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"DEATH RACE" (2008) (Jason Statham, Joan Allen) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Extreme Extreme *Mild Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy Mild Extreme Extreme Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Moderate Moderate Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Action: Prisoners of the near future participate in a televised, closed-course road race -- complete with machine guns, napalm and explosives -- where the object is to kill everyone else in order to cross the finish line. PLOT: It's the year 2012 and private corporations have taken over the country's prisons, turning them into for-profit entities, mainly through the form of pay-per-view televised gladiator style fights. Yet, the public has become bored with that, and thus Warden Hennessey (JOAN ALLEN) has concocted the three-day, three-stage Death Race on the Terminal Island Penitentiary grounds. In it, hand-picked prisoners drive heavily armed and armored cars on a closed-course where Hennessey or her head guard, Ulrich (JASON CLARKE), can deactivate any of the weapons at their discretion, all to boost ratings and thus paying public subscribers to their offering. There's only one problem, however, as the most popular driver, the masked Frankenstein, died in the last race against his chief rival, Machine Gun Joe (TYRESE GIBSON). Of course, his demise has been kept secret, but Hennessey has a backup plan and driver in mind. He's unemployed steel mill worker -- and former race car driver -- Jensen Ames (JASON STATHAM) who, along with his wife, is attacked by a masked man and then framed for her murder. Now imprisoned on Terminal Island, Jensen gets an offer from Hennessey: Pretend to be Frankenstein, and if he wins that character's fifth such race, he'll earn his freedom. But if he tries to blow the whistle on this subterfuge, he'll never see his infant daughter again. Jensen reluctantly agrees and is paired with Frankenstein's pit crew, prison veteran Coach (IAN McSHANE) and grease monkeys Gunner (JACOB VARGAS) and Lists (FREDERICK KOEHLER), as well as Case (NATALIE MARTINEZ), his sexy, shotgun-riding navigator. From that point on and after realizing he was set up by Hennessey, Jensen does what he can to get his revenge, all while having to contend with driving against the likes of Pachenko (MAX RYAN), Travis Colt (JUSTIN MADER), Grimm (ROBERT LaSARDO) and 14K (ROBIN SHOU), not to mention Machine Gun Joe who's figuratively and literally gunning to defeat him. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? They might be interested if they're into hard-hitting action films and/or are fans of anyone in the cast. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For strong violence and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: JASON STATHAM plays a former racer turned unemployed steel mill worker turned inmate set up and imprisoned for his wife's murder that was arranged by Hennessey. He agrees to race for her only due to her blackmailing him over his infant daughter, but ends up getting his revenge on her and others, including via lethal means. He also uses strong profanity. JOAN ALLEN plays the steely prison warden who manipulates everyone and everything in order to have a profitable death race. Accordingly, she is responsible for many deaths, and ends up using strong profanity at the end of the film. IAN McSHANE plays the veteran inmate and leader of Jensen's pit crew who shows him the ropes about the warden's world. He uses some profanity. TYRESE GIBSON plays Jensen's chief rival, a tough inmate determined to win his five races to earn his freedom. He uses strong profanity, smokes, and kills various people. NATALIE MARTINEZ plays Jensen's sexy in-car navigator who assists during the race, but whose motives are cloudy, at least at first. She uses profanity. MAX RYAN plays a prison bully and race competitor who tries to intimidate and does beat up Jensen. He uses profanity. JASON CLARKE plays Hennessey's chief prison guard who strikes various prisoners, including Jensen. FREDERICK KOEHLER plays the nerdy member of Jensen's pit crew who seems the least likely to be in prison. JACOB VARGAS plays his crewmate, a tougher guy who smokes some, uses strong profanity, and jokes about Machine Gun Joe being gay. JUSTIN MADER, ROBERT LaSARDO and ROBIN SHOU play other prisoners/race drivers who are incarcerated for various crimes and attempt to kill their competitors in order to win the race. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated action flick. Profanity consists of at least 28 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Sexually related dialogue and song lyrics are present, while the camera focuses on women's bodies in tight/revealing attire, resulting in some sexual gestures from male inmates. A husband and wife start fooling around, but are interrupted before anything too steamy occurs, while that man's bare butt is later seen from a distance in a nonsexual setting. Violence consists of all sorts of brutal fighting, bad vehicular wrecks, and deaths by various weapons and other means. Some of that violence has extremely bloody and/or gory results, and that material as well as moments of potential peril might be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers. The fighting, action, driving stunts and more might be enticing for some kids to imitate. There's brief alcohol content and a drug-related comment, while some characters smoke when not otherwise carrying around unlit cigarettes. All sorts of bad attitudes are present, as is tense family material. