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Course à la mort

Original title: Death Race
  • 2008
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
225K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,768
1,082
Jason Statham and Natalie Martinez in Course à la mort (2008)
Watch Trailer [OV]
Play trailer2:23
17 Videos
99+ Photos
Car ActionDark ComedyDystopian Sci-FiActionSci-FiThriller

Ex-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates must brutalize and kill one another... Read allEx-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates must brutalize and kill one another on the road to victory.Ex-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates must brutalize and kill one another on the road to victory.

  • Director
    • Paul W.S. Anderson
  • Writers
    • Paul W.S. Anderson
    • Robert Thom
    • Charles B. Griffith
  • Stars
    • Jason Statham
    • Joan Allen
    • Tyrese Gibson
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.4/10
    225K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,768
    1,082
    • Director
      • Paul W.S. Anderson
    • Writers
      • Paul W.S. Anderson
      • Robert Thom
      • Charles B. Griffith
    • Stars
      • Jason Statham
      • Joan Allen
      • Tyrese Gibson
    • 269User reviews
    • 213Critic reviews
    • 43Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 5 nominations total

    Videos17

    Trailer [OV]
    Trailer 2:23
    Trailer [OV]
    Death Race
    Clip 1:08
    Death Race
    Death Race
    Clip 1:08
    Death Race
    Death Race
    Clip 0:58
    Death Race
    Death Race
    Clip 1:00
    Death Race
    Death Race
    Clip 0:34
    Death Race
    Death Race
    Clip 0:55
    Death Race

    Photos195

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    + 189
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    Top cast43

    Edit
    Jason Statham
    Jason Statham
    • Jensen Ames
    Joan Allen
    Joan Allen
    • Hennessey
    Tyrese Gibson
    Tyrese Gibson
    • Machine Gun Joe
    Ian McShane
    Ian McShane
    • Coach
    Natalie Martinez
    Natalie Martinez
    • Case
    Max Ryan
    Max Ryan
    • Pachenko
    Jason Clarke
    Jason Clarke
    • Ulrich
    Frederick Koehler
    Frederick Koehler
    • Lists
    • (as Frederick Koehler, Fred Koehler)
    Jacob Vargas
    Jacob Vargas
    • Gunner
    Justin Mader
    Justin Mader
    • Travis Colt
    Robert LaSardo
    Robert LaSardo
    • Grimm
    Robin Shou
    Robin Shou
    • 14K
    Benz Antoine
    Benz Antoine
    • Joe's Navigator
    Danny Blanco Hall
    • Joe's Navigator
    Christian Paul
    Christian Paul
    • Joe's Navigator
    Janaya Stephens
    Janaya Stephens
    • Suzy
    John Fallon
    • Neo Nazi
    Bruce McFee
    • Old Timer
    • Director
      • Paul W.S. Anderson
    • Writers
      • Paul W.S. Anderson
      • Robert Thom
      • Charles B. Griffith
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews269

    6.4225K
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    Featured reviews

    6A_Roode

    Fun, very loud and unabashedly dumb.

    I shouldn't write reviews for movies like this because it feels like I'm lining up to kick a puppy. A movie like 'Death Race' can only be judged fairly through a set of lowered genre expectations. I'll try but I'm not making any promises. It is fun, very loud and unabashedly dumb. It was never envisioned to be anything other than an attempt at 'cool.' The average viewer will - without fail - be able to pick out every moment where Paul W.S. Anderson had an idea during the script writing and thought to himself "That'd be awesome!" before looking around the room for someone to high five. I shouldn't pick on him because I actually do enjoy his movies. He isn't trying to make 'Casablanca'; 'Robocop' is more his style. Just without the boring stuff like characterization and development. And as little subtlety, satire or nuance as needed. Unless unintentional or totally by mistake and ironic -- That'd be alright.

    This movie's lone strength is the special effects and it lives and dies by the car chase, the machine gun firing and the gory death(s). Michael Bay, eat you heart out. Anderson knows the art of kaboom and action junkees should be satisfied with his efforts here -- especially during the second race when the 'Dreadnought' enters the race. As long as you numb your brain into not asking serious questions about things like physics. Or how massive amounts of armour on a car wouldn't make flesh and soft tissue any safer in horrifying car crashes. Or how the American economy of the Dystopian future has crumbled, but 70 million can still afford the pay-per-view price to watch. Maybe some of the viewers are from Canada.

