Deathsport

Co-Directed by the one-and-only Roger Corman, DEATHSPORT takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where David Carradine runs around in his underwear and a cape. He also gets to wave a clear plastic sword around. Nefarious forces, led by Richard Lynch, are trying to stop those like Carradine's character from escorting people to freedom.

Once captured, our heroes are sentenced to participate in the titular tournament, sort of a souped-up motorcycle version of DEATH RACE 2000.

You've really got to hand it to Mr. Corman, who could always be counted on to keep churning out Drive-In fodder like this for the hungry masses. Co-star / schlock goddess, Claudia Jennings, spends a lot of her screen time in a groovy bikini, or completely naked. Usually while being tortured, so, fans take note.

Absolutely ridiculous from start to finish, the entertainment value is sky-high. Cheeeze addicts, gather your friends, distribute the intoxicants, and prepare for a rollicking good time!...

Anyone visiting the Hollywood hills during the late seventies had be prepared for running across film crews perpetrating monstrosities like this little beauty on which Quentin Tarantino gorged during his misspent youth.

New World supremo Roger Corman's name on the credits wasn't the recommendation it was fifteen years earlier, especially as it suffers from the usual seventies infelicities of ghastly haircuts, hideous synthesised music, hordes of mutants with eyes like ping pong balls and exteriors that look like giant jelly moulds.

Feminists might take issue at casting a Playboy playmate as the female lead, but the late Miss Jennings wields a mean blaster and never wears anything remotely as humiliating as David Carradine's loin cloth (a sight it's going to take me a long time to forget).

There's your standard B-movie cheese and then there's the gloriously goofy "Deathsport". A follow-up, rather than sequel, to "Death Race 2000" (with David Carradine returning in a protagonist role), it shows us a Dystopian future in which "range guides" like Kaz Oshay (Carradine) and Deneer (B movie goddess Claudia Jennings) do battle with villains called "Statesmen". These baddies are led by a hilarious Richard Lynch (playing Ankar Moor), a guy given to making supposedly meaningful statements. Moor works for a dictator named Lord Zirpola (David McLean), whose sexual tastes tend towards the strange and sadistic.

You'll be busy trying to keep track of all the humans, objects, and animals zapped out of existence with this riotous debacle, began by a man named Nicholas Niciphor (a.k.a. Henry Suso), who proved to be not up to the task. Allan Arkush ("Get Crazy", "Rock 'n' Roll High School") then did his able best to try to salvage this production. The action is often very good, with tons of explosions, some intense camera-work, a bit of gore, some fire gags, and an occasional decapitation. There's even some cribbing of "Star Wars" sound effects, and a music score (composed by Andy Stein, with guitar performances by Jerry Garcia) that is PRICELESS in its tackiness. The script is by Niciphor and Donald E. Stewart, and it contains some of the funniest, most ridiculous dialogue that you'll hear in a movie of this kind. The so-called "mutants" are very low-rent: basically a few actors in rags scurrying about with golf-ball eyes.

Fortunately, the filmmakers aren't stupid, contriving a means to get Jennings, as well as Valerie Rae Clark as a dancer, out of their clothes. The performances are pretty straight-faced from all concerned, which only makes the "story", such as it is, even more humorous. Carradine runs around in a diaper for a while and is a hoot as the good guy, while Jennings retains her appeal as a performer. The supporting cast includes a couple of familiar faces, such as Jesse Vint, William Smithers, H.B. Haggerty, and Brenda Venus.

A real comedown from the social commentary, dark humour, and campy appeal of "Death Race 2000", but yet "Deathsport" has undeniable pleasures for anybody looking for a "so bad it's good" type of movie. At least it keeps moving.

Six out of 10.

A followup flick to Deathrace 2000,Deathsport is a wild thrilling ride.Very much underrated,and a cult classic for sure.You like deadly laser blasting dirt bikes?Futuristic noble knights of the apocalypse?Crystal sword fights?And a host of bad-guys dying ever few minutes?And an insane dictator with sadistic sexual tastes?If you find you like this movie or Deathrace 2000,check out Circle of Iron,another lost Carradine seventies classic that was scripted by Bruce Lee and stars Mr Carradine in four different roles.This ain't no academy award winning stuff,so don't expect a lot from a low budget sci fi opus.Just enjoy it for what it is,and tell all your friends.

I saw this movie as a kid at the theater "in the back corner of the mall" that showed those "hardcore R" movies in the late 70's - nervous buying the tix but the theater guy always let us in. Without a doubt, watchable. I'm just getting my kids to appreciate "cinema" and this one is one the list. Most of it is where we saw it versus what we saw but it's now viewable in your home at your calling. Technology. I personally dislike CGI and the proliferation of computers as "film" so these are the type of movies that now define an era gone by. Sad but true. There is an appreciation to be had with this movie that's like watching Shakespeare in the Park with motocross and entertaining foley artist work (albeit laughable).