and the unrated version. Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 7/10
Yes, it's entirely ridiculous, but this is great trashy fun.