Speed Racer

Theatrical Release Date: 2008 05 09 (USA - IMAX) / 2008 05 09 (USA)

UPC: 085391176398

Studio: Warner Home Video

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Violence, Profanity]

Summary: The Matrix masterminds Andy and Larry Wachowski usher anime icon Tatsuo Yoshida's classic 1960s-era hit into the new millennium with this family-friendly story of a young racecar driver who takes on the mysterious Racer X in a custom-made, gadget-loaded speed machine named the Mach 5. Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is the kind of driver that every wheelman wishes he could be: a born winner whose unbeatable combination of aggression, instinct, and fearlessness always finds him crossing the checkered flag with a comfortable lead. In Speed Racer's mind, the only driver who could present him with any real challenge is his late brother -- the legendary Rex Racer. Rex died in a heated cross-country rally known as The Crucible many years ago, and now his younger sibling is driven to fulfill the legacy that Rex left behind. To this day, Speed Racer is fiercely loyal to family. It was Speed Racer's father, Pops Racer (John Goodman), who designed the unbeatable Mach 5, and even a lucrative offer from racing giants Royalton Industries isn't enough to get the young ace to break his family ties. Upon turning down Royalton's (Roger Allam) astronomical offer, Speed Racer makes the shocking discovery that the outcomes of the biggest races are being predetermined by a handful of powerful moguls who pad their profits by manipulating the drivers. Realizing that his career would be ruined if word of the fix gets out, Royalton vows that the Mach 5 will never make it to another finish line. Now, the only way for Speed Racer to save the family business and beat Royalton at his own game will be to win the very same race that claimed his brother's life so many years ago. In order to accomplish that formidable feat, however, Speed Racer will not only have to rely on his family and the aid of his longtime girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), but form a tenuous alliance with his longtime rival -- the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox) -- as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Adventure

Awards: Film Presented – Tribeca Film Festival

Features: Spritle in the Big Leagues - tour the movie set with Paulie Litt
Speed Raced: Supercharged - meet the drivers of the wrl; explore the film's incredible cars and unbelievable tracks

Speed Racer

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 09/16/2008

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 135 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Speed Racer
1. Distracted [4:23]
2. Best in the World [4:50]
3. Tragedy [6:10]
4. Doin' Nuttin [2:54]
5. Royalton for Breakfast [4:51]
6. Royalton Tour [4:52]
7. Cruncher Block and Thugs [4:12]
8. Mysterious Rescuer [4:01]
9. Dark Partnerships [3:32]
10. No Thanks [4:49]
11. His Idea of Racing [4:14]
12. Disaster At Fuji [3:47]
13. Parental Pride [4:39]
14. Visitors With a Plan [3:47]
15. Casa Cristo Upgrades [3:21]
16. Rafe Full of Cheaters [6:03]
17. Flat-Out Magic [1:51]
18. We're Staying [2:11]
19. Kung-Fu Family Fighting [3:39]
20. Substitute Driver [4:06]
21. Changes of Plans [:33]
22. Showdown With Snake [3:40]
23. Behind the Mask [3:36]
24. Horuko Invitation [3:23]
25. Grand Prix [5:30]
26. Unstoppable [6:00]
27. Listen to Her [5:57]
28. Finish Line [3:53]
29. Hidden Truth [4:11]
30. Winners Circle [4:22]
31. End Credits [8:02]

