G.J. Echternkamp directed Death Race 2050, a 2017 American political satire action film starring Manu Bennett, Marci Miller, and Malcolm McDowell. It's a follow-up to 1975's Death Race 2000. Roger Corman produced both films, which he characterized (Roger Corman's Death Race 2050) as "a car-racing picture with some dark comedy."What's the story behind Death Race 2050?
2020. The Death Race provides entertainment and population control in United States corporations that are overcrowded and have 99.993 percent unemployment rates. Frankenstein, the current winner of the Death Race, stretches from Old New York to New LA. Frankenstein is fought by Jed Perfectus, Minerva Jefferson, Tammy the Terrorist, and ABE. You can watch the race via your own virtual reality proxy. An interview with Frankenstein and instructions to let his opponents pass by him are ignored by him.
During the time when the racers are traveling across the East Coast, a group of rebels headed by Alexis Hamilton, a former network producer, have set up traps around the region. As a result of Tammy and Minerva stealing members of the other's cult in order to carry out murders, a bitter rivalry has developed between the two of them. After falling victim to a trap set by the rebels, ABE suffers a malfunction, which results in the death of its proxy, and then decides to give up the pursuit of figuring out its true purpose in life. At the first checkpoint, Hamilton gives Annie, who it turns out is working for her as a spy, the order to murder Frankenstein. Her effort to woo him is unsuccessful due to the fact that he is solely focused on the outcome of the competition. In another part of his speech, the Chairman says that Frankenstein's longevity has turned him into a liability for the company, while Perfectus will urge his dedicated devotees to perish at his hands.
There are several gun-toting locals in this area on Day two of the racecourse. .'s Tammy sends a suicide bomber to assassinate Chi Wapp, Minerva's proxy, who is killed by the bomber herself. Frankenstein takes a shortcut to another tip, but his automobile gets trapped in a cornfield. Frankenstein fights off a gang of Resistance ninjas as Annie goes out on her own to get more points. Annie confesses to being a rebel at the second checkpoint and tries to get Frankenstein on board. Frankenstein, a political agnostic, condemns both the rebels and the government, repeating his ambition to win the race. It is revealed to Annie at a bar by the educated intellectual Minerva who portrays a stereotyped hip-hop role for survival. Annie returns to Frankenstein's chamber and protects him from Perfectus, who is envious of his notoriety and sex appeal. In the meanwhile, it is revealed that Hamilton and the Chairman are working closely behind the scenes.
On the third day of the race, the government establishes "authorized" routes for the drivers to avoid Resistance assaults. A result of his battle with Perfectus, Frankenstein's right arm needs Annie's assistance shifting gears. When Minerva goes after Tammy, she ends up falling over a cliff in order to dodge Tammy's suicide proxy. Tammy gloats over Minerva's death before an ABE returns and crashes her into the wall, causing her to self-destruct, and ending their lives. A hidden path is used by Perfectus to the finish line, while Frankenstein and Annie eliminate Hamilton and her rebels. Both automobiles jostle for position until Perfectus loses control of his car and smashes into the booth of virtual reality control. A pre-race communication is sent out by Frankenstein, who claims that the Chairman is worth 1,000 points. After murdering the Chairman, Frankenstein invites the viewers to abandon their virtual world and participate in their own Death Race. As the nation descends into anarchy, Frankenstein and Annie stand watch, arguing that they should repopulate the land after the upheaval has subsided.
The Death Race 2050 film trailer is right here.
Death Race 2050 cast:
- As "Frankenstein," a cybernetic veteran Death Race champion, Manu Bennett portrays himself in this film.
- Malcolm McDowell as The Chairman of the United Corporations of America, a spoof of Donald Trump replete with a "slight comb-over in his hair".
- Marci Miller as Annie Sullivan, Frankenstein's surrogate.
- Gene-engineered athlete Jed Perfectus, played by Burt Grinstead, fancies himself as the ultimate driver.
- Minerva Jefferson is a hip-hop musician turned racer, and Folake Olowofoyeku plays her in this role.
- Anessa Ramsey plays the role of Tammy "The Terrorist," the leader of a religious cult.
- Alexis Hamilton, a former network producer who heads a rebel organization, is played by Yancy Butler.
- Male pundits like Charlie Farrell are a rarity. J.B.
- Grace Tickle, a female analyst and interviewer during the Death Race, is portrayed here by Shanna Olson.
- Leslie Shaw portrays Eve Rocket.
- D.C. Douglas does the voice of ABE, a self-driving race car with a bad AI that controls it.
- In the role of Chi Wapp, Pierre Paolo Goya Kobashigawa steps in for Minerva.
- Sebastian Llosa plays Steve, a bystander who sees the virtual reality broadcast of the Death Race from Annie's point of view.
- Actress Helen Loris portrays Dr. Creamer, ABE's computer programmer.
How did Death Race 2050 come to be?
An Italian journalist told Corman that The Hunger Games resembled Death Race 2000 during an interview. Corman called Universal Pictures, who created the current version, to bring back the original's dark humor. Corman told them, "You did well, but you removed the pedestrian killings and broken-society themes."
Filming started while Corman was in his 80s, just around the time of the 2016 presidential election in the United States. It portrays a businessman who is currently the Chairman of the United States Corporations. "The president does have a hair style which may be approaching Trump's hair style, but I don't want to go too deep into that, since Trump will come and go and the film will stay."
Was Death Race 2050 an enjoyable experience?
"Even though the Death Race movie series is drawing to a close, there are a surprising number of Death Races in the franchise. Roger Corman returns to the Death Race franchise with Death Race 2050, the follow-up to the Jason Statham-starring Death Race trilogy from the late 2000s and early 2010s. In spite of being excellent films in their own right, they had very little in common with the original Death Race 2000 from the 1970s. A three-day race through dystopian America, where pedestrian deaths are awarded points for their over-the-top personalities, is how Corman gets this burning disaster back on track! A 50 at the end of the title this time around." - Internet personality Decker Shado
The Making of 2050, The Look of 2050, and Cars! Automobiles! 20 March 2017 in the UK.
On rottentomatoes.com as of June 2020, the film has an 88% approval rating based on eight reviews with an average rating of 6.8/10.
Chris Alexander, writing for ComingSoon.net, described the picture as "loud, strident, spastic, sadistic, stylish, slipshod, foolish, and brilliant in equal amounts" in his review. Scott Weinberg, writing for Nerdist, described the video as "all extremely awkward and rickety and kitschy, but that's just part of the'shaggy dog' appeal." a website's Sebastian Zavala said that the film "has enough blood, guts, naive political criticism... scenery chewing and bad special effects to become a cult classic."