Speed Racer (The Wachowskis, 2008)

[Barmy]

Yeah like anyone's going to read that.

[Cde.]

I just wanted to get my own thoughts out of the way. It's not exactly soaring writing anyway, so you won't be missing too much.

Short version: It's an astonishing film about concentration. Beautifully choreographed sights and sounds, and genuinely moving and exciting in the way other recent blockbusters have promised to be and always failed to deliver.

It's an advancement in narrative technique and a wonderful thing to behold.

[Galen Young]

I read both Cde's and John Cope's long posts and thought they were both fine. Glad to see people rally around this great film.

I'm convinced Speed Racer will be seen as one of the few films attempting to push ahead narrative storytelling in film -- similar to what 2001: A Space Odyssey did in its day. Even those final moments of the Grand Prix race constitute a small homage of sorts to the Star Gate sequence in 2001 -- right down to that last psychedelic swirly -- which is pure bliss to experience in IMAX. In fact, I'm quite bummed that I only got to see it three times in IMAX before it left, the last time with one of my young kids -- whose first words when we left the theatre were: "Can we go see that again, please?"

Once people discover Speed Racer on DVD, they are going to be kicking themselves hard that they didn't go see it on the big screen when they had the chance. Since my kid liked it so much, it was a good excuse as any to go pick up a copy of the first volume DVD of the original tv show for him to watch. (and me too, of course!) And I was shocked to see in those first ten episodes -- it's all there in the film! Everything – minor characters, plot points, details -- the Wachowski's did a masterful job of synthesizing it all into one packed, two-hour film. So I guess if you happen to be hardcore fan of the show, the movie definitely does not disappoint.

[Barmy]

I'm convinced you're insane.

[starmanof51]

Im totally for discussing it and im not denying it could have some positives. I was just mocking the fact that it was being compared and contrasted with Godard.

All I can tell you is I took my kid to it on opening weekend, and it made me think of Godard (among other things - its not like JLG would make this movie, but there are some kindred ideas at work). It surprises me not one whit to find other people thought the same. If a bumpkin like me can see the connection, it's not too hard to find. It also doesn't directly have anything to do with liking or not liking - Godard's made his share of shit.

[solaris72]

I dug this movie, but am a little amazed at the comparisons with Godard and 2001- I see it more like Torque for children. Though I wouldn't take my hypothetical children to see it.

[abuckley89]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is a future classic. I found the film astonishing on many level and it's angering how unembraced this was by audiences. Positive analysis seems to be coming out eachday and I wouldnt be surprised if interest in the thing comes back once its on DVD. Maybe on a smaller screen the Wachowski's vision will become more clear to wider audiences. I'll be buying a bluray player and HDTV sometime this summer before Speed Racer comes out.

I hope Warner Brothers take a different approach marketing the thing on DVD because it's their last chance to try and save this thing.

[starmanof51]

Maybe on a smaller screen the Wachowski's vision will become more clear to wider audiences.

I don't see this ever working for a wide audience. Outside of broad outlines of plot, there's nothing comfortable and familiar about it.

[origami_mustache]

I would love to see this film get an Oscar nomination for editing. The way the backstory is intercut and incorporated into the first 20 minutes during an eyegasm inducing race sequence is truly incredible.

[domino harvey]

You can compare Speed Racer to Godard from the comfort of your own home September 16

[Antoine Doinel]

Drivers in Japan get the full Speed Racer experience.

[davebert]

I saw this in an airplane coming back from France last week, and it was totally fucking brilliant. Maybe it was because I had been awake the last 20 hours at that point, but I was practically giddy the whole way through, pumping my fist in the air for the last race.

I was originally looking forward to the film earlier this summer, but got scared away after some really pitiful early reviews. Now I have to wonder exactly where that backlash came from, when I check in here only to see a practically unanimous opinion about this film's awesomeness. I wonder if some critics are now kicking themselves for following the bandwagon a little too closely, and we'll start seeing reappreciations sooner rather than later.

