Speed Racer (2008)

A young driver, Speed Racer, aspires to be champion of the racing world with the help of his family and his high-tech Mach 5 automobile.

Directors:

Andy Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers) , Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)

Writers:

Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski,

Stars:

Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox, Christina Ricci

10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emile Hirsch	...	Speed
Nicholas Elia	...	Young Speed Racer
Susan Sarandon	...	Mom
Melissa Holroyd	...	Speed's Teacher
Ariel Winter	...	Young Trixie Shimura
Scott Porter	...	Rex Racer
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

Storyline

The story begins with Speed Racer who is a young man with natural racing instincts whose goal is to win The Crucible, a cross-country car racing rally that took the life of his older brother, Rex Racer. Speed is loyal to the family business, run by his parents Pops and Mom. Pops designed Speed's car, the Mach 5. The owner of Royalton Industries makes Speed a lucrative offer, Speed rejects the offer, angering the owner. Speed also uncovers a secret that top corporate interests, including Royalton, are fixing races and cheating to gain profit. With the offer to Speed denied, Royalton wants to ensure that Speed will not win races. Speed finds support from his parents and his girlfriend Trixie and enters The Crucible in a partnership with his one-time rival, Racer X, seeking to rescue his family's business and the racing sport itself.

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Plot Keywords:

speed | racer | race | racing | mach 5 | 

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Taglines:

Speed has no limits.

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Genres:

Action | Family | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Brazil] Warner Bros [France]

Country:

USA Australia Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 May 2008 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Speed Racer

Filming Locations:

Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$120,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£362,102 (UK) (9 May 2008)

Gross:

$43,929,341 (USA) (1 August 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

WILHELM SCREAM: When Spritle and Chim-Chim are rummaging through Royalton Industries.

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Goofs

When Togokahn is standing on the stage after the Casa Cristo race you see a lipstick mark on his face but in the next shot it's gone and his face is completely clean.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

The Mahha GoGoGo (1967) theme (with both English and Japanese lyrics) plays throughout the closing credits.

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Connections

References You Only Live Twice (1967)

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Soundtracks

Bewitched
Written by Richard Rodgers and by Lorenz Hart
Performed by Les Paul and Mary Ford
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Absolutely blown away

I didn't have the opportunity to see this movie in the theater and I had to wait for the DVD. After reading the critics ratings, I didn't have high hopes for the movie and mainly bought it since I wanted to learn about some of the special effects on the bonus features. All I have to say about this movie is: WOW! It would be impossible to do a better job translating an animated TV series into a movie. They knocked this one out of the park. I was a casual fan of the series as a kid, so I am not one of those die hard fans who are either easy to please or impossible to please. Where to start? They perfectly captured all the elements of the series and managed to place it in one movie. This is a better translation to film then "The Dark Knight" was. That's saying a lot. Whoever cast this movie should get an Oscar. This was the best cast movie ever! All the actors hit their characters dead on. The special effects were just as impressive as when you saw "The Matrix" for the first time as well. Perfect is the word that best sums up "Speed Racer". I'm not one to give out many 10 stars, but this one definitely deserves it. All the critics who didn't give this movie a great score need to find new jobs. If you don't like this movie, you are definitely not a true fan of movies.