Speed Racer (2008)

Directors:

Andy Wachowski
Larry Wachowski

Writers (WGA):

Andy Wachowski (written by) &
Larry Wachowski (written by) ...

Release Date:

9 May 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Family | Sport

Tagline:

Go

Plot:

The story begins with Speed Racer who is a young man with natural racing instincts whose goal is to win The Crucible...

Plot Keywords:

Bomb | Armored Car | Racer | Knocked Out | Celebrity

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Emile Hirsch	...	Speed
Nicholas Elia	...	Young Speed
Susan Sarandon	...	Mom
Melissa Holroyd	...	Speed's Teacher
Ariel Winter	...	Young Trixie
Scott Porter	...	Rex
Gian Ganziano	...	Everyman Announcer
Peter Fernandez	...	Local Announcer
Harvey Friedman	...	Harold Ledermann Announcer
Sadao Ueda	...	Japanese Announcer
Valery Tscheplanowa	...	Russian Announcer
Sami Loris	...	Italian Announcer
Olivier Marlo	...	French Announcer
Sean McDonagh	...	Celtic Announcer
Kick Gurry	...	Sparky

Also Known As:

Race Chasers (USA) (fake working title)
Speed Racer: The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sequences of action, some violence and language.

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | USA:PG (certificate #44193) | UK:PG | Ireland:PG | South Korea:12 | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-11 | Venezuela:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Peter Fernandez, the voice of Speed Racer and Racer X in the original cartoon series, plays the Race Announcer in this movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Togokhan wins the cross country race, the kiss mark on his face changes sides from his left cheek, to his right.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Race Announcer: All drivers to your cars, please. All drivers to your cars.

Movie Connections:

Spin off Speed Racer (2008) (VG)

An Interesting Transformation from Animation to Live Action!

Personally I have never been a fan of the original animated series, and I wasn't sure what to expect of this movie. After seeing the trailers I thought it looked kind of cheesy and over-done. After watching this I realized that the cheesy graphics, work to it's own advantage. This movie really caught a good look at Live action Speed Racer without losing the characteristics of the Cartoon. I didn't think even the Wachowski brothers could pull this off, but as usual, they did.

As far as the actors performances, Emile Hirsch did exceptional, but my eye was mostly on the brilliant performances by John Goodman, and new comer Paul Litt who plays Spritle, Speed's mischievous little brother. I recommend this for the family, don't wait for the DVD get to the theaters while this stunning cinematography is on the big screen!