Death Race 2000 (1975)

It’s the futuristic year 2000 and America is obsessed with a violent cross country race. The rules are clear, not really. The first team to get across the country, or racks up the most points, wins. Something. Oh, and you get points by running people down.

Our hero is the mysterious Frankenstein (David Carradine) and his biggest rival is Machine Gun Joe (Sylvester Stallone). There are five contestants in all and each have a navigator/mechanic/prostitute. Oh, and there’s a group of revolutionaries trying to sabotage the race. I hope they don’t insert a spy/saboteur into one of the cars.

Death Race 2000 is a fun, stupid, sometimes raunchy party of a movie. The race announcers sound right out of MTV or TMZ. The question isn’t are the performances over the top. It’s are they over the top enough. Looking for social commentary? You’ll be beaten over the head with it. Think Hunger Games but less subtly and more boobies.

That all said, it’s a pleasure to watch, ridiculous dialog and all. AMRU 4.

“A hand grenade”.