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* SorryILeftTheBGMOn: Early in the last race of the third movie, a cool rap song starts playing. Then Psycho tells his navigator to change the station, and as soon as she does, the background music is replaced with a driving techno track.
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* LegacyImmortality: Up to a certain point. The "Frankenstein" identity has been held by several convicts over the course of Death Race, with replacements coming in every time one of them dies.
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* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The Warden.
to:
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The Warden. Niles York in ''3''.
* TheDanza: Luke Gross as Carl "Luke" Lucas in the prequels.
* TheDanza: Luke Gross as Carl "Luke" Lucas in the prequels.
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* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The film is set in 2012, and was made in 2008.
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* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The film is set in 2012, and was made in 2008. By the third movie, which is a prequel, this is reversed -- it was made in 2012 and set a year or two before the first one.
* TheUnmasking: Luke loses his Frankenstein mask during a prison brawl when he first arrives at Kalahari in the third movie, revealing his identity to his pit crew and navigator. They remain bitter about being lied to until just about halfway through the film.
* TheUnmasking: Luke loses his Frankenstein mask during a prison brawl when he first arrives at Kalahari in the third movie, revealing his identity to his pit crew and navigator. They remain bitter about being lied to until just about halfway through the film.
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* LudicrousGibs: Pretty Boy meets his end when he's blown up by a heatseeking missile. He wasn't in his car at the time, so you see bits of him flying well offscreen and easily a hundred feet into the air.
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* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: 14K, Pachenko, Lists, and Coach.
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* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: 14K, Pachenko, Lists, Gunner, and Coach.Coach. Extends to most of the drivers in the third movie, namely Razor, Psycho, Joker, and Pretty Boy.
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* PrettyBoy: One of the drivers in the third movie is nicknamed Pretty Boy, and looks the part. He's a coward who leaves his navigator for dead after his car flips.
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* TankGoodness: It's not technically a tank, but Joker's massive truck in the third movie has a tank turret as its weapon. The gun extends through the cab, which obviously means the turret can't be rotated.
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* BossSubtitles: Used to introduce drivers, especially in the third movie.
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* BossSubtitles: Used to introduce drivers, especially in the third movie. Even 14k, despite the fact that he's the only driver in all three movies.
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A DirectToVideo prequel was released in 2010.
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A DirectToVideo prequel was released in 2010.2010, and a DTV sequel ''to'' the prequel was released in 2012.
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* BackseatDriver: Joker's navigator in ''3'' is constantly bossing him around and criticizing his driving.
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* BossSubtitles: Used to introduce drivers, especially in the third movie.
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A much {{darker and edgier}} film than the original ''DeathRace2000'', which was more of a [[BlackComedy grisly comedy]]. The 2008 version did away with everything in the original except the theme of a killer car race, the names of the two champions (Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe) and the fact that [[spoiler:Frankenstein was not the original, but another driver in the same mask.]] As a quick tribute, David Carradine, who was Frankenstein in the old film, voiced "Old Frank" in this one (for a couple of lines).
to:
A much {{darker and edgier}} film than the original ''DeathRace2000'', ''Film/DeathRace2000'', which was more of a [[BlackComedy grisly comedy]]. The 2008 version did away with everything in the original except the theme of a killer car race, the names of the two champions (Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe) and the fact that [[spoiler:Frankenstein was not the original, but another driver in the same mask.]] As a quick tribute, David Carradine, who was Frankenstein in the old film, voiced "Old Frank" in this one (for a couple of lines).
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** BadassBookworm: Lists is a subdued version, he manages to save Jensen from Pachenko though he is quickly overpowered. He manages to get a few moments in the sequel as well.
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* DomesticAbuser: Case implies her husband was one, leading her to kill him. Jensen is framed as one, and Coach mentions at one point that he's met "his share" of them.
* ManOnFire: [[spoiler:Colt]].
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* MrViceGuy: Jensen, who realizes that he's not a perfect person and therefore not a perfect father, but he loves his daughter and he's not going to let go of his "chance at something else, something better."
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* MrViceGuy: Jensen, who realizes that he's not a perfect person and therefore not a perfect father, but he loves his daughter and he's not going to let go of his "chance at something else, something better."" He also genuinely loved his wife.
