Thursday Film Analysis / Break-Down [watch]

Death Race 2050 was directed by G.J. Echternkamp in 2017. The cast includes Manu Bennett, Marci Miller, and Malcolm McDowell .'s blog post Death Race 2000 is a follow-up to the first film. Both films were described by Roger Corman as a "car-racing picture with dark comedy" by the director.

What is the plot of 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 features reigning champion Frankenstein, genetically engineered athlete Jed Perfectus, hip-hop sensation Minerva Jefferson, female cultist Tammy the Terrorist, and the evil, black, artificially intelligent, self-driving car ABE, which spans from Old New York to New Los Angeles. 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.

Rebels headed by former network producer Alexis Hamilton lay traps all over the sector as the racers speed across the East Coast. When they take each other's cult members for murders, Tammy and Minerva establish a violent rivalry. ABE malfunctions, kills its proxy, and abandons the race after falling into a rebel trap. Hamilton instructs Annie, her spy, to murder Frankenstein at the first checkpoint. Her effort to attract him is unsuccessful since he is just interested in winning the race. The Chairman goes on to say that because of his longevity, Frankenstein has become a burden, while Perfectus will urge his loyal 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. On another road, Frankenstein takes a shortcut, but his automobile becomes stuck in a cornfield. While Annie is away, Frankenstein fights a gang of Resistance ninjas in order to collect extra points. Annie confesses to being a rebel and tries to recruit Frankenstein at the second checkpoint. Frankenstein, who is apolitical, insults both the rebels and the government, repeating his goal to win the race. Minerva explains to Annie at a bar that she is an educated academic who survives by playing a clichéd hip-hop persona. When Annie returns to Frankenstein's chamber, she protects him from Perfectus, who is envious of Frankenstein's fame and sexual attraction. Meanwhile, Hamilton and the Chairman are revealed to be working together behind the scenes.

On the third day of the race, the government creates "authorized" routes for the drivers to avoid Resistance assaults. As a result of his battle with Perfectus, Frankenstein's right arm is wounded, and Annie lends a hand. When Minerva goes after Tammy, she ends up falling over a cliff in order to dodge Tammy's suicide stand-ins. The ABE returns and runs Tammy into the wall, where she self-destructs, killing her and the ABE. Frankenstein and Annie annihilate Hamilton and her rebels, while Perfectus takes a covert path to the finish line. Both vehicles jostle for position until Perfectus loses control of his automobile and smashes into the VR control booth. Before he crosses the finish line, Frankenstein transmits a message to his admirers, indicating that the Chairman is worth 1,000 points. After murdering the Chairman, Frankenstein invites the viewers to leave their virtual world behind and begin their own Death Race. As the nation descends into anarchy, Frankenstein and Annie stand watch, arguing that they should repopulate the land after the mayhem has subsided.

Here's a look at the Corman's Death Race 2050 movie trailer.

Death Race 2050 cast:

Frankenstein, the cybernetic veteran and champion of the Death Race, is portrayed here by Manu Bennett.

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 Frankenstein's proxies Annie Sullivan in "Frankenstein's Daughter."

Burt Grinstead stars in the role of Jed Perfectus, a genetically created athlete who considers himself to be the ideal motorist.

Minerva Jefferson is a hip-hop musician turned racer, and Folake Olowofoyeku plays her in this role.

Tammy "The Terrorist," a religious cult leader played by Anessa Ramsey.

Alexis Hamilton, a former network producer and leader of a rebel organization, is played by Yancy Butler.

J.B., a male Death Race commentator, is played by Charlie Farrell.

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

Eve Rocket is played by Leslie Shaw.

D.C. Douglas voices ABE, an evil, AI-controlled, self-driving racing automobile.

Pierre Paolo Goya Kobashigawa as Minerva's surrogate, Chi Wapp.

Sebastian Llosa portrays Steve, a bystander who views the Death Race in virtual reality from Annie's point of view.

As Dr. Creamer, ABE's computer programmer, Helen Loris is featured.

Production of Death Race 2050.

When Corman was being interviewed by an Italian journalist, who said that The Hunger Games was comparable to Death Race 2000, he got the idea for a sequel. 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 film's dark satire. "You did a terrific job," Corman said, "but you left out the pedestrian killings and the broken-society themes."

The production of the movie started while Roger Corman was far into his 90s and during the presidential election of 2016. It focuses on a successful businessman who is now serving as Chairman of the United Corporations of America. In response to a question from an interviewer, Corman said, "The president does have a hair style which may be approaching Trump's hair style," but he did not want to get too far into the topic since "Trump will come and go and the film will endure."

Was Death Race 2050 a decent game?

"For a movie about the Death Race coming to an end, there are a lot of Death Races in the movie. It's Death Race 2050, a movie made by Roger Corman. It comes after the Death Race trilogy with Jason Statham in the late 2000s and early 2010. As good as they were, they had almost nothing to do with the original Death Race 2000 from the 1970s. With a three-day race across a dystopian America, pedestrian deaths earn points for people with over-the-top personalities who kill people. ...but this time, there's a 50 in front of it." - YouTuber Decker Shado

The Making of 2050, The Look of 2050, and Cars! were released on DVD and DVD/Blu-ray in the United States, along with three making-of documentaries. Cars, cars, cars! On March 20, 2017, it was released in the United Kingdom.

As of June 2020, eight reviews of the movie with an average score of 6.8/10 gave it an 88 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Chris Alexander described the movie in an article for ComingSoon.net as "loud, strident, spastic, sadistic, stylish, slipshod, foolish, and brilliant in equal amounts." Film critic Scott Weinberg, writing for the website Nerdist, described the production as "all extremely awkward and rickety 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 film "has enough blood, guts, naive political commentary, scenery chewing, and bad special effects for it to become a cult classic."