Death RaceMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Death Race."

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 43 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 80
    The New York Times | Nathan Lee

    The movie is legitimately greasy, authentically nasty, with a good old-fashioned sense of laying waste to everything in sight -- including the shallow philosophizing and computer-generated fakery that have overrun the summer blockbuster. Read full review

  • 70
    Salon.com | Stephanie Zacharek

    Statham moves with such easy grace that you don't have to work hard to believe him. And if he can stand up to Joan Allen, melting her predatory stare with his own molten gaze, then it's clear he's not just the prettiest guy on the prison block, but also the toughest. Read full review

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Soft sexual and racial jabs replace the more daring political commentary of the original, a crude classic from the Roger Corman factory. Read full review

  • 63
    Boston Globe |

    Smartly, Anderson makes some eclectic casting choices that keep the story from feeling as though it's populated by video-game characters. Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    The best you can say about the movie is that it isn't boring. It's fast-paced, but it isn't really well made. Read full review

  • 30
    Washington Post | Philip Kennicott

    It isn't so much a movie as a superheated, highly conductive miracle substance for the pure transmission of masculine aggression and misogyny. Read full review

  • 30
    New York Daily News | Elizabeth Weitzman

    Well, you've got to say this for Death Race: It knows what it is and doesn't apologize for it. What it is, incidentally, is junk. Read full review

  • 30
    Variety | Robert Koehler

    As hard as metal and just as dumb, Paul W.S. Anderson's Death Race couldn't be further from producer Roger Corman and director Paul Bartel's goofy, bloody 1975 original, "Death Race 2000." Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    An ill-advised and severely wussified remake. Read full review

  • 12
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    It is an assault on all the senses, including common. Walking out, I had the impression I had just seen the video game and was still waiting for the movie. Read full review

View more reviews for Death Race on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Violent action remake races to a high body count.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie is a non-stop series of graphic, violent action scenes, with lots of blood and some gore. Although it's based on '70s exploitation film Death Race 2000, this movie forgoes the original film's over-the-top satire in favor of even more-over-the-top action. The film's authority figures -- a prison warden and her guards -- are uniformly depicted as corrupt, brutish, money-hungry thugs. The main character is in prison for killing his wife, which he didn't do; at the same time, he racks up a substantial body count throughout the film in his quest for vengeance. Also expect plenty of strong language, plenty of car-related product placement, and some drinking and smoking.
  • Families can talk about the idea of the Death Race itself -- what point does violent entertainment stop being entertaining? Is the idea of a live, pay-per-view to-the-death gladiatorial event ludicrous or unnervingly ahead of its time? Families can also discuss the cultural history of gladiatorial games, from the Roman Empire's death matches to more "civilized" events like mixed martial arts today. What's so compelling about watching people fight?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The titular "Death Race" is a media event conducted from prison by a private corporation; the film's near-future setting involves an economic recession that's put millions out of work. A lead character is unjustly sentenced for the death of his wife, though he has a prior criminal record. authority figures are depicted as corrupt thugs. A disclaimer after the film states that viewers should not "duplicate any action, driving, or car play" they've just seen.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: Constant graphic action, including shooting, fistfights, stabbings, people being beaten with truncheons, explosions, car crashes, Tasering, pepper spraying, head-butts, a character slashing himself with a razor blade, a character being strangled with a length of chain, and more. Several grisly demises are witnessed on screen, including a bare-handed neck-breaking, a character being struck by a car, a character being hurled from a moving car, a character being burned alive, a character's vehicle being struck by a tank shell, a speeding car being impaled on spikes, a female character being mangled by wheel-spikes cutting through the side of a car and her body, and much more.
  • sex false2 Sex: Passionate kissing in a committed relationship; ogling of women who are wearing tight/low-cut outfits. Some discussion of a character's homosexuality.
  • language false5 Language: Strong language includes "f--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "ass," "c--k," "c--ksucker," "homo," "faggot," "bitch," "bulls--t," "t---y," "damn," and more. The "N" word is used repeatedly in a song on the soundtrack.
  • consumerism false4 Consumerism: Extensive mention and on-screen presence of car-related brands, including Ford Mustang, Dodge Ram, BMW, Porsche, Mopar, NASCAR, NOS nitrous oxide systems, NASCAR, and more; Pabst Blue Ribbon beer is seen on screen, with the label in close-up.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2 Drinking, drugs and smoking: A character drinks a beer; characters smoke.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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