James Caan was perhaps the most "jock"-ish of Hollywood 70s stars (along with Burt Reynolds and Warren Beatty) so he is perfect to play the champion athlete of the future, star of a violent game. The future here is meant to be chilling but no poverty or war doesn't sound too bad and are we really better off with Caan hanging on to his career? You could've told the story with poverty and war still existing.
Caan is excellent. Strong support from John Housman and John Beck and Maud Adams is very effective. Jewison does superb sport sequences. I wish he'd done more on the non sports stuff. Relationships between Caan and Beck is clear ditto Caan and Adams. But the rest felt undeveloped - Caan's stand, his position in society. His battle isn't quite dramatised.
Death Race 2000 is a better, more fun film.
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