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[Log4Girlz]

I wonder when this will be remade.

 

[PandaL]

This definitely needs another sequel.

 

[Boss Doggie]

I do, he didn't like it for the very same reason why I didn't: the effects just didn't work for me. The digital environment with the real actors superimposed completely broke the feel of the movie for me. I just couldn't take any of it seriously, and with no "weight" behind any of the scenes the movie loses all focus.

So many fans of the movie here at GAF talk on and on about how awesome the races were, how great the final scene was with Speed racing the ghost of his brother. For me (and Tom) it was hilariously stupid, it just didn't mean anything to us at all, and the reason is because the visuals simply were not believable to us. They took us out of the movie every moment of the film rather than drew us in.

I get the directors vision, I understand what they were going for, it just didn't work for me. Or for Tom. Or for a lot of other people who aren't members of GAF.

I've watched the blu ray three times now, I even bought it for $5, just trying to "get" what you all see in this. And it gets worse and worse for me every time, lol. The races in Cars have more drama and feeling to me than the races in Speed Racer. Hell, Cars is a far, far better movie IMHO.

See the problem is that you're trying to watch the movie with the idea that it's "realistic".

For me it works because it gives that feeling that they're in some bizarre anime world, which they totally do.

 

[Madness]

See the problem is that you're trying to watch the movie with the idea that it's "realistic".

For me it works because it gives that feeling that they're in some bizarre anime world, which they totally do.

While I loved the visuals and imagery, I wished it had a more coherent story. I wouldn't mind a sequel however.

 

[Timedog]

Jude Law or Gavin Rossdale or whoever the main character actor was had really good intense faces while in the races.

 

[DrAndonuts]

This definitely needs another sequel.

As much as I hate 3D, we need SPE3D RACER.

 

[Kinyou]

After this and Cloud Atlas the Wachowskis redeemed themselves in my book.

 

[Mengy]

Jude Law or Gavin Rossdale or whoever the main character actor was had really good intense faces while in the races.

Emile Hirsch was the actor who played Speed, and for as much as I dislike the movie, one of the things I did love about it was him as Speed. He did a fantastic job, but then most of the cast was actually pretty great in the movie.

If you want to see him in a movie that I absolutely love, watch Into the Wild. He's really a fantastic actor, I don't know why he doesn't appear in more stuff.

 

[Timedog]

Emile Hirsch was the actor who played Speed, and for as much as I dislike the movie, one of the things I did love about it was him as Speed. He did a fantastic job, but then most of the cast was actually pretty great in the movie.

Yeah, David Beckham or Jared Leto or whatever did a good job for sure.

 

[Ashhong]

Jude Law or Gavin Rossdale or whoever the main character actor was had really good intense faces while in the races.

Yeah, David Beckham or Jared Leto or whatever did a good job for sure.

I don't understand the joke..

 

[Timedog]

I don't understand the joke..

They're all the same person. It's pretty obvious to anyone that's been paying attention. Try to find me a picture of any of them together. Can't be done.

Edit: Actually Beckam and Leto might not be the same person, unless Leto is the progenitor of the clones. The first 3 are definitely the same person though, 100%.

 

[Ashhong]

So Emile Hirsch, Jude Law and Gavin Rossdale? Such an odd thing to make a joke about. They look nothing alike!

 

[PandaL]

As much as I hate 3D, we need SPE3D RACER.

That would be awesome.

 

[Masterphoenix]

I saw this movie three times on the IMAX theater because i work in at a theater at the time. I showed it to like 5 of my friends the third time... they hated it... made me really sad cause it was just an epic movie. needless to say i'm no longer friends with them.

Spoiler

i lied they are still my friends

 

[Mengy]

I saw this movie three times on the IMAX theater because i work in at a theater at the time. I showed it to like 5 of my friends the third time... they hated it... made me really sad cause it was just an epic movie. needless to say i'm no longer friends with them.

