Paul W.S. Anderson’s Films Ranked From Worst To Best

Once upon a time, this remake of Death Race was going to be a snazzy, big budget affair starring Tom Cruise. The race would have been global and the scale massive, but Cruise was apparently so unhappy with Anderson’s scripts he backed out, and the budget was reduced considerably.

His loss was Jason Statham’s gain, and Death Race proved to be a solid b-grade action flick. The Stath plays a wrongly convicted man forced to take part in the title race, which is like Twisted Metal meets Mario Kart. Players have to drive over special panels to activate their weapons – rocket launchers, flamethrowers etc – and Anderson has a good time constructing all the carnage.

The plot is functional at best and it doesn’t even try to be subversive like the 1975 original, but it’s got a surprisingly good cast – Joan Allen, Ian McShane, Tyrese Gibson – and it positively breezes by.