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there's all sorts of camera movement during the races and other action. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE A man drinks from a bottle at work after being laid off. Jensen's wife retrieves a beer from the fridge but is interrupted before she or Jensen can have any. It's noted that Travis Colt committed vehicular manslaughter and had a bottle of liquor and 'ludes in his car at the time. BLOOD/GORE A driver and his navigator are bloody following a wreck, while Chase is less bloody after being injured in the same race. Jensen's wife turns and a masked man is suddenly there. When Jensen returns to the room, he finds his wife on the floor, and the masked man sprays something into his face. When Jensen comes to, he finds a bloody knife in his hands and his dead and bloody wife on the floor next to him. Pachenko's mouth is bloody after Jensen hits him. Jensen has a nightmare flashback about seeing his dead and bloody wife. A car slides sideways into a barrier, injuring and bloodying the driver. A driver then gets out of another wrecked car and has deep and bloody cuts in his skin. He's then struck hard by a passing vehicle, with his head bursting in a bloody/gory mess (seen again in slow-motion replay). Bullets from machine guns then strike bystanders, bloodying and killing them. Machine Gun Joe slices his own cheek with a razor blade (presumably to give himself another tough-looking facial scar). Pachenko has blood on the back of his shirt from where Lists stabs something into him, and then is very bloody after Jensen pummels him. Pachenko is bloody following a bad car crash, including from his mouth. Blood splatters everywhere inside a car and on its driver when rapidly spinning spikes on a truck's wheels grind through the side of a car, tearing up the navigator. We see that Machine Gun Joe's navigator is dead and bloody. Bullets hit and kill Machine Gun Joe's new navigator, bloodying and killing him. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Pachenko accuses Jensen of being a wife murderer and child rapist (despite - SPOILER ALERT - being the one who killed Jensen's wife), and otherwise tries to bully him and beat him up, as do his thugs. We learn that Hennessey pits the prisoners against each other in the Death Race contest, all to make money. She's also responsible - SPOILER ALERT - for sending Pachenko to kill Jensen's wife and then frame him for the murder, all so that she can have Jensen race for her, pretending to be Frankenstein. Various comments are made about Machine Gun Joe being gay, including that he beats competitors by driving up their "ass," while Gunner comments, "That's one angry homo." Most of the racers are in prison for killing others, while it's also noted that they've killed more while competing in the race. All of the racer prisoners have bad attitudes toward the others, especially Machine Gun Joe toward Frankenstein (not knowing it's really Jensen under the mask) and Jensen (thinking he's part of the pit crew). When asked, Case says she killed her cop husband, but we don't know if that's true or not. Hennessey blackmails Jensen into driving for her by showing him a photo of his infant girl now being raised by another couple. She also lies that if he wins the race, he'll be freed. Case admits that she sabotaged the original Frankenstein's race, but did so under orders from Hennessey. Hennessey has Ulrich plant a hidden bomb on the bottom of Jensen's car so that he can't win the race. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling or suspenseful to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. To get her to admit to something, Jensen nearly ejects Case from the car via the ejector seat (inside a building, meaning her certain death), but then lets her stay after she confesses. GUNS/WEAPONS Machine guns/Handguns//Missiles/Bomb/Other Explosives/Napalm and Flamethrowers/Police batons: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. Guards wear sidearms at a factory closing, while the various prison guards wear or carry various weapons (handguns, machine guns, etc.). Hennessey holds her finger on the trigger of a gun hidden beneath her desk and now aimed at Jensen. Hennessey has Ulrich plant a hidden bomb on the bottom of Jensen's car so that he can't win the race. