Death Race Quotes
Ex-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates must brutalize and kill one another on the road to victory.
Hennessey: This prison is the home to murderers, rapists, and violent offenders of every kind. The United States Penal System sends me the worst of the worst. But the men you've provoked, well, let's just say Mr. Ames that the life term you've joined us for may be a lot shorter than you think.
Jensen Ames: I understand tradition. Shuffling up the new guy, having an ass slapping good time up my butthole...
[Jensen is hit in the side by Ulrich]
Hennessey: Foul language... is an issue... for me. While looking over your record, I couldn't help noticing your occupational history. It seems you have some talent behind the wheel. Out of curiosity, when was the last time you raced?
Jensen Ames: It's been a while. I lost my license.
Hennessey: What if I could help you?
Jensen Ames: Get my license back?
Hennessey: I had something else in mind. You're familiar with the Death Race, and the driver the fans call Frankenstein. A man so disfigured by crashes that he's forced to wear a mask. His return to the track is highly anticipated, and therein lies my problem. No one knows yet, but poor Frank died on an operating table not long after his last race. Anyone can wear the mask, but not just anyone can drive the car. You have the skills required to keep the legend alive. I want you to become Frankenstein.
Jensen Ames: No thanks. He's dead. Why don't you just tell the truth?
Hennessey: The audience wants to see Frank again. He moves them. Inspires them. And in this world that's not easy to come by.
Jensen Ames: What makes you think for a second I would risk my life doing this for you?
Hennessey: Win five races, you go free. Those are the rules, and Frank has won four. Win one more, you walk. Call it intuition, but I don't think you belong in here with the rest of these animals.
Jensen Ames: I might surprise you.
Hennessey: The race is Friday, and I need your decision. You're a skilled driver. You're chances are good. I'm offering you your freedom, Mr. Ames. If it's not worth risking your life for, what is?
Jensen Ames: I understand tradition. Shuffling up the new guy, having an ass slapping good time up my butthole...
[Jensen is hit in the side by Ulrich]
Hennessey: Foul language... is an issue... for me. While looking over your record, I couldn't help noticing your occupational history. It seems you have some talent behind the wheel. Out of curiosity, when was the last time you raced?
Jensen Ames: It's been a while. I lost my license.
Hennessey: What if I could help you?
Jensen Ames: Get my license back?
Hennessey: I had something else in mind. You're familiar with the Death Race, and the driver the fans call Frankenstein. A man so disfigured by crashes that he's forced to wear a mask. His return to the track is highly anticipated, and therein lies my problem. No one knows yet, but poor Frank died on an operating table not long after his last race. Anyone can wear the mask, but not just anyone can drive the car. You have the skills required to keep the legend alive. I want you to become Frankenstein.
Jensen Ames: No thanks. He's dead. Why don't you just tell the truth?
Hennessey: The audience wants to see Frank again. He moves them. Inspires them. And in this world that's not easy to come by.
Jensen Ames: What makes you think for a second I would risk my life doing this for you?
Hennessey: Win five races, you go free. Those are the rules, and Frank has won four. Win one more, you walk. Call it intuition, but I don't think you belong in here with the rest of these animals.
Jensen Ames: I might surprise you.
Hennessey: The race is Friday, and I need your decision. You're a skilled driver. You're chances are good. I'm offering you your freedom, Mr. Ames. If it's not worth risking your life for, what is?
On Screen Text: [first lines, the text that appears on screen] 2012 - The United States economy collapses.
On Screen Text: Unemployment hits a record high.
On Screen Text: Crime rates spiral out of control. The prison system reaches breaking point.
On Screen Text: PRIVATE CORPORATIONS now run all correctional facilities for profit.
On Screen Text: TERMINAL ISLAND Penitentiary streams a series of Cage Fights live on the Internet.
On Screen Text: Prisoners fight to the Death, creating a ratings sensation.
On Screen Text: They are the new Gladiators and Terminal Island is their Coliseum.
On Screen Text: But like the mob of ancient Rome, the modern audience soon becomes bored.
On Screen Text: They demand more...
On Screen Text: DEATH RACE is born.
On Screen Text: Unemployment hits a record high.
On Screen Text: Crime rates spiral out of control. The prison system reaches breaking point.
On Screen Text: PRIVATE CORPORATIONS now run all correctional facilities for profit.
On Screen Text: TERMINAL ISLAND Penitentiary streams a series of Cage Fights live on the Internet.
On Screen Text: Prisoners fight to the Death, creating a ratings sensation.
On Screen Text: They are the new Gladiators and Terminal Island is their Coliseum.
