Death Race 3: Inferno

Death Race 3: Inferno
DVD cover
Directed by	Roel Reiné
Produced by	Paul W.S. Anderson Jeremy Bolt Mike Elliott
Screenplay by	Tony Giglio
Story by	Tony Giglio Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring	Luke Goss Danny Trejo Ving Rhames
Music by	Trevor Morris
Cinematography	Wayne Shields
Edited by	Radu Ion Michael Trent
Production company	Moonlighting Films
Distributed by	Universal Studios
Release dates	November 20, 2012 (2012-11-20) (Canada) January 22, 2013 (2013-01-22) (United States)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Death Race 3: Inferno (also called Death Race 3 and Death Race: Inferno) is a 2012 American action film sequel to Death Race 2 that was released as straight to video in the United States on January 22, 2013.

Plot

Death Race owner R.H. Weyland (Ving Rhames) has been forced to sell the rights to Niles York (Dougray Scott), a British billionaire who acquired the rights by hostile takeover. York reveals he intends to relocate Death Race to the deserts of Africa as a Transcontinental Race. Before leaving, Weyland arranges Lucas to have surgery to heal the infected and deadly scars on his face sustained from his gruesome crash. With Carl Lucas, also known as Frankenstein (Luke Goss), one win away from gaining his freedom, York coaches Lucas to lose his races and threatens his life if he fails to comply.

Before his first race, Lucas engages in a fist fight with other racers and his mask is knocked off in the middle of the fight, revealing to his crew he actually did not die. Before the first race, all of the female navigators had to participate in a Death Match "Navigator Wars" now hosted and produced by Satana (Hlubi Mboya). Contestants to be chosen are the top 10 survivors, with Katrina (Tanit Phoenix) among those who survived. Before the first race, all racers receive shots with GPS locators so the producer will know where all the racers are at all times and so they can be killed if they attempt to escape.

During the first race, it is revealed that racing in the deserts of Africa has different variables than racing in prison. Racers cannot go as fast and more focus should be spent on handling, in addition to hostile locals. Eleven racers take the start, but one, Jackal, jumps the start and is killed by the missile tracker. Three more die in the first sector: Joker, Pretty Boy, and Tazmanian Devil. Frankenstein ends up losing his first race by a hair to Razor.

After the race, Katrina tells Lucas they cannot have a relationship as they previously had since she is broken for convincing her he is dead. Another fight ensues after the first race and Goldberg (Danny Trejo) is cut in the scuffle. The show's surgeon makes advances to Goldberg and the two establish a relationship. In order to make Katrina jealous, the producer Satana orders Psycho's (Jeremy Crutchley) navigator to have sex with Lucas, who seems to refuse the offer. Satana and York grow suspicious that Lucas is up to something due to his non-rebellious attitude to being forced to lose. Lucas then explains to his team mates his deal with York to lose and says instead he made a "new deal."

At the end of race 2, Goldberg is caught in an explosion caused by stray bullets from local hostile war lords, and is pronounced dead. After the race, York reminds Lucas he is to lose his next race to 14K (Robin Shou) or York will torture him and Katrina. Satana then discovers York wishes to replace her as producer and remove her from Death Race so he can assume complete control. Before the next race, Katrina confesses her love to Lucas, and Lucas admits he did not have sex with the other navigator when he had the chance. After the final race begins, York attempts to kill Lucas at the end of the race with a missile aimed at his locater chip. 14K shoots flares to send the missile off course to save Lucas's life, effectively returning the "life for a life" favor.

At the end of the race, Lucas holds a commanding lead and kills many of the Death Race guards along the way, vowing to kill York. However, Lucas allows 14K to pass him and then speeds to York. As York attempts to flee, Satana handcuffs him to the table for attempting to replace her. Lucas crashes his car into the control room and explodes, engulfing the room in flames. Initially, it is insinuated that everyone except Lucas perished in the crash. However, it is revealed that Lucas and Katrina escaped unharmed, and framed the now unrecognizable York as Lucas, aka Frankenstein. In order to assert York is Frankenstein, Lists (Fred Koehler) confirms it is him, along with the show's surgeon who claims the implanted chip is that of Lucas's.

It is then revealed that Lucas's "new deal" he made during the meeting with Weyland was to fake Goldberg's death; the surgeon (Goldberg's love interest) falsely pronounced him dead, and after the crash pronounces York, and Katrina as dead and Lucas as the sole survivor. Since York is officially dead, Weyland regains control of Death Race and grants Lucas, Katrina, Lists, and Goldberg their freedom, but Lists elects to stay behind and returns to Terminal Island. Weyland pays Lucas a substantial amount of money for his help regaining control of Death Race, and he and Katrina relocate with Goldberg elsewhere, and York is punished and he is imprisoned in Terminal Island, forcing him to become the Second Frankenstein.

Cast

• Luke Goss as Carl "Luke" Lucas / Frankenstein
• Robin Shou as 14K
• Bart Fouche as Razor
• Jeremy Crutchley as Psycho
• Eugene Khumbanyiwa as Nero
• Michelle van Schaik as Olga Braun
• Mark Elderkin as Joker
• Anton David Jeftha as Jackal
• Danny Trejo as Goldberg
• Ving Rhames as R.H. Weyland
• Dougray Scott as Niles York / Frankenstein
• Tanit Phoenix as Katrina Banks
• Fred Koehler as Lists
• Hlubi Mboya as Satana

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 50% of 6 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 5.1/10.^[1] Scott Foy of Dread Central rated it 3/5 stars and wrote, "Movies like Death Race 3: Inferno are like a piece of chewing gum – the flavor is fleeting, you spit it out when you’re done without hesitation, but it gave you the minor fix you were after."^[2] Jesse Skeen of DVD Talk rated it 3/5 stars and wrote, "This movie probably won't win any awards, but it's great mindless fun."^[3] David Johnson of DVD Verdict called it an "ultimately a loud and tedious chore."^[4] Scott Weinberg of Fearnet wrote, "Cheap, choppy, and almost shamelessly by-the-numbers, Death Race 3 earns points for the same reason its predecessor did: it's quick, slick, enjoyably empty-headed, just energetic enough to smash through the finish line".^[5]

References

External links

• Death Race 3: Inferno at the Internet Movie Database