"Script, from an Ib Melchior story, makes its satirical points economically, and director Paul Bartel keeps the film moving quickly. Almost all of the film takes place on the road, with carnage and crashes occurring like clockwork."
- Variety

"Death Race 2000 seems to have been willed into existence by the disturbed daydreams of bored teenagers, and it ends with the crowd-pleasing destruction of illegitimate authority. A gonzo social satire cunningly disguised as a wacky car comedy with a sensibility pitched somewhere between Russ Meyer, Mad Magazine, the TV Batman, and John Waters, Rock 'n' Roll High School [1979] actor Paul Bartel directs with tongue-in-cheek elan, eking every last bit of sick humor out of the film's deranged premise."
- Nathan Rabin, The Onion A.V. Club

"Fine work carved from minimalist materials."
~Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

"Approximating the experience of playing Mad Libs and discovering you've been inserting dirty nouns and verbs into George Orwell's 1984, Death Race is a maladroit but exuberantly gamey mix of social commentary and blue-collar goofiness."
~Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine

"This is the best cross-country road-race movie-and the most violent, and the funniest-despite the efforts of many crash-and-burn specialists to come up with a better one."
~Joe Bob Briggs, Joe Bob's Ultimate B Movie Guide

"This cartoonish fantasy-comedy remains a popular favorite while its serious and expensive model, Rollerball [1975], is forgotten."
~Michael Weldon, Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film

"The perfect example of a 'corporation' movie...Corman's involvement doubtless accounts for the general vigour and the careful attention to exploitation values; Bartel was probably behind most of the quirky incidental humour and the unexpected casting...Overall the movie isn't as synchromeshed as it might be; the rivalry between champions Carradine and Stallone isn't very interesting, and some of the gags aren't sick or funny enough. But it's a great audience film."
- Tony Rayns, The TimeOut Film Guide

"An all-time masterpiece of trash cinema, Death Race 2000 roars across the screen in a spray of axle grease and human blood...Director Bartel is known for his subversive streak, and the film is littered with satirical sideswipes and political asides (we open on a brass band playing 'The Star Spangled Banner', an American flag waving triumphantly in the breeze, before cutting to a group of Matilda's fans waving swastikas). The production values are higher than the average Corman creation, but still display his unwavering talent for squeezing the juice out of every penny. Tak Fujimoto's remarkable low-level photography adds pace and genuine artistic flair."
- Tom Huddleston, FilmExposed (www.filmexposed.com)

"It's cheesy. It's overwrought. The effects are ridiculous. The plot is idiotic. And it's great. Death Race 2000, simply put, lives up (down) to its righteous title and reputation."
- David Johnson, DVD Verdict

Compiled by David Kalat