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* WrenchWench: The female navigators are all brought in to help run the cars. Played straight with Case, who wields an actual wrench to fix to guns at one point.
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* BadAss: Frankenstein, Machine Gun Joe, and even the Warden qualifies; she walks through the prison yard unarmed and remains untouched. The other drivers would be... if they lasted longer.
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* BadAss: Frankenstein, Machine Gun Joe, and even the Warden qualifies; she walks through the prison yard unarmed and remains untouched. The other drivers would be... if they lasted longer. 14K becomes one in the prequel, [[spoiler: he's also the last of the other Drivers to die]].
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**Not so, Grimms navigator not only suffers the rollover but takes the brunt of the crash when the car falls, and Pachenko's Navigator gets ejected from the car when it flips...
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* RecycledinSpace: ''Film/TheRunningMan'' with [[CarFU A Car Race]], with other prisoners as the enemies instead of 'stalkers'.
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* RecycledinSpace: ''Film/TheRunningMan'' with [[CarFU A Car Race]], with other prisoners as the enemies instead of 'stalkers'.'stalkers' - at first. In the second race, the Dreadnought comes out, which is basically the equivalent of the entire stalker stable in one chassis.
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* YouHaveFailedMe: Machine Gun Joe is shown to play this straight with all his male navigators.
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* BilingualBonus: 14K. Especially his dying words (in English, translated with an equivalent ''Mandarin'' phrase in the subtitles).
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Most likely The Warden in the 2008 film. Definitely September Jones in the DirectToVideo prequel.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Most likely The Warden in the 2008 film. Definitely September Jones in the DirectToVideo prequel.
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* BilingualBonus: 14K. Especially his dying words (in English, translated with an equivalent ''Mandarin'' phrase in the subtitles).
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----
to:
----
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* [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]]: The Warden.
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* [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]]: The Warden.Warden in the 2008 film. Markus Kane, and ''especially'', September Jones in the 2010 prequel.
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It is actually a prequel.
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A DirectToVideo sequel was released in 2010.
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A DirectToVideo sequel prequel was released in 2010.
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Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
A much {{darker and edgier}} film than the original ''DeathRace2000'', which was more of a [[DeadBabyComedy grisly comedy]]. The 2008 version did away with everything in the original except the theme of a killer car race, the names of the two champions (Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe) and the fact that [[spoiler:Frankenstein was not the original, but another driver in the same mask.]] As a quick tribute, David Carradine, who was Frankenstein in the old film, voiced "Old Frank" in this one (for a couple of lines).
to:
A much {{darker and edgier}} film than the original ''DeathRace2000'', which was more of a [[DeadBabyComedy [[BlackComedy grisly comedy]]. The 2008 version did away with everything in the original except the theme of a killer car race, the names of the two champions (Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe) and the fact that [[spoiler:Frankenstein was not the original, but another driver in the same mask.]] As a quick tribute, David Carradine, who was Frankenstein in the old film, voiced "Old Frank" in this one (for a couple of lines).
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* PowerUp: A rare non-videogame example. The cars' weapons are intially locked and must be activated by running over magnetically-active pads with simple symbols: sword for offensive, shield for defensive and such. But the skull pads activate a BoobyTrap.
to:
* PowerUp: A rare non-videogame example. The cars' weapons are intially initially locked and must be activated by running over magnetically-active pads with simple symbols: sword for offensive, shield for defensive and such. But the skull pads activate a BoobyTrap.
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* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Frankenstein has a [[Film/FridayThe13th Jason Vorhees]] vibe.
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* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Frankenstein has a [[Film/FridayThe13th [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Vorhees]] vibe.
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* FauxSymbolism: The United States economy collapses in 2012, the year the world is supposed to end according to superstition. They also throw in Grimm's belief that Hennessey is an avatar of the Hindu goddess of death, Kali.
* FridgeLogic: The Behemoth comes out during the second day of the race and tries to kill everybody, and very nearly succeeds. ... What was Hennessy going to do for the third day of the race? Just have it drive around the track by itself firing of weapons at nothing?
** Coach was probably correct that she'd have called it off before then. Possibly she'd been planning for the last racer alive to face the Dreadnaught one-on-one in the final contest.
* FridgeLogic: The Behemoth comes out during the second day of the race and tries to kill everybody, and very nearly succeeds. ... What was Hennessy going to do for the third day of the race? Just have it drive around the track by itself firing of weapons at nothing?
