Death Race 2050: Gold

Filmed in 2017, Death Race 2050 stars Manu Bennett as a futuristic racer, Marci Miller as a female racer, and Malcolm McDowell as a political satirist. It's a sequel to Death Race 2000, which was out in 1975. As Roger Corman put it, "This is a car-racing picture with a little dark humor."

What is Death Race 2050 all about?

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.

During the time when the drivers are racing around the East Coast, a group of rebels headed by Alexis Hamilton, a former network producer, have erected traps throughout the area. When Tammy and Minerva abduct members of the other's cult with the purpose of killing them, a heated competition ensues between the two of them. The artificial intelligence known as ABE suffers a malfunction, which results in the death of its proxy, and then gives up the pursuit of figuring out its ultimate goal in life. At the first checkpoint, Hamilton gives Annie, who it turns out is a spy working for her, the order to murder Frankenstein. Her effort to seduce him was unsuccessful due to the fact that he was solely focused on winning the race. In another part of his speech, the Chairman says that the fact that Frankenstein has lived for such a long time has turned him into a burden, while Perfectus will urge his dedicated devotees to die at his hands.

Gun-toting Americans will be in full view as the marathon enters its second day. Chi Wapp, Minerva's proxy, is killed by Tammy's suicide bomber. Following an unplanned detour, the car driven by Dr. Frankenstein becomes stranded in a field of corn. While Annie is gone, Frankenstein takes on the ninjas of the Resistance. At the second checkpoint, Annie reveals to Frankenstein that she is a rebel. To win, Frankenstein says, he'll do anything to get his hands on power. That she's an academic who plays the hip-hop stereotype for a living, Minerva tells Annie. Perfectus, envious of Frankenstein's fame and sex appeal, is kept at bay by Annie. For now, the Chairman is coordinating his efforts with Hamilton's.

The government provides "authorized" routes for the drivers on Day three of the race so they can escape Resistance assaults. As a result of his battle with Perfectus, Frankenstein's right arm is injured, and Annie lends a hand. However, in an attempt to evade Tammy's suicidal proxy, Minerva slips over the cliff. Before a returning ABE slams Tammy into the wall and self-destructs, killing both of them, Tammy gloats over Minerva's death. A hidden path is used by Perfectus to the finish line, while Frankenstein and Annie destroy Hamilton and her rebels. Until Perfectus loses control and smashes into the VR control booth, both vehicles jostle for place. A pre-race communication is sent out by Frankenstein, who suggests that the Chairman is worth 1,000 points. After murdering the Chairman, Frankenstein invites the viewers to leave their virtual world behind and participate in their own Death Race, to the pleasure of the audience. From afar, Frankenstein and Annie see a nation descending into anarchy and advise that when the violence has subsided, the land should be repopulated.

Watch the teaser trailer for Death Race 2050 right here.

Death Race 2050 included a who's who of actors.

Manu Bennett as "Frankenstein," the seasoned cybernetic champion of the Death Race.

Malcolm McDowell as Chairman of the United Corporations of America, a caricature of Donald Trump with a "slight comb-over in his hair."

Annie Sullivan is Frankenstein's proxy, played by Marci Miller.

Jed Perfectus, a genetically created athlete who considers himself to be the ideal driver, is portrayed by Burt Grinstead.

Folake Olowofoyeku as Minerva Jefferson, a former rapper turned racing car driver.

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 as Death Race's Grace Tickle.

Perfectus' proxy Eve Rocket is played by Leslie Shaw.

ABE (voiced by D.C. Douglas) is a wicked, AI-controlled, self-driving racing automobile.

This is Pierre Paolo Goya Kobashigawa in the role of Minerva's stand-in, Chi Wapp.

Sebastian Llosa stars as Steve, a bystander in the virtual reality adaptation of the Death Race who observes the action via Annie's point of view.

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

Death Race 2050 was created in what way?

Corman got the idea for a sequel to the first movie when an Italian reporter told him that The Hunger Games and Death Race 2000 had a lot in common. Corman talked to Universal Pictures, which made the modern remake (which Corman thought got rid of too much of the original's political commentary), about putting back the original's dark satire. Corman said, "You did a good job, but you took out the killing of pedestrians and the themes of a broken society."

Filming started while Corman was in his late eighties and coincided with the 2016 presidential election in the United States. It stars an entrepreneur who is now the Chairman of the United Corporations of America. "The president does have a hair style that could be approaching Trump's hair style," Corman told an interviewer, "but I don't want to get too heavy into that because Trump will come and go, but the film will remain."

Was Death Race 2050 a hit?

"There are a number of Death Races in a movie series about the Death Race coming to an end. After the late 2000s and early 2010s Death Race trilogy starring Jason Statham, Roger Corman returns with Death Race 2050. While both films were enjoyable in their own right, they bore little resemblance to the original 1970s B-movie (Roger Corman's Death Race 2050) Death Race 2000. So Corman guides this out-of-control burning disaster back on course, with a three-day race covering a dystopian America, where pedestrian fatalities score up points for out-of-control characters! But with a 50 at the end of the title this time." - YouTuber Decker Shado

In the United States, the movie was made available on DVD and in a combination DVD/Blu-ray release that included three making-of documentaries: "The Making of 2050," "The Look of 2050," and "Cars!" Cars, cars, and more cars. It was made available to the public in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2017.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 88 percent approval rating, based on eight reviews with an average rating of 6.8/10 as of June 2020.

Chris Alexander described the picture as "loud, strident, spastic, cruel, stylish, slipshod, foolish, and brilliant in equal doses" in an article for ComingSoon.net. "All extremely awkward, rickety, and kitschy," remarked Scott Weinberg in his Nerdist review, "but that's just part of the'shaggy dog' appeal of the show." "It's has enough blood, guts, naive political commentary, scenery chewing, and bad special effects to become a cult classic," Screen Anarchy's Sebastian said.