Death Race 2 is a 2010 action film directed by Roel Reiné and written by Tony Giglio, who co-developed its story with Paul W. S. Anderson. It is a prequel to Death Race (2008), which is the prequel to Death Race 2000 (1975), and stars Luke Goss, Fred Koehler, Tanit Phoenix, Robin Shou, Lauren Cohan, Danny Trejo, Ving Rhames, and Sean Bean. Koehler and Shou reprise their supporting roles from Death Race, whereas Goss plays Carl "Luke" Lucas, a convicted cop killer who is sentenced to life in a for-profit, maximum-security prison on Terminal Island, where he is forced to compete in the titular reality show to earn his freedom.
Death Race 2 tells the origin story of the franchise's protagonist Frankenstein without the directorial involvement of Anderson, who was retained as producer, or the appearance of Jason Statham. Reiné signed on to direct, and filming began in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 13, 2010. He directed the 30-day shoot without a second unit, served as his own cinematographer (albeit uncredited), and opted for locations where he could have a few sets going at once to manage the schedule and the $6–7 million budget. Paul Haslinger returned as score composer.
Universal Pictures released the film direct-to-video through its home entertainment division on January 18, 2011, with a United Kingdom release date of December 27, 2010. It earned $8.4 million in US home video sales. Reviews were mixed, comparing Death Race 2 with Anderson's version and with the typical direct-to-video releases. Reiné also directed a direct-to-video sequel, Death Race 3: Inferno (2013).
Plot
A gang robs a bank on behalf of crime boss Markus Kane. When two police officers unexpectedly enter the building, getaway driver Carl "Luke" Lucas urges his accomplices to abort the robbery, but they refuse. Luke intervenes, resulting in the death of one of the robbers. He then kills a police officer and abandons the remaining accomplices to complete Markus's plan. After a high-speed chase, Luke is captured, sentenced to life in prison, and eventually transferred to Terminal Island. Markus, convinced Luke will trade information for immunity despite Luke's vow of silence, orders his assassination.
Terminal Island is a for-profit, maximum-security prison operated by business magnate R. H. Weyland of Weyland Corporation. One of Weyland's primary revenue streams is "Death Match", a televised, pay-per-view gladiatorial combat event in which inmates fight using weapons or improvised defensive gear. September Jones, a disgraced former Miss Universe now employed by Weyland, hosts the spectacle.
Upon arrival, Luke befriends fellow inmates "Lists", Goldberg, and Rocco. He draws September's attention after defending Lists from an attempted assault. September makes sexual advances toward Luke and pressures him to participate in a Death Match in exchange for privileges, but he refuses. In retaliation, she selects Lists to fight "Big Bill", the massive prisoner who attacked Luke earlier. Luke jumps into the arena to protect Lists, briefly aided by convict ring girl Katrina Banks. Racial tensions escalate, sparking a riot as prisoners flood the arena and attempt to rape the female inmates. Katrina fights back, and the women are evacuated. Guards regain control, Luke surrenders, and afterward, he speaks privately with Katrina. Learning Luke is still alive, Markus places a $1 million bounty on his head.
Seeking greater profits, September launches a new event called "Death Race". Inmates can earn their freedom by winning five races over three days, driving heavily armed, reinforced cars. Female prisoners serve as navigators. Luke enters the race with Katrina as his navigator and Lists, Goldberg, and Rocco as his pit crew. Luke wins the first race and is congratulated by Weyland, who offers Katrina as his prize. Alone together, Luke and Katrina tease each other and have sex. Later, September places Luke in solitary confinement under the guise of protecting him from bounty hunters. Katrina is taken to Markus, who offers her freedom in exchange for killing Luke.
During the second race, nearly all competitors target Luke, except for triad member "14K", whom Luke previously saved. Katrina tells Luke about Markus's offer. Near the end of the race, Luke's car malfunctions due to sabotage. He ejects Katrina before the vehicle is struck by Big Bill's heat-seeking missile. Luke's pit crew and Katrina are unable to rescue him from the burning wreck. Meanwhile, Big Bill's navigator kills her partner after he murders his pit crew and attacks her. Unknown to everyone except September, Luke survives but is badly burned. September forces him to continue racing under a masked persona known as "Frankenstein".
As the final race begins, a triad assassin kills Markus at his mansion as 14K's repayment to Luke. Lists fatally stabs Rocco for sabotaging Luke's car. Luke confronts September and runs her over, killing her. Fascinated by his new identity, Katrina asks Luke whether he has a real name. He replies that he does, and she smiles as they return to the race together.
Cast
Additional members of the cast include Patrick Lyster as Warden Parks, DeObia Oparei as "Big Bill", Hennie Bosman as Xander Grady, Joe Vaz as Rocco, Danny Keogh as Dr. Klein, Warrick Grier as Calin, and Tanya van Graan as Holly.
