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"Death Race", directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, opens in the year 2012 where economic turmoil has turned the world upside down. Jason Statham stars as Jensen Ames, a once-famous race car driver who has fallen on hard times. But, he still has the love of his wife and newborn child. He comes home one day, reminds his wife that he loves her, heads upstairs to calm the restless baby and comes downstairs to discover his wife has been murdered. He's attacked by a masked man and wakes up a shortly thereafter surrounded by police and holding a bloody knife in his hand. Six months later, Ames is headed to prison for a crime he didn't commit. After getting involved in a little prison scuffle, he is called to the office of the warden (played by Joan Allen) who, in an effort to boost TV ratings, asks him to participate in "Death Race" -- a reality show where prisoners race cars for the opportunity to reduce their sentences. The warden wants Ames to don the mask of Frankenstein, a fan favorite who, unbeknownst to the viewing audience, died after crashing in his last race. Frankenstein has already won 4 races, so all Ames needs to do is win one more. He reluctantly accepts her offer, but soon discovers she has another agenda. "Death Race" also stars Tyrese Gibson as another racer named "Machine Gun Joe" and Ian McShane as "Coach", the leader of Frankenstein's race team.

"Death Race" is a loose remake of the 1975 film "Death Race 2000" which starred David Carradine as Frankenstein and Sylvester Stallone as Machine Gun Joe. I've never seen the original, so I can't comment on the differences between the two, or which movie is better or worse. But, I will say that I can't imagine it getting much worse. At the same time, it's not as though I'm taking this movie all that seriously. In the context of what it is, and compared to just about every other movie Statham has made (ie. "The Transporter" or "Crank"), "Death Race" is just about on par. It's meaningless action violence aimed at a particular audience willing to spend money on such frivolity.

Bonus features included on this Unrated DVD begin with "Start Your Engines: Making a Death Race" which runs just under 20 minutes and talks with writer-director Anderson, producer Jeremy Bolt, and the cast about bringing the movie to the screen. Next up is "Behind the Wheel: Dissecting the Stunts" which runs 8 minutes and looks at some of the film's practical effects. Finally, the Unrated version of the movie can be played with an optional audio commentary by Anderson and Bolt.

For the audience who would enjoy this type movie, it is what it is. I can't imagine anybody expecting anything more or less. If anything, the movie made me want to watch the original to see the difference -- other than the fact that it's been more than 30 years since the release of the original and people are still talking about it -- whereas thirty years from now, I don't believe the same will be true about this remake.