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 as "a car-racing picture blog with some black humor."What does Death Race 2050 have to do with anything?
It is the year 2050. In the United Corporations of America, which has too many people and a 99.993 percent unemployment rate, the Death Race is both fun and a way to control the number of people. In the current Death Race, which goes from Old New York to New Los Angeles, the winner is Frankenstein. Frankenstein faces off against Jed Perfectus, a genetically engineered athlete, Minerva Jefferson, a hip-hop star, Tammy the Terrorist, a female cult member, and ABE, a bad, black, artificially intelligent, self-driving car. Each driver is given a proxy, which is a broadcaster who shows the race to the audience in a virtual reality setting. Annie Sullivan, who is standing in for Frankenstein, turns him off right away. He doesn't care that she wants to talk to him or that she says he should let his opponents pass him.
Rebels, headed by former network producer Alexis Hamilton, lay traps around the sector as the cars race along the East Coast. Taking turns murdering the cult members of the other's group, Tammy and Minerva quickly develop an enmity. When ABE runs into a rebel trap, it malfunctions, kills its proxies, and leaves the race to figure out what it's here for. At the first checkpoint, Hamilton instructs Annie, her spy, to murder Frankenstein. Her effort to woo him fails since he is just interested on winning the race. In other places, the Chairman says that Frankenstein has become a burden because of his lengthy life, but Perfectus will urge his dedicated followers to die at his hands.
On Day two of the race, the drivers go through the country's heartland, which is notorious for its gun-toting people. Tammy sends a suicide bomber to murder Minerva's proxy, Chi Wapp. Frankenstein chooses an other route, but his automobile becomes stuck in a cornfield. As Annie walks away, Frankenstein defends himself against a gang of Resistance ninjas in order to collect more points. When Annie reaches the second checkpoint, she reveals to being a rebel and tries to recruit Frankenstein. Politically indifferent, Frankenstein condemns both the rebels and the government, emphasizing that his sole goal is to win the race. Minerva explains to Annie at a bar that she is an educated scholar who plays a stereotyped hip-hop role to live. When Annie returns to Frankenstein's chamber, she protects him from Perfectus, who is envious of Frankenstein's notoriety and sex appeal. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Hamilton and the Chairman are collaborating behind the scenes.
On Day three, the government arranges "authorized" routes to prevent Resistance assaults. Annie helps Frankenstein swap gears after Perfectus injured his right arm. Minerva follows Tammy but jumps down a cliff to evade her proxy. Tammy gloats over Minerva's murder before a returning ABE destroys them both. Frankenstein and Annie kill Hamilton and her rebels, while Perfectus takes a covert way. Perfectus's automobile loses control and smashes into the VR control booth. Frankenstein suggests the Chairman is worth 1,000 points before reaching the finish line. After murdering the Chairman, Frankenstein invites the onlookers to launch their own Death Race. Frankenstein and Annie watch as the nation descends into turmoil and advise repopulating it.
Trailer for "Corman's Death Race 2050."
Death Race 2050 included a who's who of actors.
- Manu Bennett as "Frankenstein," the seasoned cybernetic champion of the Death Race.
- Malcolm McDowell plays The Chairman of the United Corporations of America, a parody of Donald Trump who has a "slight comb-over in his hair."
- Marci Miller plays Frankenstein's proxies Annie Sullivan and Mary Shelley.
- Burt Grinstead stars as the title character, Jed Perfectus, a genetically modified athlete who considers himself to be the ideal driver.
- Hip-hop musician turned racing driver Folake Olowofoyeku stars as Minerva Jefferson.
- Tammy "The Terrorist," a religious cult leader, is played by Anessa Ramsey.
- Yancy Butler plays Alexis Hamilton, the rebel leader.
- J.B., the male Death Race announcer, is played by Charlie Farrell.
- Shanna Olson plays Grace Tickle, a female Death Race pundit and interviewer.
- Eve Rocket is played by Leslie Shaw.
- D.C. Douglas is the voice of ABE, a demonically driven self-driving racing car.
- A Japanese actor, Pierre Paolo Goya Kobashigawa, portrays Chi Wapp.
- Sebastian Llosa stars as Steve, a civilian who observes the Death Race in virtual reality via Annie's eyes.
- Helen Loris plays ABE's programmer, Dr. Creamer.
In what way was Death Race 2050 created?
When an Italian journalist observed that The Hunger Games was comparable to Death Race 2000, Corman got the idea for a sequel to the first film. Corman approached Universal Pictures, the studio behind the current remake (which he believed omitted too much of the original's political criticism), about bringing back the original's dark satire. "You did a terrific job," Corman said, "but you left out the pedestrian killings and the themes of a dysfunctional society."
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."
People seemed to like watching Death Race 2050, didn't they?
"There sure are a lot of Death Races in a movie series about the end of the Death Race. In Death Race 2050, Roger Corman reclaims the director's chair after Jason Statham's three-part Death Race saga from the late 2000s and early 2010s. Despite being excellent films in their own right, they bear little resemblance to the classic Death Race 2000 of the 1970s. That's why Corman has the three-day race that spans a dystopian America, where pedestrian killings get points for their over-the-top personalities! This time, though, the title has a 50 at the end of it." - Decker Shado
The movie was made available in the United States on DVD and as part of a combination DVD/Blu-ray release that included included three behind-the-scenes documentaries: The Making of 2050, The Look of 2050, and Cars! Oh my my, the cars! On March 20, 2017, it was made available to the public in the United Kingdom.
RottenTomatoes.com gives the film an 88% approval rating based on eight reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10, as of June 2019.
In the words of Chris Alexander, the film is "loud... shrill... spastic... sadistic... stylish... slipshod... stupid... smart. " According to Scott Weinberg, a reviewer for Nerdist, the film is "clunky," "ramshackle," and "kitchy, but that's part of its charm." It has "enough blood, guts, simplistic political commentary, scenery chewing, and terrible special effects to become a cult classic," according to Sebastian of Screenanarchy.com.