** Coach was probably correct that she'd have called it off before then. Possibly she'd been planning for the last racer alive to face the Dreadnaught one-on-one in the final contest.
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* HoYay: [[spoiler: Jensen and Machine Gun Joe. They end up living together in Mexico with Jensen's daughter]].
** And there's that one guard that seems to love watching Jensen do just about anything...
** And there's that one guard that seems to love watching Jensen do just about anything...
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Dropping completely undetailed entry
Deleted line(s) 120 (click to see context) :
* XtremeSportXcusePlot
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* RecycledinSpace: TheRunningMan with [[CarFU A Car Race]], with other prisoners as the enemies instead of 'stalkers'.
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* RecycledinSpace: TheRunningMan ''Film/TheRunningMan'' with [[CarFU A Car Race]], with other prisoners as the enemies instead of 'stalkers'.
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* ThrowItIn: One of the crashes staged for the film unexpectedly sent the empty stunt car much higher than intended, so it hung up on top of a wall rather than smashed into it. The resulting footage looked so cool that the filmmakers went back and equipped one of the other racers' vehicles with a ''rocket launcher'' suitable for blowing rival drivers sky-high, purely so they could justify using the clip.
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** Coach was probably correct that she'd have called it off before then. Possibly she'd been planning for the last racer alive to face the Dreadnaught one-on-one in the final contest.
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** In-universe, only Frankenstein's pit crew seem to play this trope straight, as theirs is the only car shown to be equipped with an ejector seat for its navigator.
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Those are the shields, they just have the crosses on them lit up
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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Grimm and Pachenko survive crashes in their cars, but the fate of their navigators is never shown. A much more easily missed example is that in addition to the Swords, Shields, and Death Heads, there are panels with crosses shown on the monitor, but these are neither mentioned or explained.
to:
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Grimm and Pachenko survive crashes in their cars, but the fate of their navigators is never shown. A much more easily missed example is that in addition to the Swords, Shields, and Death Heads, there are panels with crosses shown on the monitor, but these are neither mentioned or explained.
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* FridgeLogic: The Behemoth comes out during the second day of the race and tries to kill everybody, and very nearly succeeds. ... What was Hennessy going to do for the third day of the race? Just have it drive around the track by itself firing of weapons at nothing?
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* TheOldCon: Coach, played by Ian [=McShane=]!
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* TheOldCon: TheOldConvict: Coach, played by Ian [=McShane=]!
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A DirectToVideo sequel was released in 2010.
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** More than a hint of Slipknot too – mask combined with a one-piece racing/boiler suit.
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In this 2008 film, Jensen Ames (JasonStatham) finds himself in prison, forced to compete in the Death Race, a brutal three-day closed-course pay-per-view event. The race features armored cars with machine guns, flamethrowers, missiles, oil slicks, smokescreens and everything else a group of prison thug grease-monkeys can think to attach to a vehicle...
A much {{darker and edgier}} film than the original ''DeathRace2000'', which was more of a [[DeadBabyComedy grisly comedy]]. The 2008 version did away with everything in the original except the theme of a killer car race, the names of the two champions (Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe) and the fact that [[spoiler:Frankenstein was not the original, but another driver in the same mask.]] As a quick tribute, David Carradine, who was Frankenstein in the old film, voiced "Old Frank" in this one (for a couple of lines).
----
!!This film contains examples of:
* AntiHero: Jensen is a Type IV.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Hennessey pulls a couple out on Jensen.
-->'''Hennessey:''' "What would you do with your freedom? Go back to your daughter?"
-->'''Jensen:''' "That's the idea."
-->'''Hennessey:''' "Thing is... are you really the best future she could possibly have? Are you really "daddy material," or deep down are you something else?"
* AssholeVictim: The other drivers.
* BadAss: Frankenstein, Machine Gun Joe, and even the Warden qualifies; she walks through the prison yard unarmed and remains untouched. The other drivers would be... if they lasted longer.
* TheBait: [[spoiler: Case is this in the end, to allow Jensen to escape as amends to the old Frankenstein]].
