Speed Racer (2008)

Directors:

Andy Wachowski
Lana Wachowski

Writers (WGA):

Andy Wachowski (written by) &
Lana 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

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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 | Australia | 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:

With the race cars being totally fictional, most of the pedestrian cars are actually based on real-life futuristic concept cars (one can easily spot an orange Rinspeed E-GO Rocket parked at the nearest to the screen when Rex picks Speed up from school). At one point, two Peugeot concept cars (the award-winning Peugeot 4002 Lion design and the quirky Moonster) are seen as well.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Royalton visits for the first time, the third button on Mom's shirt is undone. The next time she is visible, the second button is unbuttoned. From then on, all the buttons are buttoned.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Features Moonraker (1979)

Soundtrack:

Go Speed Racer Go

This Movie Was EPIC!

Above everything else, this movie is a visual feast that stays true to the cartoon. I think it is really unfortunate that so many critics are complaining about the visuals in this movie, because I think that they are truly fantastic. I can safely say that I have never seen another movie like this one, and I feel that so many movies are going to try to do what this movie did. A lot of the visuals really are beautiful bursts of color similar to what you find on the busy streets of Tokyo, and this movie is aware of that. It is like they took Shibuya and made it a hundred times as big and colorful. Only someone who has been to Tokyo will know exactly what the Wachowskis were going for in this film. After all, it is based on a Japanese TV show.

The acting is somewhat campy, but can also turn that gear into more serious acting. It can be funny, and then be heartwarming. Lots of the racing sequences are very over the top, but the movie knows it and does it well. The tracks are very creative, and I can only imagine how fun they were to design. If real racing was this exciting, I would watch it all the time. I can understand why this film made the race tracks so crazy, because who would really want to see two hours of regular race tracks with cars going around and around? The sound was also really impressive in this film. The sounds of the race cars were explosive and loud and if you see this movie in a good theater, it will make it that much better. The music is also very fitting and tasteful. Probably the only time I will hear "Freebird" without being annoyed.

Also the politics in this movie were excellent as well. I feel above all the message of this movie is that money corrupts art. This movie portrays Speed as more of an artist than a race car driver. A big corporation wants to sponsor Speed, but Speed knows that corporations are evil and are only looking to make more money. He is very dedicated to his craft, and does not want to sell out. Speed knows that corporations corrupt art, and so does this movie. You will not see one piece of product placement in this whole film.

So overall this movie is very self-aware. It wants to entertain, and it does exactly that. It wants to be different, and it does exactly that. Don't listen to those wimpy critics that didn't like this film because it gave them a headache. Many people said the same thing about Moulin Rogue, and that movie is fantastic too. Critics who complained about there being too much color should have brought a pacifier with them to the movies, because only babies would complain about how this film looks. Race to your theater to see it now.