Death Race 2
| Death Race 2 | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Roel Reiné |
| Produced by | |
| Screenplay by | Tony Giglio |
| Story by |
|
| Based on |
Characters by Paul W. S. Anderson |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Paul Haslinger |
| Cinematography | John Mckay |
| Edited by |
|
| Distributed by | Universal Studios Home Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Death Race 2 is a 2010 American science fiction action film directed by Roel Reiné, written by Tony Giglio and Paul W. S. Anderson. It is the second installment in the Death Race film series. The film serves a prequel to Death Race (2008), is followed by a sequel Death Race 3: Inferno (2013) and was released directly to video on 27 December 2010.[1]
The film explores the origins of the first "Frankenstein" car driver, Carl "Luke" Lucas (Luke Goss). Alongside Goss, the film also stars Fred Koehler, Tanit Phoenix, Robin Shou, Lauren Cohan, Danny Trejo, Sean Bean as the villain and Ving Rhames. A direct-to-video film, it received general negative critical reaction.
Plot
Getaway driver Carl "Luke" Lucas is arrested after a robbery for his crime boss Markus Kane goes wrong. As his accomplices are robbing the bank, two officers casually enter the building. Luke tells them to abort, but they refuse; Luke intervenes, but it results in the death of one of the three accomplices. Luke shoots and kills one of the officers and dumps off his accomplices in order to fulfill Markus's wishes. In doing so, Luke is eventually captured by the police following a high-speed chase and sentenced to prison. Six months later, Luke is transferred to Terminal Island.
Terminal Island is a private prison under the control of the Weyland Corporation, which hosts the Death Match, a televised pay-per-view competition where two dangerous convicts are chosen and then forced to fight to the death or submission. The prisoners are given access to weapons or defense items to use during the fight by stepping on a marked plate in the arena. Luke meets the men who eventually become his pit crew in the Death Race: Lists, who annoys him by over-analyzing everything, Goldberg, and Rocco. The host of the Death Match is September Jones, a former Miss Universe who lost her crown due to allegations of having a sexual relationship with all of its judges. She now works for Weyland Corp to create profit from the pay-per-view subscribers of the Death Match.
Luke is approached in the showers by September, who proposes that he fights. When he refuses, she makes sexual advances towards him, which he pretends to go for before refusing. In retaliation, September chooses Lists to fight in a Death Match with the convict Big Bill. Luke confronts her while Lists is running for his life during the event, pleading to let him fight in place of Lists. She refuses to help and he jumps over a barbed fence to fight for Lists. He is joined by Katrina Banks, a woman convict who is serving as a ring girl with other female convicts. She hits the convict with a round number sign made of metal. A riot breaks out during the fight between Luke and the convict because of racial tension, sparked because Luke is white and the other convict is black. The convicts break down the fence to get in, and some of the rapists attack and attempt to rape the female convicts. Katrina defends herself and helps the other women, who are then evacuated. When the riot control guards intervene, Luke surrenders. Markus, worried that Luke will trade info on his crimes for immunity, discovers his location at Terminal Island while watching the Death Match. Afterward, Luke is well-received when he sees Katrina and inquires about her well-being after the fight.
Markus puts a bounty of $1 million on Luke's head and convinces some of the prisoners to kill him. Meanwhile, Jones comes up with a plan to boost their profits by converting the Death Match into a "Death Race", where the contestants will have to race over days to win each match. The person who manages to win five races will be released from prison, originally credited as Weyland's idea. Luke joins the race, during which other prisoners try to kill him to earn Markus' bounty. The female convicts are brought back to play navigator for each racer, and Katrina is paired with Luke. During the first race, Luke intervenes in an altercation between two other racers, and saves the life of 14K, known to be associated with the Triads. As a result, 14K claims to be indebted to Luke.
On the second race, Luke's car malfunctions (sabotage) and crashes after being hit with a missile fired by Big Bill (who is later killed by his navigator after he killed his pit crew), Luke's pit crew arrives (including Katrina) and tries to save him, but it is too late and everybody is led to believe that Luke is dead. In reality, he survives with extensive scarring to his face. He joins the race as the new character "Frankenstein" with a mask to hide his identity from others. As the third race begins, Luke's new triad friends manage to kill Markus in revenge, Lists kills Luke's pit crew member Rocco who tampered with Luke's car and Luke kills September by running her over with his car, before he races with the other competitors.
Cast
Racers
- Luke Goss as Carl "Luke" Lucas / Frankenstein. His height and weight is 6'1" (185 cm), 182lbs (82 kg). His car is driven by Frankenstein in Death Race.
- Deobia Oparei as Big Bill, one of Carl Lucas' and Calin's rivals. He killed 19 fighters in the Death Match, the most of any fighter. His height and weight is 6'2" (188 cm), 250lbs (113 kg). His truck is driven by Machine Gun Joe in Death Race.