* BatmanGambit: The Warden, while clearly in control, walks a very dangerous line. If Frankenstein wins, she is rid of Machine Gun Joe, [[spoiler:activates the bomb, and finds herself a new Frank]]. If Joe wins, she is rid of [[spoiler:Jensen, finds herself a new Frank, and disposes of Joe during his fifth race]]. If Frankenstein agrees to stay on board after his fifth win, she's guaranteed a long and continuous payday. One thing prevents it from being a XanatosGambit. The fail condition? [[spoiler:If Jensen reveals her "dirty little secret" to anyone]]. That gave him an incredible amount of power that he ultimately decided [[spoiler:not to use, and instead escaped and had her blown sky high]].
* BigBadassRig: The Dreadnought.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Not counting anything before the first race, Siad fits the bill.
* BloodSport
* BilingualBonus: 14K. Especially his dying words (in English, translated with an equivalent ''Mandarin'' phrase in the subtitles).
* BreakingTheFourthWall:
--> '''Coach''': "I love this game."
* BreakTheHaughty: This happens to the Warden, to the point where she starts swearing... and "foul language is an issue" for her.
* BrokenBird: A rare male example with Jensen after his wife is murdered.
* [[spoiler: TheCakeIsALie: Death Race was never intended to be winnable]].
* TheCameo: David Carradine, as mentioned above.
* CarFu
* CastingGag: Tyrese Gibson was in [[TheFastAndTheFurious another racing situation]] like this before and was all about living it up in Miami, and Robin Shou had previously survived a [[MortalKombat tournament to the death]].
* CatapultNightmare
* ChekhovsBoomerang: The seat ejector.
* ChekhovsGun: The cigarette lighter.
* TheChessmaster: Hennessey has a way of placing pawns exactly where she needs them.
* ClusterFBomb: The Warden, at the end. Who despises profanity.
* CondemnedContestant
* CoolMask: The production team went through several designs before they settled on the final one.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The Warden.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The film is this compared to the original.
* DescriptionPorn: Nearly everything Lists describes gets this treatment, such as the RPG-7s on Machine Gun Joe's truck and the other drivers.
* DirtyBusiness: Case is in prison because she killed a good cop... good cop, lousy husband that is.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Frankenstein has a [[Film/FridayThe13th Jason Vorhees]] vibe.
* {{Dystopia}}: High crime and unemployment rates, and a high-rated television program is people murdering each other.
* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler: Jensen coerces Case into confessing her sabotage of the races, and does absolutely nothing about it despite her having actively attempted to ruin his reunion with his daughter and accidentally getting his predecessor killed. Didn't even say a word]]. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that [[spoiler: she was doing exactly what everybody else was doing: trying to get her freedom. And he needed her for the rest of the race]].
* EatingTheEyeCandy: Case mentions that Jensen looks better than [[spoiler:the old Frank]]. Also played straight with several men scoping out the navigators, including Gunner and Lists.
* EpicRace
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Pachenko pretends to be this; he tells the prisoners in the chow hall that Jensen was a wife-killer and a "kiddie rapist." This from an Aryan White Supremacist and mass murderer, [[spoiler: who killed Jensen's wife on the Warden's orders]].
* EveryCarIsAPinto: Of course. It's a car movie.
* ExecutiveMeddling: In-universe, played completely straight.
* ExplosiveLeash
* TheFaceless: Frankenstein is supposed to be this.
* FalseReassurance: Hennessey gives Frankenstein signed release papers, telling him all he he has to do now is survive and win. She never mentions she's [[spoiler:changed the rules by planting a bomb or messing with the track, as she doesn't intend for him to do either]].
* FanService: The reason Case and all of the other female navigators are brought in.
* {{Frameup}}
* FauxSymbolism: The United States economy collapses in 2012, the year the world is supposed to end according to superstition. They also throw in Grimm's belief that Hennessey is an avatar of the Hindu goddess of death, Kali.
* GameShow
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Some of the ways the [[ScrewedByTheNetwork show tries to off their competitors]] tend to backfire, or take out the ''other'' ways it tries to off them. [[spoiler:The tanker-truck behemoth is taken out by a Death Head option placed to take out the competitors and the Warden gets killed by the explosive she tried to kill Frankenstein with]].
* HollywoodDriving: Jensen can spend an awful long time looking at Case when they're talking for such a treacherous track and its deadly drivers.
