Speed Racer

[Gemini Cricket]

Speed Racer

Opens this Friday.

40% so far on rottentomatoes, but there aren't many reviews in yet.

Pedal to the metal blockbuster or a lemon?

Kinda feeling this one might come in second to Iron Man this weekend. Word of mouth is strong with IM.

[Moonliner]

I don't know kid, I've got a bad feeling about this one.

[Strangler Lewis]

From the previews, I thought Beowulf looked like the worst movie ever made. This, however, tops it.

[scaeagles]

Even my 8 year old boy sees commercials for it and say "that looks really stupid".

[Capt Jack]

did he ever see the original cartoon? wasnt hella better

[Snowflake]

I had high hopes, I loved the original cartoons. But the previews I do not like, so much.

[Kevy Baby]

I will admit that I am intrigued...

[Alex]

Some early comments on it being a visual masterpiece changed my mind and had me looking forward to it.

Since then the tide has certainly turned and I'm back to ho hum.

[Moonliner]

did he ever see the original cartoon? wasnt hella better

BLASPHEMY!

You Sir are clearly suffering from....... well from something!

Speed Racer was a masterpiece of minimalist animation artistry. Stories of power and depth combined with jaw dropping action scenes made that show among the greatest artistic achievements in human history.

[Gemini Cricket]

Ever notice that when they need to cast someone big they get John Goodman? If John Goodman ever loses weight, he is out of a job. I guess he could do more voice over stuff.

I was intrigued about this film early on, but the negative buzz is just killing this movie. I've only seen one preview and I was kinda meh about it.

Also, I always pictured all of these characters as Japanese. I never thought in my head that they were white at all... It's like if they do a big live-action film of Lupin III, I see him and all the characters in that show as Japanese...

[Strangler Lewis]

For similar visuals that look like they make a lot more sense in context, I would rent Tron.

[Moonliner]

Also, I always pictured all of these characters as Japanese. I never thought in my head that they were white at all... It's like if they do a big live-action film of Lupin III, I see him and all the characters in that show as Japanese...

You pictured Speed as Japanese?

http://www.anime.com/Speed_Racer/images/circle-01.jpg

That I just don't see.

[Capt Jack]

how bout now?


:D

[Moonliner]

how bout now?


:D

Now he just looks Girthy. And a little disturbing.

[Snowflake]

how bout now?


:D

Looks mightly like a certain Capt.....

[Capt Jack]

Looks mightly like a certain Capt.....

heh...only a little

:p

Now he just looks Girthy. And a little disturbing.

only a little?

[Chernabog]

HAHAHA!!! ^^ OK, now someone photoshop that helmet on CJ. :)

And come ON GC, you gotta admit, the live action Speed Racer is hella cute.

[Gemini Cricket]

Oh, yes. It's true. The live action Speed is very cute.
:)

[innerSpaceman]

so where's a pic of the hella cute live action Speed?

[Capt Jack]

HAHAHA!!! ^^ OK, now someone photoshop that helmet on CJ. :)


stay tuned. no photoshop necessary

:blush:

[Fab]

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNN !!!" ~Stephen Colbert

[Capt Jack]

HAHAHA!!! ^^ OK, now someone photoshop that helmet on CJ. :)

close but no cigar

[RStar]

When I first heard that they were making this movie, I thought it was a stupid idea. And although I watched them on occasion as a kid because there wasn't anything else on after school, I never took these cartoons seriously. Speed Racer, Simba the White Lion, Gigantor, ect. were ok, but I couldn't get past the minamalisim. I would have rather watched Gumby, at least all of his parts moved at the same time.

But after seeing several different trailers, I have to say I'm looking forward to seeing this one. With live action it's everything I wished the cartoon was. And the way they captured some of the cartoon look is amazing. The visuals are the reason I want to see it, and the story may suck, but I think it will still get me to buy a ticket.

[Moonliner]

When I first heard that they were making this movie, I thought it was a stupid idea. And although I watched them on occasion as a kid because there wasn't anything else on after school, I never took these cartoons seriously. Speed Racer, Simba the White Lion, Gigantor, ect. were ok, but I couldn't get past the minamalisim. I would have rather watched Gumby, at least all of his parts moved at the same time.

But after seeing several different trailers, I have to say I'm looking forward to seeing this one. With live action it's everything I wished the cartoon was. And the way they captured some of the cartoon look is amazing. The visuals are the reason I want to see it, and the story may suck, but I think it will still get me to buy a ticket.

I was looking forward to a live action movie, why did they deliberately make it look cartoonish? Meh. Put me down for a wait and see on this one.

Also am I the only one not falling over themselves to worship the Wachowski's butts? Yeah the Matrix was a fun movie but the third one was so bad I can't stand to watch any of them anymore.

[innerSpaceman]

Yeah, i love how they're advertising it as a product of the people who brought you the Matrix Trilogy! As if that's a selling point!!

[Chernabog]

Yeah, i love how they're advertising it as a product of the people who brought you the Matrix Trilogy! As if that's a selling point!!

