DEATH RACE 3: INFERNO (Universal, 2012) D: Roel Reiné, w/ Luke Goss, Tanit Phoenix. Rating: NNN Blu-ray package: NNN Rating: NNN
Cars crash. Bullets fly. Everything blows up. And cute girls in trashy clothing fight to the death. All of it is bigger, faster and splashier than Death Race 2, and there’s not a brain in sight.
The Death Race – convicts race for their freedom in heavily armed vehicles for the amusement of the viewing public – has been bought by a sleazy billionaire (Dougray Scott) who plans to franchise the operation. Top driver Frankenstein (Luke Goss) battles for survival and plans his escape.
The sand dunes, wastelands and shantytowns of South Africa provide a spectacular backdrop for the action, and director Roel Reiné, back from Death Race 2, makes the most of it with strange camera angles and helicopter shots.
Danny Trejo, Fred Koehler, Ving Rhames and Tanit Phoenix plunge wholeheartedly into their reprised DR2 roles, and Scott proves himself a master of leering, one-dimensional villainy.
Reiné dashes through a fairly geek-oriented commentary with talk about cameras and how many of them he destroyed, plus methods for getting the most out of a tinier budget than you’d guess from what’s on screen.
EXTRAS: Commentary, alternate opening, making-of doc, cars doc, Trejo doc, more. English, French, Spanish audio and subtitles.
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