Deathsport

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Death Sport
Directed by Allan Arkush
Nicholas Niciphor
Roger Corman (uncredited)
Written by (Francis Doel)
Starring David Carradine, Claudia Jennings, Richard Lynch
Music by Andy Stein, Jerry Garcia (guitar)
Cinematography Gary Graver
Editing by Larry Bock
Distributed by New World Pictures
Release date(s) April 1978
Running time 82 min.
Country USA
Language English

Deathsport is a 1978 sci-fi B-movie produced by Roger Corman about a post-apocalyptic world where criminals fight to the bloody death in the sporting event, Death Sport. The film stars David Carradine and Playboy Playmate Claudia Jennings.

Contents

[edit] Taglines

  • In the Year 3000, there will be no more Olympic Games, World Series, or Super Bowl. There will be only...DEATHSPORT!

[edit] Plot

One thousand years from tomorrow after the great Neutron wars, the world is divided into a barbaric collection of city states, surrounded by wastelands where only mutant cannibals and fiercely independent warriors known as Range Guides live. One of these city states, Helix, is planning war on another city state, Tritan, and to prove the superiority of their newest weapon, the "Death Machines" (essentially laser equipped Dirt bikes) they plan a special Death Sport. In the future, the death penalty was replaced by the Death Sport, where criminals battle each other to the bloody death for their freedom. But this time the mad Lord Zirpola (David McLean) is using the "Death Machines" and pitting them against some Range Guides he managed to capture. Foolishly, one of these guides, Kaz Oshay (Carradine), is the son of the greatest Range guide that ever lived. He forges a bond with a female guide Deneer (Jennings) and vows to escape with her to find a child guide who was captured by the mutants before her capture. After being tortured by the sadist Zirpola, and facing off against the killer of his mother, Ankar Moor (Richard Lynch), Oshay and Deneer are forced into the Death Sport (a motocross field mined with explosives). They defeat the riders of the Death Machines easily and escape the city of Helix with two other prisoners, Doctor Karl (William Smithers) and his son Marcus (Will Walker). During the escape, Dr Karl is killed. Eventually they rescue the child from a cave of mutant cannibals, and battle the other Death Machine riders following them (destroying a fuel plant in the process). Finally they are safe, Deneer delivering Marcus to Tritan, while Kaz Oshay faces off with his nemesis Ankar Moor in "honorable" combat, using Whistlers (plastic swords that sound like music). After a bloody battle Kaz decapitates Ankar, becoming the greatest guide alive. The film ends with him and Deneer riding off into the sunset on horses.

[edit] Controversy During Filming

In a 1990 letter to Psychotronic Video magazine (Psychotronic Video #7), David Carradine described writer & director Nicholas Niciphor as "a very talented and crazy guy". He claimed Niciphor "physically attacked" Claudia Jennings and Carradine "beat up" Niciphor in response. In 1991, Niciphor countered these claims in a letter to the same magazine (Psychotronic Video #9) where he claimed he & two stunt men physically removed Jennings from a motorcycle when Niciphor realized she was drunk and apparently high on cocaine (Jennings had a well known cocaine addiction in the late 70's). He also claims Carradine "would smoke hashish & marijuana openly on the set". Niciphor went on to say that later in the shoot, Carradine hit him in the right eye with a karate fist during training for a fight scene and was not sure if this was "an accident" or "purposeful" as retribution for the Jennings incident.

[edit] Trivia

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The soundtrack is completely synthesized, making it sound similar to games on the NES.
  • Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead added his skill as a guitarist to the film's synthesized soundtrack.
  • Valerie Rae Clark, the dancer, whose role in the film was a short yet bizarre nude scene, was the alleged star of Breast Orgy and its sequel.