On Screen Text: But like the mob of ancient Rome, the modern audience soon becomes bored.
On Screen Text: They demand more...
On Screen Text: DEATH RACE is born.
Nasty Teller: Cash or check?
Jensen Ames: Better make it cash.
[teller hands Jensen some money]
Jensen Ames: Three hundred dollars? I've worked a hundred and twenty hours in the last two weeks.
Nasty Teller: Cash fee. Next!
Jensen Ames: Cash fee?
Nasty Teller: You wanted cash, there's a fee. You want a check instead?
Jensen Ames: Seeing as how the company's out of business, not exactly.
Jensen Ames: Better make it cash.
[teller hands Jensen some money]
Jensen Ames: Three hundred dollars? I've worked a hundred and twenty hours in the last two weeks.
Nasty Teller: Cash fee. Next!
Jensen Ames: Cash fee?
Nasty Teller: You wanted cash, there's a fee. You want a check instead?
Jensen Ames: Seeing as how the company's out of business, not exactly.
Jensen Ames: So where's the ammo?
Gunner: We get that on race day.
Jensen Ames: Pity.
Coach: Yeah, everyone thinks that... the first time.
Jensen Ames: Thinks what?
Coach: About turning the guns on the guards. About escaping.
Jensen Ames: No, I wasn't thinking that.
Coach: Well I'm glad, because Hennessey's got electric kill switches on all the guns on all the cars. And all the guard towers are fortified, and their guns are bigger than your guns. Oh, did I mention the helicopters and also the fact that we're on an island here a mile from the nearest shoreline? The only way in or out of here is on that one skinny bridge you came in on.
Gunner: We get that on race day.
Jensen Ames: Pity.
Coach: Yeah, everyone thinks that... the first time.
Jensen Ames: Thinks what?
Coach: About turning the guns on the guards. About escaping.
Jensen Ames: No, I wasn't thinking that.
Coach: Well I'm glad, because Hennessey's got electric kill switches on all the guns on all the cars. And all the guard towers are fortified, and their guns are bigger than your guns. Oh, did I mention the helicopters and also the fact that we're on an island here a mile from the nearest shoreline? The only way in or out of here is on that one skinny bridge you came in on.
[last lines]
Jensen Ames: Someone once asked me if I was the best future for my little girl. I've thought about this for long time, and here's what I've decided: No one in this world is perfect. Heaven knows I'm not. But I love her more than anyone else possibly could. In the end, that's all that matters.
Jensen Ames: Someone once asked me if I was the best future for my little girl. I've thought about this for long time, and here's what I've decided: No one in this world is perfect. Heaven knows I'm not. But I love her more than anyone else possibly could. In the end, that's all that matters.
Jensen Ames: [threatening to eject Case from the Monster] Did you kill the old Frank?
Case: I sabotaged his rear weapons.
Jensen Ames: Why?
Case: Hennessey. She said she'd sign my release papers. It's my life back.
Jensen Ames: You killed him too.
Case: I didn't kill him. He wouldn't quit! I just wanted to make sure he wouldn't win.
Jensen Ames: Why would Hennessey want that?
Case: To keep Frank here, racing.
Jensen Ames: And yesterday?
Case: I was trying to set you back.
Jensen Ames: So, I'm not supposed to win either. Just make it exciting.
Case: I sabotaged his rear weapons.
Jensen Ames: Why?
Case: Hennessey. She said she'd sign my release papers. It's my life back.
Jensen Ames: You killed him too.
Case: I didn't kill him. He wouldn't quit! I just wanted to make sure he wouldn't win.
Jensen Ames: Why would Hennessey want that?
Case: To keep Frank here, racing.
Jensen Ames: And yesterday?
Case: I was trying to set you back.
Jensen Ames: So, I'm not supposed to win either. Just make it exciting.
Coach: Tomorrow morning you'll meet your navigator Case. She'll help you navigate the course, reload your weapons, and help with the running of the car.
Jensen Ames: I'd love to talk to her ahead of time before the race.
Gunner: Yeah, I'd like a big-tittied girl to lick peanut butter off my toes, but it ain't gonna happen. This is still a prison, man. She's a chick. They get bussed in from the women's facility upstate.
Coach: It's all about ratings. Fast cars, pretty women...
Gunner: Machine Gun Joe's the only one that has male navigators, 'cause he's gay.
Lists: A-a-actually it's because he goes through them so fast, and a-a-audience gets squeamish.
Gunner: Yeah he goes through them... through their ass.
Coach: He cuts each kill into his skin as a souvenir, I hear.
Jensen Ames: I'd love to talk to her ahead of time before the race.