* HoYay: [[spoiler: Jensen and Machine Gun Joe. They end up living together in Mexico with Jensen's daughter]].
** And there's that one guard that seems to love watching Jensen do just about anything...
* InformedAbility: The other drivers are supposed to be supreme [[BadAss Bad Asses]], with five kills or more apiece on the track which means they had to have at least survived more than one race. They're offed quickly enough.
* InNameOnly: Apart from the fact that it features characters named "Frankenstein" and "Machine Gun Joe" in a race that combines BloodSport with CarFu.
* ItsPersonal: Machine Gun Joe ''really'' hates Frankenstein.
* LastNameBasis: Hennessey has a first name (all we know is that it starts with 'C'), but everyone calls her "Ma'am" or by her last name.
* MaleGaze
* MadeOfExplodium: Apparently detached gasoline tanks are.
* [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]]: The Warden.
* ManlyGay: Machine Gun Joe.
* MauveShirt: Travis Colt turns out to be this. A little more attention is paid to him in the promos, and it's mentioned he's a record-holding ex-NASCAR driver which makes him "technically the best" out of the group. They set him up to be a long-runner, and he gets napalmed in the first race. 14K and Grimm also fall under this trope.
* MeaningfulName: Jensen Ames, like the car (Jensen Interceptor). Also, Hector Grimm, who of course takes up the moniker of "Grimm Reaper."
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: The precise reason why Machine Gun Joe gets male navigators. Also played straight with the drivers. The women ''are'' used as body fodder just as much as the men, but it's only fully averted when 14K's navigator dies up close. The rest of the girls get a GoryDiscretionShot.
* TheMockbuster: ''DeathRacers''
* MoreDakka
* MrViceGuy: Jensen, who realizes that he's not a perfect person and therefore not a perfect father, but he loves his daughter and he's not going to let go of his "chance at something else, something better."
* NeckSnap: Happens to [[spoiler: Pachenko]].
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Jensen gives one of these to Pachenko, for good reason.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: Everybody initially gets the wrong idea when Jensen tells Case to get on his lap, including an uncomfortable Case.
* OhCrap: Plenty of these scattered around.
* TheOldCon: Coach, played by Ian [=McShane=]!
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: 14K, Pachenko, Lists, and Coach.
* PowerUp: A rare non-videogame example. The cars' weapons are intially locked and must be activated by running over magnetically-active pads with simple symbols: sword for offensive, shield for defensive and such. But the skull pads activate a BoobyTrap.
* PrecisionFStrike: The inmates are not shy about their language, but to hear it comes from ''Joan Allen''?
* PreMortemOneLiner: Played straight and subverted multiple times, but most notably:
-->'''[[spoiler:Pachenko]]:''' "Let me go man. I'll do anything."
-->'''Jensen:''' "You're gonna die here."
* ThePenIsMightier
* TheQuietOne: Frankenstein doesn't talk to the other drivers to preserve the mystique.
* RatedMForManly
* RealityShow: Type III.
* RecycledinSpace: TheRunningMan with [[CarFU A Car Race]], with other prisoners as the enemies instead of 'stalkers'.
* RedShirt: Carson and Riggins, neither of whom actually appear except to be killed by the Dreadnought. They're not even mentioned when the team tells Jensen about the opposition. Siad is also one of these, but he at least gets a few seconds on screen.
** Pretty much all of Machine Gun Joe's navigators. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Ames' pit crew when they say that Joe had lost so many female navigators, it [[{{Squick}} squicked]] out even Death Race's target audience and they started giving him male navigators instead. One poor bastard is GenreSavvy enough about it that he had to be forced into Joe's truck kicking and screaming.
* RefugeInAudacity
* RuleOfCool: Sole reason this is fun. Well, that and [[MsFanservice Case]].
* RunningGag: Joe's navigators and their grisly demises. The audience knows something is up towards the end when his newest navigator is ''happy'' to be there, as if he hasn't been paying attention to what's going on, before the final [[TheReveal reveal]].
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: The network builds a [[MilitaryMashupMachine massive death tank tractor trailer train]] to [[StealthPun screw their cast]], sometimes [[ThisIsADrill literally]].
* [[UsefulNotes/{{Skinheads}} Skinheads]]: Pachenko and his brood are Aryan Brotherhood.