- Hennie Bosman as Xander Grady, one of 14K's rivals, is the Aryan Brotherhood's leader. He killed 11 fighters in the Death Match, third to Big Bill and 14K. His height and weight is 6'4" (193 cm), 220lbs (100 kg). His car is driven by Slovo Pachenko in Death Race.
- Robin Shou as 14K, a tenth-generation triad member, who was sent to business school and holds a degree from MIT. He killed 14 fighters in the Death Match, second to Big Bill. His height and weight is 5'11" (180 cm), 159lbs (72 kg). He is the only racer other than Frankenstein to appear in all three films.
- Warrick Grier as Calin, one of Big Bill's rivals. His car is driven by Carson in Death Race.
- Sean Higgs as Hill Billy. His car is driven by Siad in Death Race.
- Trayan Milenov-Troy as Scarface. His car is driven by Hector Grimm in Death Race.
- Michael Solomon as Sheik. His car is driven by Travis Colt in Death Race.
- Chase Armitage as Apache. His car is driven by Riggins in Death Race.
Other cast members
- Tanit Phoenix as Katrina Banks, Luke's navigator and love interest.
- Lauren Cohan as September Jones, Death Race's hostess/executive producer, She is a former Miss Universe who lost her crown due to allegations of having a sexual relationship with all of its judges.
- Fred Koehler as Lists, one of Luke's pit crew and a compulsive data collector. His height and weight is 5'9", 172 lbs.(78 kg). He is the only other person to appear in all four films. He has been sentenced for murdering his mother.
- Ving Rhames as R. H. Weyland, head of Weyland International.
- Danny Trejo as Goldberg, a loyal member of Luke's pit crew.
- Sean Bean as Markus Kane, Luke's former crime boss.
- Patrick Lyster as Medford Parks, Terminal Island Penitentiary's warden. He is later replaced by Claire Hennessey in Death Race.
- Joe Vaz as Rocco, a former member of Luke's pit crew.
- Wayne Harrison as Sergeant Linus Drago
Cars
The cars in the film are real vehicles that have been heavily modified with armor plating, machine guns and defensive weapons.
- Frankenstein's Monster - A five-speed manual 2006 Ford Mustang GT armed with dual M134 Miniguns for offense, and a smoke screen, napalm, and oil slick for defense,[2] as well as a 6-inch-thick (150 mm) detachable steel plate on the rear bumper called "The Tombstone." It was later driven by Niles York, and lastly, Jensen Ames.
- 1980 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS - A five-speed manual vehicle with a stock 2.7L six-cylinder engine, driven by the Chinese convict 14K, enforced with dual World War II German MG-42 belt-fed general purpose machine guns, four hood-mounted missiles, and four missiles on the roof.
- 2004 Dodge Ram 3500 - Big Bill's five-speed automatic truck with a 5.7L V8 Hemi engine, armed with a cowcatcher, four hood-mounted Browning M1919s, two side-mounted Vulcan cannons, and Russian RPG-7s. It was later driven by Machine Gun Joe.
- 1966 Buick Riviera Gran Sport (serial # 494877H903903)- Xander Grady's turbo three-speed automatic with a 430C.I. V8 engine. The Riviera is enforced with German MG-34s, Uzis, and PPSh-41 submachine guns. It was later driven by Pachenko.
- 1989 BMW E32 735i - Hill Billy's four-speed automatic with a six-cylinder engine. The BMW is enforced with an M134 and bullet-resistant steel. It was later driven by Siad.
- 1979 Pontiac Trans AM - Calin's three-speed automatic with a 350HO V8 engine with a M134 aiming backwards for defense, and a .50 caliber turret on top of his car which is operated by his navigator. It was later driven by Carson.
- 1972 Buick Boattail Riviera - Apache's three-speed automatic with a 430C.I. V8 "Nail Head" engine. The Boattail is enforced with German MG-34s, two Uzis, and two PPSh-41 submachine guns. It was later driven by Riggins.
- 1989 Jaguar XJR-S - The Sheik's four-speed automatic with a V12 engine. The Jaguar is enforced with bullet-resistant steel and 50-caliber M2 machine guns. It was later driven by Travis Colt.
- 2006 Chrysler 300C - Scarface's five-speed automatic with a 345C.I. V8 engine. The Chrysler is enforced with three FN MAG-58s, a missile and oil slick. It was later driven by Hector Grimm.
Sequel
A direct-to-DVD-and-Blu-ray-sequel called Death Race 3: Inferno was released in January 2013.
References
- ↑ "Death Race 2 Trailer". YouTube. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
- ↑ The Cars of Death Race part 2, IGN (Jan 30, 2008)