Official US Trailer

My review:

Terrible! But in spite of all my prejudices regarding that film I must confess that I found Death Race 2 actually not un-entertaining. That it starts with a long scene with Sean Bean as bad tempered gangster boss Markus Kane who is discussing football (the English version) and critisizes the play of Manchester United in the best Football Fan tradition is a little highlight and everyone who knows two things more about the actor than that he was Boromir in "Lord of the Rings" can't but be amused.

Marcus Kane (Sean Bean) - discussing with Carl Lucas (Luke Goss) - Manchester United! (Yes, we are in a car race film...)

So, the film says from the start "Don't take me too serious" - and that's perhaps all it needs. Death Race 2 isn't pretending anything, it tells its story as straight as you want: We are in the very near future on a prison Island that is managed by a private corporation and has to maximize it's profit: They do that with unscrupolous Gladiator fights between the prisoners. Who kills his opponent, wins his freedom, is the promise. It's aired on a pay TV channel and the idea was born by a cold beauty (Lauren Cohan) who has less heart than the meanest of the prisoners! These fights are called "Death Match" but unfortunately the TV ratings go down - so a new, spectacular idea must be created.

Here comes now the big hour of Carl Lucas (Luke Goss), a member in Markus Kane's (Sean Bean) gang, who has murdered a watchman during a horribly wrong going bank robbery. The film emphazises strongly, that Carl Lucas is a sort of "good" bad guy, because he has done jobs like that for 20 years without ever having to really hurt someone, and it is all the fault of Markus Kane's nephew, who is for the first time on the job and doesn't takes care of anything. Also, Carl Lucas refuses heroically every tandalizing offer from the officials to set him free, if he is only willing to give evidence against his long time boss.

So, Carl Lucas has that sort of a dark but good aura you need to feel with him - besides a really well trained body that we can see now and again since it seems to be summer and because of the heat they all have to undress as far as possible as often as possible - and with all that dirt in the prison the guys also have to shower every so often...

It's summer... and very hot and very dirty... the guys have to be cleaned now and again... (Yes, we ARE in a car race film...)

We have seen already during the chase after the bank robbery that Lucas is also really, really good behind the wheel of a car. So, when our cold beauty sees by chance how Lucas manages an old car the prison inhabitants are supposed to turn into scrap, the idea of a "Death Race" is born: heavily armed cars - attractive babes as navigators - and who kills all the others within three days, will win his freedom. Unfortunate for our dark hero, that Sean has meanwhile gotten suspious of Lucas and has bespoken one million dollars as reward for the one who will kill him...

Markus Kane (Sean Bean) promising one million dollars for the execution of Carl Lucas (Ah! A car in the background!)

It comes as it must: the "Death Race" has highest rates with the TV audience, half of the participants get already killed during the first day, and Luca's car is sabotaged and so he unfairly looses during the second day the race, his health and his unblemished body when his car catches fire...

From now on, he will only be seen with a mask and carries the nom de guerre of Frankenstein.

Since Death Race is the prequel of the successful Death Race film with Jason Stratham from 2008, this is the necessary end of the story.

One can, of course, say, this is all a lot of nonsense, or one can say is a sort of not so nonsensical exaggeration of reality: gladiators who fight until death for the entertainment of the masses fascinated in the antic Rome, even in "serious" car fairs the pretty "babes" are never far - and the modern fascination for car races that are always playing with the possibility of serious accidents speak it's own language. And not to mention the many Reality shows in TV that seem to get every year more grotescque! So, there is always this dark shadow of a possible reality hanging over the film, and that doesn't hurt.

"Pretty babes are never far..." Markus Kane talking to Katrina Banks (Tanit Phoenix), navigatoress of doomed Carl Lucas

Apart from that, we see some decent work from the actors, Danny Trejo seems to enjoy himself playing a Mexican jew (Goldberg) who joins Lucas' team and Sean Bean mustn't drive any car, can be as mean as he wants and is otherwise always busy taking/preparing a meal!

Markus Kane with associated "babe" - preparing a meal... (Yes, really!)

rg/25.10.2011

http://deathrace2.craveonline.com/- official Film Website
www.themightybean.com - nice gallery with many photos!

interesting long review here:

Duncan Bowles

Can Duncan find much to love in the straight to DVD sequel to Death Race? Er, yes. Yes, he can...

and than follow this link: http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/694635/death_race_2_review.html

says it all, imo, nicely put together :-)

15.12.2010

part of an Interview with Tanit Phoenix, source and complete interview here: http://sknr.net/2010/12/15/tanit-phoenix-talks-death-race-2/

Tanit Phoenix talks Death Race 2

...

"...Sean Bean is my on-screen hero, he is such an incredible actor, and Roel Reiné, the director, added a one-on-one scene in the film with Sean and myself. Watching him create his character was intense, his attention to facial movement when expressing an emotion is incredible. I learned a lot from Sean...."

part of Interview, source and complete interview: http://moviemavericks.com/2010/04/interview-roel-reine/

Interview: Roel Reine
...

J: Can you tell us anything about your next film Death Race 2?

R: It’s complicated. At this time I can’t say much other than it’s going to be really good. I saw the original in the cinema and I was a fan. It had the feeling of Mad Max it was like a throwback to the action movies of the 80′s. A year ago I read in the trades magazines that Universal was making a sequel and I thought, man I’d love to do that picture. Then about 6 months ago my agent called me and asked if I wanted to read the script. I was extremely surprised and excited about it because the writing was so good, it’s a great prequel. It’s the story of the origins of the Death Race and the birth of the Frankenstein character....