Spoiler

i lied they are still my friends

Everyone I know in real life that has seen the movie...and I mean everyone, including myself...hated the movie. And not just disliked it, I mean strongly hated it. They went in expecting more of a real life version of Speed Racer and got the "live action cartoon" thing that it is instead. And I've discussed it to great lengths with many of my friends, and they all agree on the reason why: it just didn't work for them. The movie completely pulled them out of any sense of weight or drama that the movie was trying to convey.

It wasn't that the cast was bad, because they were actually very good. It wasn't the music, because the music was fine. It wasn't the story, because to be honest the storyline was really pretty great. It was the directorial style, the stylistic choices, the overuse of CG and green screens and digital everything and the complete lack of using anything real in the movie. It just wasn't a convincing adaption for anyone that I've ever met in real life who has seen it.

And yet here, on NeoGAF, the exact opposite seems true. Here the vast majority seem to absolutely adore the movie like it's some second coming of modern film making brilliance. I've watched the movie probably half a dozen times, I even bought the blu ray for $5, just trying to understand what it is GAF sees in this film, and it just eludes me. I probably hate it more now than I did after seeing it in the theater, lol. I hate it more because it had such great potential, but let me down so hard and leaves me so disappointed after I watch it.

For me the best part of the movie is the end credits for two reasons:
1. the song during the credits and the whole credit sequence kicks ass, and
2. the movie is finally over

 

[Krev]

I know a number of people in real life who think the film is really good.

True story.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

They went in expecting more of a real life version of Speed Racer and got the "live action cartoon" thing that it is instead.

That's exactly what makes the film so great. Well, for a lot of people anyway.

Here the vast majority seem to absolutely adore the movie like it's some second coming of modern film making brilliance

Sounds like you're looking for things that aren't there. The film isn't brilliant, nor does it try to be. It's a 2-hour Speed Racer episode with live actors with trippy special effects. Nothingmore.

I'll say this, too. I don't even like it because of the special effects, thought they are certainly nice. I'd love it even if it were done with B-movie grade effects, or like Power Rangers or some crap.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

Everyone I've ever shown it to ended up really liking it. Some even admitted to still thinking about it days later and ended up buying it. I honestly feel sorry for people that it doesn't click with.

 

[Mengy]

That's exactly what makes the film so great. Well, for a lot of people anyway.


Sounds like you're looking for things that aren't there. The film isn't brilliant, nor does it try to be. It's a 2-hour Speed Racer episode with live actors with trippy special effects. Nothingmore.

I know a number of people in real life who think the film is really good.

True story.

Everyone I've ever shown it to ended up really liking it. Some even admitted to still thinking about it days later and ended up buying it. I honestly feel sorry for people that it doesn't click with.

See, that's exactly what confuses the fuck out of me. It's like posters on GAF live in a different reality than I do, because I've literally talked to dozens of people over the years about this movie, and not one of them liked it even a little bit.

Maybe it's just a Pennsylvania thing or something about the area I live in...

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

See, that's exactly what confused the fuck out of me. It's like posters on GAF live in a different reality than I do, because I've literally talked to dozens of people over the years about this movie, and not one of them liked it even a little bit.

Maybe it's just a Pennsylvania thing or something about the area I live in...

Beats me. I have a lot of friends that love it, but I have a few that hated it, too.

One guy I know who hates it is one of those types that takes everything very seriously, despite being a total nerd. Like, he got mad over the film 'The Dark Knight Rises' over some silly crap. He also hated the new 'ThunderCats' cartoon because it's not M-rated and on Adult Swim. He's the type who turns red in the face over the fridge scene in 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'.

Another guy I know loves that crap out of it, and enjoys other goofy shit like Godzilla and Ultraman and whatnot. He's not an idiot or anything, he's highly intelligent, he just has an appetite for tongue-in-cheek camp.

I guess it just depends on how you evaluate your entertainment or how serious you expect it to be. Anybody hoping for an edgier, down-to-Earth version of frickin' Speed Racer should have known what to expect, honestly.