* SmugSnake: Hennessey, all the way.
* SpikedWheels
* SpottingTheThread: Machine Gun Joe finally figures out who Frankenstein is when he hears him speak.
* TheStinger:
-->[[spoiler: '''Hennessey:''' "Okay cocksucker. Fuck with me, and we'll see who shits on the sidewalk."]]
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler:Jensen and Machine Gun Joe team up and escape rather than try to kill each other]].
* TemptingFate:
-->'''Grimm:''' "Fuckin' Reaper baby! Can't kill me. You can burn me... heh... you can fuckin' shoot me but you just can't motherfuckin' kill me!"
* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: It sort of loses its punch after it's used so many times.
* TitleDrop
* [[spoiler:TreacherousAdvisor: Case is a variant of this, before her HeelFaceTurn]].
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: 14K, tenth generation Triad.
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The film is set in 2012, and was made in 2008.
* VehicularCombat
* VillainousBreakdown
* WeaponizedCar
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Grimm and Pachenko survive crashes in their cars, but the fate of their navigators is never shown. A much more easily missed example is that in addition to the Swords, Shields, and Death Heads, there are panels with crosses shown on the monitor, but these are neither mentioned or explained.
* WinYourFreedom
* XtremeSportXcusePlot
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: When one of Joe's navigators incorrectly identifies a deactivated Sword panel as being lit, Joe angrily tells him to get out of the car and then proceeds to kick him out and into steel railing.
** [[spoiler: Hennessey attempts to do this with Jensen]].
----
A much {{darker and edgier}} film than the original ''DeathRace2000'', which was more of a [[DeadBabyComedy grisly comedy]]. The 2008 version did away with everything in the original except the theme of a killer car race, the names of the two champions (Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe) and the fact that [[spoiler:Frankenstein was not the original, but another driver in the same mask.]] As a quick tribute, David Carradine, who was Frankenstein in the old film, voiced "Old Frank" in this one (for a couple of lines).
----
!!This film contains examples of:
* AntiHero: Jensen is a Type IV.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Hennessey pulls a couple out on Jensen.
-->'''Hennessey:''' "What would you do with your freedom? Go back to your daughter?"
-->'''Jensen:''' "That's the idea."
-->'''Hennessey:''' "Thing is... are you really the best future she could possibly have? Are you really "daddy material," or deep down are you something else?"
* AssholeVictim: The other drivers.
* BadAss: Frankenstein, Machine Gun Joe, and even the Warden qualifies; she walks through the prison yard unarmed and remains untouched. The other drivers would be... if they lasted longer.
* TheBait: [[spoiler: Case is this in the end, to allow Jensen to escape as amends to the old Frankenstein]].
* BatmanGambit: The Warden, while clearly in control, walks a very dangerous line. If Frankenstein wins, she is rid of Machine Gun Joe, [[spoiler:activates the bomb, and finds herself a new Frank]]. If Joe wins, she is rid of [[spoiler:Jensen, finds herself a new Frank, and disposes of Joe during his fifth race]]. If Frankenstein agrees to stay on board after his fifth win, she's guaranteed a long and continuous payday. One thing prevents it from being a XanatosGambit. The fail condition? [[spoiler:If Jensen reveals her "dirty little secret" to anyone]]. That gave him an incredible amount of power that he ultimately decided [[spoiler:not to use, and instead escaped and had her blown sky high]].
* BigBadassRig: The Dreadnought.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Not counting anything before the first race, Siad fits the bill.
* BloodSport
* BilingualBonus: 14K. Especially his dying words (in English, translated with an equivalent ''Mandarin'' phrase in the subtitles).
* BreakingTheFourthWall:
--> '''Coach''': "I love this game."
* BreakTheHaughty: This happens to the Warden, to the point where she starts swearing... and "foul language is an issue" for her.
* BrokenBird: A rare male example with Jensen after his wife is murdered.
* [[spoiler: TheCakeIsALie: Death Race was never intended to be winnable]].
* TheCameo: David Carradine, as mentioned above.
* CarFu
* CastingGag: Tyrese Gibson was in [[TheFastAndTheFurious another racing situation]] like this before and was all about living it up in Miami, and Robin Shou had previously survived a [[MortalKombat tournament to the death]].
* CatapultNightmare
* ChekhovsBoomerang: The seat ejector.
