Speed Racer, 2008.
Directed by The Wachowskis.
Starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox, Benno Fürmann, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rain, and Richard Roundtree.
SYNOPSIS:
Speed Racer fans, your long-awaited 4K Ultra HD is here and, yes, it looks fabulous. This is the kind of movie where you want all those bright colors to pop off the screen, and they definitely do that here. You also get a code for a digital copy, a new retrospective featurette, all of the featurettes from the previous Blu-ray, and a pair of extras from the DVD days.
Speed Racer and Star Blazers were the two anime series that helped define my childhood, along with the childhoods of pretty much every other Gen Xer in the United States. I wasn’t as enamored with the former as I was with the latter, but if you’re a Speed Racer fan, I imagine you’re one of the many anxiously waiting for this 4K Ultra HD edition of this adaptation by the Wachowksis.
This movie did tepid business at the box office. Maybe it was because of the lackluster reception to the Matrix sequels (I was among those who weren’t thrilled by them), but Speed Racer has developed a decent-sized cult following in the years since its 2008 release.
Translating the anime to live action meant using a lot of over-the-top techniques in the story. The physical action is exaggerated and doesn’t obey the laws of physics, and the sets are simple and brightly colored. Oftentimes, the characters appear in front of CGI creations of fantastic landscapes.
The story follows the eponymous Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch), a professional driver in the World Racing League (WRL), whose races are more like something out of a Mario Kart game than anything resembling NASCAR or other real-life organizations. He idolizes the memory of his older brother, Rex (Matthew Fox), who died during the annual cross-country rally Casa Cristo 5000, a race full of dirty tricks.
E.P. Arnold Royalton (Roger Allam), the shady owner of Royalton Industries, tries to convince Speed to race for him, but Speed is uninterested, thanks to the inflluence of his father (John Goodman), who distrusts large corporations. Royalton is angered by the refusal and does what he can to harm Speed’s racing chances, so Speed turns to Inspector Detector (Benno Fürmann), who is investigating the mogul’s dastardly deeds and wants to bring him down.
With the help of Racer X and another disgruntled racer, Taejo Togokahn (Rain), Speed enters the Casa Cristo 5000 against his father’s wishes, and, of course, the entire story builds to the WRL’s grand finale, the Grand Prix.
The rest of the cast is solid, including the always adorable Paulie Litt as Speed’s younger brother, Spritle, Susan Sarandon as the Racer family matriarch, and Christina Ricci as Speed’s girlfriend, Trixie.
For me, though, I find the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer adaptation to be just okay. I’m not sure why that is — maybe because I wasn’t a huge fan of the anime series. If you’re a fan, though, you’ll love this 4K Ultra HD edition; those bright colors simply pop off the screen.
On the bonus features front, Warner Bros. has ported over everything from the previous Blu-ray, except the Speed Racer: Crucible game, along with a couple featurettes from the DVD era. They’ve also added the new 13-minute FAST | FUTURE | FAMILY: Speed Racer Revisited featurette, which serves up the Wachowski sisters reminiscing about their lifelong love of the TV show and how and why they made the movie.
The rest of the extras include:
• Spritle in the Big Leagues (14:27): Paulie Litt walks the viewer through the movie’s production facilities. I’m glad that he’s one of those child stars who seems to have successfully made it into the adult world without too much, if any, trauma.
• Speed Racer: Supercharged! (15:41): This one covers the various colorful race car drivers in the film.
• Speed Racer: Car-Fu Cinema (27:32): I suppose it makes sense for the longest featurette to cover the special effects, since I think that’s really the film’s main draw, instead of the characters and the story. While this film wasn’t as breathtakingly groundbreaking as The Matrix, it still required a big lift from the CGI folks, and this featurette digs into that subject.
• Speed Racer: Ramping Up! (9:53): This is one of your basic EPKs with a cursory overview of the film. It’s apparently from one of the DVD releases.
• Speed Racer: Wonderful World of Racing – The Amazing Racer Family (21:00): Another DVD-era extra, this one is a fun look at the Racer family through the lens of a fake documentary written and directed by Josh Oreck. I bet it was a lot of fun to put it together.
There’s no Blu-ray included here, which has been standard operating procedure from Warner Bros. in recent years. However, you do get a code for a digital copy.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
