Speed Racer (2008)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Directors:

Andy Wachowski
Larry Wachowski

Writers (WGA):

Andy Wachowski (written by) &
Larry Wachowski (written by) ...

Release Date:

9 May 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Family | Sport

Tagline:

Go

Plot:

The story begins with Speed Racer who is a young man with natural racing instincts whose goal is to win The Crucible...

Plot Keywords:

Speed | Racer | Race | Racing | Mach 5

Awards:

8 nominations

Cast

Emile Hirsch	...	Speed Racer
Nicholas Elia	...	Young Speed
Susan Sarandon	...	Mom Racer
Melissa Holroyd	...	Speed's Teacher
Ariel Winter	...	Young Trixie
Scott Porter	...	Rex
Gian Ganziano	...	Everyman Announcer
Peter Fernandez	...	Local Announcer
Harvey Friedman	...	Harold Ledermann Announcer
Sadao Ueda	...	Japanese Announcer
Valery Tscheplanowa	...	Russian Announcer
Sami Loris	...	Italian Announcer
Olivier Marlo	...	French Announcer
Sean McDonagh	...	Celtic Announcer
Kick Gurry	...	Sparky

Also Known As:

Race Chasers (USA) (fake working title)
Speed Racer (Germany)
Speed Racer: The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sequences of action, some violence and language.

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Ireland:PG | Finland:K-11 | Singapore:PG | UK:PG | Germany:12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Malaysia:U | Venezuela:PG-13 | USA:PG (certificate #44193) | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:13 | Hong Kong:IIA | Norway:11 | Sweden:7 | Brazil:10 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Portugal:M/6 | Taiwan:GP (original rating) | South Korea:All (DVD rating) | New Zealand:PG | Austria:10 | South Africa:10M (theatrical rating) | South Africa:13V (DVD rating) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Some prints were shipped to movie theaters under the name "Race Chasers".

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time you see Speed Racer in a race (the opening 5 minutes) the visor on his helmet disappears and reappears.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Race Announcer: All drivers to your cars, please. All drivers to your cars.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Free Bird

I felt like I was on Speed while watching this movie

Speed Racer, blockbuster number 2 for the summer, based off the popular animated 60's cartoon, the first real "Japanimation" series, we have the now live action film. What was supposed to also be a family film, this film just flops on. First I'll start on the positives: bright colors, exciting effects, and it felt like a cartoon, which is what it meant to bring. However, this movie was overly long, if it's supposed to be for kids, so don't make it into a 2 hour and 15 minute film. Like one of the ending scenes where Speed has all these flash backs of earlier scenes, we didn't need it. Some of the dialog, it was decent but again, could have been shortened. Also, I know that CGI is a thing that will never die, but it's not my cup of tea, because it just takes away something special. But the story does deliver on it's fast paced race scenes.

Speed Racer has lived a fast paced life on the road, trying to live up to his "deceased" brother's world of racing. But all these sponsors are coming after him, but he wishes to stay in the family with his dad, mom, little brother, and Tricksey, his girlfriend. With the help of a mysterious Racer X, Speed wishes to beat the sponsors who threw things in his face and just make money off of him, and can just prove that he is the number one racer in the world.

Speed Racer, for a summer blockbuster, it's a decent enough film, however it does have it's flaws here and there. Now the one thing I was impressed with is that not only did they make it feel like a cartoon, but it was over all pretty faithful the the original cartoon series, so you get a real feel of the original story. I just think it was a little too long and the CGI was a little too much, it was almost like why did they even need the actors? Everything was probably a green screen, so what's the point in making it with human actors? But this is a fun movie for the kids with the bright colors, it just could have been shorter, because the kids will probably loose attention with the film. But for the 10+ year old's, they'll definitely get into it.

5/10