Death Race 2000
| Death Race 2000 | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Paul Bartel |
| Produced by |
Roger Corman Jim Weatherill |
| Screenplay by |
Robert Thom Charles Griffith |
| 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 |
| Edited by | Tina Hirsch |
| Distributed by | New World Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $300,000 or $530,000 |
| Box office | $5,000,000 or $8 million |
Death Race 2000 is a 1975 cult political satire 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 1979, the United States collapsed, resulting in massive civil unrest and economic collapse. The government restructured into a totalitarian regime under martial law. To pacify the population, the government has organized the Transcontinental Death Race, where a group of drivers is driving across the country in their high-powered cars, infamous for lots of violence, gore, and innocent pedestrians struck for bonus points.
In the year 2000, the five drivers in the 20th annual race, who all adhere to professional wrestling-style personas and drive appropriately themed cars, include Frankenstein, the mysterious black-garbed champion and national hero; Machine Gun Joe, a Chicago tough-guy gangster; Calamity Jane, a cowgirl; Matilda The Hun, a neo-Nazi; and Nero The Hero, a Roman gladiator. Each drives with a navigator of the opposite sex, who also implicitly functions as a love interest. The race is covered on national TV by a news team headed by the boisterous and comical Junior Bruce, seductive matron Grace Pander, and laconic commentator Harold (a parody of Howard Cosell).
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. The game has sadistic rules, where killing a baby and physically challenged people will give the player extra points. Machine Gun Joe (Sylvester Stallone) is the main opposition to Frankenstein.
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