Death Race

Paul Anderson teamed up with Roger Corman for a thunderous remake of the cult film Death Race 2000, in which death row inmates fight to the rhythm of driving guitars and music video editing. It's essentially a video game with all the trimmings (collecting weapons and shields), but this time we really don’t need our joysticks. That’s because the characters have descended from the posters of classic "racing games" and drive so fast you forget it even the inklings of a plot. Anderson has exceeded his own shadow and all expectations and made his most entertaining, perverted, and most importantly, best film, which entitles him to shake hands with Neil Marshall and kick the Wachowski's in the ass at the same time. PS: That truck destruction rivals Chris Nolan. (09/18/2008)

A really excellent piece with sharpened visuals and excellent special effects. Jason Statham as the wrongly convicted Jensen Ames ruthlessly dispatches all the "competition" in an army-equipped Mustang, even manages to get his revenge while trying to break free again, aided by the beautiful Natalie Martinez. The choice of music is also praiseworthy. A very strong 4 stars. (03/28/2009)

Paul W.S. Anderson is quite an unpredictable director, you never know whether his next project will be good or really bad. This time things have fortunately worked well and Death Race is brilliant B-movie fun that might not be as mad as Doomsday, but it holds together a lot better. Anderson has made me happy this time, but I’m still not forgiving him for AvP. (10/12/2008)

Paul W.S. Anderson is back and again revelling in unpretentious and pretty gritty stories. While I fear he will never surpass the excellent Event Horizon, this action thriller is also a supremely entertaining, hellishly fast and properly bloody ride. It's exactly the kind of film that while you're watching it you're thinking what a terrible piece of crap it is and how it is possible that someone could make it, but you'll still finish it with your mouth open, you'll have a great time, and you might even get the urge to watch it again – personally, I'll definitely watch Death Race again. (04/09/2012)

Anderson's unacknowledged adaptation of Carmageddon and the admitted remake of Death Race 2000. If Death Race were not so bitter and humorless, it could have easily competed with this season's B-movie king, Doomsday. Here, too, B-movie is synonymous not with a lack of craft, but with genuine entertainment. Albeit dumb entertainment (but not executed in a stupid manner), but at the same time stylish, energetic and constant, though somewhat repetitive. (09/21/2008)