Speed Racer (Widescreen Edition)

Buy This Item Speed Racer (Widescreen Edition) (DVD - 2008)  List Price: $14.98  Available from Amazon  $13.99  on 2-10-2010     Features Actors: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon Directors: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski Format: Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Language: French Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish Region: Region 1 U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats. Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Number of discs: 1 Rating: PG Parental Guidance Suggested Studio: Warner Home Video DVD Release Date: September 16, 2008 Run Time: 135 minutes Product Review An over-the-top, sensory overload experience determined to replicate its frantic, television-anime origins, Speed Racer is wild enough to induce a headache or wow a viewer with one dazzling effect after another. Adapted for the big screen as a live-action feature, Speed Racer is written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, the sibling team behind the intensely satisfying The Matrix and its busier, less interesting sequels. Where the rich mythmaking of The Matrix was entirely accessible, however, Speed Racer's overwhelming and gratuitously complicated story exposition is an enormous challenge to follow, let alone embrace. After a while, one simply surrenders to the unbroken din of dialogue concerning corporate chicanery, corruption in the sport of racing, and a value conflict between racing as a family business versus multinational cash cow. At the same time, the film's hyper-real equivalent of the old Speed Racer cartoon's great whoosh of color, motion, and edgy production design--such as inventive uses of scene-changing wipes, bold framing, shifting perspectives--are more overbearing than fun. Emile Hirsch plays Speed Racer, younger brother of a deceased racing legend, Rex, and son of car designer Pops (John Goodman). The latter invented Speed's Mach 5, and is singularly unimpressed by an offer from a giant conglomerate that would lock Speed into exclusive racing services. Speed opts instead for family loyalty, incurring the wrath of the conglomerate's unctuous head (Roger Allam). With family honor on the line and the affections of girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) behind him, Speed hits the track in hopes of fulfilling his destiny as a master racer. The cast is largely enjoyable, including Susan Sarandon as Speed's mom, Matthew Fox as mysterious Racer X, and a pair of chimps as the irrepressible Chim-Chim. All well and good, but in a movie that lives or dies by the excitement level of races that look like computer-animated Hot Wheels action, Speed Racer is a dreary adventure. --Tom Keogh Product Description Start your engines and fasten your seatbelts for the high-octane adventure Speed Racer, combining heartfelt family humor and groundbreaking visual effects. Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a natural behind the wheel of his thunderous Mach 5. With support from Pops and Mom Racer (John Goodman and Susan Sarandon), girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci), younger brother Spritle (Paulie Litt) and the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox), Speed takes on fierce competitors to save his family’s business and protect the sport he loves. When Speed steps onto the track, it’s not just a race. It’s an adrenaline-fueled, high-speed charge to the finish. Go, Speed Racer, go!! Reader Reviews I can understand why some people might dislike this movie (just look at its box-office) but the one undeniable fact is that it perfectly captures the spirit of the TV show which was never really associated with profound human feelings. It's amazing how everyone involved in it simply decided to give it their all. Just look at the conviction with which Susan Sarandon and John Goodman recited lines that clearly feel out of a cartoon. Usually I hate movies with quick cuts and gratuitous CG effects and SPEED RACER is 135 minutes of quick cuts and CG so I guess nostalgia goes a long way. I was so glad they included the sound effect of the Mach 5 jumping over and over again. My only real complaint about the movie is that there was a little bit too much of the chimp for my taste. I can't blame anyone for complaining on leaving the theater with a headache. The world outside the theater I saw SPEED RACER in looked so slow once the movie ended, this is one exhausting film but certainly worth it.

Speed Racer (Widescreen Edition) List Price: $14.98 Available from Amazon Price: $13.99 Updated on 2-10-2010.

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