Death Race 2, the prequel to Jason Statham's Death Race reboot, is on DVD. We chatted up two of the movie's stars, Danny Trejo and Luke Goss, and they promised the new movie will crank the insanity up to maximum.
Luke Goss:
There's David Carradine's Frankenstein, there's Jason Statham's Frankenstein and then there's your Frank — also called Luke. Where does he fit in with the proud legacy of Death Race drivers?
Frankenstein becomes a commodity on the prison of Terminal Island and on the TV show [Death Race]. Frankenstein is the star. But before Luke becomes Frankenstein, he's working for Sean Bean's character, Marcus, and he has a criminal record. But he didn't kill anyone or anything like that. He prides himself on his morals, and he's asked to compromise his ethics for a second and he pays a very big price for that [and is sentenced to Terminal Island]. It's about the evolution of the original Frankenstein [in the new rebooted series pre-Staham]. But I think I'm doing more of a Carradine role than a Statham.
Everyone wants to know what line will top Joan Allen's amazing "shit on the sidewalk" line from the last Death Race?
One of the lines I actually love is from Ving [Rhames]. I don't want to ruin it... He delivers this line while one of the characters is kind of a mess on the floor... and he says something like "that's a dumb bitch." When the audience they saw it, they loved it. It's the way he delivers it.
You guys used all the original cars from the Statham film, right?
We did. There's kind of a misconception, I had nothing to do with calling it Death Race 2. I do believe that it would be better if it was called Frankenstein Begins, or something like that because it is a prequel. But yes, the cars are in it, they are the stars too. It was a deliberate choice, I know that some of them had been sold, so the producers had to track them down and bring them back. They're pretty heavy, but the car I was driving is a beast. It sounds bloody gorgeous and it's bloody fast. The Shelby Super Snake (it's the yellowy one) — nothing touches it as far as speed and power. But the cars on the track they're pretty brutal.
Did you do a lot of your own driving?
I did a lot — shit-loads of driving — in this film. I did all of the fighting too. I made sure, being a huge Steve McQueen fan so I wanted to make sure I had lots of footage in the car with the camera through the windshield with me, so people would know that I'm doing it. It's easy to buy into the story when you know the person is actually doing it. So I did get to do some of the stunts.
How would you fix up your own car for Death Race?
Would I use my own car? [Laughs] I don't know it's quite shiny I think it would get a bit beaten up and dented. I'd have to put a lot of guns on it, or I'd be screwed. I drive a Porsche Carrera 4S. I think it's cool, but I don't know realistic it would be. But my own car, no I want to keep it shiny [Laughs].
If Death Race was a real TV show, would you watch it?
No. Statham's version was poking fun at the extreme media, but it's also cautionary. I would definitely not watch it. I guess that's the fun part of movies you can make a cautionary message.
DANNY TREJO
What's it like being the new pit boss for Death Race
I love this movie, it's wall-to-wall action. I hate movies with lulls in it, we don't have any lulls in this film. We have the three 'B's in this movie: babes, bullets and blood.
If Death Race was a real TV show, would you watch it?
Oh yeah, are you kidding me? That's great! You know, I mean, the Indianapolis 500? If they put guns on the car, it would be Death Race. It's a dangerous race.
Would you enter your own car in the Death Race?
I drive a Range Rover sport with 24 inch tires, everything is chrome, special cherry. It's more a lowrider than anything. I'm not really a race guy. All of my cars are low, cherried out, beautiful paint and they bounce. I have a 1936 Dodge Touring Sedan, it's just beyond me. It's original — we just lowered it, put pipes on it and put a sound system in it.
Predators, grindhouse films, Death Race 2, Fallout — you have a huge collection of scifi flicks. Does that genre speak to you? And what's next?
I just love action. I'm not the guy to go on a date and go to a drama. We'll go see Heat. Well I'm doing the Muppets Movie next [Laughs], I hope they cast me as the grumpy old men hecklers. (But I haven't filmed yet).
Death Race 2 is out on DVD and Blu-Ray now.