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Luke Goss, Ving Rhames, Sean Bean, and Danny Trejo headline director Roel Reiné's thrill-ride sequel to Paul W.S. Anderson's hyper-violent remake exploring the origins of the most notorious Death Race competitor ever to take the wheel. Featuring a screenplay by Tony Giglio (Chaos), Death Race 2 follows convicted cop-killer Carl Lucas (Goss) as he vies for freedom by competing in the most deadly reality show ever conceived. The U.S. economy has completely collapsed, and as lawlessness spreads, private prisons crop up all across the country. Corruption reigns in these for-profit penitentiaries, and Terminal Island is home to some of the most violent offenders in the world. Lucas has just been handed a life sentence for killing a cop. Just when it looks like he'll be spending the rest of his days behind bars, unscrupulous television producer September Jones shows up seeking contestants for a brutal new game show where prisoners battle it out in high-performance death machines equipped with lethal weapons. The reward for surviving this psychotic demolition derby: freedom. Before long Lucas is fastening his seat belt, and preparing for the ride of his life. By the time this race is over, an apocalyptic legend will be born. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Rating
R
Director
Roel Reiné
Studio
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
  • Still keeping the fun action packed thrills as the first film but sadly not really adding anything new to the story except for a few new characters. I felt that Sean Bean did some solid acting and the action was still very well made and added some pretty thrilling sequences.
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  • Not a bad prequel the races and the fights were ok but not as good as the first but for a straight to dvd film it was made pretty well and fits into the first film well.
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  • A great sequel, which is actually a prequel! Very surprised by this - good cast, great action and the lead singer of Bros kicking arse!
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  • Not as bad as I expected, but not actually a sequel despite the title.It's actually meant to be a prequel to the 2008 Jason Statham film, even though they got original Death Race 2000 actor David Carradine to reprise the Frankenstein role at the start of the 2008 film.Despite that, Luke Goss suits the action demanding role.Not a bad film for what it is, it was entertaining, action packed and had some familiar faces including Sean Bean and Danny Trejo.
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  • Honestly it was a pretty decent direct to dvd sequel. It was fun and explosive and the plot moved at a quick pace.
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  • Pleasantly surprised that I liked this better than the Jason Statham Death Race as this is a good bridge to that one, yet more enjoyable.
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  • I think this movie copped a lot more flak than it deserved, and honestly, I liked it better than Death Race (which also copped more flak than it deserved), or Death Race 2000 (the 1975 film the former two are based on, which is not as good as people say it is). Though it was sad not to see Statham in the film, Luke Goss did an excellent job of picking up the reins of protagonist. So far I can honestly say I've loved everything I've seen that Goss has done to date (Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Blade 2, Tekken, Fringe and The Dead Undead). Also Sean Bean (of Boromir from The Lord of the Rigs fame) and Danny Trejo (From Dusk till Dawn, The Devil's Rejects, Rob Zombie's Halloween, Predators and Machete) are both always money well spent in my books. I was doubtful that Death Race warranted any furthering in its franchise, given that it was a quasi sequel to Death Race 2000 to begin with. Honestly though, after having seen Deathrace 2, which was made for only a tenth of the cost of Death Race, I'm quite glad they did. It may be just another action movie, but it's got great re-watch value, which is what I most admire in a film. That's not to say it's not without fault. I had to watch the film through twice before I really understood half of the characters motives. Ving Rhames is a terrible actor, how he keeps getting work is beyond me. Though thankfully his role as Mr. Weyland (hopefully this was a deliberate throw back to Alien, and they don't honestly expect us to believe they come up with it themselves) who owns (but doesn't run) the Terminal Island Prison, is a minor one. Goss's love interest wasn't quite as annoying, but the navigator really didn't do it for me. She was even worse then the navigator from Death Race, which is bad.The actual "Death Race" part of Death Race didn't come up until half way through the film, which I'm sure caused plenty of people a lot of grief, but seriously, this is what I like to see from an origin story, the origin. World is bad, prisons get full, corporations buy prisons, prisons make money, not enough money, prisoners riot, rioters die, news coverage of deaths make money, prisoners fighting to death becomes reality show, reality show loses popularity, change fight to death to fight to death in cars, fight to death in cars makes money. Simple. Now we know. It doesn't matter how good the film itself may be, I'm sick of movies like Rise of the Lycans, The Scorpion King, Exorcist: The Beginning, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning and Paranormal Activity 2, (most of which were crap by the way) that advertise they will let you "see how it all began", and they don't! Sure, maybe you find out how SOMETHING began, but it doesn't take you all the way back. At least Chains of Olympus and Gods of the Arena are upfront that they're only prequels, not "Origin Stories".I can't decide which order to suggest to people you should watch this franchise in. Honestly I say give Death Race 2000 a miss all together, but do you watch them in the order they were released, or their set chronology? I'm thinking #1 then #2, but I'll never know which would be better. I just say to do it that way, because you'll be less disappointed by the absence of almost every character from the prequel in Death Race if you watch them that way around. 14K is still around, and so is Lists, but that's really it. The films got one of the best soundtracks I've come across in a while, but other than that there isn't anything particularly special. Still, it's a Hell of a lot of fun.69%-Gimly
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  • An interesting look at the origins of Frankenstein. However, it lacks the tension within the races of who will live and who will die in comparison to the original.
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  • Although A Direct-To-DVD Sequel, Death Race 2 Is A Solidly Made Film, With A Decent Script, Decent Performances And Some Great Action Sequences. An Extremely Enjoyable Prequel, Which Doesn't Mess Up It's Predecessor.
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  • this is just as intense and awesome as the first one :-)
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  • As good or better than the first a really well made prequel to the "Frankenstein! story
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  • Not a huge fan of calling a prequel "2" just based on principle. And it wasn't "good" really either. But there is a story to be told about who Frank is and how Death Race came to be. Good enough for a late Saturday night. 5/18/14
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  • First of all, I watched this only to see Lauren Cohan, who also plays Maggie on the walking dead, and who added about 4 stars to this rating.She is an amazing actress and takes the role very seriously even with little screen time and the confusing plot of Death Race 2. The scenes not including Cohan consist of mostly regurgitated driving, toyish cars & props, and an entirely unnecessary amount of parkour running being carried out by supposed felons. Sorry Rhames and Trejo but Cohan is the only real actor in this cast.
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  • Not bad for a direct to dvd sequel
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  • thought it was ok not as good as inferno works as a prequel to the first one
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