Cammila Albertson

The Wachowski Brothers' CG-fueled futuristic adventure Speed Racer delivers on every promise. An adaptation of the '60s Japanese cartoon that was among the first anime to hit the States, the movie follows through on every element that endeared the furiously high-strung show to its audience, and offers giant, hypnotically strobing neon signs screaming "FUN! FUN! FUN!" to all viewers who go to the movies looking for a good time. You don't really need to have seen the original series to get what they were going for here -- catching a parody of it on Family Guy or The Simpsons imparts the basic idea. Speed Racer is about shows of over-the-top intensity: screams and gasps, rapid-fire dialogue, and more highest-of-the-high-stakes good vs. evil intrigue than the world of car racing could conceivably house outside this flashy fantasy universe. Even without the film's other successes, the Wachowskis' rendering of that Day-Glo universe is reason enough for fans of enjoy-the-ride cinema to check it out. It's set in the original series' era of around 1967 -- if 1967 were the future. And the awesomely absurd melted-candy whirlwind that makes up every scene's art direction is just the beginning (think Brady Bunch sets on acid); the movie's more fantastical locales make the phrase "eye candy" sound like weak sauce. Speed's trip to a plush-and-plastic corporate R&D facility is like a zillion-dollar science-lab version of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, and that doesn't even touch on the races -- of which there are a few. They're set on tracks like space-age, black-lit roller coasters and employ entertaining and remarkably consistent reinventions of physics. It's that epic, candy-coated-PCP intensity that really packages the whole film up as a faithful adaptation, though. The Wachowskis dreamed up an insane plot that could support the fantastically ridiculous fierceness that's so inherent to the franchise's style, balancing the dramatics stroke for stroke with funny, well-paced, and very family-friendly humor. This was, after all, a kids' show -- and Speed Racer is a PG movie. Fans who fondly remember Speed's race-track rivals flying off the road into violent, unforgiving explosions may be disappointed here to see most casualties fleeing their flaming wreckage in escape pods. It's a necessary change to make the film consumable for today's kids (or, maybe more accurately, today's parents), but younger viewers still might drop out before the end -- two hours and 15 minutes is a long time for a sugar high. There's a fair amount of wordy exposition that can seem like a bit much, but the script is keen on spelling out the things that make all the emotional bombast so necessary. They're simple and loudly broadcasted ideas (Family is important! Racing is awesome!), but Speed Racer wouldn't be Speed Racer if there weren't hurricanes of emotion and looks of desperate determination flying around -- both of which, by the way, star Emile Hirsch pulls off tremendously, especially with nothing but a green screen for inspiration. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Hirsch, with his Tiger Beat doe eyes and heart-shaped face, looks like an anime character. Christina Ricci, who plays his helicopter-flying girlfriend, Trixie, has been described this way for years, and the rest of the cast, who otherwise look like normal humans, clearly took extremely nuanced direction to capture that old-school anime style. If you look carefully, you might notice scenes of dialogue where actors hold a fixed, intense expression in their eyes as they articulate wildly with their mouth -- recalling the feel of hand-drawn animation, in which artists would animate only a character's mouth to save money. Likewise, look for the way Paulie Litt strikes lighting-fast, freeze-frame poses as little brother Spritle, or listen for the way Matthew Fox evokes the baritone gravitas of dubbed kung fu villains as the mysterious Racer X. The film is also littered with deliberate misuses of parallax, evoking the feeling of 2-D animation with very 3-D elements. It's impressive that, with everything else about the movie that goes bounding calculatedly over the top, the Wachowski's kept this element reeled in. But then, they had to pick something. ~ Cammila Albertson, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Joel Silver  Producer 
Grant Hill  Executive Producer 
Grant Hill  Producer 
Andy Wachowski  Director 
Andy Wachowski  Producer 
Andy Wachowski  Screenwriter 
Larry Wachowski  Director 
Larry Wachowski  Producer 
Larry Wachowski  Screenwriter 
Bruce Berman  Executive Producer 
Michael Giacchino  Composer (Music Score) 
Jessica Alan  Composer (Music Score) 
Michael Lambert  Executive Producer 
David Lane Seltzer  Executive Producer 
Emile Hirsch  Actor 
Christina Ricci  Actor 
Susan Sarandon  Actor 
John Goodman  Actor 
Matthew Fox  Actor 
Nicholas Elia  Actor 
Roger Allam  Actor 
Paulie Litt  Actor 
Melissa Holroyd  Actor 
Benno Fürmann  Actor 
Ariel Winter  Actor 
Hiroyuki Sanada  Actor 
Rain  Actor 
Gian Ganziano  Actor 
Richard Roundtree  Actor 
Peter Fernandez  Actor 
Harvey Friedman  Actor 
Kick Gurry  Actor 
John Benfield  Actor 
Sadao Ueda  Actor 
Christian Oliver  Actor 
Nayo Wallace  Actor 
Valery Tscheplanowa  Actor 
Moritz Bleibtreu  Actor 
Sami Loris  Actor 
Olivier Marlo  Actor 
Ashley Walters  Actor 
Sean McDonagh  Actor 
Scott Porter  Actor 
Vinzenz Kiefer  Actor 
Mark Zak  Actor 
Willy  Actor 
Kenzie  Actor 
Julia Joyce  Actor 
Clayton Nemrow  Actor 
Ricky Watson  Actor 
Brandon Robinson  Actor 
L. Trey Wilson  Actor 
Lauren Blake  Actor 
Cosma Shiva Hagen  Actor 
Ralph Herforth  Actor 
Waldemar Kobus  Actor 
Max Hopp  Actor 
Julie T. Wallace  Actor 
Matthias Redhammer  Actor 
Ecki Hoffman  Actor 
Stephen Marcus  Actor 
Art La Fleur  Actor 
Peter Navy Tuiasosopo  Actor 
Yu Nan  Actor 
Paul Sirr  Actor 
Ramon Tikaram  Actor 
Melvil Poupaud  Actor 
Kad "Y" Taylor  Actor 
Junior Sone Enang  Actor 
Jana Pallaske  Actor 
Dari Maximova  Actor 
Werner Daehn  Actor 
Komi Togbonou  Actor 
Leila Rozario  Actor 
Steven Wilson  Actor 
Karl Yune  Actor 
Togo Igawa  Actor 
Jonathan Kinsler  Actor 
Anatole Taubman  Actor 
Ben Miles  Actor 
Frank Witter  Actor 
Megan Gay  Actor 
Corinne Orr  Actor 
Joe Mazza  Actor 
Joon Park  Actor 
Ludmilla Ismailow  Actor 
Milka Duno  Actor 
Amira Osman  Actor 
Jens Neuhaus  Actor 
Sesede Terziyan  Actor 
Ill-Young Kim  Actor 
Yuriri Naka  Actor 
Oscar Ortega Sánchez  Actor 
Yu Fang  Actor 
Narges Rashidi  Actor 
Andrés Cantor  Actor 

Country: USA