Posted by Os Davis in films, motor sports | 0 Comments
Death Race 2: Silliest excuse for prequel ever?
Ah, nothing says cinematic success like those three little words “straight to video…”
You’d think that a movie already grounded in a notoriously violent franchise and packed with guns, fast cars, and lots of sweaty dudes in prison would automatically be primed for box office success – but then you consider “Death Race 2,” which may be the final proof that prequel-sequels have simply gone too damn far.
The original Death Race 2000 was a brilliant combination of the “Cannonball Run” flicks plus Mad Max sensibility, with Roger Corman behind the wheel (so to speak). To say that it starred David Carradine and Fred “Congressman Gopher” Grandy should be enough to sell you on this should-have-been-consigned-to-zeitgeist bit of work, but hey, here’s the awesome trailer to initiate the unknowing:
Those of us seriously old dudes who played coin-op video games back in the 80s may recall that not only did Death Race 2000: The Movie produce repulsion in parents, the arcade game based on the film was recalled and reprogrammed after the screams of the road kill were deemed “too realistic.”
Quick fast forward to the days of Xbox: Naturally nothing is left alone in Hollywood and in the remake ultrafrenzy of last decade, some head clearly noticed that “2000” in the title of Corman’s masterpiece, sat coked up through “Gone in 60 Seconds,” and badda bing badda blast, another remake was born.
Unfortunately for Universal Pictures, Death Race: The Remake caused nary a ripple in the greater filmgoing public’s consciousness and managed a scant 41% score on the Tomatometer.
(No, the film wasn’t really shot in German; but the trailer is about infinity times cooler that way, you gotta admit.)
But, hey, why let a subpar box office performance stop you from squeezing every last dime out of every sliver of low creativity from the 1970s? This is Hollywood, where marketing/moviemaking is a science! Doing up the demographics, it has been calculated (possibly by HAL) that some thousands of celluloid adrenaline junkies will buy a straight-to-DVD prequel of a slightly obscure 35-year-old action film with an even less-seen remake.
The trailer runs below, featuring a contractually obligated-looking Ving Rhames explaining Marcellus Wallace-like that “any prisoner who wins five races wins his freedom.” Certainly implying that we get at least five race scenes in this flick.
No release date has been given for the DVD yet, but some debates may begin now, such as “Is this the most useless prequel ever (at least until Ridley Scott’s new Alien thing)?” and “What in Schumacher’s name is up with the title? ‘Death Race 2’? Do we no longer care about story to the extent that chronology no longer matters?”
BuckBokai misses the simpler days when hit-and-run driving was a wholesome endeavor…