Here he come, here comes SPEED RACER...he's a demon on wheels. (1 Viewer)

[Kevin M]

.........ah, I also own all of the DVD set's and I am not basing my comment on "distant childhood memories", having watched many of them recently I don't remember Speed doing too many "Jet Li" type martial arts moves as much as he just basically fought with his fists with a few kicks thrown in for good measure.

My point was that I think your Jet Li comment was a bit exaggerated.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Hell, I think your comment about Speed being average in all things except driving is a bit exaggerated. IMO, Speed had some martial arts skills that go beyond average.

 

[Kevin M]

I dunno, I just don't see it Robert & I even popped in a few again to have another look and aside from the obvious unreality of animation he just doesn't strike me as Jet Li/Bruce Lee in the way Brook described.....I mean in most episodes he gets caught and needs to be rescued by either Trixy, Spridel & Chim Chim or even by the girl he's "rescuing" as in Girl Daredevil, that's why I said Average....as much as he wants to be, without his Friends & Family (and even Racer X "secretly Speed's older Brother" on occasion) he's no James Bond, and I always thought that was the point...a Driver is only as good as his team.

Speed Never struck me as lone dog's like Jet Li, Bruce Lee, Bruce Li or even Bruce Leroy.

 

[Brook K]

I'll try and find some specific references if I get the time to do it.

But when I compared him to Jet Li, I mean in terms of Speed is seventeen, eighteen years old and can take out 5 big guys who all have guns with a few flying kicks and punches with the occasional judo throw for good measure.

Anyway, the comparison was not in the sense that he's showing off electrifying kung fu moves, obviously the level of animation in Speed Racer wouldn't allow for anything of the sort.

 

[Kevin M]

Judo Throw...I always loved it when he did that.

Hikeba!

 

[AaronMan]

Anyone see the image of the Mach 5 over at darkhorizons.com? It looks terrible! They ruined the car's beautiful curves and lines.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news07/070601h.php

 

[DavidPla]

Terrible? ... There's a difference?

 

[TheLongshot]

Yeah, it looks like the Mach 5 to me...

Jason

 

[Edwin-S]

I cannot see this movie as being good, but they seem to have succeeded in translating the car's design into real world fiberglass (Kevlar?). The car looks pretty slick to me.

 

[Adam_WM]

Yeah, the 2D version is so much better!





Not really.

 

[AaronMan]

Ugh...well, its obvious, judging by this design, that this movie isn't taking place in the 60s, so I've already lost a lot of interest in it.

 

[Kevin M]

It looks cool to me, is it exactly the same? No, but so close as to show true love for the original....I mean they could have altered/modernized it considerably more than they have IMO.

 

[Kevin Grey]

I missed the news of this when it was first announced but I'm very happy to hear that the Wachowskis are back in the director's chair. I was beginning to get worried that they would become like Luc Besson or John Hughes and just produce and do screenplays.

 

[TonyD]

while obvious to you, to others, not so much.
what is wrong with this design of the mach 5
or why such a big deal, not in the 60's

 

[CoreyII]

Tony I agree, the car looks spot on with very little changes from it's animated counterpart. The Mach-5 unlike the Batmobile isn't open for wide interpretations and the designers of the movie Mach-5 seem to realize that.

I know the animation is dated, but I don't think Speed Racer's world was trying to reflect any specific time period, so setting it in modern day shouldn't be a problem. Actually, producer Joel Silver has been reported as stating that the film will have a retro-future look to it. And the film will be very family friendly which will be quite a departure for the Wachowski's.

The casting is very interesting, Christina Ricci as Trixie and Matthew Fox as Racer-X. Someone named Emile Hirsche is playing Speed.

According to the recent article in USA Today, Chim Chim will be a real chimpanzee and not a puppet or CGI, but the racing will be mostly digital.

I'd personally prefer the racing sequences in Speed Racer to be more reality based like "Days of Thunder", but then again Speed Racer's world isn't realistic. And besides, if the effects technicians can make the racing in Speed Racer come off somewhat like the Pod Race in "Phantom Menace" then I am game.

From what I can tell so far, the Wachowski seem to have done their homework. The film is still a year away from being released, but I think it's going to be hit, afterall, if the first Scooby Doo movie could make over 100 million at the box office, why not Speed Racer.

Right now, I don't see how anyone could have a problem with where this film is heading. Little things like the film not being set in the 60's and miniscule changes to the Mach-5 are extremely trivial issues.

 

[DavidPla]

Teaser is coming out with "The Golden Compass"

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/node/34951

 

[Nelson Au]

I saw some clips from this film tonight on ET. Not sure if any clips are out anywhere, have not tried to look. I guess this is the trailer they showed. Looks very CGI-ish, that is the action of the racing is very much in line with a cartoon verse reality. Probably a good thing they stay in a cartoon universe. Colors are bright, there are camera pans that fly around the characters and cars and the tracks look so unreal.

As far as the car's design, from that one still image, I'd agree that it's a pretty good interpretation. But there are compromises. The wheel arches are not correct and the main crease line along the body side does not follow the cartoon version. But overall, pretty good.

 

[DavidPla]

Here's the teaser... kinda has a "Spy Kids 3-D" vibe to it!

http://movies.aol.com/movie/speed-racer-2008/28066/main

 

[TonyD]

i didnt feel spy kids, i felt real, live anime, vibrant and spectacular looking.

for me, the look was WOW!.

the mach 5 appears near the beginning but a mach 6 is on the second section
of the teaser.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Just saw the trailer. Looks terrible to me. Doesn't look like something I want to see. Maybe a DVD rental.