* ChekhovsGun: The cigarette lighter.
* TheChessmaster: Hennessey has a way of placing pawns exactly where she needs them.
* ClusterFBomb: The Warden, at the end. Who despises profanity.
* CondemnedContestant
* CoolMask: The production team went through several designs before they settled on the final one.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The Warden.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The film is this compared to the original.
* DescriptionPorn: Nearly everything Lists describes gets this treatment, such as the RPG-7s on Machine Gun Joe's truck and the other drivers.
* DirtyBusiness: Case is in prison because she killed a good cop... good cop, lousy husband that is.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Frankenstein has a [[Film/FridayThe13th Jason Vorhees]] vibe.
* {{Dystopia}}: High crime and unemployment rates, and a high-rated television program is people murdering each other.
* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler: Jensen coerces Case into confessing her sabotage of the races, and does absolutely nothing about it despite her having actively attempted to ruin his reunion with his daughter and accidentally getting his predecessor killed. Didn't even say a word]]. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that [[spoiler: she was doing exactly what everybody else was doing: trying to get her freedom. And he needed her for the rest of the race]].
* EatingTheEyeCandy: Case mentions that Jensen looks better than [[spoiler:the old Frank]]. Also played straight with several men scoping out the navigators, including Gunner and Lists.
* EpicRace
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Pachenko pretends to be this; he tells the prisoners in the chow hall that Jensen was a wife-killer and a "kiddie rapist." This from an Aryan White Supremacist and mass murderer, [[spoiler: who killed Jensen's wife on the Warden's orders]].
* EveryCarIsAPinto: Of course. It's a car movie.
* ExecutiveMeddling: In-universe, played completely straight.
* ExplosiveLeash
* TheFaceless: Frankenstein is supposed to be this.
* FalseReassurance: Hennessey gives Frankenstein signed release papers, telling him all he he has to do now is survive and win. She never mentions she's [[spoiler:changed the rules by planting a bomb or messing with the track, as she doesn't intend for him to do either]].
* FanService: The reason Case and all of the other female navigators are brought in.
* {{Frameup}}
* FauxSymbolism: The United States economy collapses in 2012, the year the world is supposed to end according to superstition. They also throw in Grimm's belief that Hennessey is an avatar of the Hindu goddess of death, Kali.
* GameShow
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Some of the ways the [[ScrewedByTheNetwork show tries to off their competitors]] tend to backfire, or take out the ''other'' ways it tries to off them. [[spoiler:The tanker-truck behemoth is taken out by a Death Head option placed to take out the competitors and the Warden gets killed by the explosive she tried to kill Frankenstein with]].
* HollywoodDriving: Jensen can spend an awful long time looking at Case when they're talking for such a treacherous track and its deadly drivers.
* HoYay: [[spoiler: Jensen and Machine Gun Joe. They end up living together in Mexico with Jensen's daughter]].
** And there's that one guard that seems to love watching Jensen do just about anything...
* InformedAbility: The other drivers are supposed to be supreme [[BadAss Bad Asses]], with five kills or more apiece on the track which means they had to have at least survived more than one race. They're offed quickly enough.
* InNameOnly: Apart from the fact that it features characters named "Frankenstein" and "Machine Gun Joe" in a race that combines BloodSport with CarFu.
* ItsPersonal: Machine Gun Joe ''really'' hates Frankenstein.
* LastNameBasis: Hennessey has a first name (all we know is that it starts with 'C'), but everyone calls her "Ma'am" or by her last name.
* MaleGaze
* MadeOfExplodium: Apparently detached gasoline tanks are.
* [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]]: The Warden.
* ManlyGay: Machine Gun Joe.
* MauveShirt: Travis Colt turns out to be this. A little more attention is paid to him in the promos, and it's mentioned he's a record-holding ex-NASCAR driver which makes him "technically the best" out of the group. They set him up to be a long-runner, and he gets napalmed in the first race. 14K and Grimm also fall under this trope.
* MeaningfulName: Jensen Ames, like the car (Jensen Interceptor). Also, Hector Grimm, who of course takes up the moniker of "Grimm Reaper."
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: The precise reason why Machine Gun Joe gets male navigators. Also played straight with the drivers. The women ''are'' used as body fodder just as much as the men, but it's only fully averted when 14K's navigator dies up close. The rest of the girls get a GoryDiscretionShot.