Production Development and pre-production Death Race 2 is a prequel to writer-director Paul W. S. Anderson's Death Race (2008), which itself is a prequel to Death Race 2000 (1975). Development began in August 2009 under the working title Death Race: Frankenstein Lives; Tony Giglio, Anderson's second-unit director on Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), wrote the script for what he described as "an origin film, in every sense". He conceived of the protagonist, Carl "Luke" Lucas, as a stark contrast to the Jason Statham character that headlined the previous film, saying, "He wasn't framed. He's not fighting to get out to save his children. He's a convicted cop killer. A guy who's worked for the [American] mob his whole life. A true anti-hero." Universal Pictures greenlit Giglio's script in November 2009. Neither Anderson nor Statham returned due to other commitments, though Anderson remained as producer with Jeremy Bolt and Mike Elliott. Dutch director Roel Reiné signed on to direct in December 2009, when he had just completed production of The Marine 2. The crew also included production designer Johnny Breedt,: Event occurs at 19:29–20:04 editors Radu Ion and Herman P. Koerts,: Event occurs at 36:38–36:42 and composer Paul Haslinger (who scored the previous film).: Event occurs at 1:07:44–1:08:10
Reiné called the script for Death Race 2 "a really cool prequel to the Death Race world".: Event occurs at 9:14–9:26 He added a fight scene and a high-speed police chase to the bank heist sequence to establish Luke as a skilled fighter and high-performance driver prior to "Death Race",: Event occurs at 9:57–10:34 in contrast to the previous film,: Event occurs at 10:36–10:53 and to provide "a spectacular chase to start with".: Event occurs at 0:39–0:52 He also incorporated different beats to the racing scenes, which he felt were derivative of those from the previous film.: Event occurs at 1:00:44–1:01:08 Likewise, Reiné pushed the producers to add slow, tender moments to the script to pause for character development and dramatic tension, and to temper the rapid pacing.: Event occurs at 17:38–18:44 Giglio's script, for example, originally had Luke being brought to fight in a "Death Match" as soon as he arrives in prison, whereas Reiné created a moment to sympathize with Luke as he sits in his cell contemplating his fate as a prisoner for life.: Event occurs at 17:59–18:16
To facilitate his visual style, Reiné lobbied Universal to serve as his own cinematographer and camera operator—particularly on the "A" camera—in lieu of working with a cinematographer typically commissioned by a studio.: Event occurs at 6:42–7:45 When Universal agreed, he enlisted the help of a "really, really high-end" South African gaffer, John McKay, to "basically light the movie" as he shot everything.: Event occurs at 8:29–9:06 Even so, it was McKay who received sole credit as "director of photography". Because Universal wanted the film shot in high definition, Reiné opted for the Sony CineAlta F35 and the Phantom digital movie cameras. Upon performing a test shoot with the cameras, he found both produced desirable image quality, had better shutter speeds, and could handle quick hand-held movements.: Event occurs at 24:09–25:22
Casting began in November 2009. On March 1, 2010, The Hollywood Reporter Heat Vision blog reported that Luke Goss, Sean Bean, Lauren Cohan, Ving Rhames, Danny Trejo, and Frederick Koehler had joined the cast. Reiné said he was "so lucky" to get both Goss and Bean on board, as they had been his top choices to play Luke and his boss prior to production.: Event occurs at 3:56–4:13 To persuade Bean to join the cast of a direct-to-video film like Death Race 2, Reiné had to ask Anderson to do it on his behalf; Bean had collaborated with Anderson on his feature directorial debut, Shopping (1994).: Event occurs at 4:23–4:39 Goss told Den of Geek he accepted the lead role because he was sold on the script, which he thought had a plot-driven story beyond the "fun" action set pieces. Rhames accepted Reiné's offer to play the owner of Weyland Corporation from over the phone and gave ideas about the character.: Event occurs at 26:09–26:29 Reiné approached Trejo about playing an inmate despite what he perceived as Trejo's hectic schedule working on big-budget films every year.: Event occurs at 27:29–28:00 Koehler and Robin Shou, according to Reiné, were both delighted to reprise their roles from the previous film; each was given more screen time than in the original.: Event occurs at 15:58–16:27: Event occurs at 21:31–22:02
Reiné said the production managed to locate almost all of the cars from the original film in the United States. They bought them back from collectors who had purchased them. Although they had to rebuild two missing ones—a Dodge Ram and a Chrysler—"from scratch".: Event occurs at 52:37–52:54
Filming
With a $6–7 million budget, principal photography began on February 13, 2010, on location in Cape Town, South Africa. The film was a co-production between Germany and South Africa, and received tax breaks for filming in South Africa. Reiné directed the 30-day shoot without a second unit so that he could shoot independently.: Event occurs at 3:10–3:14 To manage the tight budget and schedule,: Event occurs at 2:31–2:54: Event occurs at 13:23–13:34 Reiné opted for locations where he could "at least have four or five sets going at the same time";: Event occurs at 49:19–49:48 on each day he would split his time between interior and exterior sets, shooting scenes that were spread across different locations.: Event occurs at 3:15–3:23 The film was shot with two each of the Sony CineAlta F35 and Phantom digital cameras.: Event occurs at 25:22–25:27 Because of the weight of the F35, Reiné relied upon the Phantom when he would shoot handheld in addition to slow motion shots.: Event occurs at 25:29–24:55: Event occurs at 11:41–11:47 Besides slow motion, Reiné incorporated 360-degree tracking shots: Event occurs at 30:02–30:08 as well as "handheld crane shot[s]" which he accomplished with wire work for a major "Death Match" sequence.: Event occurs at 40:15–41:52