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Speed Racer [DVD] [2008]
 
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Speed Racer [DVD] [2008]

DVD ~ Emile Hirsch
3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
RRP: £15.99
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Speed Racer [DVD] [2008] 3.6 out of 5 stars (14)
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Product details

  • Actors: Emile Hirsch, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox, Christina Ricci, John Goodman
  • Directors: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
  • Format: PAL
  • Language English
  • Subtitles: English, Italian, Arabic
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Warner Home Video
  • DVD Release Date: 10 Nov 2008
  • Run Time: 130 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B001CEE1U8
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3,218 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk 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 myth-making 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

Synopsis
The Wachowski brothers, the duo behind The Matrix Trilogy, are back with Speed Racer. Hurtling down the track, careening around, over and through the competition, Speed Racer (Emile Hirsh, Into The Wild) is a natural behind the wheel. Born to race cars, Speed is aggressive, instinctive and, most of all, fearless. His only real competition is the memory of the brother he idolised-the legendary Rex Racer - whose death in a race has left behind a legacy that Speed is driven to fulfill. Speed is loyal to the family racing business, led by his father, Pops Racer (John Goodman), the designer of Speed's thundering Mach 5. When Speed turns down a lucrative and tempting offer from Royalton Industries, he not only infuriates the company's maniacal owner but uncovers a terrible secret... With the support of his family and his loyal girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), Speed teams up with his one-time rival-the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox, Lost) - to try and win the race that had taken his brother's life: the death-defying, cross-country rally known as The Crucible.

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
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 (4)
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Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Inventive but charmless, 21 Jul 2008
By D. Jackson "DJ" (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

My girlfriend dragged me into the cinema the other day to see this, so I was expecting some kind of shamefully high-budget Hollywood rubbish. What I saw was something completely different from anything else I ever have in this genre... but not particularly in a good way.

I have a bit of a soft spot for arty and unusual films... What I saw here, beneath the layers, was an 'art-house' feature just screaming to get out, and the contrast didn't feel comfortable at all. Amongst the action and special effects, Speed Racer contains a surprising amount of emotional depth, which (as far as I know) is hardly seen within this genre of film.

It tells the story of a young man named Speed Racer, who dreams of one day becoming a star in the extraordinary world of speed racing. The over-complicated plot line involves all the usual oh's and ah's, such as secret corporations hell-bent on bringing him down, mystery characters- never revealed until the end, a some-what touching love story, oh yea... and ninjas (?)

With the exception of the 2005 version of War Of The Worlds, the 2006 version of King Kong, and last year's Transformers, I'd say that Speed Racer contains some of the most brilliant CGI I've ever seen. As an audience, we are taken everywhere from sweeping deserts to beautiful futuristic cities. Some scenes are intriguingly cartoony, but don't worry- this is intentional. About an hour and a half through, when you're just starting to get slightly restless, the movie plummets towards a very flashy showdown of 'good vs. evil', making even the most emotionless audience members raise an eyebrow.

Now all the good stuff's out of the way, it's time for a moan: what I didn't like about Speed Racer, was A) The strange 'strictly-for-children' feel. (For example, there is a bit towards the end in which 2 characters are about to kiss, and the movie pauses so the audience can have a 'cooties warning' from Speed's younger brother.) This slightly put me off. B) The script sags in parts, and you find yourself starting to loose concentration. C) It's far too long.

So any way, even if you think you've seen all the Hollywood nonsense you can handle, try and squeeze in an evening for Speed Racer; though it slightly underwhelms expectations in most departments, it's somewhat worthy of being added to your DVD collection.


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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Primary coloured and neon lit, 30 Nov 2008
By Mr. Stephen Kennedy "skenn1701a" (Doha, Qatar) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Clearly, if the creators (The Wachowski brothers, directors of The Matrix) of the movie want you to remember anything about this movie - it's BRIGHT COLOURS.
This is movie making from the pages of a comic book, with the colours, acting and plot that this entails. When it started, it was so garish and hyperkinetic that I prepared myself for the worst... however, I have to admit that as I watched it, it actually did start to suck me in to this bizarre pseudo reality, and I began rooting for Speed Racer (That's his name, not just his title..).
Speed Racer is the car obsessed son in the Racer family, his father the designer of racing cars. When he starts performing in major races, a huge corporate sponsor woos him, but amazingly, it turns out that the big corporation has money, and not the best interests of the Racer Family, at heart. A few chases later, via a mysterious ally, an uneasy alliance with a rival Japanese driver, and <ahem> ninjas, we reach the good versus bad confrontation.
Nothing about this is real - everything is hyper real in a calculated way - remember, this is adapted from a Japanese anime. Yet the actors, even in a wide eyed cartoon style way, do gradually do make you accept they might just be believable. Even if on the podium the winners drink a hyper white milk, rather than any other sparkling drinks...
The story linking the action scenes is actually passable, and is actually a welcome relief from the action scenes which could leave you woozy with an overdose of movement and primary colours which are pretty sickly after a while...just remember this is skewed young, yet the story does have a little depth for grown-ups too.
The gimmick here is the effects, and though the effect may not be to everyone's cup of tea, the effects are seamless. This sort of cartoonish hyper reality may just be what cgi was meant for.
The movie as a whole is not a complete success.. that's for sure. But neither is it a disaster.. this is at the very least innovative and imaginative cinema - you wont see another movie like Speed Racer this year, and the derision it received in some quarters smacks of close-mindedness. So if you can stomach the nausea inducing frantic movement of bright pink and red and yellow, and want to see something a little different, then why not give it a shot?
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "You Think You Can Drive a Car and Change the World?", 16 Sep 2008
By Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is obsessed with racing. Even as a boy (Nicholas Elia in these flashbacks), he couldn't concentrate on school but spent the day dreaming about cars. Of course, he comes by it naturally. Pops (John Goodman) designs race cars and older brother Rex (Scott Porter) is an up and coming champion. Things hit a bump when Rex and Pops fight and Rex leaves home only to die amidst allegations of wrong doing.

