G.J. Echternkamp directed Death Race 2050, a 2017 American political satire action film starring Manu Bennett, Marci Miller, and Malcolm McDowell. It's a follow-up to 1975's Death Race 2000. Roger Corman produced both films, which he characterized as "a car-racing picture with some dark comedy."To what extent is Death Race 2050 a sci-fi thriller?
It is the year 2050. In the United Corporations of America, which suffers from overpopulation and a 99.993 percent unemployment rate, the Death Race serves as both entertainment and population control. The current Death Race spans from Old New York to New Los Angeles, and its champion is Frankenstein. In competition with Frankenstein are the genetically engineered athlete Jed Perfectus, the hip-hop star Minerva Jefferson, the female cultist Tammy the Terrorist, and the wicked, black, artificially intelligent, self-driving automobile ABE. Each driver is given a proxy, a broadcaster who provides the viewers with a virtual reality experience of the race. Frankenstein is instantly repelled by his proxy, Annie Sullivan, and he disregards her efforts to interview him as well as her proposals to let his opponents pass him.
Rebels, headed by former network producer Alexis Hamilton, plant traps all over the East Coast while the drivers race. When Tammy and Minerva take one other's cult members with the purpose of killing them, they develop a bitter rivalry. As a result of encountering an insurgent trap, ABE malfunctions, kills its proxies, and departs the race in search of its life's ultimate purpose. Frankenstein is ordered to be killed at the first checkpoint by Hamilton. She fails in her effort to woo him since he only worries about winning the race. In other places, the Chairman says that Frankenstein has become a burden because of his long life, but Perfectus will inspire his dedicated followers to die at his hands instead.
Gun-toting Americans will be in full view as the marathon enters its second day. Chi Wapp, Minerva's proxy, is killed by Tammy's suicide bomber. Following an unplanned detour, the car driven by Dr. Frankenstein becomes stranded in a field of corn. While Annie is gone, Frankenstein takes on the ninjas of the Resistance. At the second checkpoint, Annie reveals to Frankenstein that she is a rebel. To win, Frankenstein says, he'll do anything to get his hands on power. That she's an academic who plays the hip-hop stereotype for a living, Minerva tells Annie. Perfectus, envious of Frankenstein's fame and sex appeal, is kept at bay by Annie. For now, the Chairman is coordinating his efforts with Hamilton's.
The government provides "authorized" routes for the drivers on Day 3 of the race so they can escape Resistance assaults. As a result of his battle with Perfectus, Frankenstein's right arm is injured, and Annie lends a hand. However, in an attempt to evade Tammy's suicidal proxy, Minerva slips over the cliff. Before a returning ABE slams Tammy into the wall and self-destructs, killing both of them, Tammy gloats over Minerva's death. A hidden path is used by Perfectus to the finish line, while Frankenstein and Annie destroy Hamilton and her rebels. Until Perfectus loses control and smashes into the VR control booth, both vehicles jostle for place. A pre-race communication is sent out by Frankenstein, who suggests that the Chairman is worth 1,000 points. After murdering the Chairman, Frankenstein invites the viewers to leave their virtual world behind and participate in their own Death Race, to the pleasure of the audience. From afar, Frankenstein and Annie see a nation descending into anarchy and advise that when the violence has subsided, the land should be repopulated.
The trailer for the film Death Race 2050.
Cast of Death Race 2050
- Manu Bennett as Death Race champion "Frankenstein"
- Malcolm McDowell as The Chairman of the United Corporations of America with a "slight comb-over"
- Marci Miller as Annie Sullivan, Frankenstein's surrogate.
- Burt Grinstead plays genetically enhanced athlete Jed Perfectus, the ideal driver.
- Folake Olowofoyeku plays rapper-turned-racer Minerva Jefferson.
- Tammy "The Terrorist," a religious cult leader, is portrayed by Anessa Ramsey.
- Yancy Butler portrays Alexis Hamilton, a former network producer now leading a rebel organization.
- J.B., the male Death Race announcer, is played by Charlie Farrell.
- Grace Tickle, a female analyst and interviewer during the Death Race, is portrayed here by Shanna Olson.
- Leslie Shaw as Perfectus' surrogate, Eve Rocket.
- D.C. Douglas voices ABE, a self-driving, demonic racing automobile.
- Chi Wapp, Minerva's proxy, is played by Pierre Paolo Goya Kobashigawa.
- Sebastian Llosa portrays Steve, a bystander who views the Death Race in virtual reality from Annie's point of view.
- Helen Loris portrays Dr. Creamer, ABE's computer programmer, in the film.
Death Race 2050 was created in what way?
When an Italian journalist observed that The Hunger Games reminded him of Death Race 2000 during an interview with director Robert Corman, the concept for a sequel to the first film was born. To bring back the dark humor of his original, Corman approached Universal Pictures, the studio behind the current remake (which, in Corman's opinion, omitted much too much of the original's political commentary). There's no longer any mention of the murder of pedestrians or themes of a fractured society, according to Corman.
Filming started while Corman was in his late eighties and coincided with the 2016 presidential election in the United States. It stars an entrepreneur who is now the Chairman of the United Corporations of America. "The president does have a hair style that could be approaching Trump's hair style," Corman told an interviewer, "but I don't want to get too heavy into that because Trump will come and go, but the film will remain."
Did everyone like seeing Death Race 2050?
"There are a number of Death Races in a movie series about the Death Race that is coming to an end. After Jason Statham's Death Race first article trilogy in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Roger Corman returns with Death Race 2050. While excellent films in their own right, they bore little resemblance to the original 1970s B-movie Death Race 2000. So Corman gets this out-of-control burning disaster back on track by organizing a three-day race across a dystopian America, where pedestrian deaths earn points for over-the-top personalities! But with a 50 at the end of the title this time." - YouTuber Decker Shado
The movie was made available in the United States on DVD and as part of a combination DVD/Blu-ray release that included included three behind-the-scenes documentaries: The Making of 2050, The Look of 2050, and Cars! Oh my my, the cars! On March 20, 2017, it was made available to the public in the United Kingdom.
The film has an 88 percent acceptance rating on RottenTomatoes.com based on eight reviews with a 6.8/10 average.
In the words of Chris Alexander, the film is "loud... shrill... spastic... sadistic... stylish... slipshod... stupid... smart. " According to Scott Weinberg, a reviewer for Nerdist, the film is "clunky," "ramshackle," and "kitchy, but that's part of its charm." It has "enough blood, guts, simplistic political commentary, scenery chewing, and terrible special effects to become a cult classic," according to Zavala of a website.