Speed Racer (Full Screen Edition)
by Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Christina Ricci, Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox, Nicholas Elia, Susan SarandonDirector: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Brand: Warner Brothers
Producer: Andy Wachowski
Writer: Andy Wachowski
Writer: Lana Wachowski
Producer: Bruce Berman
Producer: Charlie Woebcken
Writer: Tatsuo Yoshida
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 135 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-09-16
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- Start your engines and fasten your seatbelts for the high-octane adventure Speed Racer, combining heartfelt family humor and groundbreaking visual effects. Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a natural behind the wheel of his thunderous Mach 5. With support from Pops and Mom Racer (John Goodman and Susan Sarandon), girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci), younger brother Spritle (Paulie Litt) and the myster
Movie Reviews of Speed Racer (Full Screen Edition)
Movie Review: The Perfect Live-Action Cartoon
Summary: 5 Stars
Now, I've seen my share of cartoons elevated to live-action in The Big Hollywood Show. Some were abysmal, like Casper. Some actually were pretty good, like the first Scooby-Doo movie. But while the movies and the originals are related, they're still separate elements, each their own thing. A cartoon can't be live-action and stay true to its cartoon-ness. Cartoons offer impossible contortion and endless manipulation of set and scene, action and POV, and most importantly the complete and total abrogation of the laws of physics, not to mention that whole life/death thing. But then came this movie. This movie is as true to the original Speed Racer cartoon as it possibly can be; it is without a doubt the best live-action cartoon that has yet to be made.
Now, what do I mean by live-action cartoon? Well, Shoot 'Em Up is a cartoon, and its success is that it knows this, and doesn't take itself that seriously. But junk like the The Fast and the Furious and The Transporter Collection movies, they pretend to some kind of legitimacy, while telling an action-packed story they're essentially remaining in the realm of the possible, despite physical laws and imperatives going out the window with the first chase scene.
A live-action cartoon is not just swapping people and sets for cells and/or backgrounds, auteur production designers for Korean animators, and the mandatory CGI green screen. It's so much deeper than that. A true live-action cartoon is about the delicate translation of the unique cartoon cosmos, the rhythm and feel of the original cartoon into live action, about pacing and timbre and capturing the essence--nay, the very soul!--of a that 2-D rendering in the immensely challenging venue of full-on 3-D, with real actors.
Of course, the CGI helps immensely, and this movie has got it like mad. But, despite the numbing presence and absolutely crucial role CGI plays in setting the scenes and keeping the action excruciatingly intense, the computer power does not overwhelm and take over the film, as so unpleasantly was the case in the The Golden Compass, Narnia, etc.
If you're a deep fan of the original Speed Racer cartoon, you'll love this film. You'll see more in the characters, the scenes, the posing and in the action than others will. You've got the original Speed Racer theme song, pumped up and roaring. You've got Spritle and Chim-Chim in the trunk, with the candy. You've got the cartoon-impossible car-racing action, right out of the original show, with the gadgets and flips and spins. You've even got Speed's classic pose from the end of the opening credits, if you're quick enough to catch it.
Two of the film's fight scenes, one with the family in a hotel room and the other with the bad guys in a mountain wayside are what made this film for me. Both are right out of the original cartoon, with Pops wading in with his moustachio'd, huge-armed ferocity and hilarity. The editing and pacing are right out of the cartoon, with the moves and even the camera angles so very similar. This was as live-action as it could get, and they worked as original/derived action sequences, while evoking the sweet childhood memory of afternoons sneaking off to a buddy's house to watch the cartoon.
The cartoon fantasy starts immediately. Physics as we live it is completely irrelevant, with cars traveling somewhere around 500 mph, the drivers intentionally doing flips, spins and pirouettes while airborne as part of their racing craft. The physical structures in the scenes are beyond outrageous, as are the characters, the cars and the engines that power them.
In keeping with the original cartoon, no one is killed in this movie. My mother forbade me to watch this show, its fighting and gunplay, car wrecks and explosions too violent for her taste. I nodded in solemn resignation, then went down the street to Adam's house to watch it every day. But in this film, as in the cartoon, no one dies. It's like the The A-Team; the driver is thrown clear from his car, with futuristic escape and safety devices. The physical violence is thoroughly cartoon-y, with no blood or gore.
The film even keeps the original character names, with Snake Oiler and even Crusher Block. Inspector Detector plays a major role, but I guess that CGI just hasn't progressed to the point to always have his beard sticking perpendicularly out from the side of his face. You've got the car acrobatic team, racing through ice caves, driving up a mountain, helicopters chasing the race, a bit of Mammoth Car homage, and with more than enough Japanese content to place the film in its original Nippon.
And the colors, oh, the dizzying colors. They are intense as they can be, a near-nauseating blast of sparkling, flashing, whizzing and blurring colors, with everything in motion. This isn't the straightforward chromatic assault we got from Dick Tracy, but is a thousand times more intense, all of the colors brighter, more day-glo, more intense, and always moving.
The film bogs down only slightly in a couple of spots, when we get a bit too deep into Speed's adoration of his martyred brother and the overemphasized father-son relationship themes. Racer X's treatment and portrayal are outstanding in every way, right down to his car. I was disappointed to see the ravishing Susan Sarandon made out to be far more of a boring matron than I perceive her to be.
Bottom line: I loved Speed Racer as a kid, but watching the original cartoon now is a joke because it is so low-budget and truly one-dimensional. It's clear the Wachowski Brothers loved the show, too, so meticulous is their deep and spot-on translation of this Japanime classic into a CGI-powered memory for the next generation.
Summary of Speed Racer (Full Screen Edition)
Start your engines and fasten your seatbelts for the high-octane adventure Speed Racer, combining heartfelt family humor and groundbreaking visual effects. Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a natural behind the wheel of his thunderous Mach 5. With support from Pops and Mom Racer (John Goodman and Susan Sarandon), girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci), younger brother Spritle (Paulie Litt) and the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox), Speed takes on fierce competitors to save his family?s business and protect the sport he loves. When Speed steps onto the track, it?s not just a race. It?s an adrenaline-fueled, high-speed charge to the finish. Go, Speed Racer, go!!Similar DVD Movies
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