Support NeoGAF

[The Elite]

Late to the Party That Should Have Been:

Like many of you, I dismissed the Wachowski's effort to recreate Speed Racer back in 2008. The lukewarm critical reception mixed with moviegoer reaction sullied me on taking a chance on a film I had high hopes for.

Fast forward to the present and I've finally decided to sit down and watch Speed Racer. Wow, did I make a terrible mistake not seeing this in the theatre. Besides being a visual treat, which is apparent from the trailers, the film is a lot of fun with some great performances and a lot of heart.

Speed Racer turns a blind-eye to the dark and gritty style of filmmaking that seems to be consuming so many productions today and has a shit-load of fun with the source material. It's by no means perfect however. Emile Hirsch plays the title role a little too dry for my tastes but he's still adequate in the role. The boy and monkey duo pop up a little too often in the first half of the movie but I still enjoyed their hilarious antics for the most part. Everyone else is just about perfect however. My god Susan Sarandon is still a hottie at her age and Christina Ricci... well I've always had a thing for her.

If there was ever a film that proved how wrong critics can be it's Speed Racer. If you skipped it initially. Give it a shot. I can't promise you won't be disappointed but it at least deserves your attention!

I should add that I've never seen the original animated movie or any other Speed Racer material. This was my first exposure to the franchise. Hell, prior to this I just assumed Racer X was a bad guy.

 

[harSon]

Welcome to the club brother.

 

[The Elite]

Welcome to the club brother.

It feels good.

 

[Dali]

That's really all that needs to be said. Speed Racer is the God Hand of film.

 

[Speevy]

At its best, this movie has some neat visual flourishes. I'll give it that.

 

[mYm|17|]

I liked it

 

[ezekial45]

I really love this movie. It's the greatest Live-Action Anime movie ever made, as far as i'm concerned.

It deserved so much better.

 

[DonMigs85]

I enjoyed it too, neat visuals and a villain you really love to hate.

 

[The Elite]

I was half asleep when I put this film on. I thought I'd just try it out to see if I liked it. By the end of the film I was on the edge of my seat. The race sequences can get a bit confusing at times but I still had a hell of a lot of fun.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

This movie really is wonderful. It's got heart and enthusiasm that most Hollywood blockbusters don't even want and wouldn't be capable of achieving anyway. When I see people say that this film is not good, I wonder what film they watched.

 

[AlexMogil]

Hell, prior to this I just assumed Racer X was a bad guy.

"...little does Speed know that the mysterious Racer X is actually his long lost brother Rex, who went missing and reappeared as the mysterious Racer X, in actuality Rex Racer, the long lost brother of Speed..."

 

[harSon]

I have to admit, sometimes the visuals were a bit too exaggerated and cartoonish than I would have liked. But all of the racing scenes, and their visuals, were absolute perfection.

Also, Roger Allam has to be Christopher Hitchen's long lost twin...

 

[The Elite]

"...little does Speed know that the mysterious Racer X is actually his long lost brother Rex, who went missing and reappeared as the mysterious Racer X, in actuality Rex Racer, the long lost brother of Speed..."

Yup. I knew nothing of this. :lol It's fairly apparent in the first half of the film and then Racer X claims he's not. I was like WTF? Then the ending sealed the deal! :lol

It was all new to me.

 

[mYm|17|]

 

[DonMigs85]

Yup. I knew nothing of this. :lol It's fairly apparent in the first half of the film and then Racer X claims he's not. I was like WTF? Then the ending sealed the deal! :lol

It was all new to me.

Oohh

 

[Lebron]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLibMPyNWqQ

 

[brianjones]

terrible film.. everything about it was obnoxious

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

The kid and chimp ARE pretty terrible, I will give you that, but the family dynamics of this movie were quite realistic and well-done.

 

[The Elite]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLibMPyNWqQ

This shit was so randomly awesome!

 

[DonMigs85]

I heard the chimp was beaten during production though, so if you'll notice the movie doesn't have the "No animals were harmed" bit in the credits.

 

[DonMigs85]

This was pretty funny too :lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgwcI0FOpvY&feature=related

 

[The Elite]

I also love a film in which every character randomly has the ability to fight. The scene with the ninja is great!

This was pretty funny too :lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgwcI0FOpvY&feature=related

Speed on Speed?

 

[shintoki]

Saw it twice in theater, once in Imax. Glorious

 

[Lebron]

I heard the chimp was beaten during production though, so if you'll notice the movie doesn't have the "No animals were harmed" bit in the credits.

Which one? They had like 3 chimps that played Chim Chim.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I also love a film in which every character randomly has the ability to fight. The scene with the ninja is great!

More like a NONja!

 

[DonMigs85]

Which one? They had like 3 chimps that played Chim Chim.

Not sure, but here's the news bit:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/18024493

 

[ezekial45]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLibMPyNWqQ

from the comments:
"Sad news. Peter Fernandez, the voice of Speed Racer, passed away on 7/15/10. He was 83. He was also the voice of Racer X, the voice director and he wrote the scripts that adapted the series into English. He will be missed. Thanks Peter!"

