Death Race 2000 (1975)

Director:

Paul Bartel

Writers:

Ib Melchior (story)
Robert Thom (writer) ...

Release Date:

27 April 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Sport

Tagline:

In The Year 2000 Hit And Run Driving Is No Longer A Felony. It's The National Sport!

Plot:

A champion of a brutal cross-country car race of the future where pedestrians are run down for points...

Plot Keywords:

Race | President | Wedding | B Movie | Impalement

Cast

David Carradine	...	Frankenstein
Simone Griffeth	...	Annie Smith
Sylvester Stallone	...	Machine Gun Joe Viterbo
Mary Woronov	...	Calamity Jane
Roberta Collins	...	Matilda the Hun
Martin Kove	...	Nero the Hero
Louisa Moritz	...	Myra
Don Steele	...	Junior Bruce (as The Real Don Steele)
Joyce Jameson	...	Grace Pander
Carle Bensen	...	Harold
Sandy McCallum	...	Mr. President
Paul Laurence	...	Special agent
Harriet Medin	...	Thomasina Paine
Vince Trankina	...	Lt. Fury
Bill Morey	...	Deacon

Also Known As:

Frankensteins Todesrennen (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Ölüm yarisi 2000 (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Anno 2000 la corsa della morte (Italy) [it]
Carrera mortal (Venezuela) [es]
Carrera mortal 2000 (Argentina) [es]
Corrida da Morte - Ano 2000 (Brazil) [pt]
Etos 2000: Koursa thanatou (Greece) [el]
Herrscher der Straße (West Germany) [de]
Herrscher der Straße - Frankensteins Todesrennen (Germany) (DVD title) [de]
Herrscher der Strasse (West Germany) [de]
Kalmanralli 2000 (Finland) [fi]
La carrera de la muerte del año 2000 (Spain) [es]
La course à la mort de l'an 2000 (France) [fr]
Les seigneurs de la route (France) (video title) [fr]
Rally thanatou sto etos 2000 (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Sasikvdilo rbola 2000 (Georgia) [ka]
Wyscig smierci (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

USA:84 min | Argentina:84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Brazilian Sign Language | Spanish

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Stereo | Dolby | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M (TV rating) | Netherlands:18 (original rating) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Netherlands:16 (re-rating) | France:-16 | Australia:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Finland:K-18 | Germany:16 (2002) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | UK:X (original rating) | Norway:18 (DVD release) (2003) (uncut version) | Norway:16 (video) (1988) (heavily cut) | Norway:(Banned) (1976-2003) (cinema release) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2002)

Filming Locations:

Chet Holifield Federal Building - 24000 Avila Road, Laguna Niguel, California, USA

Company:

New World Pictures

Trivia:

According to Roger Corman, several of the custom cars featured in the movie were later sold to car museums for considerably more than it cost to build them.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the "bullifighter" challenges Calamity Jane, there is a quick close-up of a spinning wheel whose rim different than those on Jane's car.

Quotes:

Ray "Nero the Hero" Ladagon: You're blocking me Cleopatra! My fans want to see me.
Cleopatra: Why, they've never seen a has-been before?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001 (2007) (V)

A Parody of a Parody...

Death Race parodies so many things it's hard to know where to begin. America-centrism (the government blame the French for everything), professional sports, pro wrestling (the drivers are badly acted "theme" types), Big Brother, and just about everything else you could name. At the same time it panders to the blood lust of the audience with cartoon violence. Sylvester Stallone is hilarious as a driver with the mannerisms of a 30's gangster, practicing on his accent for the Rocky movies. A must -see.