Death Race 2000 (1975)/Death Sport (1978/Umbrella Entertainment/Region Zero/0 PAL DVD
Set)
Picture: B–/C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C+/D Films: B-/C
PLEASE NOTE: This DVD can only be operated on
machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Zero/0 PAL format
software and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment at the
website address provided at the end of the review.
We previously reviewed Paul Bartel’s Death Race 2000
(1975) when Disney issued it on DVD as part of a Roger Corman collection and
you can read about the film and the DVD at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3293/Death+Race+2000+-+Special+Edition
That version is now out of print, just in time for the
release of the remake. Some other
editions exist with various quality versions and various Regional DVD versions,
yet some of them have no extras and some of them are also out of print. However, Umbrella Entertainment has not only
issued the original film in a better print than Disney, but they have added
Corman’s lower-budget, wacky imitator of sorts: Death Sport (aka Deathsport,
with no less than three directors, including Corman) from 1978 and what it
lacks in budget, it makes up for in violence, goofiness, motorcycles, nudity
and sex.
Claudia Jennings, Richard Lynch, William Smithers, David
McLean and Jesse Vint join David Carradine playing a new character in a world
that has everything from rifles to light lanterns that totally zap and vaporize
anyone they kill. You get some fights
and battles, a villain with a room of hanging poles that he has nude women
dance to before filling the poles with electric, sex scenes and hand to hand
combat; all of which you have to see to believe. In this, there are some interesting moments
just the same, but they could not afford to totally build the future city and
it makes for a viewing you will not soon forget. Also, it was at this point Corman’s power as
a B-producer was starting to wane.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Death
Race 2000 is a new transfer much like the old Disney edition, but improved
in every way. There is more image
information on both sides of the frame, the great MetroColor is even more
vibrant and the print is in even better shape.
The 1.33 X 1 image on Death Sport
is soft, but we cannot tell if this is tunnel vision or a soft matte frame, as
the film had a 1.85 X 1 theatrical frame.
Director of Photography Gary Graver (Invasion Of The Bee Girls, The
Toolbox Murders) does an interesting job of shooting what was here, though
detail and color are limited, this copy is watchable just the same. Both have Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono that are
fine for their age, with slightly more clarity on Death Race 2000 here
than on the Corman/Disney reissue, which retains all the same extras (original
theatrical trailer, terrific audio commentary by Corman and Woronov) except a
short featurette, while Death Sport has no extras at all. Now, can Bartel’s racecar/deathsport film Cannonball!
be far behind on DVD or Blu-ray?
For more on the Death
Race remake, try this link to our Blu-ray coverage:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7982/Death+Race+(2008/Universal+Blu-ray)
As noted above, you can order this PAL DVD Set import
exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
- Nicholas Sheffo