    If you were to put any consideration into serious film criticism where 'Death Race' is concerned, then you'd be the first one. The movie is so predictable, lazy and unambitious that it asks you to hand it the popcorn. In fact, have you seen the trailer? You've seen the film. Tyrese's character is homosexual, which I thought was stunningly inventive given the scriptwriter. Sliding back into predictability, it is used solely to make a few tasteless jokes before being forgotten about. Pretty standard fare for Anderson. If you've watched his other films, you know exactly what to expect. Except less. Brain still hurts too much to think about it. I think the annoying thing is that Anderson has potential. I wouldn't keep going to his movies if I didn't enjoy them. It annoys me when the problems at script level are so apparent. He has a tendency to go to predictable places: Requisite gay jokes for the prison? Check. Incredibly hot women on screen? Cue horny Rap music since I need a musical cue to point out the obvious. I'm annoyed when one character asks another if they think that they're really the best choice of parent for their offspring and the second character says later "Someone once asked me if ..." like they and the audience have forgotten the specifics of the first conversation. The audience doesn't need to be spoon-fed the obvious. It's a weakness that I hope Anderson can shed. He clearly loves making movies. Trusting the audience a little more and giving us some credit might let him make better ones.

    The crazy thing is that despite it all, I enjoyed 'Death Race.' It is flawed from top to bottom but wears the flaws so honestly and endearingly that you really shouldn't hold it against the movie. Need to go see a mindless distraction for an hour and a half? 'Death Race' isn't a bad choice. With 'Death Race' you get exactly what you expect and exactly what you deserve.
    7KineticSeoul

    A blend of "Mario Kart" and "Twisted Metal" and it's a solid fun thrill ride

    If "Mario Kart" was a movie and it had characters similar to the video game "Twisted Metal" this movie would be it. I really don't see why critics bash this movie so much, yes it isn't a Oscar worthy movie nor is it a very intelligent movie. But it sure is entertaining and was so stupid to the point it got irritating. People that decide to see this movie should know what they are getting into or else they might dislike it. Overall when I saw this movie in theater I really enjoyed it and had a blast with it, sure some of the plot holes are obvious but this is still a solid thrill ride. Personally I had a blast with this movie and Jason Statham was good in this role since he fit in with his tough guy exterior and I bought it. There is good amount of sex appeal and Ian McShane is just right as well while playing the character named Coach. This is a thrill ride that is like watching a actually entertaining video game movie. However if the script was a bit more intelligent it would have been better though although I didn't expect a solid script from Paul W.S. Anderson.

    7.4/10
    8dino_saur333

    Don't Listen to the Critics

    I always hate it when all those high class critics from the newspapers and journals bash a film for not being what THEY want it to be and not looking at it for what its SUPPOSED to be.

    The title is "Death Race" after all. No-one ever expected it to win any golden trophies in the first place. So what if the acting was a bit bland and the plot was a little weak. That's not was the movie is supposed th be about.

    It's not a Martin Scorsese film where you sit back and think "Oh, that is very thought-provoking and I feel that I've truly learned something inspirational today." No. This is a film where you sit back, look at it, and think "Holy ****!! Did you see that ********** explosion?!"

    This is a film where you have fun in. Don't worry if you walk away with nothing meaningful to talk about at the end. Go ahead and laugh at its stupidity. I guarantee you you'll still have a much better time that watching something like Capote
    8wordmonkey

    Fun, Fun, FUN!

    Now here's an exploitation film that knows what a solid B-movie is supposed to be: an action-dense, amped-up, gore-soaked killfest. It's the cinematic equivalent of eating that entire box of Red Vines you bought at the snack bar, using them as candy straws to suck down your extra-large Coke.

