Here’s a date for your diaries, folks. Roger Corman’s Death Race 2050 is speeding to blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, with a release date of January 17th, 2017. Not only that, but we now have the first trailer, and it’s a doozy.
The most welcome reboot in a while, Death Race 2050 is produced by legendary ‘King of the Bs’ and Academy Award winner Corman, who turned 90 this year. It comes more than 40 years since cult classic Death Race 2000, which starred David Carradine, Sylvester Stallone and a host of weaponised cars ploughing their way through the general populace, and is one of the most enduringly popular of Corman’s productions.
Going by the trailer, the film is very much aiming to recapture the original’s sense of gleeful mischief and Hot Wheels craziness, eschewing the gritty, grizzled po-facedness of the Jason Statham-starring 2008 reimagining. Watch the trailer now, and drink in its corny, colourful B-movie craziness.
In the not-too-distant future, America is controlled by an all-powerful corporate government that keeps the masses placated with violent virtual-reality entertainment. The event of the year is the Death Race, where a motley assortment of drivers compete in a cross-country road race, scoring points for running down pedestrians and killing each other. The reigning champion and popular favourite is half-man, half-machine Frankenstein — but little does he know he’s taken on a rebel spy as his co-pilot.
Mighty genre actor Malcolm McDowell stars as the Chairman, with 30 Days of Night’s Manu Bennett as Frankenstein (Carradine in the original), alongside Marci Miller (Most Likely to Die) and Anessa Ramsey (Rites of Spring, Southbound).
Words: Kevan Farrow (@KevanX)
