Speed Racer the Live Action Movie

[wwwmwww]

Anyone else notice it looks like they will be introducing the Mach 6 in this movie?

Hot Wheels already has the Mach 5 out.

And it looks like the Mach 6 is soon to follow. It's the bottom car in this sample 3 pack.

Looking at the back of this other sample also found on eBay...

We see that it is in fact called the Mach 6.

Carl

[protostar8]

Well here is the info that I have...

34 episodes were aired in Japan in 1997 on TV Toyko. I’ve read that 37 episodes were made of the planned 52 episodes. 12 episodes were dubbed by DiC Entertainment and aired on Nickelodeon in 2002 as “Speed Racer X”. There is also one episode in English on this:

http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Racer-Ultimate...n/dp/B000G1GGH4

Where it is called “Speed Racer Y2K”. You may also want to check out my 2 YouTube videos.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=wwwmwww

Neither the original 1997 Mach GoGoGo series nor any of the Speed Racer versions made from it have been released on DVD. However I was able to get the US-televised episodes of the 2002 series on 3 dvds from this site:

http://www.warlockvideos.com/

They aren't listed on the site but email them and I think they should be able to help you. I've also had a few contacts that taped a few episodes directly off TV Toyko so I think I have 4 episodes as they were originally aired in Japanese. I'd LOVE to get all 34 (or 37) but that's all I've been able to find at the moment.

There is some more info on the series here.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encycloped...ime.php?id=1445

Carl

Thanks for the info. It sucks that the show didn't get finished.

Anyone else catch the STARZ anime documentary on last night? It was pretty decent and they acually showed the Mach V from the movie along with the cast towards the end of the program. It was also cool how they went back and showed how the various modern movies took things directly from Animes, like the Matrix's famous lobby scene being a rip off of Ghost in the Shell (I had forgotten about that scene in GitS until STARZ showed it again in that documentary).

[jenius]

I saw the Starz documentary, it was pretty good stuff all things considered. It seemed it was more for the unitiated as it didn't much touch on how much things were being changed as it was brought over to the US and why.

[wwwmwww]

I got some better images of the other cars to share.

Enjoy and Happy New Year,

Carl

[Effect]

I just threw up a little in my mouth. I don't mind a Speed Racer movie, but the races should look more like NASCAR and less like WipEout.

Though some of the races in show aren't really nascarish though. They might start out like that then you move into country sides, cliffs, etc. I've always wished racing would look like what we see in the trailer. A LOT more interesting then watching racers going around in a certain 50+ times. This could be why I enjoyed IGPX the way I did.

Still not sure what think about the movie just yet. Lets remember Speed Racer outside having it's moral lesson at the end of most episodes wasn't close to being a deep show from what I recall. There really is a lot that could be done with the show and a straight up adaption might be not be doable without it being boring.

We have to remember here we are talking about a show where you have car that seem to be able to get out of a weird and dangerous situation by an actual push of a button. I think there are really two ways to go about this type of thing. Either over the top, cartoony, and not to serious but fun which is what they seem to be doing. Or go the realistic direction but that means greatly toning down the Mach 5 action and what is the point of a Speed Racer movie if you do that?

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Some of the new movie toys look like they have lot of playability. Will wait to see in person.

[wwwmwww]

New info...

http://www.iza.ne.jp/news/newsarticle/busi...lideshow/54811/

Looks like the gray ghost isn't gray...

Carl

[Scream Man]

I really want to like it. I really do.

But i just cant get past what looks like terrible CG and the fact that speed is apprently racing in a Giant Pinball machine!

[M'Kyuun]

LEGO has the Speed Racer live action movie license. They didn't do a bad job, as the cars are recognizeable. I wonder why they didn't use more smooth slopes for the front of the Mach 5? Sadly, I don't think they built in any of the car's special features, either. Great thing about LEGO; easy to mod. I'll be adding a few of these to my collection when they hit shelves.

http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...=12059&st=0

[Kyp Durron]

Wow...after watching the trailer, this movie is going to suck on sooo many levels, PASS kthnx.

-Kyp

[one_klump]

Looks like a HOT WHEELS: THE MOVIE production

[protostar8]

LEGO has the Speed Racer live action movie license. They didn't do a bad job, as the cars are recognizeable. I wonder why they didn't use more smooth slopes for the front of the Mach 5? Sadly, I don't think they built in any of the car's special features, either. Great thing about LEGO; easy to mod. I'll be adding a few of these to my collection when they hit shelves.

http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...=12059&st=0

Wow, those are pretty poor quality productions from LEGO. Too bad b/c LEGO things are cool.

