Speed Racer (2008)

Didn't they do a Yatterman live action series too?

I feel that Furious 7 and Mad Max: Fury Road were much better Speed Racer movie than actual Speed Racer movie.

For animated movie, REDLINE.

Because HOLY SHIT.

Speed Racer and Mad Max in general have very little in common.

No, but they might have done an animated remake.

At this point Tatsunoko doesn't really do anything new - just remakes of its old stuff and animation for other people's productions.

By this logic Warrior Of The Lost World was also a better Speed Racer film.

edited 9th May '16 6:30:40 PM by Aldo930

Both movies are about impossibly cool, tricked out vehicles participating in a furious race. I feel that those are pretty big similarities.

Eh, that's still a stretch, since MM is more about surviving in a post-apocalyptic sandy world. Post-apocalyptic is the last descriptive I'd use for Speed Racer.

But in the world of the movie, car racing is literally the driving force of businesses. So if enough people were to lose a race, the businesses connected to them would all get tumbling shares and would go near-bankrupt. Which is a more realistic conflict than the end of the world.

You clearly haven't watched the first Mad Max movie, which was actually not post-apocalyptic at all. Also, both movies are defined and built around tricked out vehicles, filled with Badass Driver characters. leads up to and end in one big climactic race.

So that's just enough amount of similiarities.

That's like calling GTA a Mario Kart game because both feature driving.

You could probably make a better comparison to Death Race 2000.

Not really, because GTA series have a LOT going on even if you take out vehicular actions, although it's going to be a tougher playthrough.

Death Race 2000 is a Mad Max/Running Man rip off anyway.

Yes, both of them came after DR 2000, I am just joking.

Might as well add in another post here.

So one problem has with the film is that it stuck to the 60s anime theme and tone, when that is arguably outdated and contributed to many of the film's faults, if I'm getting this down right. Why should it have gone for a more modern feel then? Yes, it may have made for a more commercially successful film, but then how would it distinguish itself from all the other blockbusters out there? At least this film felt different from all the other action films that we constantly get every year, for better or worse.

edited 27th Jun '16 12:16:25 AM by LDragon2

Because REDLINE did it better.

That it did.

I dunno, this film seemed to try too hard.

I still need to check that film out.

Still, Speed Racer managed to do all this stuff in live-action, which I at least feel is pretty cool.

2008 alone had The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, Quantum of Solace, etc, all of which were different and stood out in their own ways and were massively successful, as well as mostly critically acclaimed. The only different thing about Speed Racer was that it was in all around shitty quality.

Yeah, no, not even remotely close. REDLINE is basically a Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann level of awesomeness, but with car racing instead of mecha fighting. But Speed Racer? It's practically a B-movie made with an A-movie budget.

See, this movie, as well as Jupiter Ascending, displays so much problem of the Wachoskis. They try so hard on lesser areas, while not hard enough in where it really counts.

For fuck's sake, why the hell did we need Chim chim and Spritle's bullshit, other than the fact that they were in the anime?

I'm guessing because they felt that Spritle and Chim Chim were essential parts of the original show. I will say that they were a bit grating.

And I feel that Speed Racer stood out from the pack in 2008 by being different and much more colorful and old-school in terms of tone. At the very least, I'd pick it over Quantum of Solace, and considering how poorly that film has fared with many filmgoers, I don't think I'm the only one. Again, it all depends on whether or not you like the approach they went with or not. This is very much a Love It or Hate It film, mainly due to the fact that it went for a much cheesier feel compared to all those other films. The Dark Knight was a crime drama, Iron Man was a modern superhero flick, Wall-E was an animated sci-fi flick, Kung Fu Panda was an animated martial arts flick, and Quantum of Solace was a gritty spy flick. I'll concede that that is a lot of variety, but Speed Racer differentiated itself by being more colorful and more experimental in terms of style. Heck, most of those other films' styles had been done before, so Speed Racer definitely stood out, for better or worse, mainly by being such an unabashedly cheesy 60s anime-styled live action cartoon, which is after all, what it set out to achieve.

Jupiter Ascending I feel was a very weak film, mainly because that, unlike this one, it didn't go all the way with the whole "throwback to a classic style", and was bogged down by too much exposition without using any creative visuals. Heck, it was pretty much like any other big budget sci-fi flick in recent memory, while Speed Racer at least tried to set itself apart from most other films.

edited 27th Jun '16 11:53:53 PM by LDragon2

I thought Jupiter Ascending was weak because it was terribly written.

That too. Really poor dialogue that didn't even have the excuse of being a throwback like Speed Racer as well.

Do you have to be so harsh on the film?

I just like the film because I enjoyed its aesthetics, story, and overall tone. No it wasn't critically acclaimed, but reviews are subjective after all. And there have been several movies that were despised by critics when first released, and only gained attention from viewers years after release, like The Thing and The Shining. Heck, I myself disliked the film until I have it another go.

Again, Speed Racer is cheesy in a different way from the style that those other films are going for (and I'm not sure why you'd put Sharknado alongside those other awesome films). Whether you like its approach or not is subjective. And the difference between SR and JA's throwbacks imo is that while the former had a style all its own and at least felt like it had heart behind it, the latter felt visually derivative and lacking in any sense of wonder, as it didn't do anything really to stand out. Plus, the characters and script were also subpar, without having the advantage of trying to emulate the style of a cheesy 60s anime.

As for the Wachowskis, they have gotten a good career on Netflix with Sense 8. So I wouldn't mind seeing them make another film, albeit one with a much smaller budget like with Bound.

edited 28th Jun '16 3:26:04 AM by LDragon2

Sharknado is awesome because it knows it's cheesy and shitty and not trying to be anything else.

edited 28th Jun '16 7:20:07 AM by Demongodofchaos2

edited 28th Jun '16 8:05:26 AM by dRoy

Okay, what the hell? I didn't insult anyone or anything other than the movie itself and the creators (and not even them as people, but just their filming ability), and that somehow warrants a Thump?

Jesus Bloody Christ.

Yeah, you know what. I'm just about done.

edited 28th Jun '16 3:19:34 PM by dRoy

Hey everybody what's

(walks out)