 

[The Elite]

More like a NONja!

I LOL'd.

 

[Ceebs]

The movie is an absolute blast start to finish. I even thought Spritle and Chim-Chim were pretty amusing. It's the movie I show people who ask me if upgrading to a Blu-Ray player is worth it.

 

[The Elite]

The movie is an absolute blast start to finish. I even thought Spritle and Chim-Chim were pretty amusing. It's the movie I show people who ask me if upgrading to a Blu-Ray player is worth it.

Yup. Watched this on my Blu-Ray player. In fact, it was really the only reason I decided to rent it. I wanted to see how it looked on my new Samsung.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

You don't climb into a Speed Racer thread to defend individual qualities, you do it because it is quality.

 

[NoRéN]

terrible film.. everything about it was obnoxious

"Oh. A thread about a moviefilm I did not like. I must click, troll, and waste my time and contribute nothing".

GAF...GAF never changes.

I too, OP, wished I would have seen this in theaters. It was just a good, fun movie.

 

[Gouty]

I like it too. It's a shame what Warner did, or I should say didn't do to the audio on the blu-ray release. It's like they go out of their way to shit on video releases of movies that didn't perform well in theatres, just like the Assassination of Jesse James.

 

[StoOgE]

These threads are like a bimonthly family reunion of GAFers with good taste.

High five boys. See you in a few weeks.

 

[msdstc]

This is another one of those movies gaf is in love with( Like Kingdom of Heaven being a masterpiece, but Forrest Gump being trash.) While its not as bad as critics said its definitely not great. First off its overblown and believe me... I "get it". Not to mention the ridiculously uneven tone. It was stuck in limbo between adult and kid movie. The humour for kids, but way too long for their attention span. Not to mention the nostalgia factor that could not apply to the demographics they were shooing for. Dont get me wrong here , it was a super ambitious project, but it didnt quite make it.

 

[GDGF]

True true. This movie was awesome.

I also like the fact that I guessed at what your acronym stood for before clicking the thread and was correct.

 

[Zaphod]

I was actually pretty impressed at how well the monkey parts worked. I have seen the original cartoons and I thought that their devotion to the source material would fall apart due to the kid and his monkey. It ended up with the kid being one of my favorite characters.

 

[Kentpaul]

watch better films :lol

theres a shitload of better films and there and you choose to see that

 

[NoRéN]

This is another one of those movies gaf is in love with( Like Kingdom of Heaven being a masterpiece, but Forrest Gump being trash.) While its not as bad as critics said its definitely not great. First off its overblown and believe me... I "get it". Not to mention the ridiculously uneven tone. It was stuck in limbo between adult and kid movie. The humour for kids, but way too long for their attention span. Not to mention the nostalgia factor that could not apply to the demographics they were shooing for. Dont get me wrong here , it was a super ambitious project, but it didnt quite make it.

WOW! I did not know this! Amazing stuff. GAF never disappoints.

 

[Gouty]

buy better _____ :lol

theres a shitload of better _____ and there and you choose to buy that

I fixed that so you can post it in any thread and still not say anything.

 

[MisterHero]

Oohh

that 2-second turnaround animation probably inspired the entire Matrix trilogy

 

[Talladega Knight]

fuck this movie sucked. and i do like some shitty movies. i wasted money on the piece of shit blu ray. clean visuals, but the rest of the movie should just die.

 

[GDGF]

Honestly, the final race sends chills down my spine every time I see it. It's just awesome the way everything was cut together. Huge spoiler follows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvwhIStnDw8

 

[Fuzz Rez]

I will never understand why GAF loves Speed Racer so much :lol
I tried to watch it because all the love it gets here but just couldn't finish it. Given that I never liked the animation show either so I guess it is only natural to diss like the live action movie too. Maybe if was younger I would have enjoyed it.

 

[sprsk]

Honestly, the final race sends chills down my spine every time I see it. It's just awesome the way everything was cut together. Huge spoiler follows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvwhIStnDw8

This movie would be so insane in 3d.

 

[AlternativeUlster]

If more summer blockbusters were like this, I wouldn`t be so frustrated with Hollywood right now. I would probably call it the best big budget live action Hollywood film of the 00s. I really love this film and I am so glad I at least caught it in tis final week in theaters at the dollar theater.

 

[VariantX04]

Cheesy mess of a movie. The kid and monkey were repulsive.

 

[Solo]

terrible film.. everything about it was obnoxious

Same is true of this poster, which further validates Speed Racer being awesome.

 

[JGS]

I also love a film in which every character randomly has the ability to fight. The scene with the ninja is great!

Well, everyone but Sparky!:lol

 

[JGS]

I will never understand why GAF loves Speed Racer so much :lol
I tried to watch it because all the love it gets here but just couldn't finish it. Given that I never liked the animation show either so I guess it is only natural to diss like the live action movie too. Maybe if was younger I would have enjoyed it.

I didn't like the cartoon either. The movie is a different animal to me. I could watch it right now if I had the time.