Death Race 2000 is an action and self-described cult film directed by Paul Bartel in 1975; it is rated R. The movie takes place in a dystopian view of American society in the year 2000. David Carradine, Simone Griffeth and Sylvester Stallone played the star roles; Mary Woronov , Roberta Collins , The Real Don Steele , Joyce Jameson , Carle Bensen , Sandy McCallum and Harriet Medin co-star.

The screenplay was based on a short story by Ib Melchior , and inspired the 1976 video game Death Race.

Cast

• David Carradine as Frankenstein
• Simone Griffeth as Annie Smith
• Sylvester Stallone as "Machine-Gun" Joe Viterbo
• Mary Woronov as "Calamity" Jane Kelly
• Roberta Collins as Matilda the Hun
• Martin Kove as Nero the Hero
• Louisa Moritz as Myra
• Don Steele as Junior Bruce (as The Real Don Steele)
• Joyce Jameson as Grace Pander
• Carle Bensen as Harold
• Sandy McCallum as Mr. President
• Paul Laurence as a special agent
• Harriet Medin as Thomasina Paine
• Vince Trankina as Lt. Fury
• Bill Morey as the Deacon of the Bipartisan Party
• Fred Grandy as Herman the German
• William Shephard as Pete
• Leslie McRae as Cleopatra (credited as Leslie McRay)
• Wendy Bartel as Laurie
• Jack Favorite as Henry
• Sandy Ignon as an FBI agent
• John Landis as a Mechanic
• Darla McDonnell as Rhonda Bainbridge
• Roger Rook as a Radio operator

Plot synopsis

A tremendous global economic crash had occurred in 1979. The current (as of 2000) American President took control to repair America, and since then has ruled the country from abroad with an iron fist. He is simply known as Mr. President, and is rarely seen in American public.

One of Mr. President's most famous decrees has been that of the Transcontinental Road Race, a violent spectacle that takes a small set of racers from New York to New Los Angeles. The event depicted in the film is the 20th annual Road Race; therefore, Mr. President started the event during his second year in office.

Racers are scored in two ways. First, they are scored by time; all racers must stop at two checkpoints on their route to New L.A., and are scored based on their placement. (The 2000 road race has checkpoints in St. Louis and Albuquerque; it is not known whether these checkpoints change annually.) All racers must start simultaneously from the checkpoint after a day of rest.

It is the second scoring system that gives the film its title, however: as in the inspired video game, and further inspired games such as Carmageddon, points are scored for every person killed, with different point values depending on the age, gender and importance of the person killed. According to the movie, the point system appears to be as follows:

• Male adult: 30
• Male teenager: 40
• Male infant/toddler: 70
• Female (any age): +10 point bonus
• Senior citizen (regardless of gender): 100

The movie begins with a speech by the Deacon of the Bipartisan Party, in order to rouse up the crowd in the New York Memorial Raceway, followed by the entrance of the 5 racers and their navigators:

• "Calamity" Jane Kelly (Woronov), w/navigator Pete (William Shephard )
• Matilda the Hun (Collins), w/navigator Herman "The German" (Fred Grandy)
• Ray "Nero the Hero" Lottigan(?) (Martin Kove ), w/navigator "Cleopatra" (Leslie McRae )
• "Machine Gun" Joe Viterbo (Stallone), w/navigator Myra (Louisa Moritz )
• Frankenstein (Carradine), w/navigator Annie Smith (Griffeth)

Each racer has a definite theme; Jane is a cowgirl, Matilda is a Nazi from Milwaukee, Nero emulates his namesake, Viterbo is a Chicago gangster, and Frankenstein is the enigmatic hero of the race. Frankenstein is clearly the most important racer; the movie cuts to shots of him and Annie preparing for the race. We find out that Frankenstein has been rebuilt by government technology, and is the government's continued entry into the race.

It is during the intro and later scenes that we are introduced to the three color commentators, each with their own personality traits. Junior Bruce (Steele) is the man responsible for all the hype and excitement, and easily the most vocal of the three. He is the field reporter for the race, and is on hand at the beginning of every leg of the race. He insists on calling himself "your buddy-buddy and mine" at the beginning of the movie.

Grace Pander (Jameson) is a much softer commentator, and, along with Harold (Bensen), she remains in the studio for most of the movie. Her job is to portray a sort of happy housewife persona; she comforts the first victim's widow and presents her with a consolation prize. Harold is the most deadpan of the three, meant to be reminiscent of a lowbrow Howard Cosell-type commentator. He tends to explain important points regarding the rules of the game.

As the movie plays out, we find out that there is a small faction, headed by matriarch Thomasina Paine (Medin), devoted to ending the "Transcontinental Road Rape," if not Mr. President's rule. We also find out that Annie Smith is in fact Thomasina's granddaughter. Their plan is to kidnap Frankenstein and hold him hostage, in exchange for the abolition of the race.

One of Thomasina's associates, Lt. Fury (Vince Trankina ), leads a more violent set of operations to take out the other racers, one by one. Their first act is to set up the appearance of a picnic; Nero and Cleopatra find it, and head straight toward the baby in order to score a quick 70 points. However, the baby is fake, and the mother is Fury, who has placed dynamite under the baby. Nero is promptly killed, and Thomasina takes credit for it despite her reservations, as she pirates the airwaves to deliver her ultimatum. The race officials promptly relegate the information to rumor, and furthermore attribute any sabotage by the Resistance to the French that they cannot completely ignore.

At one point, an attempt is made to ambush Frankenstein and replace him with a doppelganger, but this goes unsuccessful. Frankenstein suspects from nearly the beginning that Annie is not what she seems, and this ambush further raises his suspicion, but he allows her to act as navigator. Eventually, it becomes clear that Frankenstein tires of the race, but still must play to win.

Near the end of the movie, Frankenstein reveals that he is not a rebuilt man, but rather one of dozens of men trained for this race. He also reveals that he too wishes to end the race, and is ready to kill Mr. President himself. He has a grenade implanted into his right hand, and will pull the pin upon shaking the hand of Mr. President, an honor only the race's winner can enjoy.

At the end of the movie, every other racer knocked out of the race (Nero, Matilda and Jane by Thomasina's resistance; Viterbo by Frankenstein, who had to sacrifice his hand grenade in order to get rid of Viterbo and win the race), Frankenstein approaches Mr. President, a knife hidden in his hand. However, Thomasina Paine is waiting in the crowd, and she shoots Frankenstein in the head. Mr. President looks down to Frankenstein, to see if he is still alive, and on unmasking him, sees that it is Annie in disguise. The real Frankenstein crawls out of the passenger seat, and crashes into the podium Mr. President is standing on, killing him and achieving his personal mission.

The final scene sees Frankenstein, the new President, speaking with the press after his wedding to Annie, issuing a set of decrees to improve the government. Thomasina Paine is appointed as the Minister of Domestic Security.

External link

• Death Race 2000 (1975) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072856/ on IMDb