05.03.2010, seen on Facebook/Tanit Phonix:

Tanit Phoenix: "I had an amazing scene with Sean Bean last night ( actor from Lord of the Rings..) ah, 'one on one', intense, he is amazing... the producers gave me another page of dialogue to add to that scene. I wish for myself to work with actors that have Seans' inner light, my performance kept getting better and better... i love ...my work so much! I see myself as an award winning actress x"

source: http://www.prnewswire.com 02.03.2010

One Race, Three Days and 20,000 Rounds of Ammo
FROM UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT: PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY FOR DEATH RACE 2 BEGINS IN SOUTH AFRICA

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., March 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Start your engines…and load your weapons. The explosive, all-new high-octane Death Race 2 began principal photography on February 13, 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa. The spectacular prequel to Paul W.S. Anderson's audacious re-imagining of the Roger Corman cult classic stars Luke Goss (Hellboy 2: The Golden Army), Ving Rhames (Con Air, Pulp Fiction), Sean Bean (National Treasure, Lord of the Rings trilogy), Danny Trejo (Planet Terror, "Burn Notice"), Frederick Koehler ("Oz," "Touching Evil") and Lauren Cohan ("Supernatural") and promises even more outrageously outfitted muscle cars and death-defying stunts in a deadly driving competition.  Director Roel Reine (The Marine 2, The Lost Tribe) takes the helm of the adrenaline-fueled chronicle of Frankenstein, the greatest Death Racedriver of all time, in an all-out thrill ride through a dystopian future.

The screenplay is by Tony Giglio (Chaos), from a story by Paul W.S. Anderson. A top-flight production team has also been assembled, including director of photography John McKay, production designer Johnny Breedt, editor Josh Galvin and costume designer Moira Meyer.

The latest in the hugely successful line of DVD Originals™  from Universal Studios Home Entertainment Productions, Death Race 2 is produced by Paul W.S. Anderson and Jeremy Bolt and executive produced by Paula Wagner and Mike Elliott.  Death Race 2 is an official South African/German Co-Production, produced in South Africa by Universal Pictures Productions GmbH and Moonlighting Death Race Films C.C. and co-produced by Genevieve Hofmeyr and Ralph Tuebben.

Since its introduction in 2005, Universal's extensive DVD Originals™ slate of new live-action and animated content has dominated sales charts, scored impressive ratings on television network and cable outlets, performed successfully in multi-international markets and helped to shape the made-for-DVD arena.  The high profile string of hits includes multiple installments of the powerhouse Bring It On and American Pie franchises as well as the epic saga Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior and most recently the explosive action release, Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball .  

Death Race 2 takes place in the very near future, as the United States economy begins to decline and violent crime starts to spiral out of control. To contain the growing criminal population, a vast network of for-profit, private prisons springs up, creating a lawless subculture ruled by gangs, cold-blooded killers and sociopaths. The worst of these prisons is Terminal Island. Convicted cop-killer Carl Lucas arrives on the Island to serve his life sentence just as ruthlessly ambitious television personality September Jones launches the ultimate reality show, Death Race. A brutal prison yard demolition derby that pits prisoners against each other in steel reinforced, heavily armed vehicles, Death Race offers the winner the ultimate prize: freedom — if he can survive to enjoy it. When Lucas signs up to be a driver, the stage is set for the birth of a legendary racer.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios www.universalstudios.com. Universal Studios is a part of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% owned by Vivendi.

www.universalstudios.com

Source: Shock Till You Drop, February 15, 2010

EXCLUSIVE: More Cast Details for Death Race: Frankenstein Lives
Source: Ryan Rotten, Managing Editor

Lensing began in South Africa on Death Race: Frankenstein Lives over the weekend. Apropos as, at the same time, Florida hosted the Daytona 500 minus the murder and mayhem, of course.

Shock Till You Drop has more details on who's joining Luke Goss and Tanit Phoenix in the prequel to Paul W.S. Anderson's 2008 film.

As you may or may not know, Goss plays Carl "Luke" Lucas, a man framed by the mob for the murder of a police officer. Shock exclusively learned this afternoon that Sean Bean (pictured) will co-star as Luke's old mob boss; Ving Rhames is the man responsible for giving the greenlight to the Death Race (he's apparently a "Rupert Murdoch" type); Danny Trejo is Luke's pal in prison and Frederick Koehler will reprise his role as "Lists."

Anderson is on board as producer with Jeremy Bolt. Roel Reiné directs from a script by Tony Giglio.

Source: DreadCentral.com, 29. Jan. 2010

Death Race: Frankenstein Lives

Tanit Phoenix to Give Frankenstein a Lift in Death Race: Frankenstein Lives?

This South African sex symbol is just getting hotter by the day. Now that she's done playing with vampires in the upcoming flick Lost Boys: The Thirst, it's time for her to tackle yet another kind of beast ... one with a hot rod and and a bad attitude.

According to our brothers over at Geek Week, Phoenix is said to be in talks to join Luke Goss for the direct-to-video prequel to Death Race, now known as Death Race: Frankenstein Lives.

Goss will be playing Carl "Luke" Lucas, also known as the driver "Frankenstein," who has been framed by the mob for the murder of a cop. Once relocated to Terminal Island, he must engage in the famed Death Race as a means to stay alive.

Tanit is the frontrunner to play Elizabeth Jane Case, a card girl for the fight matches, later a navigator when the prisoners are forced to test their driving skills, who develops a 'close' bond with Lucas. She’s in prison for accidentally killing her cop husband.

Paul W.S. Anderson and Jeremy Bolt are producing. Shooting should begin soon with Roel Reiné at the director's helm.
- Uncle Creepy