Speed Racer 52 Ep (5 DVD Boxset). Any Reviews? (1 Viewer)

[Spero D]

Link Removed
Looking at this set and would like to know if anyone has it and can offer a review on it?
Also there are 2 speed racer DVDs coming out in R4 Australia next month.
Spero D.

 

[David Lambert]

Wow! As intriguing as that may be, $249 for 5 discs with 52 ½-hour shows just isn't worth it!! Not even for a "limited signature edition".
They don't even specify if this is Region 1, R0, or what. OR whether anything else comes along in the way of supplements.
No, thank you! I'll wait for the K-Mart release! In the meantime, I'll be happy with the one disc I have with "The Car Hater" and "The Monster Car Parts 1 & 2".

 

[Chris Brunner]

Divide that price by 4 and I'd pick it up for sure.
THEN I'd have to find a hiding place for it 'cause my wife would kill me if she knew.
C

 

[Chris Dugger]

Heh...heh....

I am a PROUD owner of this box set....

I have only wtched 2 ep's yet... but, it was worth the price...

Now all I need is complete ASTROBOY and KIMBA THE WHITE LION.

Dugger

 

[Mark_Wilson]

Actually, thats about half the price of previous 2 box set of Speed Racer. They were about $216 EACH from CDJapan.co.jp

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Too rich for my blood.

Do they say that there definitely won't be a general release of episodes in the future?

As far as Astroboy, I think Right Stuf starts releasing the original B&W series on DVD later this year.

 

[Robert Floto]

Chris, can you answer some questions for us?

1) What region is the set?

2) What (if any) supplements are included?

3) What is the quality (video, sound)?

What I'd really like is each episode with the original Japanese version (with subtitles) included as well. I'd love to do a side by side comparison... I'd pick that up in a second...

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I paid slightly more for 36eps of Macross, I don't regret it 1 bit

They're Region 1 if they're calling it "Speed Racer". The true title is "Mach Go Go" (sort of a play on words, "Speed"'s name is "Go" and the Japanese word for "5" is "Go", so it's both 5 and Go, as in start the race). The original version is also uncut and contains all of the violence missing from the original (those blades aren't just for trees!)

$216 is typical, and even cheap for a Japanese 26 episode box set. Usually those go for closer to $300.

One last thing, if they're putting 10-11 episodes per DVD, I wouldn't touch it, especially with how beat up this material must be. 220-242 minutes per disc? With that much grain and print/tape damage as these must show? Forget it

 

[Ted Todorov]

One last thing, if they're putting 10-11 episodes per DVD, I wouldn't touch it, especially with how beat up this material must be. 220-242 minutes per disc? With that much grain and print/tape damage as these must show? Forget it.

Well, Chris would you like to comment on the quality?
And nobody has asked yet, so I will: are they in Japanese or English?
Any hope for a release at R1 prices? I'm dying for Speed Racer indeed I can't think of any other TV shows besides classic Warner cartoons (if that's considered TV) and season one of Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century that I want as badly.
Ted

 

[Chris Dugger]

Ok...

If you guys put together a list of what you're looking for, I will do a full review of the set...

Give me a starting point...

As for the equipment on this test, I will be using the Malata996 in progressive mode displayed on a Mitisbishi 65 16x9 HD unit.

As I said... just need some point inwhich are important to the group.

Dugger

 

[Jeff Kleist]

These will not contain any Japanese language or subs. They're selling you Speed Racer, not Mach Go Go, which means there would be 3-4 min of empty footage on the English track.

I seriously doubt that they even went back and used the new Japanese masters, due to the expense of re-slicing and chopping the show.

 

[Spero D]

Chris I look forward to your comments on picture, sound format, picture quality, eps per DVD, Region and any other info you can provide.

Thanks,

Spero D.

