History Film / DeathRace

* TheDragon: Mr. Ulrich.

* EvilVirtues: [=14K=] has fourteen deaths on his record and is a Triad member, but in a showing of Honour, he abides by the code of the Triads in the sequel - when Lucas saves his life, he owes Lucas a life in return. [[spoiler:When Lucas is believed killed on the orders of his old boss, [=14K=] calls in a few favours and gets a Triad gunman to leave said boss's bullet-riddled body in his own fancy pool.]]

%%* MaleGaze

* RetCon: A few things in the prequels seem to retcon stuff mentioned in the first movie. For instance, Hennessey claims she invented Death Race in the first movie; in ''2'', September Jones comes up with the "Death Race" concept, and later remarks that Terminal Island's new warden, Hennessey, would probably take credit for the whole thing if she weren't around. [[spoiler: Sure enough, Jones isn't around because at the end of the second movie she's ran over by Frankenstein.]]

** 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.

%%* ManlyGay: Machine Gun Joe.

%%* OhCrap: Plenty of these scattered around.

* SmugSnake: Hennessey, all the way. She thinks of herself as TheChessmaster, which she would be, if her methods weren't so overt, which eventually brings her to a foul-mouthed VillainousBreakdown [[spoiler: before her demise]].

** In the prequels, real life ex-con Danny Trejo was probably in his element during the prison scenes.%%* ChekhovsBoomerang: The seat ejector.
%%* ChekhovsGun: The cigarette lighter.

* BilingualBonus: [=14K=]. Especially his dying words (in English, translated with an equivalent ''Mandarin'' phrase in the subtitles).

* FunWithSubtitles: [=14K=] speaks in Mandarin with English subtitles. The one line he speaks in English is subtitled in Mandarin.

%%* CatapultNightmare
%%* ChekhovsBoomerang: The seat ejector.

* BigBadassRig: The Dreadnought. Joker and Nero drive absolutely massive trucks in ''3'', with a tank turret and an Anti-Air cannon as their respective weapons.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* BilingualBonus: 14K. Especially his dying words (in English, translated with an equivalent ''Mandarin'' phrase in the subtitles).

* EveryCarIsAPinto: Of course. It's a car movie so there are cars exploding all over the place.

In this 2008 film, Jensen Ames (Creator/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 DirectToVideo prequel was released in 2010, and a DTV sequel ''to'' the prequel was released in 2013. The prequels follow Carl "Luke" Lucas (Luke Goss), a bookie and bank robber who becomes Death Race's first champion and the original Frankenstein.

!!This film contains examples of:

* AnAssKickingChristmas

-->'''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?"

* AscendedExtra: 14K was one of the dead-meat drivers in the first movie, but his roles in the prequels makes him the only driver in all three.
%%* 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. 14K becomes one in the prequels, [[spoiler: he's also the last of the other Drivers to die]].

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Most likely The Warden in the 2008 film. Definitely September Jones in the DirectToVideo prequel.

* BloodSport: The glorious, gory idea behind the Death Races themselves.
* BossSubtitles: Used to introduce the significant drivers in every movie. In the second movie, even the RedShirt drivers get their own cool intros. In the third movie they even do it to 14k, despite the fact that he's the only driver in all three movies.
* BookEnds: The second movie starts with an unnamed but attractive woman swimming in Marcus Kane's swimming pool at his mansion. [[spoiler:Within a few minutes of the end, we go back to said pool, only this time, thanks to Triad honour, Kane's body is floating in it while the gunman puts a few extra bullets into him just to be sure.]]
* BreakingTheFourthWall:
--> '''Coach''': "I love this game."

* TheCameo: David Carradine, as mentioned above.
* CarFu: how the driver tend to kill each other.

%%* CondemnedContestant
* CoolMask: The production team went through several designs before they settled on the final one.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The Warden. Niles York in ''3''. Averted by Weyland, who owns Terminal Island in ''2'', played straight by September Jones however.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The film is this compared to the original.

* DeadpanSnarker: Joker in the third movie, hence the name.

