Death Race: Beyond Anarchy - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Death Race: Beyond Anarchy

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
I actually hate to admit it, but I’m a fan of 2008 remake of Death Race. The original Roger Corman 70s film is a horrible classic starring David Carradine, but I like Paul W.S. Anderson’s 2008 remake. The movie is pure velveeta cheese with a helping of nacho cheese on top, but it’s a FUN Jason Statham action film with the trappings of Death Race to make it palatable. I don’t care. It’s an AWFUL film, but it’s just pure unadulterated cheese with lots of action, death and 2008 special effects. Much like the Resident Evil films, you don’t go in looking for some existential life altering decision, but rather to see things blow up and heavily muscled men square off on death races. I’m incriminating myself even more when I say that I actually like the two sequels with Luke Goss as Frankenstein. I mean, he’s not Jason Statham, but Luke Goss is a charismatic actor and he continues on the legacy of the masked racer Frankenstein quite well in my opinion. They’re DTV schlock, but Death Race 2 and Death Race 3: Inferno were very watchable DTV flicks. Cheesy? Yes. Schlocky? Yes. But they were palatable entertainment for those looking for trashy entertainment. 2016’s Death Race 2050 wasn’t a sequel to the 2008 film, but rather a miserable homage to the 1975 Death Race 2000 that started it all, but Death Race: Beyond Anarchy was supposedly the long awaited (at least among cruddy DTV fans) sequel to Death Race 3: Inferno, even though it got delayed several times before release. Needless to say, Death Race: Beyond Anarchy is harshly different than the three film that came before it (at least in this time line, as Death Race 2000, and Death Race 2050 are in their own universe), and really is the worst of the franchise, with a scatterbrained plot and an even lower budget than the Luke Goss sequels to the 2008 film.

The previous films had Frankenstein (the masked racer) as a tortured prisoner of the Sprawl (the giant anarchist prison that the films reside in), with the incredibly resilient racer picking up where the last “Frankenstein” left off (whoever wears the mask is Frankenstein). This time, Death Race has been labeled as an illegal activity instead of a prison sponsored event, and Frankenstein (no one knows if it’s the original Frank under a different actor, or whether Jason Statham/Luke Goss’s character has died and another taken his place) has taken over the Sprawl as his own little domain. Living as a monster/king, Frankenstein continues Death Race, broadcasting it across the dark web (oooooooooo, the daaaaaaaaaaaaark web) and entertaining millions with his savage form of entertainment. The Sprawl’s “warden” doesn’t want Franky controlling the narrative, so he sends in special operative Sgt. Connor (Zach McGowan) to kill Frankenstein, even if it means getting killed in the process.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know the routine. Connor goes in to challenge Frankenstein to a race, only Frankenstein figures out the end goal of the Sgt. Before he can kill him. Now it’s a race between men, with the final goal being finishing the race or death. That is, if Conner can even GET OUT alive before the overlord of the sprawl slaughters him firs.

Death Race: Beyond Anarchy is the most different of the sequels to the 2008 Death Race. The original was just a Jason Statham action vehicle, but the Luke Goss films were a decent follow up. The films were all about Frankenstein and the race, with new challenges to overcome and more blood and guts on the track. This time it’s ALL about Sgt. Conner. Frankenstein is actually the villain (kind of) of the series here, having taken over the Sprawl and turned it into his own private little post apocalyptic world where he reins over with an iron fist. The film would be slightly believable if it wasn’t for director Don Michael Paul inserting the MF expletive every 2 seconds (you can make a drinking game out of how many times it’s uttered), and the sloppy plot. Sadly the film makes almost no sense, and you can actually guess the plot “twist” within 10 minutes of the film starting (the similarities between Conner and Frankenstein’s physical characteristics pretty much give it away).

There’s some connections with the previous films, such as List (Frederick Koehler) and Goldberg (Danny Trejo) making appearances, but this is mainly a new film, with new characters, and new objectives at heart. It’s hard to say whether the Frankenstein in this film is the same man who Jason Statham and Luke Goss portrayed, or whether he’s just another man behind a mask, but he’s so radically different than the other iterations in the series that you almost can’t reconcile the differences. The film was delayed twice in coming to home video, and sadly I can kind of see why. The plot is nonsensical, and the filming even worse, giving us shaky camera work for the action shots, and relegating the race to about 25 minutes of the movie while the rest is just setting up Sgt. Conner in the world of the Sprawl.




Rating:

Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, nudity and sexual content / Not Rated by the MPAA (Unrated Cut)




Video:

The Blu-ray for Death Race: Beyond Anarchy was shot digitally and then transferred to a 2K digital intermediate, and uses a very desaturated and bland color scheme. The film is very much ash grey , with only SPLASHES of color to keep it from being completely bland and flat. Mostly in relation to the rumblings of orange flame or CGI blood splashing across the screen. The outside world from the Sprawl is a bit more colored, with orange tinges and more natural skin tones, but be prepared for lots and lots of ash grey and flat coloring. Skin tones look a bit sallow and dull, but that’s to be expected with the color grading. Details range from REALLY good (allowing you to see the stains on the faces) to just moderately good, but overall it’s a fairly good looking Blu-ray despite the color choices. Black levels are solid enough and I can’t seem much digital artifacting besides a little bit of banding.







Audio:

Vroom vroom vrooooooooooooooooooooooooooom! Death Race: Beyond Anarchy comes to Blu-ray with an aggressive sounding 5.1 DTS-HD MA track that really errors on the side of being super hot and heavy. Loud and powerful bass is the name of the game, and the track delivers the low end with much aplomb. Every engine rev sounds like an air craft carrier going off, and the heavy metal score pulsates with energy and low end power. Dialog is crisp and clean enough, but this is really just a vehicle (pun intended) to heave lots and lots of heavy metal music and the rumbling of car engines across the dirt roads. Surrounds are full of little scrabbling and plinking of gravel along the race, as well as ambient noises in the background. It’s a great action track, and raises the bar higher than your average DTV flick, that’s for certain.


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Extras:

• Audio Commentary with Director/Co-Writer Don Michael Paul and Star Zach McGowan
• Inside the Anarchy
• Time Served: Lists & Goldberg
• On the Streets of Death Race: Beyond Anarchy

Final Score: ​

It’s been 5 years from Death Race 3: Inferno, but I think it’s about time for the franchise to die. Death Race 2050 couldn’t reinvigorate the old 1970s universe with any dignity, and with Luke Goss refusing to come back to the 2008 universe, it looks like the attempts to revitalize that one is dead as well. It had a decent run, and I actually admit to liking the DTV sequels. It’s just that this iteration of the Death Race franchise is boring, nonsensical and completely devoid of any entertainment value outside of watching a few minor explosions blow things up. Universal’s Blu-ray is good enough, with good video and great audio specs, but a mediocre array of extras to enjoy. As such I’d recommend just renting the film if you’re a Death Race fan, and just skipping it for everyone else.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Zach McGowan, Frederick Koehler, Christine Mazano
Directed by: Don Michael Paul
Written by: Don Michael Paul, Tony Giglio, Paul W.S. Anderson (Story by)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Spanish DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: R / NR
Runtime: 111 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 2nd 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Only for the Death Race Fans