 

[Boss Doggie]

See, that's exactly what confuses the fuck out of me. It's like posters on GAF live in a different reality than I do, because I've literally talked to dozens of people over the years about this movie, and not one of them liked it even a little bit.

Maybe it's just a Pennsylvania thing or something about the area I live in...

Maybe because you're expecting it to be a Matrix-esque movie? See, we love it because unlike some movies that are based from a specific media where they tailor it to become movie-esque, this movie manages to maintain its anime-style hijinks.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

See, that's exactly what confuses the fuck out of me. It's like posters on GAF live in a different reality than I do, because I've literally talked to dozens of people over the years about this movie, and not one of them liked it even a little bit.

Maybe it's just a Pennsylvania thing or something about the area I live in...

Honestly, most people I've asked about it to just have never seen it and assumed it was bad because they've heard it was bad from other people who haven't seen it. Off hand I can only think of 2 people who had already seen it before I could show it to them which was my fiance (who loved it) and an ex-roomate/friend of mine (who didn't like it).

I think it's one of those weird things that just happens to have a very distinct audience. It's like when you say to someone "This movie is about giant robots fighting giant monsters in the street". Some people will think that sounds like the greatest thing in the world while just as many people will think that sounds like the dumbest thing in the world. Speed Racer is a movie that is about "Over the top racing in a surreal, light-hearted, cartoon world realized in live action". Some people will enjoy that and others, like yourself, just won't. No matter how that's executed, that concept will just never click with you and that's fine. It's no one's fault.

I wouldn't like the movie as much as I do though if I didn't think it was an actually good movie beyond the visuals. The family dynamic was surprisingly well executed and the emotional beats worked for me because I don't care how crazy the world around it is. The core family drama and dialogue could have been extrapolated to the real world and it would have worked just as well. I don't get how the visuals around that affect it as along as the characters feel real and are well realized which I feel this movie more than executed on. It just also happens to have some amazingly well choreographed and visualized races.

 

[Mengy]

Beats me. I have a lot of friends that love it, but I have a few that hated it, too.

One guy I know who hates it is one of those types that takes everything very seriously, despite being a total nerd. Like, he got mad over the film 'The Dark Knight Rises' over some silly crap. He also hated the new 'ThunderCats' cartoon because it's not M-rated and on Adult Swim. He's the type who turns red in the face over the fridge scene in 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'.

Another guy I know loves that crap out of it, and enjoys other goofy shit like Godzilla and Ultraman and whatnot. He's not an idiot or anything, he's highly intelligent, he just has an appetite for tongue-in-cheek camp.

I guess it just depends on how you evaluate your entertainment or how serious you expect it to be. Anybody hoping for an edgier, down-to-Earth version of frickin' Speed Racer should have known what to expect, honestly.

That's a good theory, but it's not what I'm experiencing for the most part.

For example, my friends and I grew up with the original Speed Racer, and Ultraman, and Godzilla, we certainly don't have a problem with enjoying things that are "unrealistic". I even own a few B movies that I love where the effects are utterly horrible.

And I didn't really go into Speed Racer expecting a super realistic adaptation (although I might have preferred that), I'd seen the previews beforehand. None of the people I've talked to complain about how it "wasn't what they expected" per say, they all overwhelmingly complain about how it just wasn't fun or engaging to watch. One of the biggest complaints, and it's one that bugs the shit out of me too, is the ADD directing style the movie is edited together with. The movie literally jumps around from scene to scene in the middle of scenes, from the present to the past, and never lets you focus or absorb the scene you are currently watching. It reminds me of the first Hulk movie, trying to do too many things on screen at the same time but accomplishing very little.

