The combination of good actors and terrible dialogue might have allowed the film a chance at minor cult status, if it weren't for the frustratingly inept action sequences.
Let Death Race serve as a warning, or maybe an inspiration, to any TV producer who says she'd kill for high ratings: Why not stage a pay-per-view car race in which prisoners compete to stay alive on the course?
This is both a bad film and a bad influence, and on many levels. Still, for all of its brainlessness, it somehow manages a train-wreck hold on attention.
The most epically loaded triple-cheeseburger action film since "Con Air." Driving-team maven Spiro Razatos handles second-unit duty, and flings gas, sweat and oil at the screen with the hard-cornered glee of having real Hot Wheels with which to play.
It's brainless fun, but while Anderson's brilliant staging of the flesh-ripping stunts surpasses Bartel's cheap thrills, this update lacks the sardonic wit and satirical bite of the Corman-produced version.