* DirtyBusiness: Case is in prison because she killed a good cop... good cop, lousy husband that is.
* TheDogBitesBack: In the third movie, [[spoiler:Niles York's put-upon assistant Prudence keeps her mouth shut when a burned York is mistaken for Frankenstein and sent to Terminal Island.]] And [[spoiler:his mistreated lover Satana organized the whole thing.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Frankenstein has a [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]] vibe.
** More than a hint of Music/{{Slipknot}} too – mask combined with a one-piece racing/boiler suit.

* 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]].

%%* EpicRace

** In the third movie, everyone is ''really'' creeped out by Psycho, who makes everything uncomfortably sexual. And it's implied he's in prison for sex crimes in the first place.

* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Lucas' death is faked by September Jones in the second movie, to set him up as Frankenstein and assert control over him. In the third movie, Lucas fakes the deaths of Goldberg, Katrina, and Niles York as part of his escape plot.]]

* {{Fanservice}}: The reason Case and all of the other female navigators are brought in. The third movie has a huge melee between female convicts to decide who gets to be a navigator, and it's made of this -- resident pervert Psycho is panting and wheezing throughout the event. The third movie also has the new producer Satana, who loves tight, revealing clothes.
* {{Frameup}}: Jensen didn't kill his wife; [[spoiler:Hennessey had Pachenko do it for her so she could get Jensen to be Death Race's new star]].

* IChooseToStay: Lists when [[spoiler:the team escaped in 3. He had been institutionalized, being more comfortable in prison society than that of a free man]]. Which is why he was in Death Race 1. Also Coach in the first film.
* InNameOnly: Apart from the fact that it features characters named "Frankenstein" and "Machine Gun Joe" in a race that combines BloodSport with CarFu.

%%* MaleGaze:

* [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]]: The Warden in the 2008 film. Markus Kane, and ''especially'', September Jones in the 2010 prequel.

* ManOnFire: [[spoiler:Colt]]. [[spoiler:Psycho]] dies from fire in the third movie, ironically inches away from a lake.

* MerchandiseDriven: In-universe, Death Race is this. According to York, Weyland makes around 8 million dollars a week on Frankenstein merchandise alone. As York points out, even though Frankenstein is one race away from freedom, he can't afford to just let him go.

* MissionControl: This is Coach, Goldberg, and Lists' function for Frankenstein.
%%* TheMockbuster: ''Death Racers''
* MightyGlacier: The Dreadnought in the first film. A big rig and tanker-trailer converted to be heavily armored, covered in spikes, and armed with everything up to and including a tank turret. However, it weighs as much as that suggests, meaning it can barely keep up with racers and can't maneuver at all, to the point it needs to use off-track shortcuts to bypass parts of a fairly simple circuit. [[spoiler: It fact it's so lumbering two cars manage to force it into a course hazard with basic coordination.]]
%%* MoreDakka
* MrFanservice: Jason Statham in the first film.

* MsFanservice: Case in the first movie, September Jones and Katrina in the second, and Satana, Katrina, and Amber in the third.

* TheOldConvict: Coach, played by Ian [=McShane=]!

** The second and third movies both have cage fights where fighters step on sword panels to get weapons, as well.

* PrecisionFStrike: The inmates are not shy about their language, but to hear it comes from ''Joan Allen''?

-->'''[[spoiler:Pachenko]]:''' "Let me go man. I'll do anything."
-->'''Jensen:''' "You're gonna die here."
%%* ThePenIsMightier

* RageAgainstTheReflection: During the ending in Death Race 2, Frankenstein punches the mirror after watching his face disfigured.
%%* RatedMForManly
%%* RealityShow: Type III.

** 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 smart enough about it that he had to be forced into Joe's truck kicking and screaming.

* RetCon: A few things in the prequels seem to retcon stuff mentioned in the first movie. For instance, Hennessey claims she invented Death Race in the first movie; in ''2'', September Jones comes up with the "Death Race" concept, and later remarks that Terminal Island's new warden, Hennessey, would probably take credit for the whole thing if she weren't around.

* [[UsefulNotes/{{Skinheads}} Skinheads]]: Pachenko and his brood are Aryan Brotherhood, as is Xander Grady in ''2''.
* SmugSnake: Hennessey, all the way.

-->[[spoiler: '''Hennessey:''' "Okay cocksucker. Fuck with me, and we'll see who shits on the sidewalk."]]

