Plot

In a dystopian future, a cross country automobile race requires contestants to run down innocent pedestrians to gain points that are tallied based on each kill's brutality.

In the year 2000 - against the backdrop of social turmoil, political unrest, and rampant anarchy - a now-totalitarian United Provinces of America supports a brutal annual event to pacify the masses: the infamous Annual Transcontinental Road Race. Scoring points simply by running over unsuspecting pedestrians, the national champion driver Frankenstein has to race against fast contestants such as the beautiful cowgirl killer Calamity Jane; the neo-Nazi Matilda the Hun; the Roman gladiator Nero the Hero, and, first and foremost, the Chicago thug and ambitious challenger Machine Gun Joe. Who will score the most points in the violent Death Race 2000?—Nick Riganas

In the near future, United States in a dystopian society that blames France for everything wrong. The government uses the Transcontinental Road Race to entertain the American people, a sort of Big Brother where the runners need to hit and kill pedestrians to score points. In the year 2000, five runners will compete with their navigators the 20th Edition: the champion Frankenstein and his navigator Annie; the ambitious Machine Gun Joe Viterbo, who aims to be the champion anyway; Calamity Jane; Matilda the Hun; and Nero the Hero. Meanwhile, the resistance to the totalitarian regime commanded Thomasina Paine wants to overthrow the government ending the race and using the kidnapping of Frankenstein against the President. Annie is indeed Thomasina's granddaughter and is helping the rebels to abduct Frankenstein.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A champion of a brutal cross-country car race of the future where pedestrians are run down for points has a change of heart while being hounded by rivals and a conspiracy seeking to stop the race.—Keith Loh <loh@sfu.ca>

In the near future, the ultimate sporting event is the Death Race. Contestants score points by running people down and killing them as they speed across the country. The sport has crazed fans who sacrifice themselves to the drivers. A covert agency is trying to bring an end to the immoral Death Race and has infiltrated one of their followers into the race as a navigator. At the end of the race, the lives of the drivers and Mr. President, as well as the continued existence of the Death Race itself, are in peril.—FMJ_Joker

In the dystopian year 2000, the United States has been destroyed by a financial crisis and a military coup. The resulting fascist police state, the United Provinces of America, is headed by the cult figure "Mr. President". The people are kept satisfied through a stream of gory gladiatorial entertainment, which includes the bloody spectacle of the Annual Transcontinental Road Race, depicted as a symbol of American values and the American way of life. The coast-to-coast three-day race is run on public roads, and points are scored not just for speed, but for the number of innocent pedestrians struck and killed. Frankenstein is the most celebrated racer and is the government's champion. He is reputed to be part machine, rebuilt after many crashes. He regularly battles with the other teams, particularly "Machine Gun" Joe Viterbo, who hates being second. A resistance group led by Thomasina Paine, a lineal descendant of Thomas Paine, one of the original American revolutionaries of the 1770s, is attempting to assassinate Frankenstein and replace him with one of their agents. The "Resistance" is assisted by Paine's great-granddaughter Annie, Frankenstein's navigator, who is intending to lure him into a planned ambush where he is to be replaced by a double. Disruption of the race by the Resistance is blamed on the French by the state, who are also blamed for ruining the country's economy and telephone system.

It emerges that Frankenstein is not a willing government stooge, nor is there only one Frankenstein. The current Frankenstein is simply one of many people specially trained to race in the role. "When one is used up, they bring in another," he tells Annie. The current Frankenstein also has his own plan to end the tyranny: win the race and shake hands with Mr. President, detonating a grenade which has been implanted in his prosthetic right hand (a "hand grenade", as he calls it). Frankenstein successfully outmaneuvers both the rival drivers and the Resistance, and is declared the winner and sole survivor, although he is wounded and unable to carry out his original hand grenade attack plan, as Annie used the grenade to kill Machine Gun Joe Viterbo when he attacks them near the end of the race. Annie dons Frankenstein's disguise and plans to stab Mr. President on the victory podium. Greeting Mr. President as he congratulates Frankenstein, Annie is mistakenly shot and wounded by her grandmother. Frankenstein finally succeeds in killing Mr. President by ramming the podium with his car. In an epilogue, Annie and Frankenstein are wed, and Frankenstein, now President, abolishes the race and the perverse laws of the Provinces, though he does make a point of running over objecting reporter Junior Bruce.