But racing is in the Racer family blood (no surprise with that name), and Speed seemed destined to take the crown. After making a splash at a local race, he catches the eye of Royalton (Roger Allam) who is a big sponsor of other racers. He promises Speed the moon, but when Speed turns him down, he turns nasty, threatening Speed and his family. Now he'll have to team up with the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox). But can they work together well enough to bring the truth to light?

I hadn't intended to see this movie, but after I read a rave review, I went to see it. And I'm glad I did because I loved it.

This movie looks amazing. The racing involves cars in bright lights zooming by. That makes it hard to follow at times. But I loved how it looked. Even the stuff off the track was filled with vibrant color. It was just made for Blu-Ray.

Now I will admit the story starts slowly and is predictable. But I got so caught up in things, I really didn't care. In fact, I was sorry to see it end. But when we reached that ending, I felt like standing up and cheering.

The characters never get too much beyond one dimensional. But I loved them anyway, rooting for the heroes and booing the villain.

Even though this movie was done by the Wachowski Brothers, it isn't one of their adult oriented epics. Yes, there is a moral to the story, but it isn't hit you in the face. And everything is in keeping with the PG rating. In fact, Speed has a younger brother who has a pet chimp, and those two steal every scene they are in. I loved them.

This is a movie designed for a foremost to entertain. And it did that for me. I can't wait to see it again, and I'm really hoping we get a sequel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Four stars for the target audience two or three for everyone else.
Speed racer looks amazing, the effects and everything are stunning, the races are exciting and the action is suitably impressive. Read more
Published 3 months ago by genejoke

5.0 out of 5 stars Speed I am speed, oops wrong film!!
My son loves these and they are very easy to put together and also very durable. Excellent product from lego. However he never lets me be speed!!!
Published 4 months ago by C. Davies

4.0 out of 5 stars For Children Of All Ages
Though it is made with extremely broad brush strokes, it is a brilliantly audacious film : visual crack for the viewer, matched with a fairly brave plot about corruption and fixed... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. M. A. Reed

5.0 out of 5 stars The 2nd best Car-Racing film ever made! Good Family fun!
Enjoyable to watch, the plot may be too confusing for younger kids who will just laugh at the gags and become awestruck by the faultless special effects. Read more
Published 5 months ago by O.Khan

2.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly dull
Purchased for my car mad 7 yr old son. He fell asleep half way through!

Says it all really.

Published 5 months ago by Xanthe Bearman

1.0 out of 5 stars 'Speed Racer'? More like 'SLOW TALKER'!
I watched this film with a group of young boys who love action movies. 20 minutes in they started to shout "BORING!" at the screen. Read more
Published 5 months ago by i wrote this

2.0 out of 5 stars The Wachowski Brothers mess up again
This films like an old car. Has some major faults,its embarrassing but you find yourself liking it (some of the time).

Its way over the top. Read more
Published 7 months ago by AlanK47

3.0 out of 5 stars Great visual film but poor DVD extras
The film follows Speed Racer, a young racing whizz kid, like Lewis Hamilton, who is racing in memory of his older brother Rex Racer, who died in a dangerous road race. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Bill Brasky

4.0 out of 5 stars Well, 3.5 stars, but still
I really wasn't looking forward to watching this movie. The Buzz was bad, the reviews (with the exception of a few) were horrible, and the film looked too cartoony. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Lloyds Tsb

3.0 out of 5 stars Neon bright, but slightly coma inducing
Drastically different film from the Matrix directors. Kid friendly racer based off Japanese manga. Average story and acting. Good CGI action sequences. Read more
Published 11 months ago by benmully

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