Topic: Here he comes....

[lyonsden5]

...here comes Speed Racer, he's a demon on wheels... he's a demon and he's gonna be chasin after someone 

A childhood favorite has now hit the big screen. (May 9th)

From the official site

From writer/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski, the creators of the groundbreaking “The Matrix” trilogy, and producer Joel Silver comes the live-action, high-octane family adventure “Speed Racer.” 

The film stars Emile Hirsch (“Alpha Dog”) as Speed, Christina Ricci (“Black Snake Moan”) as Trixie, Matthew Fox (TV’s “Lost”) as Racer X, and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (“Dead Man Walking”) and John Goodman (“Evan Almighty”) as Mom and Pops Racer. Rounding out the main cast are Australian actor Kick Gurry (“Spartan”) as Sparky; Paulie Litt (TV’s “Hope & Faith”) as Spritle; Roger Allam (“The Queen,” “V For Vendetta”) as Royalton; and Asian music star Ji Hoon Jung (popularly known as Rain), making his major feature film debut as a rival driver.

If you're interested take the time to view the trailer on the site (it takes a bit to start - actually I had to update my quicktime first as well) but it's worth it as it's a lot better that the one I found on you tube. It looks like a live action cartoon to me. Very interesting. Very vivid colors. Should be an great HD presentation. (downloading the HD trailer now  )

Any other speed racer fans out there or is it just me 

[m.cellophane]

Any other speed racer fans out there or is it just me 

I used to love Speed Racer when I was a kid.    I don't know why I haven't picked up any of the DVDs.  Speed Racer used to be paired up with Kimba on the channel I watched.

[lovemunkey187]

Never heard of Speed Racer until the '90's when I saw a poster for it in an episode of Friends(I think Ross had it in his apartment) don't remember it ever being shown over here as a kid.

[Achim]

I don't know Speed Racer

but heck, the movie seems to have John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, the guy from "Lost" (Matthew something) and directed by the Wachowskis (are they still "brothers"?). I sure thinnk I'll catch this when it comes out, seems like it could be a lot of fun. (The trailer seems a bitt too cartoonish though.)

[DJ Doena]

Never heard of it before. 

[lyonsden5]

So it seems it is a USA thing then. How bout you guys in the great white north?

@ Achim - it does look cartoonish, doesn't it. I downloaded the 1080 trailer and was pleased. This could be one of those movies people buy as much for the way it was filmed/created as for the  content itself. Like I did with Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

@ James - I don't have any either. Almost grabbed one of them when it came out. As I recall the package looked like the mach-5 and where the headlights lit up and the box made a driving sound or something like that. 

[Achim]

@ Achim - it does look cartoonish, doesn't it. I downloaded the 1080 trailer and was pleased. This could be one of those movies people buy as much for the way it was filmed/created as for the  content itself. Like I did with Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

I downloaded the 720 trailer (wanted to save time) and was pleased too... However, it's the kind of movies where you can do just as much wrong as you can do right. Let's say it this way, as it is the Wachowskis, it can become a new Matrix or a new Matrix Revolutions

[lyonsden5]

Let's say it this way, as it is the Wachowskis, it can become a new Matrix or a new Matrix Revolutions

Well put! 

[m.cellophane]

@ James - I don't have any either. Almost grabbed one of them when it came out. As I recall the package looked like the mach-5 and where the headlights lit up and the box made a driving sound or something like that. 

I think the first volume had a "collectible" piece of tire tread that was the shape of the DVD package. I see now there are 5 volumes and a movie.  Looking at the contributor list of some of them, it seems our Movie Diva is a bit of a fan. 

[movie diva]

I love Speed Racer, It looks like a fun movie and John Goodman looks just like Pops.

[Achim]

Well, it's finally been time to watch this... Hesitated at first, as I thought the trailer looked kinda weird and over the top (in a not necessarily good way), but was not disappointed! It is a cool fun flick and for those who read Bill Hunt's euphoric "review": he's not really al that wrong.

Is it colorful, like the trailer? Check.
Does the race driving make no actual sense? Check.
Is the story predicable and witrhout real surprises? Check.
Are you still going to have bucket loads of fun? Check.

It is no Citizen Kane or tries to convey a message, but heck, it sure doesn't pretend to be. Give it a try for an entertaining afternoon.

[lyonsden5]

Thanks! Glad to hear it.

The weekend gross wasn't what they had hoped for from what I read yesterday. Article

[Achim]

Well, it was running against Iron Man (which I also saw and liked even more, as it had more substance to it)... And I am not sure how many people will remember Speed racer from the cartoon days and want to see this highly stylized live-action version of it.

[addicted2dvd]

I have to admit... I personally hated the cartoon. So the live action movie trailer does nothing for me. But I do remember and loved the old Iron Man cartoon... and even though I don't think I will make it to the theater to see it... I can't wait to see the new Iron Man movie. So I can see it being a bit of bad luck for Speed Racer being up against Iron Man. Especially on how hugely popular the superhero movies have become.

[Najemikon]

Empire had a link to a video clip of the first seven minutes of Speed Racer. I thought it was bloody awful! Mind you I didn't fancy it from the trailer. Far too colourful and stylised for my liking.