A champion of a brutal cross-country car race of the future where pedestrians are run down for points has a change of heart while being hounded by rivals and a conspiracy seeking to stop the race. In a dystopian future, a cross country automobile race requires contestants to run down innocent pedestrians to gain points that are tallied based on each kill's brutality. This movie does score points (if you'll excuse the pun) for originality, but in most other aspects it's nothing more than Grade-Z exploitation fare, and will appeal only to a very limited audience. It's too amateurishly done to succeed as an actioner and too obvious and overacted to convince as a satire. At least there are some amusing gore moments and a genuine sense of perversity. (*1/2) People tend to compare Paul Bartel's "Death Race 2000" to Norman Jewison's "Rollerball". I saw it as more analogous to Sidney Lumet's "Network", Peter Hyams's "Stay Tuned", and the "Hunger Games" franchise. All these movies depict the United States as a society whose idea of entertainment is the lowest, cruelest material. The difference is that "Death Race 2000" and "Stay Tuned" are comedies. The former is the sort of movie that encapsulates the '70s, while the latter was probably inadvertently predicted the rise of reality shows. Another movie that loosely resembles "DR2000" is the Italian mondo movie "Cannibal Holocaust". In one scene a character says that the audience likes having its senses assaulted. Here we see the drivers killing pedestrians, and the race's audience loves seeing it.<br/><br/>Of course, it's possible to ignore all that and simply accept the movie as a zany exploitation flick. It's certainly an enjoyable one. David Carradine, Simone Griffeth and Sylvester Stallone all appear to be having fun with the material. Paul Bartel later directed "Eating Raoul", in which he cast himself and "DR2000" co-star Mary Woronov.<br/><br/>Really fun movie. Death Race 2000 isn’t the sharp satire Corman thinks it is, but it’s fun.
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