[uminoken]

The movie will be a massive, ADD mess, but seeing Jack from Lost trying to play it cool as Racer X juuuuust might make it a rental. On the upside, the Giachinno score sounds EXACTLY how you would expect a Spped Racer movie to be done. Even has the theme song in the first 5 min, with minor variations of the "running" motif (don't know what else to call it) Speed Racer score clips

[taksraven]

There was an early Robot Chicken sketch with a celebrity race that pretty much summed up what this movie should be like.....

I would post the link from Youtube for those who have not seen it, but the Facist policies of Youtube means that most Robot Chicken stuff is deleted.

Taksraven

Edited April 21, 2008 by taksraven

[terry the lone wolf]

There was an early Robot Chicken sketch with a celebrity race that pretty much summed up what this movie should be like.....

I would post the link from Youtube for those who have not seen it, but the Facist politicies of Youtube means that most Robot Chicken stuff is deleted.

Taksraven

Yeah I saw that to; it was a parody on the Canonball Run movies starring Burt Reynolds & Dom Deluise. Frank Sinatra, Sammie Davis JR., Dean Martin, & other stars of the 80's appeared in those movies. Jackie Chan made his American debut in Canonball Run 2. Seth Green scored major points by getting Burt & Dom to reprise their roles.

[wwwmwww]

It looks like Tomica is coming out with a Mach 5 for the movie:

Any of our resident Japanese readers able to tell me what this says about it?

Thanks,

Carl

[do not disturb]

the only thing i like about this movie is christina ricci.

[jardann]

Why oh why do they have to have a Mach 6?!!! There was no Mach 6 in the cartoon. Speed always drove the Mach 5 and it survived everything! The Mach 5 is the costar and Speed is pretty much nothing without it. This would be like changing the Millenium Falcon in the middle of Star Wars! It needs to be there for consistency. This may piss me off enough to not see the movie in theaters. I've always been a big Speed Racer fan even through all the cheese, but having a Mach 6 and the cracked out CG effects definitely turn me off.

[Gubaba]

Any of our resident Japanese readers able to tell me what this says about it?

Thanks,

Carl

Basic promotional stuff...roughly, The left hand side it says that Mach Go Go Go is now a Hollywood movie, produced by Warner Bros (producers of Harry Potter and Batman) and made by the Warchowski brothers. The CGI effects are overflowing with speed blah blah blah...

The right hand side says that the Tomika brand Mach 5 will be out in 2008, and follows the form of the car from the movie.

...What we imagine these things say is always more exciting than what they do say, isn't it?

Edited April 25, 2008 by Gubaba

[badboy00z]

It's so cheezy...not that the cartoon isn't though. Lol.

[buddhafabio]

saw this tonight with my pop and brother. i liked the movie. it will get bad reviews. but you have to keep in mind it is based off of a cartoon in the 60s and if you hate the cartoon avoid this movie like the plague. you will not understand and will hate it. this can easily become a cult classic. in my opinion it is what cartoons brought to movie should be.

i did hate the mach 5 design from early beginning of the movie. but the true form of what you remember of the mach 5 does make an appearance. in races no less. only thing that didnt keep with the cartoon is they toned down the girly screams (if you are a fan you know what i mean) and the off sync of the lips of the characters was not there when there was dialogs.

Edited May 9, 2008 by buddhafabio

[Apollo Leader]

There's an Imax theater here in the area showing Speed Racer so maybe I might go see it tonight.

But when I exit the theater will I be singing, "Go Speed Racer, go Speed Racer, Gooooooo!" or will I be singing, "No Speed Racer, No Speed Racer, Nooooooo!"

[Kin]

lol it's funny to see the promocommercial on Dutch television... I find it hard to believe it's going to get full seats.

They never aired the anime on TV and probably don't even know it's based on it.

Gonna be fun to see how they react on this one...

[Scream Man]

i still dont understand why he's in a pinball machine...

[Hikuro]

I still don't get how this got a live action treatment when there's better stuff out there.

[kanedaestes]

Another blog from my Myspace page

Part II: Speed Racer

Today I dragged my self against various bad reviews to bring to you my review of Speed Racer. Well...um....it isn't great, or really good, but it isn't bad either. I would mark it at okay. Really after the start of the movie season with Iron Man this is a sad follow up. This really is a movie for kids with some adult language but not much with the word ass used repeatedly and at one time Speed saying, "Get that weak s##t off my track." That made me chuckle I won't lie. The movie is visually sickening. It is bright and color full as the previews show and it takes a good minute to get used to it. The plot moves slow at the beginning and why is he driving the Mach 6??? Everyone knows it was always about the Mach 5. I guess in official races they have to have a certain type of car that the Mach 6 qualifies as and the Mach 5 is basically the drive around town vehicle; though it does shine rather well during the cross country race. It does eventually also get all the tricks, bells and whistles that we all have come to love from the cartoon.