[cdnchris]

I saw this in an airplane coming back from France last week, and it was totally fucking brilliant. Maybe it was because I had been awake the last 20 hours at that point, but I was practically giddy the whole way through, pumping my fist in the air for the last race.

I was originally looking forward to the film earlier this summer, but got scared away after some really pitiful early reviews. Now I have to wonder exactly where that backlash came from, when I check in here only to see a practically unanimous opinion about this film's awesomeness. I wonder if some critics are now kicking themselves for following the bandwagon a little too closely, and we'll start seeing reappreciations sooner rather than later.

Saw it on the plane last week coming back from Ontario and enjoyed it, but I will have to rent it when it comes out and watch it again. Don't think it completely worked on the tiny airplane monitor.

[Never Cursed]

Normally I don't chime in here but the genre film sycophants on Twitter hailing the coming of Speed Racer to UHD really got to me. What possible purpose could it serve to release a 4k disc of a film shot in 1080p digital?

[ryannichols7]

that movie has a weirdly big online fanbase for some reason, it could've been shot on video tape and they'd be begging for a $60 4K steelbook of it

[The Narrator Returns]

Would you actually like to hear about the reason for that fanbase, or do you just want to continue making snide comments about these filmmakers?

[The Narrator Returns]

And even with not much added resolution, the prospect of an HDR grade of this movie's set of colors is much much more than enough to justify a 4K release.

[Never Cursed]

TNR, not sure if you are referring to me or ryannichols7, but I would sincerely like to know if my cynicism is misplaced (and I should make it clear that I have no strong opinions one way or the other on the Wachowskis). It's my impression that a 4K release of a movie mastered at FHD would be an upscale, so something more drastic than "not much" added resolution, and it's difficult for me to understand why someone would pay money for an upscale. If one is available, can you or someone else point me to an A-B comparison of HDR versus SDR images or footage of material similar to this film, that is, something shot on small-sensor digital and mastered below 4K? I actually couldn't find good comparisons for any movie - the only one that popped up was for the Aliens UHD release, and the 4K of that had clearly been subjected to DNR. How would you produce an HDR master of a digital film that was made before the emergence of HDR technology? I emphasize again that I'm asking these questions in good faith, and my attitude comes from the fact that the stuff I know about the movie and its production doesn't seem to me to support a case for the necessity of a release like this. Like, as of right now, this movie being released in 4K reminds me of the announced Studiocanal Irreversible 4K release that was scrapped once it became apparent that the film was mastered at 2K. If making that disc was a mistake, then why isn't making this disc a mistake?

[The Narrator Returns]

I didn't mean to put you on the defensive, my first comment was only directed to ryannichols7 who pulled this exact same shit when the Bound Criterion was announced. I am way out of my element when it comes to the nitty-gritty of 4K remasters/upscales, so I can't speak on any of that except to say that the "genre film sycophants" (not very nice but I wouldn't have gotten worked up about it) probably do not know or care about the initial camera resolution and are just excited by the prospect of what many would call one of the century's most stunning movies getting remastered.

[Never Cursed]

"genre film sycophants"

Well, I used the term because I dislike the approaches to film that many of them employ, I think they can be identified to a reader in the know with that phrase, and I had seen a number of such accounts talking up the release, but I should clarify that, if the release is actually superfluous, I think the company putting out the disc really deserves scorn rather than any purchasers. No one deserves to be bled for money like this, and physical media deserves better than companies who use it to do that bleeding. (Incidentally, I see that the Star Wars prequels that were shot on 1080 are also out on 4K UHD, and I think that’s deplorable too - if my assumptions are correct. But I expect Disney to pull that shit.)

[The Narrator Returns]

I think we might be talking in different directions here, I've just seen a completely different audience react to this news with intense joy than you have. I still don't really understand the strength of your disagreement with this release (Collateral was a similar case and people seem to think the 4K looks pretty good if not great), but I assumed from that disagreement you were making a statement against the movie or its audience that it seems you're not.