* TheMockbuster: ''DeathRacers''
* MoreDakka
* MrViceGuy: Jensen, who realizes that he's not a perfect person and therefore not a perfect father, but he loves his daughter and he's not going to let go of his "chance at something else, something better."
* NeckSnap: Happens to [[spoiler: Pachenko]].
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Jensen gives one of these to Pachenko, for good reason.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: Everybody initially gets the wrong idea when Jensen tells Case to get on his lap, including an uncomfortable Case.
* OhCrap: Plenty of these scattered around.
* TheOldCon: Coach, played by Ian [=McShane=]!
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: 14K, Pachenko, Lists, and Coach.
* PowerUp: A rare non-videogame example. The cars' weapons are intially locked and must be activated by running over magnetically-active pads with simple symbols: sword for offensive, shield for defensive and such. But the skull pads activate a BoobyTrap.
* PrecisionFStrike: The inmates are not shy about their language, but to hear it comes from ''Joan Allen''?
* PreMortemOneLiner: Played straight and subverted multiple times, but most notably:
-->'''[[spoiler:Pachenko]]:''' "Let me go man. I'll do anything."
-->'''Jensen:''' "You're gonna die here."
* ThePenIsMightier
* TheQuietOne: Frankenstein doesn't talk to the other drivers to preserve the mystique.
* RatedMForManly
* RealityShow: Type III.
* RecycledinSpace: TheRunningMan with [[CarFU A Car Race]], with other prisoners as the enemies instead of 'stalkers'.
* RedShirt: Carson and Riggins, neither of whom actually appear except to be killed by the Dreadnought. They're not even mentioned when the team tells Jensen about the opposition. Siad is also one of these, but he at least gets a few seconds on screen.
** Pretty much all of Machine Gun Joe's navigators. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Ames' pit crew when they say that Joe had lost so many female navigators, it [[{{Squick}} squicked]] out even Death Race's target audience and they started giving him male navigators instead. One poor bastard is GenreSavvy enough about it that he had to be forced into Joe's truck kicking and screaming.
* RefugeInAudacity
* RuleOfCool: Sole reason this is fun. Well, that and [[MsFanservice Case]].
* RunningGag: Joe's navigators and their grisly demises. The audience knows something is up towards the end when his newest navigator is ''happy'' to be there, as if he hasn't been paying attention to what's going on, before the final [[TheReveal reveal]].
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: The network builds a [[MilitaryMashupMachine massive death tank tractor trailer train]] to [[StealthPun screw their cast]], sometimes [[ThisIsADrill literally]].
* [[UsefulNotes/{{Skinheads}} Skinheads]]: Pachenko and his brood are Aryan Brotherhood.
* SmugSnake: Hennessey, all the way.
* SpikedWheels
* SpottingTheThread: Machine Gun Joe finally figures out who Frankenstein is when he hears him speak.
* TheStinger:
-->[[spoiler: '''Hennessey:''' "Okay cocksucker. Fuck with me, and we'll see who shits on the sidewalk."]]
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler:Jensen and Machine Gun Joe team up and escape rather than try to kill each other]].
* TemptingFate:
-->'''Grimm:''' "Fuckin' Reaper baby! Can't kill me. You can burn me... heh... you can fuckin' shoot me but you just can't motherfuckin' kill me!"
* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: It sort of loses its punch after it's used so many times.
* TitleDrop
* [[spoiler:TreacherousAdvisor: Case is a variant of this, before her HeelFaceTurn]].
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: 14K, tenth generation Triad.
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The film is set in 2012, and was made in 2008.
* VehicularCombat
* VillainousBreakdown
* WeaponizedCar
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Grimm and Pachenko survive crashes in their cars, but the fate of their navigators is never shown. A much more easily missed example is that in addition to the Swords, Shields, and Death Heads, there are panels with crosses shown on the monitor, but these are neither mentioned or explained.
* WinYourFreedom
* XtremeSportXcusePlot
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: When one of Joe's navigators incorrectly identifies a deactivated Sword panel as being lit, Joe angrily tells him to get out of the car and then proceeds to kick him out and into steel railing.
** [[spoiler: Hennessey attempts to do this with Jensen]].
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