The end race for example in Speed Racer, my one friend always says that he would almost be able to actually enjoy it if it just wasn't for the constant intrusion of totally idiotic and silly looking people being flashed in front of the screen yelling and screaming stupid things. And yeah, everyone complains about the physics of the cars racing around the tracks. That's one of my big pet peeves too, it's just not believable to watch it. Why try to make it look graphically realistic if you aren't going to make it behave realistic? It's that disjointed stylistic choice that just loses the people I've talked to, including myself.

So no, in my experience the problem isn't the movie isn't what people expected it to be, it's that it just seemed silly and utterly ridiculous to them.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Hmm so I guess the film didn't connect to you. It's more of agree to disagree then.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

So no, in my experience the problem isn't the movie isn't what people expected it to be, it's that it just seemed silly and utterly ridiculous to them.

The movie is silly and ridiculous. Your friends are right.

Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, that's dependent on personal tastes.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

And yet here, on NeoGAF, the exact opposite seems true. Here the vast majority seem to absolutely adore the movie like it's some second coming of modern film making brilliance. I've watched the movie probably half a dozen times, I even bought the blu ray for $5, just trying to understand what it is GAF sees in this film, and it just eludes me. I probably hate it more now than I did after seeing it in the theater, lol. I hate it more because it had such great potential, but let me down so hard and leaves me so disappointed after I watch it.

Not everybody on GAF likes it. A ton of people hate(d) it, but they just don't talk about it anymore. Why should they? It's not current, and it's not like it was so bad that they feel the need to go piss on the fan thread every now and then.

Personally, I went into the movie havning heard no reviews and not listening to any buzz, and loved it. And came back to GAF to post and found how divided the place was (and how hated the film was generally). Which amazed me, because I legitimately had a great time in the theater.

As fas as treating it as the second coming of modern filmmaking, I think you are getting that only in contrast to yoru owen view. Tons of people adore this movie. Few seem to worship it or elevate it to some art status.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

The movie is silly and ridiculous. Your friends are right.

Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, that's dependent on personal tastes.

Yeah, I was going to type this. The short version of my wall of text above is that some people enjoy silly and ridiculous. I think when you get to the point of worrying about how realistic the car physics are in a movie where other racers literally throw beehives at other racers, you are probably no longer in that movie's intended audience.

 

[Boss Doggie]

So I encountered a blu ray of the movie. There's only a single version right - none of that special version and what not? Because it's on a sale and I wanna get it.

 

[Sapiens]

So I encountered a blu ray of the movie. There's only a single version right - none of that special version and what not? Because it's on a sale and I wanna get it.

It bombed at the box office and I don't think the film warranted enough interest to have a special edition.

You should be safe.

 

[Boss Doggie]

It bombed at the box office and I don't think the film warranted enough interest to have a special edition.

You should be safe.

I thought the home release was picking up slack. I heard some films gained traction via home release sales.

 

[Mengy]

So I encountered a blu ray of the movie. There's only a single version right - none of that special version and what not? Because it's on a sale and I wanna get it.

I bought my blu-ray for $5 at Best Buy, and I've seen it elsewhere for like $8. It can be found pretty cheap with minimal effort.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Oh god it's being aired here.

...welp, time for me to plop it back again.

Also rather than making an RTTP I'd rather bump this thread again for reactions.

I still love the family aspects of this film. You just know there is "heart" in their stuff.

 

[JB1981]

I think it's a great family film if not a little bloated with some FX overkill in certain sections. The Casa Whatever race is the worst section of the whole movie.

 

[Boss Doggie]

I think it's a great family film if not a little bloated with some FX overkill in certain sections. The Casa Whatever race is the worst section of the whole movie.

Wait what? I thought that's one of the awesome races due to the car combat and some of the homage. Then again I thought all races were good.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

Yeah this movie kicks ass.

 

[Darth Pinche]

I just showed my 7 year old nephew Speed Racer on bluray. He loved it and I felt like I did a very good thing introducing him to this fun movie.

He then wanted to watch some of the Phantom Menace, but found it "boring" and asked to watch the original trilogy instead. God looked down from heaven and said it was good.