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "I got you now, m*therf*cker," "How do you f*ck up oatmeal?" "Let's get the f*ck out of here," "You're about the ugliest m*therf*cker in this prison" (said by Machine Gun Joe to Jensen after calling him Igor), "F*ck you," "What the f*ck?" "F*ck man," "Remember me, m*therf*cker?" "Go f*ck yourself," "Get the f*ck out of my car," "F*ck me" (nonsexual), "F*cked up," "Stay the f*ck out of my pit," "Shut the f*cking computers down now," "Okay, c*cks*cker, f*ck with me and we'll see who sh*ts on the sidewalk," "Is this sh*t getting worse?" "Oh sh*t," "(I say) bullsh*t," "Guy can't grind for sh*t," "What is this sh*t?" "Sh*t-hole," "That sh*t don't work twice," "What the hell /you doing here/are those?" "Bastards," "Niggers" (heard in a song), "There goes the baddest ass in the yard," "An ass-slapping good time for all," "Skinny ass," "Chick," "That's one angry homo," "Wakey, wakey," "Merry Christmas, asshole," "I'll be damned," "That bitch took her away from me," "Queen bitch," "Oh hell no," "Where the hell is that thing going?" "Light me up," "It's party time" and "It's headed right up your ass." All of the stunts and action might be enticing for some kids to imitate, particularly regarding the car-related ones. Jensen has many tattoos all over his body, as do various other characters, including many prisoners. Case wears a midriff-revealing top. Machine Gun Joe slices his own cheek with a razor blade (presumably to give himself another tough-looking facial scar). Case again shows a lot of cleavage and her bare midriff. Jensen jumps from his moving car. JUMP SCENES Jensen's wife turns and a masked man is suddenly there. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of action-oriented music as well as lesser amounts of suspenseful music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) A song has repeated uses of the "f" word used with "mother," as well as terms such as "p*ssy" and "nigger" and what sounded like violence-related lyrics. As we see Case and other sexy looking women arrive, a song plays on the soundtrack with sexually related lyrics (about "got what you want" and "got what you need" etc.). Some song had lyrics that we couldn't fully hear and/or understand, thus presenting the possibility of them potentially containing objectionable material. The camera focuses (including in slow motion) on Case's body in her small shorts and cleavage-revealing top as a song has lyrics about being so sexy and men wanting what they can't have, etc. PROFANITY At least 28 "f" words (9 used with "mother"), 12 "s" words, 2 slang term using female genitals ("p*ssy"), 1 using male ones ("c*cks*cker"), 1 for breasts ("t*ttied"), 9 damns, 9 hells, 7 asses (2 used with "hole"), 3 S.O.B.s and 1 use each of "G-damn" and "Jesus Christ." SEX/NUDITY Jensen kisses his wife and places her up on the counter as she jokes that she married him for his non-financial assets. He then stands between her legs and continues passionately kissing her (both are clothed). Noises from the baby monitor, however, interrupt them. We see Jensen shirtless in prison, and then fully nude from behind (from a distance) as he's hosed down. Gunner jokes that he'd like a "big-t*ttied chick" to lick peanut butter off his toes, but doesn't see that happening. Various comments are made about Machine Gun Joe being gay, including that he beats competitors by driving up their "ass." The camera focuses (in real time as well as slow motion) on Case's body in her tight jeans (we see a close-up of her butt) and midriff and cleavage revealing top, as well as other similarly dressed women. One male prisoner does mock thrusting and wildly licks his tongue, while another smacks Case or another woman on the clothed butt. During this, a song with sexually related lyrics plays on the soundtrack. Jensen tells Case to get on his lap during a race (so that he can use her ejector seat), but that comment raises the eyebrows of Coach and the pit crew who are listening on headsets. We see Jensen shirtless while doing some extreme pull-ups. Case again shows a lot of cleavage and her bare midriff. The camera focuses (including in slow motion) on Case's body in her small shorts and cleavage-revealing top as a song has lyrics about being so sexy and men wanting what they can't have, etc. SMOKING Machine Gun Joe smokes several times and Gunner smokes once, while both are seen with unlit cigarettes (Machine Gun Joe more so). Machine Gun Joe says that after he wins and is released, he'll be smoking something in Miami. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Jensen must deal with his wife's murder, being framed for that, and then being notified by Hennessey that another couple is raising his infant as theirs. That's what drives him to beat the various bad guys, but there's little actual outward grief on his part. Jensen has a nightmare flashback about seeing his dead and bloody wife. When asked, Case says she killed her cop husband, but we don't know if that's true or not. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The film's concept of corporations running prisons in the future and using prisoners as fodder for pay-per-view "reality" TV programming. Why prison wardens are rarely portrayed in a good light in the movies. Revenge. VIOLENCE We see action from Stage 3 of another race where Machine Gun Joe, the original Frankenstein, and others battle on the course, with machine guns fired and such. Two people in one car are injured and bloody following a crash, while Frankenstein drops his back armored shield that crashes into Machine Gun Joe's car. Frankenstein ejects Case (she parachutes to safety) just as a missile hits his car, flipping it in an explosion. While we don't see the actual death, Frankenstein is killed as a result of that. Riot police show up at a factory closing and shoot various people with rubber bullets, including Jensen, while others are hit with batons and/or shields. Jensen's wife turns and a masked man is suddenly there. When Jensen returns to the room, he finds his wife on the floor, and the masked man sprays something into his face. When Jensen comes to, he finds a bloody knife in his hands and his dead and bloody wife on the floor next to him. Police then storm in, aim their gun at him, and one pins Jensen to the floor while arresting him. Guards hose down Jensen with a fire hose and then beat him with a club. One of Pachenko's thugs spits in Jensen's prison food. When Pachenko and others then intimidate him, Jensen strikes Pachenko and others, including with his metal cafeteria tray, while also receiving blows before armed guards stop all of them. Ulrich clubs Jensen in the kidney area. There's hard car contact during the race, followed by machine guns pegging other cars. One of them slides sideways into a barrier, injuring and bloodying the driver. That driver is then presumably killed as that barrier then starts to pull the car downward, thus crumpling and then causing it to explode. Dropped spikes flatten another car's tires causing it to flip, during which a missile hits it and causes it to explode. A driver then gets out of a wrecked car and has deep and bloody cuts in his skin. He's then struck hard by a passing vehicle, with his head bursting in a bloody/gory mess (seen again in slow-motion replay). Bullets from machine guns then strike bystanders, bloodying and killing them. Meanwhile, Jensen sends a napalm canister skyward and it hits a warehouse ceiling, with the fuel then falling down onto another car. Case then activates the cigarette lighter and tosses it, catching the fuel and thus the car on fire, resulting in an exploding flip. This stage ends when Machine Gun Joe slams his vehicle hard into Jensen's. Machine Gun Joe slices his own cheek with a razor blade (presumably to give himself another tough-looking facial scar). One of Pachenko's thugs hits and kicks Jensen, eventually wrapping a chain around his neck. That allows Pachenko to strike Jensen several times, but when he starts to come at him with a huge wrench, Lists stabs Pachenko in the back with something. That results in Lists being pummeled and having his hand stomped on, but that diversion allows Jensen to escape and proceed to beat up Pachenko's thugs (including smashing one's face to a large metal vise or something similar) and then Pachenko, quite brutally. Jensen then lifts a large chunk of metal to strike Pachenko, but prison guards then tazer him and the fight is over. There's contact and then a big machine gun battle between cars during the next stage of the race. That results in a bad crash for Pachenko who's injured and bloody following that. Jensen then drives by and uses his car door to strike Pachenko, then gets out, grabs his head, and breaks his neck. Machine Gun Joe kicks his navigator from his moving car, with that man's body then slamming into something hard, presumably killing him. Hennessey unleashes a huge and heavily armored truck into the car race, with those on it firing machine guns, missiles and a flamethrower at various competitors. One car is hit and explodes, while rapidly spinning spikes on the truck's wheels grind through the side of another car, tearing up the navigator (only partially seen, but with lots of bloody results) before a cannon of sorts shoots that car, causing it to explode. Jensen and Machine Gun Joe then work together to cause the truck to crash by running into a barrier in the middle of the course, causing the truck to flip tail over nose, sending those on it flying out and hitting the road hard before the truck lands and explodes. We see that Machine Gun Joe's navigator is dead and bloody. We see a TV replay of all of the previous deaths in the race. Machine Gun Joe riddles Jensen's car with machine gun fire, and Jensen tries dropping his back shield to hit Machine Gun Joe's car, but Machine Gun Joe anticipates and thus avoids that. Machine Gun Joe then fires various missiles and/or grenades at Jensen's car, barely missing him and resulting in close explosions, one of which allows Jensen and Machine Gun Joe to escape. Guards then fire machine guns at them, but they blast through the security fence, with Jensen then dropping a small extra fuel tank onto the bridge, causing pursuing guard cars to crash and explode. Pursuing choppers then chase after and fire upon Jensen's car with machine guns and then napalm, resulting in a fiery explosion that stops Jensen's car. During that, bullets hit and kill Machine Gun Joe's new navigator, bloodying and killing him. Coach sets off a remote explosion that kills at least two corrupt prison officials (we only see the explosion, not the actual deaths). Reviewed August 19, 2008 / Posted August 22, 2008

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