Deathsport

Maybe it's because I've seen a few too many terrible cheap "Deathsport"(1978)-like rip-offs, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed finally seeing the original. The movie has that healthy combination of cheese and low-budget charms that you come to expect from a Roger Corman production. Although, this particular production provided an interesting read about the "alleged" drug use of David Carradine and Claudia Jennings, resulting in Carradine beating-up/sucker-punching the original director.

In a futuristic post apocalypse world, David Carradine gets forced to fight in the arena by an evil warlord. The Deathsport itself is pretty much motocross with incinerator rayguns and explosives on the track, and the flick largely consists of guys racing around on dirtbikes and then blowing up, or a shirtless Carradine bashing stuff with a giant claymore made of clear plastic. The evil guy solemnly intones nonsense such as "Man is like a candle...he radiates life by burning himself." LOL.

At one point our heroine is fighting amongst the Deathsport shenanigans which is adequately described in others reviews here. She pushes a rando bad guy into a fire, watches as he lights up like a Spike Jonze/Wax video and then throws her torch at him. At the already ablaze guy. She throws her torch. Okay apoc film. It was like if the movie Gladiator hadn't been too afraid to be influenced by Dune.

Thanks for the rec, Lord Weird Slough Feg.

Stupid story, terrible effects and bad directing can sometimes lead to a goofy fun mess, unfortunately this wasn't the case here. David Carradine is surprisingly good here and Richard Lynch is his fun self but everything else here fails to work either as a good movie or a fun pile of shit. Its not terrible just boring and bad.

Not the worst thing in the world. It's like 60% motorcycle shots. It's like Deathstalker meets Star Wars. It feels like an episode of a low budget TV series. It's decent junk cinema, typical Corman schlock.

I saw this years ago and thought it was horrible. Re-watching it on better quality made me appreciate it a bit more. There's very little actual deathsport in it which is like gladiators with motorcycles. Instead our heroes are constantly on the run and being chased by the bad guys. There's some pseudo Jedi/Star Wars as well, and way too much filler of motorcycles crossing the screen for a 80mins film. But the cast is fun and there's a couple of striptease scenes thrown in for good measure.

Roger Corman #11

Mostly dull with a couple interesting bits. The POV dirtbike scenes and awful sound effects that accompany them become very irritating.

What a weird movie! Where do I sign up to become an evil lord and have naked women dance for me, who are then electrocuted by some oversized mobile for no reason at all? We also see heaps of bikes being shredded off track, and amazing stunts and practical effects, none of it spoiled by the least bit of sensible plot. Seriously, the amazing fireworks alone make this one worth watching.

It's amazing how frequently the film kind of works. Carradine treats this very seriously and does a decent job. Villain Richard Lynch is always great. There's a goofy charm to a lot of it. It's certainly not good, but it's kind of fascinatingly bad.

"Deathsport" unfolds in a post-apocalyptic future, crafted as a "B" movie with touches like plastic swords that emit phaser-like sounds. The film primarily revolves around characters in open-faced helmets riding motorcycles called Death Machines to pursue David Carradine.