    As a fan of the original "Death Race 2000," I was pleased to see just enough of a shadow of the original movie inhabiting the skin of the new one. Roger Corman's name on the producing credits gave me hope at the start, and his seal of approval seemed to mean something, perhaps as counterweight to Paul W. S. Anderson's track record of shooting mediocre video game adaptations. Surprisingly, Anderson rises to the occasion, effortlessly elevating a cliché-rich but fast-moving script to the level of a satisfyingly adrenalin-fueled confection aimed like a bullet at the A.D.D.-addled brains of the short-attention-span generation.

    Set in an "Escape From New York"-style dystopic prison-culture (that sounds suspiciously like current American society), slaughter happens, stuff blows up, and the weak are culled like bunnies caught in the headlights of gas-sucking American muscle cars. Fans of the "Twisted Metal" video game will love the newest wrinkle in the race, the addition of weaponry – a needed bloody bump for version 2.0. And what a bump it is, with each car's chugging machine guns indiscriminately spewing hot rounds at every foe, shredding Detroit steel like it was used Kleenex. It's unabashed gun fetishism at its gleeful best, and it makes you want to strap an M60 to the hood of your Prius in order to cut your commute in half.

    Jason Statham does his standard tough-guy job as the scowling Frankenstein, Joan Allen plays a ball-busting warden (perhaps a bit in the mold of Louise Fletcher's Nurse Ratched), and Ian McShane of "Deadwood" has a solid cameo as the prison-wise mechanic, Coach. Even Machine Gun Joe gets a new incarnation in the form of Tyrese Gibson, who thankfully is nothing like Stallone's blustering Italian meatball.

    I loved it, and can't wait to see it again in a theater with enough bass to pump up those impact crunches to the bone-jarring level they deserve.

    Yeah!
    7knapp1991

    hot women and fast cars, death race is a man's movie

    I just saw this film last night at a premier in Portland Oregon.Im not gonna give away any of the story because there isn't much of one which is fine in this case. Explolsions and murder and hot women plus Jason statham equals good movie. I went into this film expecting it to be disaster,and i say this only because I'm anonymous... it was good. Plenty of wow moments to cringe at and not just me but the whole audience. The driving does get a little repetitive but kudos to the director Paul w.s. Anderson for mixing it up. Plus it is a revenge story which everyone loves. BOTTOM LINE if you want to be entertained and don't mind a some violence see it it is worth the price of admission.

    More like this

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    Mechanic: Résurrection
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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      David Carradine, who starred in the original film, La Course à la mort de l'an 2000 (1975), played the voice of Frankenstein in the opening scene of this film.
    • Goofs
      (at about 24:00 into the film) At the introduction, Coach tells Frankenstein that the back protection plate, a.k.a. the Tombstone, is 6" thick solid steel. There are four plates 1.5" thick each and about 40", 50", 60" and 70" by about 48" tall. That is about 1,972 kg or 4,340 lbs. of steel. That would make the car so back heavy that, at the first hitting of any bump, the front of the car would go up and make controlling it impossible. Besides that, it would also be so heavy that the car would not be fit for the race.
    • Quotes

      Hennessey: [having always shown before a distinct aversion to foul language] Okay, cocksucker. Fuck with me, and we'll see who shits on the sidewalk.

    • Crazy credits
      After the credits, the line "Okay, cocksucker. Fuck with me, and we'll see who shits on the sidewalk" is heard again.
    • Alternate versions
      The unrated version runs 111 minutes.
    • Connections
      Edited into Heads Blow Up! (2011)
    • Soundtracks
      Maybe Tomorrow
      Written by Stuart Cable, Kelly Jones, Richard Jones

      Performed by Stereophonics

      Courtesy of V2 Music Limited

      Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

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    FAQ

    • How long is Death Race?Powered by Alexa
    • Is 'Death Race' based on a book?
    • In what year does 'Death Race' take place?
    • Is this movie a remake or a sequel to Death Race 2000?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 15, 2008 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • Germany
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official Facebook
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Death race - course à la mort
    • Filming locations
      • Montréal, Québec, Canada
    • Production companies
      • Universal Pictures
      • Relativity Media
      • Impact Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $45,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $36,316,032
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $12,621,090
      • Aug 24, 2008
    • Gross worldwide
      • $76,014,335
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 45 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • SDDS
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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