Born to Race [2 Discs]

DVD FEATURES:

AWARDS

• Venice International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 1975 (Paul Bartel)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       David Carradine - Frankenstein
       Ann - Margret - Ann McCalley
       Agnes Soral - Violet
       Daniel Gelin - Kellerman
       Don Chastain - Eddie Ellis
       Bernhard Wicki - von der Muhle
       Louisa Moritz - Myra
       Marina Larsen - Dina
       Greg Mullavey - Lizard
       Bruce Glover - Capt. Midnight
       Ted King - Suicide Sam
       Gary Littlejohn - Sitting Bull
       Frank Noel - Kraut
       Jackie Rohr - Zit Zit
       Bob Keyworth - Charlie Hopkins
       Bill Morey - Deacon

• Director:

  Paul Bartel, Seymour Robbie, Michael Verhoeven, Edward J. Lasko, Joe Viola

• Producer:

  Roger Corman, Allan Carr, Roger Smith, Michael Verhoeven, Jonathan Demme, Joe Viola

• Screenwriter:

  Charles B. Griffith

• Screen Story:

  Ib Melchior

• Screenwriter:

  Robert Thom, Roger Smith, Michael Verhoeven, Edward J. Lasko, Jonathan Demme, Joe Viola

• Cinematographer:

  Tak Fujimoto, Charles Wheeler, Jacques Steyn, Stephen M. Katz

• Composer (Music Score):

  Paul Chihara, Lenny Stack, Michael Landau, Edward J. Lasko, Richard Hieronymous

• Editor:

  Tina Hirsch, Fred A. Chulack, Fred Srp, Joe Ravetz

• Production Designer:

  Beala Neel

• Art Director:

  B.B. Neel, Robin Royce, Jack Fisk

• Executive Producer:

  Joseph E. Levine

• Costume Designer:

  Jane Ruhm, Jon Shannon

• Special Effects:

  Richard MacLean

• First Assistant Director:

  Dennis Jones

• Coordinator:

  Gary Littlejohn

REVIEW:

• Death Race 2000 is the type of bad movie that can be very good, or, at least, a whole lot of fun -- the formula for a cult classic. It offers a surprisingly effective mix of violence, sex, and humor, all the more impressive given its modest budget. B-movie veteran David Carradine is appropriately gruff as the weary Frankenstein, and a pre-Rocky Sylvester Stallone is cast with comic perfection as -- what else? -- an Italian thug. Rounding out the extensive group of bizarre competitors is cult favorite Mary Woronov, as the cowgirl Calamity Jane. The gore gets a little excessive, perhaps not surprising given that the film was produced by Roger Corman, legendary for high-quality, low-budget exploitation films. The movie is not entirely without redeeming moral value, however. Like 1987's The Running Man, it does a good job of satirizing the blood lust of professional sports and the TV shows that enable and encourage it. Maybe this is a film that one shouldn't think too much about. But if you can handle spurious accusations against the "treacherous French," and you don't mind assigning point values to pedestrians, Death Race 2000 is a heck of a trip. ~ Matthew Doberman, Rovi