Death Race 3: Inferno

[El Dingo]

I was pretty stoked to find this in my mailbox. Then I realized DM just wanted a free review so he wouldn't have to watch it.

Everyone knows I really like the first two movies. The spirit of Roger Corman was evoked through cheesy dialog and over-the-top mayhem. The prison racetrack with booby traps and weapon-activation platforms were clever and allowed for spectaculary gruesome deaths.

The Death Race 3: Inferno picks up immediately where Death Race 2 left off. Frankenstein (Luke Goss) and his team (Ving Rhames, Danny Trejo) only have to win one more race to earn a full pardon. Unfortunately for them Death Race has a new owner/promoter who isn't about to let his number 1 racer go free.

This time the race is in the South African desert. If the convicts stray off course a homing missile locks on to a tracking implant and BOOM!

Sounds awesome, right? Too bad it sucked.

The main problem was the camera work. It was non-stop hand-held shaky cam (a la Bourne Supremacy). There were almost no still shots and when there were they lasted 2 seconds or less. The problem with shaky-cam in action movies is that it makes it very hard to figure out what's going on. The cars are moving, the weapons are firing, people are exploding an the camera bounces around then changes angles before you get a fix on what just happened.

The other drivers are introduced and killed very quickly. No rivalries or grudges exist to make you cheer or hate anyone. The hand-to-hand fights are sloppy and poorly filmed. The sets are non-existant (it's the desert) and the SFX are weak.

It's the same writer and director as Death Race 2 so I don't know what happened. The sound was excellent though. The cars and explosions nicely wrapped around the room fully utilizing the surround-sound effect.

Thank you DM but I cannot recommend this installment.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

This DVD has appeared in mailbox. I'm thinking there is a big stack of these next to DM's desk.

[Drunk Monk]

I'm thinking there is a big stack of these next to DM's desk.

Well, there was, but I sent them all to you guys. I had to pay you and CF for your fine service to the mag, and ED, well, he asked for one in BRD, so I had DR3 in BRD/DVD combo packs.

I didn't send one to PPFY or tg, but if you guys want a copy, I have a few more.

[cranefly]

El Dingo got it all right except for the sound. It didn't reverberate all around through my living room. Oh, wait. Let me check. Yep. I don't got surround-sound, just cheap built-in speakers. And I'm partially deaf. Yes, I had subtitles on.

I keep wanting to say it was too comic-bookish, but that would insult too many good comix. Who knows where the blame falls -- poor script or uninspired director -- but there were no characters in this movie. All the energy went into the plot device of a 3-day race. None of these actors had anything to say to each other. Their attempts to do so were painful to watch, and I actually felt sorry for them. It seemed pretty clear they'd been given very little direction. It wouldn't surprise me if they were just told to say something, and more often than not it was used. Not a good idea with most actors. Doesn't a director have a responsibility to try to make his actors look good? I mean, those actors were betrayed.

My eyes hurt from all the cuts. So many of them were unnecessary. It was like the director/editor/cinematographer or whoever felt that if a shot went over two seconds, it would be boring. By mid-movie I wanted to punch out the editor. Sure, if there's fight scenes and they're not very good, cut it to bits and it will pass muster with a lot of folks. But the race itself? Most cuts coming in under a second? WTF? WTF!

But as always, I feel a lot can be learned from watching a bad movie, so I appreciate this gift from DM.

[thatguy]

[youtube]zAsyF4J_klk[/youtube]

--tg

[El Dingo]

I would pay to see a full-length Wacky Races movie. That was awesome - nice find.

[thatguy]

ED: How's your Italian?

[youtube]pC6LEEw6nsM[/youtube]

--tg