The cast is okay but the movie is very corny way to much. There are some cool fight scenes but nothing spectacular. Really all you do while sitting there for two hours is wait for the racing scenes. Wow that was the best part of the movie. They went all out to make the racing scenes great and high octane yet very unrealistic but most of us don't go to movies for realism. The jump feature on all the cars are used every 5 minutes but in very innovative ways, and the end race was a lot of fun. All in all I would suggest to sit this one out for the DVD. If you feel you have to watch a movie go watch Iron Man again until Prince Caspian comes out.

Edited May 10, 2008 by kanedaestes

[kanedaestes]

I just watched the movie again, and on second viewing i have come to really love this film. It is a family/ kids movie so don't expect that much out of it if you find it juvenile but it is a fun ride, great visuals and the story was very well done. Despite the hate against the movie i do suggest everyone watch it for themselves and draw their own conclusions. It is becoming one of my favorites of this year. There is just someting so infectious about it. U sit there thinking it's going to suck and you just find your self sucked into it somehow. Go rent or watch on movies on demand, you shouldn't be disappointed but i know a lot of you have different taste than me. At least give it a try.

[Scream Man]

John Goodmans "You just dont get good Ninjas anymore" line cracks me up...

[mikeszekely]

Rented the Blu-ray. I'm glad I didn't see it in the theater, but it wasn't a bad way to kill an evening on video.

[eugimon]

I thought it was meh. I rented it for my 2 1/2 yr old son who loves all things cars and while he enjoyed the movie immensely (it's his new favorite movie), I had a hard time sitting through it. Visuals are great, transfer is demo quality... story is horrible and the acting is so uneven. If you're gonna cast actors like Susan Sarandon, it helps if the other actors can hold their own... it also helps if you give an actress of her talent something more to do that make sandwiches.

And I can't believe this disc didn't get HD audio track. A throw away "game" DVD and a digital copy but no HD audio? This would have been a great demo disc but for that feature. Maybe this is a throw back from when WB did HD-DVDs... or maybe they plan on double or triple dipping on this title like they're doing with Superman Returns.

[sharky]

I guess I'm the type of person that wants to like a movie going into it otherwise I won't even start to watch it. Call me a sucker, but I usually go into a movie with an open mind and wanting to be entertained. I try not to bring in my own preconceived notions of what it should or should not be. So, for me, a movie has to give me a reason not to like it. I thought Speed Racer was a fun and entertaining flick. While I can appreciate various movies on various artistic levels, I thought this was a creative way to present the Speed Racer story. But, then again, my taste in movies is so wide and varied that I'm a pretty easy person to please.

[bob joe mac]

I just saw it a few days ago and LOVED it!! It was so corny and over the top it was exactly the kind of movie I expected especially from its source which was a corny aweful old as hell TV show/manga.

[Keith]

I walked into it expecting to hate it, and surprisingly liked it....maybe I'm just a sucker for monkeys.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Yeah I thought it was done in the spirit of the cartoon. I think there should be an epilepsy warning at the start of the movie though :

I agree with this spill.com review of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19ZjmjsnqYM

If you think of it as a kid's movie, then I think kids would have gotten bored with the flashback bits because they are used to non-stop action. If you think of it as a movie for fans of speed racer when they were kids, then it won't bother you that these little bits of story pop up right in the middle of the action.

Having said that.. they do that in a lot of martial arts movies too though: how many time does the guy who is about to get his ass beaten suddenly have a flashback of when he was training in between a fight or something. If you think of cars racing as a type of automotive martial arts then it makes sense. Speed is the little bro, who "does karate with cars".

One thing I liked was the chu-chu-chu sound they used. It's like the sound for the transformation in transformers: you can't change these things!

If you weren't a fan of speed racer and just want a fun movie I would say rent it. If you were a kid and loved Speed Racer then I'd say the price of the ticket is worth it to see on a big ass movie screen. Some people might have issues with the bright colours because it kind of reminds them too much of a playstation game or something. But it doesn't look like it was going for realism but something in between cartoon and movie which (given the crazy stunts in it) you come to accept later. If you want gritty dark car races I suggest seeing the death race remake that was done recently.

death race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgSjt1hgIjk

Edited September 22, 2008 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[kanedaestes]

It's nice to hear that others have enjoyed the movie as much as me. I am going to buy it when i buy iron man next week.