Break-Down of the film Death Race 2050 (Video)

G.J. Echternkamp's political comedy Death Race 2050 stars Manu Bennett, Marci Miller, and Malcolm McDowell. It's a sequel to Death Race 2000, which was released in 1975. Roger Corman produced both films, describing it as "a car-racing picture with some dark comedy."

What's the story behind Death Race 2050?

It is the year 2050. The Death Race serves as both entertainment and population control in the United Corporations of America, which is beset by overpopulation and a 99.993 percent unemployment rate. The current Death Race, which stretches from Old New York to New Los Angeles, includes defending champion Frankenstein. Jed Perfectus, a genetically created athlete, Minerva Jefferson, Tammy the Terrorist, a female cultist, and the villainous, black, artificially intelligent, self-driving automobile ABE struggle against Frankenstein. Each driver is given a proxy, a broadcaster who gives the viewers a virtual reality experience of the race. Frankenstein is instantly turned off by his proxy, Annie Sullivan, and dismisses both her efforts to interview him and her advice to let his opponents pass him by.

The rebels, headed by ex-network producer Alexis Hamilton, lay traps all over the East Coast as the cars race through the region. As a result of stealing each other's cult members for execution, Tammy and Minerva become bitter enemies. When ABE runs into a rebel trap, it malfunctions, kills its proxies, and leaves the race to find its life's purpose. Frankenstein is ordered to be killed at the first checkpoint by Hamilton as she is discovered as her spy, Annie. As she tries to woo him, she fails since he just worries about winning the race. In other places, the Chairman says that Frankenstein has become a burden because of his long life, but Perfectus will urge his loyal followers to die at his hands.

Gun-toting Americans will be in full view as the marathon enters its second day. Chi Wapp, Minerva's proxy, is killed by Tammy's suicide bomber. Following an unplanned detour, the car driven by Dr. Frankenstein becomes stranded in a field of corn. While Annie is gone, Frankenstein takes on the ninjas of the Resistance. At the second checkpoint, Annie reveals to Frankenstein that she is a rebel. To win, Frankenstein says, he'll do anything to get his hands on power. That she's an academic who plays the hip-hop stereotype for a living, Minerva tells Annie. Perfectus, envious of Frankenstein's fame and sex appeal, is kept at bay by Annie. For now, the Chairman is coordinating his efforts with Hamilton's.

The government provides "authorized" routes for the drivers on Day three of the race so they can escape Resistance assaults. As a result of his battle with Perfectus, Frankenstein's right arm is injured, and Annie lends a hand. However, in an attempt to evade Tammy's suicidal proxy, Minerva slips over the cliff. Before a returning ABE slams Tammy into the wall and self-destructs, killing both of them, Tammy gloats over Minerva's death. A hidden path is used by Perfectus to the finish line, while Frankenstein and Annie destroy Hamilton and her rebels. Until Perfectus loses control and smashes into the VR control booth, both vehicles jostle for place. A pre-race communication is sent out by Frankenstein, who suggests that the Chairman is worth 1,000 points. After murdering the Chairman, Frankenstein invites the viewers to leave their virtual world behind and participate in their own Death Race, to the pleasure of the audience. From afar, Frankenstein and Annie see a nation descending into anarchy and advise that when the violence has subsided, the land should be repopulated.

The teaser for Death Race 2050 may be seen right here.

Who is in the cast of Death Race 2050?

Frankenstein the cybernetic veteran Death Race champion, is played by Manu Bennett.

Malcolm McDowell in a "slight comb-over" as the Chairman of the United Corporations of America

Annie Sullivan, Frankenstein's surrogate, is played by Marci Miller.

Burt Grinstead portrays Jed Perfectus, a genetically modified athlete who considers himself the ideal driver.

Minerva Jefferson, a hip-hop musician turned racer, is played by Folake Olowofoyeku.

Tammy "The Terrorist," played by Anessa Ramsey.

Yancy Butler portrays Alexis Hamilton, a former network producer now leading a rebel organization.

J.B., the male Death Race announcer, is played by Charlie Farrell.

Shanna Olson plays the role of Grace Tickle, a female pundit and interviewer for the Death Race.

Leslie Shaw portrays Eve Rocket, the surrogate for Perfectus, in this video.

D.C. Douglas voices ABE, a self-driving racing automobile controlled by AI.

Chi Wapp, Minerva's proxy, is played by Pierre Paolo Goya Kobashigawa.

Sebastian Llosa plays Steve, a regular person who watches the Death Race from Annie's point of view in virtual reality.

Helen Loris as ABE's programmer.

How did Death Race 2050 come to be?

An Italian journalist who was interviewing Corman noted that The Hunger Games had parallels to Death Race 2000, which sparked the idea for a follow-up picture by the director. To bring back the dark humor of his original, Corman approached Universal Pictures, the studio behind the current remake (which, in Corman's opinion, omitted much too much of the original's social criticism). "You did a terrific job," Corman told them, "but you've taken away the murdering of pedestrians and the broken-society themes."

Corman started filming in his late 80s, during the 2016 presidential election in the United States. It stars a businessman who is now Chairman of United Corporations of America. "The president does have a hairstyle that may be approaching Trump's hairstyle," Corman told an interviewer, "but I don't want to go too deep into that because Trump will come and go, but the film will endure."

How did people feel about Death Race 2050?

"There are a number of Death Races in a film series about the Death Race that is coming first post to an end. Following the late 2000s and early 2010s Death Race trilogy with Jason Statham, Roger Corman returns with Death Race 2050. While both films were enjoyable in their own right, they had little in common with Death Race 2000, a 1970s B-movie. So Corman gets this out-of-control burning disaster back on track with a three-day race across a dystopian America, where pedestrian deaths earn points for out-of-control personalities! This time, though, the title has a 50 at the end." - Youtube critic Decker Shado

There are three behind-the-scenes films included with the DVD and Blu-ray release in the United States: The Making of 2050, The Look of 2050, and Cars! Cars. Cars. Cars. On the 20th of March, 2017, it was made available in the UK.

As of June 2020, eight reviews of the movie with an average score of 6.8/10 gave it an 88% approval rating on RottenTomatoes.com.

Chris Alexander described the movie as "loud, strident, spastic, sadistic, stylish, slipshod, foolish, and brilliant in equal doses" in an article that was published on ComingSoon.net. In his analysis of the movie for Nerdist, Scott Weinberg referred to the production as "all extremely clumsy and ramshackle and kitschy, but that's just part of the'shaggy dog' appeal of the production." And a review that was published on a website by Zavala said that the movie "has enough blood, guts, naive political commentary, scenery chewing, and bad visual effects for it to become a cult classic."