* 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.
** [[spoiler:The Dreadnought]] also has a rear-mounted tank turret that's used to kill anyone snagged on its spike strips.

-->'''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.

* 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, released in early 2013, and set a year or two before the first one.

* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: The amount of co-ordination required for [[spoiler:Joe and Jenson to take out the Dreadnought]] would have required a lot of radio discussion, but we never hear anything beyond "How about we play a little offence."

* VillainousBreakdown: When [[spoiler:Jenson and Joe break out of the track's confines and head for freedom]], Hennessey starts shouting and swearing.
* WardensAreEvil: Warden Hennessey of Terminal Island Prison is a cold-hearted bitch which [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse shanghais]] [[BoxedCrook Jensen]] [[JasonStatham Ames]] ([[FrameUp in more ways than one]]) into taking part of the titular DeadlyGame (and plans to either keep him racing forever or [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness kill him as soon as his usefulness as the season's Frankenstein is over]]-[[TheCakeIsALie not that she had a plan to have]] ''[[TheCakeIsALie anybody]]'' [[TheCakeIsALie win]]). The {{Prequel}} movies also [[RetCon retroactively]] show that she had some amount of SmallNameBigEgo-she says on the first movie that ''she'' was the creator of Death Race, but in reality it was the [[MegaCorp corpo]][[CorruptCorporateExecutive ration]] she works for, [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow and they knew]] she would take credit [[GladIThoughtOfIt around anybody who could buy it]].

* WinYourFreedom: In the first film, if a racer wins 5 racers, he will be freed. Hennessey tries to make sure that doesn't happen. (see executive meddling entry)

* RecycledINSPACE: ''Film/TheRunningMan'' with [[CarFU A Car Race]], with other prisoners as the enemies instead of 'stalkers' - at first. In the second race, the Dreadnought comes out, which is basically the equivalent of the entire stalker stable in one chassis.

%%* TheMockbuster: ''DeathRacers''
* MightGlacier: The Dreadnought in the first film. A big rig and tanker-trailer converted to be heavily armored, covered in spikes, and armed with everything up to and including a tank turret. However, it weighs as much as that suggests, meaning it can barely keep up with racers and can't maneuver at all, to the point it needs to use off-track shortcuts to bypass parts of a fairly simple circuit. [[spoiler: It fact it's so lumbering two cars manage to force it into a course hazard with basic coordination.]]

* RecycledInSpace: ''Film/TheRunningMan'' with [[CarFU A Car Race]], with other prisoners as the enemies instead of 'stalkers' - at first. In the second race, the Dreadnought comes out, which is basically the equivalent of the entire stalker stable in one chassis.

* HollywoodDriving: Jensen can spend an awful long time looking at Case when they're talking for such a treacherous track and its deadly drivers.

* DriverFacesPassenger: Jensen can spend an awful long time looking at Case when they're talking for such a treacherous track and its deadly drivers.

%%* BloodSport

%%* CarFu

%%* EveryCarIsAPinto: Of course. It's a car movie.
%%* ExecutiveMeddling: In-universe, played completely straight.

* IChooseToStay: Lists when [[spoiler:the team escaped in 3. He had been institutionalized, being more comfortable in prison society than that of a free man]]. Which is why he was in Death Race 1.
* 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.

%%* TheOldConvict: Coach, played by Ian [=McShane=]!

%%* SmugSnake: Hennessey, all the way.

%%* TitleDrop

%%* WeaponizedCar
%%* WinYourFreedom

** More than a hint of Slipknot too – mask combined with a one-piece racing/boiler suit.

* AntiHero: Jensen is a Type IV. He's a rough-and-tumble character mainly motivated by revenge, who nonetheless has a slew of human qualities.

* RecycledinSpace: ''Film/TheRunningMan'' with [[CarFU A Car Race]], with other prisoners as the enemies instead of 'stalkers' - at first. In the second race, the Dreadnought comes out, which is basically the equivalent of the entire stalker stable in one chassis.

* CastingGag:
** Tyrese Gibson was in [[Film/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]].
** In the prequels, ex-con Danny Trejo was probably in his element during the prison scenes.