History Film / DeathRace2000

* WentToTheGreatXInTheSky: After [[spoiler:Calamity Jane is blown up sky-high]] in the final act, [[ProfessionalButtKisser Grace Pander]] gives an euology that she hopes [[spoiler:Calamity Jane]] will be "racing down the big highway in the sky... [[BlackComedy running over the angels]]."

* LaResistance: The Army of the Resistance lead by Thomasina Paine.

* FictionalPoliticalParty: The Bipartisan Party. Apart from both running and sponsoring the titular death race and having religious figures in positions of power in the party, not much is known about this party's platform or political views.

* EvilStatesOfAmerica: It's not unsubtly implied that the United States has invaded multiple other countries around the world (why else would Mr. President have vacation homes in Moscow ''and'' Peking?) on top of the Death Race and its use as propaganda (Frankenstein running over nurses to spare some old folks is dismissed as him having a "good old American sense of humor". The Resistance attacks are blamed on the French, with Mr President implying this will be used as a PretextForWar after the race is over.
* {{Fanservice}}:
** Looking for T&A? Just watch the first pit-stop scene! This movie hasn't got ANYTHING to hide! Strangely, all the male drivers and navigators in this scene received towels to cover themselves from the waist down; the women, on the other hand, get absolutely nothing whatsoever.
** Frankenstein spends the last twenty minutes of the film with his [[IntimateOpenShirt jumpsuit unzipped to his stomach]] for no readily apparent reason other than to give the audience an eyeful of Carradine's chiseled physique and his CarpetOfVirility.

* AllGermansAreNazis: German-Americans in this case. Matilda The Hun is announced as being from UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}}, a city known for its German heritage.

In a dystopian society in the "[[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near future]]" of [[{{Zeerust}} the year 2000]], humanity is distracted from their problems by a BloodSport called the Death Race. More of a demolition derby with AudienceParticipation than an actual race, drivers traverse city streets engaged in VehicularCombat while they try to run down as many civilians as they can. Each person they kill gives them points, and the more [[WouldHurtAChild helpless the victim]], the higher the point value. The surviving racer with the highest score wins.

* WentToTheGreatXInTheSky: After [[spoiler:Calamity Jane is blown up sky-high]] in the final act, [[ProfessionalAssKisser Grace Pander]] gives an euology that she hopes [[spoiler:Calamity Jane]] will be "racing down the big highway in the sky... [[BlackComedy running over the angels]]."

** Frankenstein spends the last twenty minutes of the film with his jumpsuit unzipped to his stomach for no readily apparent reason other than to give the audience an eyeful of Carradine's chiseled physique and his CarpetOfVirility.

** LaResistance plans to hold Frankenstein hostage because he's a personal friend of Mr. President. Turns out the real Frankenstein died long ago and the [[LegacyCharacter current one]] hates Mr. President. This also makes Joe's AlwaysSecondBest complex about Frankenstein ironic as well--unknown to him he really is better, because he's survived previous Races whereas past Frankensteins have been killed off.

-->'''Jane Kelly:''' I hope your Buzz Bomb has more juice in its warhead this year. (Navigator Herman "The German" meekly looks down, apparently at his crotch, then away.)

** Women score [[WomenInRefrigerators higher than men]].

* CarFu: The entire event centers around killing people with cars. Notable is the scene where a man tried to bull fight one of the cars.

* BattleCouple: Invoked, as sleeping with a famous BadassDriver is regarded as a perk of the job. Exactly how attached they are emotionally tends to vary.

** LaResistance plans to hold Frankenstein hostage because he's a personal friend of Mr. President. Turns out the real Frankenstein died long ago and the [[LegacyCharacter current one]] hates Mr. President. This also makes Joe's AlwaysSecondBest complex about Frankenstein ironic as well--unknown to him he really is better, because he's survived whereas past Frankenstein's have been killed off.

* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: Frankenstein kills Mr President AndThereWasMuchRejoicing, with Frankenstein being proclaimed the new Mr President. Although the new ruler of the country makes changes like cancelling the Road Race and moving the capital back to America, it's implied the new regime won't be much different from the old.

* ContrivedClumsiness: Frankenstein drops his glove at the start line so he has an excuse to delay and let Machine Gun Joe get ahead of him (Joe having been given a fake tip about a shortcut). When he turns the car round to pick up the glove again, he 'accidentally' runs over a race official.

* WouldHitAGirl: Machine Gun Joe hit his navigator for talking about Frankenstein.

* WorldOfHam: Everyone involved in the PropagandaMachine hams it up. Frankenstein's TerseTalker nature makes him seem more sinister in contrast, though he's also putting on an act, as he shows BeneathTheMask.

* BeneathTheMask: A literal version with Frankenstein acting like a terse cold-blooded death machine to the hilt in public. When his mask is off with his navigator he's a completely different person, which is justified as the real Frankenstein only exists in propaganda.

* AnnualTitle: As indicated by the title, the film takes place in the year 2000.

* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: As if he wasn't enough of a murderous psycho jerk on screen, at one point Pander mentions that when Machine Gun Joe was young, she had a pet snake that he used to run over with his tricycle.

** On discovering that Annie is with the Resistance, Frankenstein lies to the SecretPolice about whose decision it was to take the detour.