Death Race 2000 (Paul Bartel, 1975)

 Following an economic collapse, the US has become a totalitarian state.

To placate the masses, the state has created a ghoulish spectacle to keep them distracted: Professional racers are pitted against each other in an annual race across the North American continent.

A group of rebels have hatched a plan to disrupt the race - a plan that involves returning winner Frankenstein (David Carradine)...

A Roger Corman production rushed out to compete with the big budget Rollerball, Death Race 2000 has arguably had a longer footprint on pop culture, with a 2008 remake (and three sequels) as well as Corman’s own sequel Death Race 2050.

Directed by Paul Bartel, who would later gain underground fame for the black comedy Eating Raoul, Death Race 2000 is a cheerful cheapie that is boosted by a thick vein of black humor. 

David Carradine is fine in the lead, but the scene stealer is Sylvester Stallone as his egotistical nemesis Machine Gun Joe. Stallone is hilarious and uninhibited in a way that his later fame probably negated.

The car chases are pretty rote, but Bartel riddles these sequences with great beats - the row of elderly hospice patients who are rolled out onto the road as potential points for the bloodthirsty drivers. There is also a neat running bit involving the government blaming the French for all their problems. 

While the satire on celebrity is broad, it is not without merit. This is a world where death is entertainment, and Bartel takes great delight in showing the media and Joe Public gorging on the violence. What makes it so effective is how de-sensitised everyone is: One news presenter takes every opportunity to claim intimacy with all the drivers, while the elder statesman journo who treats every event as a chance to recount some tangential historical context. 

The film even points the finger at audience. One particularly nasty punchline is the widow trembling with excitement that she is being interviewed. on TV.

Ironically, the movie feels like the inverse of its competition: while Rollerball features some fantastic action footage, with a well-developed fictional sport, its broader themes and satirical bent feel less developed. I enjoy Rollerball, but as a complete package, Death Race 2000 beats it clean.

Deliciously mordant, Death Race 2000 is a good time - and considering how the US is going, probably coming to the airwaves in 2025.

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