Death Race 2000 (1975)
80 min - Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi - 27 April 1975 (USA)
Text from Wikipedia and IMDB:
Director:
Paul Bartel
Writers:
Robert Thom (screenplay), Charles B. Griffith (screenplay)
Stars:
David Carradine, Sylvester Stallone, Simone Griffeth
Directed by Paul Bartel
Produced by Roger Corman
Jim Weatherill
Based on The Racer
by Ib Melchior
Starring David Carradine
Simone Griffeth
Sylvester Stallone
Sandy McCallum
Louisa Moritz
Don Steele
Music by Paul Chihara
Cinematography Tak Fujimoto
Editing by Tina Hirsch
Distributed by New World Pictures
Release dates
April 27, 1975
Running time 80 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $300,000[1][2]
Box office $5,000,000[2]
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.
Death Race 2000 is a 1975 cult action film directed by Paul Bartel, and starring David Carradine, Simone Griffeth and Sylvester Stallone. The film takes place in a dystopian American society in the year 2000, where the murderous Transcontinental Road Race has become a form of national entertainment. The screenplay is based on the short story The Racer by Ib Melchior.
In an alternate timeline of the late 1970s both the Republican and Democratic parties have collapsed into a single "Bipartisan Party" and the "United Provinces of America", is formed and ran by an authoritarian, totalitarian dictatorship, headed by "Mr. President" (Sandy McCallum), and the country controls the entire North American territory. To keep the country satisfied, in 1980, 5 years after the collapse, the Bipartisan Party created "the Annual Transcontinental Road Race", a lethal coast-to-coast, three-day race. But the race's points are not just scored for speed, but for the number of innocent pedestrians killed during the race.
Each race driver has a different theme. Frankenstein (David Carradine), the most famous driver of the race, drives a Shala Vette, a custom-built car designed by Dick Dean cast in the semblance of an alligator. "Machine Gun" Joe Viterbo (Sylvester Stallone) is a gangster and his car has a giant knife and machine guns mounted on the front. His navigator is the feisty, blonde haired Myra (Louisa Moritz). Nero the Hero, a fan of the Roman Empire, drives "The Lion", a feline-shaped Fiat 850 Spider, and his navigator is Cleopatra. Matilda the Hun has the "The Buzz-Bomb", a VW Karmann-Ghia shaped like a V-1 flying bomb, and her navigator is Herman "The German" Boch. Cowgirl Calamity Jane's car resembles a bull and her navigator is named Pete.
Race commentary is provided by Junior Bruce (Don Steele), an egotistical and often annoying sportscaster. Color commentary is given by the fawning Grace Pander (Joyce Jameson) and the stoic Harold (Carle Bensen), who provides historical insight to various parts of the race coverage. In an early scene, Harold describes the scoring system, with points given for hit-and-run victims varying by age range.
In 2000, during the 20th annual race, a resistance group led by Thomasina Paine (Harriet Medin), a descendant of 1770s American Revolutionary Thomas Paine, plans to rebel against Mr. President's regime by sabotaging the race, killing most of the drivers, and taking Frankenstein hostage as leverage against the President. The group is assisted by Paine's great granddaughter Annie (Simone Griffeth), Frankenstein's latest navigator. She plans to lure him into an ambush to be replaced by a double. Despite a pirated national broadcast made by Ms. Paine herself, the resistance's disruption of the race is covered up by the government and instead blamed on the French, who are also blamed for ruining the country's economy and telephone system.
You need to be a member of Times Past to add comments!
Replies
YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!