[ryannichols7]

cool personal attack when you yourself said

Nobody is obligated to like the Wachowskis or any directors, but I want people to know how it feels to read some of these dismissals as someone who finds a great deal of personal meaning in their work.

regarding the second half of that sentence - I laid out my reasons at the time why I felt Bound was a disappointing thing for Criterion release, something I'm going to maintain (it had four boutique releases, meanwhile Criterion finally released their first mainland Chinese movie the following month - which is part of my personal lineage and meant a lot to me, and it was a film that hadn't been touched in region A in the Bluray era), regardless of my feeling on the film itself. I have seen Speed Racer and think it's pretty weak, and I think you have to recognize that, like every movie, it may be important for you and others, but many people are also not fans of it. and it's not because of what it represents by any means. I'm sure there's numerous films that mean a lot to me that you may also "dismiss" as you say. if I was supposed to grade movies on merit of message, then what, Don't Look Up would be a masterpiece? I don't know why you're going after me. if you hate Farewell My Concubine or the incoming Jia Zhangke films, I don't have any reason to take your dislike so personally, unless you solely hate them for being Chinese films. and similarly, I wish you wouldn't take my distaste for the Wachowskis (and mind you, I think The Matrix is fine!) to heart nearly as much either. I believe all films are worthy of platform and release, and it's not like I was like "wow, Speed Racer is garbage and doesn't deserve a 4K release", not how I feel at all. there's nothing snide about merely stating this specific movie has an overly large fanbase - I don't see Cloud Atlas get nearly the same love that Speed Racer does. it was merely an observation, and it is something I do find unusual given the movie bombed at the time and kinda accumulated this rep it did over time. minds can always change, but Cloud Atlas or even Jupiter Ascending don't get brought up the way that Speed Racer does.

you may think i'm some vile, awful person but I don't have an issue with the movie being released. again, I stand by my comments on the redundancy of Bound, but I'm fine with Speed Racer, if I was Warner I'd probably wanna cash in on a new popularity wave too, especially since the movie wasn't successful at time of release.

[The Narrator Returns]

Despite appearances, I really don't like to get into arguments with people, online or in real life, so I'm going to keep this as brief as I can. Anybody can dislike any movie for any reason, it would be sticking in my head in the sand to not see the obvious divisiveness of a lot of the Wachowskis' oeuvre including and maybe especially this one. I have no issue with an opinion that disagrees with mine, but you make sure to start by addressing this movie's audience with a smug "I don't get it" and I'm not sure I believe you can't do some guesswork to figure out what the makeup of that fanbase that you're condescending to might be. Nobody should tailor their response to a movie to its audience, but they can surely know to not be so coarse about the audience if they can figure out why that movie might be important to them. I admit I've frequently been very wrong about how much mind cis people give to transness and you may be acting less maliciously than I took it. But this would ultimately be a throwaway thing that bothered me but didn't propel me to speak up if I wasn't still legitimately ticked off with how you behaved about Bound, which went beyond complaints of redundancy and into you claiming to know what trans directors Criterion should be releasing instead of the Wachowskis. Granted, this whole forum's backbone is "Why won't Criterion release what I want?!?!", but I find it so distasteful for that argument to become about you supposedly digging deeper in the trans canon than they are. I don't think you're a vile, awful person, but if a trans person is telling you that they're upset with the way you talk about these movies, it might be worth it to take their feelings into consideration rather than fight them on it. Maybe I shouldn't have started so prickly, but this is sincerely how I feel about the matter and I'm not going to apologize for pointing out a bad pattern of behavior.

But if you're arguing that some of the Speed Racer love should be spread to Jupiter Ascending, then we can settle this dispute with a hearty agreement.

[tenia]

On the technicals : Warner's BD of Speed Racer is quite weak, so people liking the movie (I think it's at least an OK one) would like at least this to be fixed. And since Warner still haven't done it, then of course some think a UHD would now be part of a re-release.

[yoloswegmaster]

No idea if this makes me a "genre film sycophant", but I would love to see a new 4K release of Speed Racer! I saw it for the first time earlier this year and I was just in awe by some of the most beautiful visuals I have ever seen.