Speed Racer the Movie, Your Thoughts

[RedPiggy]

I don't remember a whole lot ... but in the Dexter's Lab parody of it ... I think DeeDee "crashed up" (but in reality she'd been behind Dad all the time ... he just never looked ), but she raced as Racer D.

 

[Oscarfan]

I have no real desire to see this. I saw that new Speed Racer cartoon on Nicktoons Network and I thought it was terrible.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I have no real desire to see this. I saw that new Speed Racer cartoon on Nicktoons Network and I thought it was terrible.

I turned it on for a total of 3 secons and turned it off. I usually give a show longer than that to judge if I like it or not. I could just tell it wasnt worth my time. I guess it was the animation and the characters really looked nothing like the original. I'm really picky with animation.

 

[Drtooth]

I guess it was the animation and the characters really looked nothing like the original. I'm really picky with animation.

Ahem.. of course the characters look nothing like the original. they aren't the original characters. They're the second generation. But then again, the 1993 American Speed Racer character Designs were hit or miss. Trixie was terrible. She was made into a Blonde (American. Hah!) with ugly 1990's hair.

 

[Count von Count]

the chipmunks was not that bad, maybe speed might be good.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Ahem.. of course the characters look nothing like the original. they aren't the original characters. They're the second generation. But then again, the 1993 American Speed Racer character Designs were hit or miss. Trixie was terrible. She was made into a Blonde (American. Hah!) with ugly 1990's hair.

Ah, I was thinking it was like, a remake of the original, with the same characters.

 

[frogboy4]

Special effects don't determine if a movie is good or not. Look at Roland Emmerich's movies. The special effects are amazing, but the movies are mediocre. And Elijah Wood would've been a much better actor to play Speed instead of some guy I've never heard of. And has anyone even seen Snake Oiler? He looks like a darn arabian terrorist (nothing against arabians), and they got some guy named Christian Oliver (who the heck is he?) to play him. And they got Rex Racer (Racer X)'s back story so wrong. If you watched the cartoon, you'd know that Rex Racer ran away from home after a fight with Pops Racer, but in the movie, it says he was rumored to be dead from an automobile accident. I've been talking to so many die hard Speed Racer fans on Myspace, and even they agree with me that this movie is bound to be a total train wreck. In fact, I'm hoping that Iron Man will destroy it, and make everyone forget about this movie. And The Matrix was the only good movie The Wachowski Bros. made. The Matrix Reloaded was bad, The Matrix Revolutions was even worse, and V for Vendetta, what was that? That was so bad. Why couldn't they get a director that's been in the business longer like Steve Spielberg, Joe Dante, Ron Howard, or somebody like that? John Goodman belongs in mediocre, cliche comedies like Blues Brothers 2000 and Coyote Ugly. Emile Hirsch was in that movie Alpha Dog, which is one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life. Who cares if Bruce Willis was in it. Plus I had never heard of him prior to hearing he was playing Speed. If I had asked any of my friends who Emile Hirsch was, they'd probably say "Who?". Also, wasn't Vince Vaughn supposed to play Racer X? Why'd they get some guy from Lost that I've never heard of to play him instead? Just to impress the girls? I'm so dissappointed. A movie needs more than mind blowing special effects to be good. That's my two cents.

I agree that effects don't make a film. Here is appears the Wachowski brothers (I like the first Matrix and V for Vendetta) have created a unique world here meant to honor Speed Racer's animated roots while attempting something visually new. I haven't seen it so it is anyone's guess if this will work. There must be enough story elements to justify the film's 2 hour 15 minute running length. I hope they draw upon the source material first before becoming too creative as that usually works best for an entertainment property that's stayed in the social consciousness for over 41 years.

I still think you're being harsh on the cast. It appears that some of it has to do with politics or personal distain for the actors. I’m willing to give them a chance to see how they play out in the world of this film. Fans rarely get their particular dream casting. They might not be to your taste they are established bankable actors. The only exception here is Speed. Emile Hirsch presents the opportunity for the audience to associate with the Speed character rather than a specific movie star.

Friday will be the test. Many people thought Iron Man would be a hard sell to mainstream audiences because it is less recognizable than Superman, Batman, Spiderman or the Hulk, but audiences gave it over $100 million its opening weekend. Will Speed knock it down to 2nd place or will it fizzle out of the gate? My vote - it will bank nicely at the number one spot this weekend. The ads have people intrigued. However, it's always the 2nd and following weeks that predict how a film connects with viewers. The ads can get it so far, but after that it's all about word-of-mouth.

 

[Drtooth]

Friday will be the test. Many people thought Iron Man would be a hard sell to mainstream audiences because it is less recognizable than Superman, Batman, Spiderman or the Hulk, but audiences gave it over $100 million its opening weekend. Will Speed knock it down to 2nd place or will it fizzle out of the gate? My vote - it will bank nicely at the number one spot this weekend. The ads have people intrigued. However, it's always the 2nd and following weeks that predict how a film connects with viewers. The ads can get it so far, but after that it's all about word-of-mouth.

You know, when I heard they were making Iron Man the Movie, I thought to myself, how popular is this character for mainstream audiences? he had a short lived cartoon in the 90's. And of course that Heavy metal song. How would it have done with a more mainstream non-comic book geek audience? boy was I wrong. that film's doing gangbusters, and I hear it's pretty dang good.

That said, May is going to be a heavy month. Iron man, Speed Racer, and a couple weeks after that one, indiana Jones 4.

I have to completely agree with you about the cast. I mean, they are as close as we can get without somehow creating a wormhole to some alternate dimention where the cartoons are real, and us humans are on TV and pulled the characters out to make a film about themselves. I've heard horror stories about the multiple attempts they tried to get this film together. I forget most of it, but it was a bunch of stunt casting, and just horrible, horrible choices.

Personally, all I can say is if there is one director or directors out there that can do a faithful job of making an anime, the Bros Wachowski are the perfect fit. I mean, the Matrix films drew quite a bit from anime and manga. When they make that ill advised Akira film, they should give these guys a call. Heck, they shoulda got them to make the Dragonball film (becasue Matrix 3 was basically a plotline lifted straight out of DBZ).

There would have been a lot of hacks out there trying hard to make this a kiddy film, Americanizing everything, and just having complete ignorance of the source material. I have faith in the Bros here.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

I have no real desire to see this. I saw that new Speed Racer cartoon on Nicktoons Network and I thought it was terrible.

Well, I've seen "The New Adventures of Speed Racer", witch wasn't that bad to me. But I've never seen "Speed Racer: The Next Generation" before.

 

[Elwood Blues]

I saw it last night at 8:40 PM. It was bad. Even my mother thought it was bad. It's like they took Dick Tracy, Spy Kids 3D, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, and Talladega Nights:The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, put them in a blender, vomited on them before turning it on, and when they did turn it on. They came up with this train wreck. It made Dick Tracy look like Batman. The only thing remotely appealing was the cameo by Peter Fernandez (the voice of Speed Racer on the original cartoon, as well as the director and writer of the english language version), and the scene where the kid and the monkey are being chased through the lobby set to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird. I'm seeing Iron Man next week, which looks alot better and more worth the time and the money unlike THIS train wreck of a movie.