Death Race - Movie Review Example

The movie, Death Race revolves around the story about prison convicts who gets to race around a race track for reasons of business and profit. This movie has a heavy impact on criminology and penology. For instance, the jail warden makes use of this race to promote online betting among international gamblers who then log on to the internet and watch the race live. The objective of the racers is to kill the other racers with the weapons of destruction which are heavily attached on their cars. Moreover, at every stage of the race, many deadly instruments such as a machine gun which comes up from below the road and a deadly armored truck car (the Dreadnought) is released to destroy the other cars and kill its designated drivers. The entry of the deadly Dreadnought is the main highlight of the movie. The race is posted online so this race becomes the world's most popular pay per view showing violence and killing real time. The main objective of the car race is to kill the other car racers so that the winner is the one who stays alive. Each convict who participates in the race is given a female navigator who comes from the female prison facility. The navigator is also freed if her race partner wins the race. She also dies if the car is attacked by the other race drivers. In exchange for winning in the race, the prison convict who is a winner gets to win his freedom. Jason Statham's character in this movie is that of a daily worker who is framed and is convicted for a crime he did not commit. He enters the prison and the jail warden had asked him to play the role of the evil Frankenstein. He enters the race wearing a special evil mask to hide his own identity. The objective of the other car racers who are also prison convicts is to defeat him. Jason enters his car and drives around the race track and kills off all his competitors except for one. He is able to work with that other race car driver to pin the Dreadnought and destroy it. This movie is very relevant as it presents a setting goes against many of the basic human rights of US prison convicts. First, any form of gambling, whether internet based or site-based not is never permitted inside the premises and facilities of the US prison system. By posting the car race in the internet and encouraging gambling, the jail warden has committed a serious crime. Moreover, gambling in the internet also violates the non-profit nature of all the federal rehabilitation facilities of the US prison system. All of the prison convicts are entitled to basic human rights as provided for by the US constitution and the United Nations Human Rights Document. Maine and Vermont are the only states which even allow prisoners, parolees and probationers to vote during elections. Second, the prison convicts are forced to enter the car race or else they are threatened, penalized and put in isolation cells. This situation happened to Jason Statham wherein he was forced to join the race against his will. He did not like the violence and the killing which was an integral part of the car race but the jail warden forced him to consider this or else he will be given a hard time while inside prison. This prison car race policy goes against human freedom which enables a person, even a prison convict to have the personal freedom decide to do whatever one wants without being held under duress. The movie denies the value of a human life even that of a convicted inmate. The movie also did not feature the personal rights or freedom of a convict to communicate with and consult his or her counsel in cases where he feels a degree of uncertainty in any activity he undertakes while he is in prison. Third, the prison convicts were told to compete in car racing without having the proper racing outfit, a stipulated and duly signed contract for payment and additional compensation, adequate preparatory driving training and an orientation on car safety measures. These facts violate basic human rights since the warden makes good money at the expense of the lives of the prisoners who lose during the race. Racing cars on the race track is a top-rated professional work in the US which enables one to earn good money and profit from the private placement of bets. However, the cars which were used in the prison car race were junk cars which were just repaired. All of the cars did not have any safety features and equipment inside. Moreover, all of the cars were not tested for road safety and preparedness prior to the conduct of the race inside the prison premises. Fourth, the jail warden has no authority, license and permit to hold a public or private car race. Only the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing has the power to grant an accredited auto car racing in the country. Professional car racers also hold professional licenses. The car drivers in the movie do not hold the proper driving licenses. Fifth, the killings which occur on the race track violates the basic laws of professional car racing. Each car racer is supported by a team of technical experts and expert racing coaches. The race track is a very dangerous game since all the car drivers are necessarily killed if they do not win in the race. Indeed, the movie, "Death Race" highlights the neglect of the basic human rights of the prison convicts of the US prison system. This movie shows that some jail wardens resort to business ventures in order to get rich easily. Currently, most of the jail wardens get caught in distributing guns and dangerous drugs to prison inmates. They may get the idea of conducting a private car race with this interesting movie. Bibliography Death Race. 2008. A film directed and written by Paul W.S. Anderson. Stars of the Movie:Jason Statham as Jensen Ames, Joan Allen as Hennessey, Ian McShane as Coach, Tyrese Gibson as Machine Gun Joe, Natalie Martinez as Case and Max Ryan as Pachenko. Read More