Gunner: Yeah, I'd like a big-tittied girl to lick peanut butter off my toes, but it ain't gonna happen. This is still a prison, man. She's a chick. They get bussed in from the women's facility upstate.
Coach: It's all about ratings. Fast cars, pretty women...
Gunner: Machine Gun Joe's the only one that has male navigators, 'cause he's gay.
Lists: A-a-actually it's because he goes through them so fast, and a-a-audience gets squeamish.
Gunner: Yeah he goes through them... through their ass.
Coach: He cuts each kill into his skin as a souvenir, I hear.
Coach: [from track #1 of the soundtrack] Now pay close attention. You may not know it, but the next Great Depression is right around the corner. People will lose their jobs, then their homes. It's gonna be the perfect time for The Race, a Hard Sport for a Hard Age. Millions watch the raw footage streamed live over the Net. The drivers are convicts, and the rules are simple: It's kill, or be killed. Frankenstein had lived through it made with a steel mask as the crowd's favorite. Behind that plate is a face so torn up and burned from the half a dozen crashes that nobody can stand the sight of him. But shoot him, burn him, run him over, he just won't die. He's won four races. Just one more and he wins the ultimate prize... Freedom.
Coach: Who's the new guy?
Lists: Jensen Ames.
Gunner: The driver?
Coach: Never heard of him.
Gunner: Oh yeah. I saw him race years ago. He was good. He did some time upstate. Killed his career.
Lists: [reading from notebook] Holder of the fastest laps at Willard, Union, and Butler.
Coach: [seeing prisoners approach Jensen] I hope he's as fast off the track as he is on it.
Lists: Jensen Ames.
Gunner: The driver?
Coach: Never heard of him.
Gunner: Oh yeah. I saw him race years ago. He was good. He did some time upstate. Killed his career.
Lists: [reading from notebook] Holder of the fastest laps at Willard, Union, and Butler.
Coach: [seeing prisoners approach Jensen] I hope he's as fast off the track as he is on it.
Jensen Ames: Why don't you wear a number, Coach?
Coach: Because I'm not a prisoner. I qualified for parole three years ago. Got as far as the gate. They got a name for it: something-or-another syndrome. Simple fact is, world's changed since I've been in here. Don't know what, don't much want to. But this... this I know.
Jensen Ames: What did they sent you away for?
Coach: Oh, plenty... and nothing.
Coach: Because I'm not a prisoner. I qualified for parole three years ago. Got as far as the gate. They got a name for it: something-or-another syndrome. Simple fact is, world's changed since I've been in here. Don't know what, don't much want to. But this... this I know.
Jensen Ames: What did they sent you away for?
Coach: Oh, plenty... and nothing.
Coach: And what do we owe the pleasure of your company?
Jensen Ames: I killed my wife.
Coach: Bullshit! You're a hard man but you ain't no wife killer.
Jensen Ames: And how do you know?
Coach: I've met my share. But you, the way you look at her, couldn't do that if you killed her mother. So i say bullshit.
Jensen Ames: [sees Coach walking away] Coach? What would say if Hennessy got my wife killed? Get me framed to come in here to be a Frankenstein, what would say to that bullshit?
[pause]
Jensen Ames: Her name was Suzie. I was headed here. Always knew it; she didn't. She was my chance of something else and that bitch took her away from me.
Jensen Ames: I killed my wife.
Coach: Bullshit! You're a hard man but you ain't no wife killer.
Jensen Ames: And how do you know?
Coach: I've met my share. But you, the way you look at her, couldn't do that if you killed her mother. So i say bullshit.
Jensen Ames: [sees Coach walking away] Coach? What would say if Hennessy got my wife killed? Get me framed to come in here to be a Frankenstein, what would say to that bullshit?
[pause]
Jensen Ames: Her name was Suzie. I was headed here. Always knew it; she didn't. She was my chance of something else and that bitch took her away from me.
Lists: Travis Colt. Our local superstar. He used to race for Nascar...
Gunner: Yeah, he was good too.
Lists: ...until he fell asleep behind the wheel of his Mercedes with the help of a bottle of scotch and a handful of ludes. Wiped out the entire patio of Moscala, sent a dozen people to the hospital... and killed three of them.
Coach: Technically, he's the best driver in here but a mean son of a bitch quitter.
Gunner: Yeah, he was good too.
Lists: ...until he fell asleep behind the wheel of his Mercedes with the help of a bottle of scotch and a handful of ludes. Wiped out the entire patio of Moscala, sent a dozen people to the hospital... and killed three of them.
Coach: Technically, he's the best driver in here but a mean son of a bitch quitter.