 

[Chris Dugger]

SPEED RACER - SIGNATURE COLLECTIBLE EDITION - Region 1
5 discs in keep cases housed in a flimsy cardboard hub.
Disc 1 - Dual sided - contains 11 episodes approx. 24 minutes each. Dolby Digital (L/R) English Mono - No Subtitles - 4:3 ratio - No extras
Disc 2 - Dual sided - contains 10 episodes approx. 24 minutes each. Dolby Digital (L/R) English Mono - No Subtitles - 4:3 ratio - Extras: VW TV Commercial / Sponge Music Video / The Mach 5 / Racer X
Disc 3 - Dual sided - contains 11 episodes approx. 24 minutes each. Dolby Digital (L/R) English Mono - No Subtitles - 4:3 ratio - No extras
Disc 4 - Dual sided - contains 10 episodes approx. 24 minutes each. Dolby Digital (L/R) English Mono - No Subtitles - 4:3 ratio - Extras: Interview with Peter Fernandez
Disc 5 - Dual sided - contains 10 episodes approx. 24 minutes each. Dolby Digital (L/R) English Mono - No Subtitles - 4:3 ratio - Extras: "The Silver Phantom" Speed Racer 2001 Pilot Episode
EXTRAS -
VW TV Commercial - This is a commercial for a VW auto geared around SPEED and the gang. Commercial is in excellent shape yet a tad grainy (compression?).
Sponge "SPEED RACER" music video - This is the music video that was produced for the laserdisc "SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS GREATEST HITS" w/ Drew Barrymore. Quality is comparable to that of the laserdisc .
The Mach 5 - Video with a breakdown of the secrets of the Mach 5 using SPEED RACER video footage.
Racer "X" - Music video compilation of episode footage highlighting Racer "X"
Interview w/ Peter Fernandez: This interview was conducted in 2001. Anyone that knows SPEED RACER should know that Fernandez was the one assigned to write the scripts and dialogue for the english translation of SPEED RACER. Interesting interview.
"The Silver Phantom": SPEED RACER 2001 pilot - Although this pilot was made in 97 for a new SPEED series, it didn't make it to the USA until 2001. It is present here in it's entirety.
VIDEO -
Well, prints are excellent. From the couple of episodes I have seen, these must have been taken from the elements. Colors are excellent, yet the image suffers from being a tad soft. This soft presentation does NOT appear in the "pilot" episode for the new SPEED series. the pilot ep is sharp. Artifacts are present, yet were not distracting to me. This is certainly caused by the compression to get 11 - 10 episodes per dual layer disc.
AUDIO -
This is presented in Dolby Digital Mono (left channel / right channel). My decoder did not center the mono signal to the center. It outputs to left and right. Audio was clean and clear.
Test was done on a Malata 996 Progressive player to a Mit 65 16x9 HDTV.
Now... I open this up to any further question..
Dugger

 

[Michael St. Clair]

If you have DD2.0 come out of L/R and you want it center instead, switch to the analog outputs of the DVD player (easy on some setups) and engage Pro-Logic on the receiver/processor.

 

[Chris Dugger]

Anyone know if Mach Go Go has been released....

Dugger

 

[Spero D]

Any other reviews of this set?

Spero D.

 

[Spero D]

As above any other reviews?

Spero D.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Mach Go Go is out in Japan

I highly doubt that anyone will release it subtitled in the US. The series is just not popular enough for one of the anime companies to pick it up. Similar to Voyager Entertainment with Star Blazers, I'm sure that the people who put out the Speed Racer discs just hada stack of master tapes and got them dumped to disc. As mentioned before, Mach Go Go is available in Japan, though I believe the box sets may be OOP

The Speed Racer 2001 pilot is actually "Shin(New) Mach Go Go" which lasted either 13 or 26 episodes (forget which) around 1998-1999.

 

[KeithAP]

...and if you buy the DVD collection you might be interested in a drivable Link Removed

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Mach Go Go is out in Japan

I highly doubt that anyone will release it subtitled in the US. The series is just not popular enough for one of the anime companies to pick it up. Similar to Voyager Entertainment with Star Blazers, I'm sure that the people who put out the Speed Racer discs just hada stack of master tapes and got them dumped to disc. As mentioned before, Mach Go Go is available in Japan, though I believe the box sets may be OOP

The Speed Racer 2001 pilot is actually "Shin(New) Mach Go Go" which lasted either 13 or 26 episodes (forget which) around 1998-1999.