 

[angular graphics]

I think it's a bit longer than it should be. The fact it's a family film and that it's about racing; I feel that the pacing should be blazing fast and it isn't. The movie is 2 hours and 15 minutes long. Has there ever been any other "kid" film with such a long runtime?

http://variety.com/2010/film/news/fade-out-on-final-cut-privileges-1118014187/

By contrast, Warner Bros. gave the Wachowski brothers final cut for its “Speed Racer” redo. The siblings brought the kid pic in at 2 hours and 15 minutes (studio execs would have preferred 90 minutes).

(Then again I don't agree with 90 either, that's too short!)

The Wachowskis seem to have a "either we have final cut or you can fuck off because we ain't doing the movie" mentality, so no wonder Warner had to agree with the long length. That extends to other things as well, for example we still haven't seen a single deleted scene from their films because once something is cut, they don't believe there's a reason to exist anymore, if it isn't in their final cut.

I have to LOL @ the 39% RT score though. Anything bellow 60, is just plain wrong. Easily a 70+ movie in my eyes.

 

[Boss Doggie]

I honestly think the first act can do some trimming but otherwise I thought it ran fine.

 

[angular graphics]

I thought the first act was just epic, how we are introduced to the characters and their past, etc I wouldn't change anything. The Taejo subplot though, as an example, I would have cut it; make the film simpler and faster, while the pro-family, pro-art, anti-corporate messages are left intact.

 

[Boss Doggie]

I thought the Taejo subplot was there to make a point on how corrupt the whole thing was, as well as making a lead-in to the final race.

 

[angular graphics]

Well, sure, you can't cut something and lose nothing, but I believe his subplot could have been trimmed to the absolute minimum for pacing.

 

[Fatalah]

Watched the movie recently due to this thread -- it's so great.

 

[jett]

There's only one thing I would take out of the movie, and that'd be Spritle's fourth wall-breaking interjection when Speed kisses Trixie at the end. For me the movie as it is is pretty much perfect.

 

[pikablu]

Wonderful movie. Would love to see this in 3D iMAX.

 

[iirate]

I have to LOL @ the 39% RT score though. Anything bellow 60, is just plain wrong. Easily a 70+ movie in my eyes.

Opening night, it was around 17% IIRC. It's really low, but had a HUGE turnaround post-release.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

The RT score is understandable. Now, I love the film, but it's not a film I would recommend to just anyone.

FWIW, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film has a very similar RT score.

 

[angular graphics]

I think this and Sin City are the best uses of all green/blue screen backgrounds.

Mainly because both looked like nothing I had seen before.

It's also interesting that the transitions from scene to scene without a traditional cut thingy was later done in Scott Pilgrim (which is also a better film IMO) and most people don't know/realize Speed Racer did it before and much more elaborately.

Ahead of its time!

 

[Neo Child]

Oh god it's being aired here.

...welp, time for me to plop it back again.

Also rather than making an RTTP I'd rather bump this thread again for reactions.

I still love the family aspects of this film. You just know there is "heart" in their stuff.

yup, definatley helps that mom & pops racer are fantastic actors and can really bring out emotion

this film is so good. not just for amazing FX and colourful lsd mumbo jumbo but for the great storylines that are quite 'mature' for a kids film

Spoiler

GET YOUR WEAK SHIT OFF MY TRACK

and the

Spoiler

sad

ending

 

[JLynn]

Speed Racer is the best live action anime based movie ever. I doubt it will be eclipsed anytime soon. They got every nuance of the show in this movie down pat and the casting is top notch. John Goodman as Pops was PERFECT and I thought Susan Sarandan look hotter as Moms than Christina Ricci looked as Trixie. The Peter Fernandez cameo was a nice touch

Gonna watch it to get me hype for Otakon in two days.

 

[Log4Girlz]

One of the worst movies I've ever seen. A straight, live action cartoon, aimed at children.