Seriously! The Matrix Trilogy was terrible.

Actually I sorta liked the third one, because it was nothing more than a big robot movie. The first two were of Laurence Fishburne talking very......slowly.....about......obvious....things. ...

LF: Effects..... have causes.... and causes..... have effects......

Matrix Fans: OMG THAT IS SO DEEEEEEEEP!!!!

Me: Um, no.

Speed Racer is getting pretty awful reviews. Emile Hirsch remains cute, however :)

[Gemini Cricket]

34% for Speed Racer.
Looks like a lemon...

One critic said this:
Young boys will probably eat this stuff up but older fans of the cartoons might leave the movie feeling like the Wachowskis have taken a big fat multi-colored dump on their sense of nostalgia.

:D

[innerSpaceman]

HAHAHAHAHA. I'll rent it on DVD to be sure, but I have no desire to pay to see anything by the Wachowskis ever again.


To be fair, I LOVED the original The Matrix. The sequels soured me on the brothers forever.

[Gemini Cricket]

Looks like Speed Racer got a flat going up against Iron Man this weekend.
D'oh!
Numbers are not firm yet...

[Tref]

Well, I saw it and LIKED it. In fact, I would see it again and most likely will. Visually, there are things on the screen that I have never seen the likes of before and there is an energy to the movie that keeps it chugging along at a quick pace. If you have any desire to see it -- don't wait for DVD, this is a big movie and it will lose a lot on TV. There is no plot, per se, at least, no more then an episode of Speed Racer; its just a big, dumb, fun cartoon.

[innerSpaceman]

From what I've heard, the visual design intrigues me. Not enough to pay or, rather, to find the spare movie-going time that other films won't easily consume ... but at least I'm looking forward to some element of it on DVD, rather than watching out of obligation to my fond childhood memories (or in spite of them).


Visual fantasticness is certainly an element to why I'd choose big screen over TV ... but there's got to be more going for a film than that.

[Crazybirdman]

You really should see it in the theater. It's won't be anywhere near as spectacular at home.

And honestly, has there ever been a re-make of anything, TV Show, cartoon, book, or older movie, that fans of the original like? Nothing will ever compare to nostalgia. I'm not saying the movie was great by the way.

[Deebs]

You really should see it in the theater. It's won't be anywhere near as spectacular at home.

I wholly agree with you.

This definitely wasn't my first choice for Mother's Day entertainment, but I wanted to do something the kids would like, so we went. It was a visual treat, very bold. Really fun movie. Christina Ricci surprised me. I never expected so much perkiness from her.

[RStar]

The plot, as mentioned, was pretty week just like the cartoon. The acting was, well, Speed Racer. I think they were spot on with the look of the cartoon. It was a blend of live action and cartoon I have never seen before, the visuals were amazing. If you wait to see this at home you will lose a good bit of the main reason to see this film, unless you have a large HDTV. The type of car racing they did was so unlike anything I've ever seen before, except on the old cartoon, which I haven't wached since I was a kid, so the memories came flooding back.

Surprisingly, for a film that I thought was a stupid idea, I enjoyed it quite a bit. If they did it more straight laced standard live action movie, it would have been stupid. The blend of cartoonish (which, BTW, was in the back drops) and live action is what made this film work for me.

[Moonliner]

You really should see it in the theater. It's won't be anywhere near as spectacular at home.

And honestly, has there ever been a re-make of anything, TV Show, cartoon, book, or older movie, that fans of the original like? Nothing will ever compare to nostalgia. I'm not saying the movie was great by the way.

While nothing is ever universally loved, I think X-men, Spiderman, LoTR, The Godfather and Jaws all pleased the vast majority of their pre-movie fans.

[Moonliner]

Also, if you all don't stop denigrating the original animated masterpiece with patiently false accusations of "weak plot", undeveloped characters or visuals that were anything less than revolutionary, I'm going to meet you in a dark alley one day with a tire wrench and a slightly anthropomorphised monkey.

[Kevy Baby]

The problem with the original animated series is that it suffered from a weak plot, undeveloped characters and visuals that were much less than revolutionary. I hope to some day meet someone in a dark alley with a tire wrench and a slightly anthropomorphised monkey to express that.

[Gemini Cricket]

All I remember about the original series was the theme song and the monkey.
:)

There was also a techno remix of the theme and sound clips from the series that was released in the late 90's or so by a group called Alpha. That was awesome.

[flippyshark]

For what it's worth, you can watch the original Speed Racer for free, with limited commercial interruptions, on hulu (www.hulu.com). I've loaded up the first two-parter, and in my post-op drowsiness, I've found it puts me to sleep in a hurry, in spite of its being so brightly colored, and the voice acting so emphatic and noisy.

Hulu has been a godsend, though. I've been able to watch a whole season's worth of 30 Rock and fantastic movies like Empire of the Ants, At The Earth's Core, and the 70s Burt Reynolds classic White Lightning, from the comfort of my bed. I hope their selection grows, as this is a pretty good alternative for people like me with no TV. (I'm not kidding.)