The Official Speed Racer Rant

[Duke Nukem]

I'm surprised there isn't a rant on this movie and its poor box-office already, so in case anyone else gets ideas, this is the thread to go to.

First of all, I knew and saw little of the show as a kid. I knew what it was, but by now/2008, I was sketchy on the known story arcs, etc. And that was not a problem for me when I went to see to see it over the weekend. I loved it. I was looking forward to it, because it was a different kind of movie, and there hasn't been a movie this different and also unique in a long time.

I would rate ***/4. It's solid movie with no major flaws to keep it from recommending. The special effects stand out and are supposed to stand out. It's a wacky film based off of a wacky anime. And it's also too long. So many people are saying it should have been 90 minutes. I argue, it should been trimmed to about 110-120 minutes. There was a surprising amount of drama to back a solid story and ultimately too much off it. And also ultimately, the film should not have been 130-135 minutes. This is Evidence A of why this movie barely made 20 million on its first weekend.

Then, there is again the ultimate wacky nature of this film period. Based off an anime made intentionally with wacky nature, etc. Evidence B. Clearly, a lot people did not know what they were getting into. Not everyone knows what "Speed Racer" was based off and didn't give it a chance. Then, to be fair, a lot of other people probaby did and shrugged it off. They have every right to. It happens with every movie. There's always going to be someone who can't get into it period.

But what I'm really ranting about is how so many people, not only in the U.S. but all over the world, have shrugged off this film. For what its worth, I think this is a good movie. It had the production values, and IMO, it had the story to back up the action. Unfortunately, it just had too much of it. It's as if millions of billions of trillions of people signed a contract to seal a random movie's fate. I don't know why they picked this one. This film isn't that unwatchable. I had problems with "Bourne 2/3" fancy editing, but not this one.

I also know someone might say, "For what its worth, it's a piece of shit." So, I'm telling you right now that this is not the thread in the current movies forum. I want to talk to seriously about why this film will go down in history as the one of the most underrated films ever. Box-office wise and critically wise. A lot of critics will not like it and so will a lot other of people. That's to be expected. I just didn't expect movie-goers to, for the first time, actually listen to the critics when they have awarded other panned movies a lot of box-office. If you didn't like it, be mature about it. I want to hear it. I can't be the only one who feels overwhelmed over the surprisingly low numbers for it. I was prepared for a love it/hate it split with movie-goers everywhere. Because I have a feeling the outcome of this movie's lack of profit is going to affect potential films in the future and unfairly undermine the chances they had at life. And that's not fair.

So, there you go. I liked Speed Racer. I'm part of the "loved it" crowd and how it made less money than the 35 million mark so many were looking at is baffling. I'll still be able to watch it on DVD down the road, but it should be doing better than this. I can't be the only one who feels this way. Who else feels so? And who is part of the "hated/disliked it" crowd who is willing to civilly explain your own frustrations on why you understand it failed?

[franky4fingerz]

I loved it. Really upset its a bomb.

[speedbeaver]

I agree...this movie had a lot going against it for me (I hate anime, wasn't all that impressed by The Matrix films, etc) but I loved it, even with it's wackyness, it wasn't too over the top when it was wacky. This is one of my favorite movies this year so far and I'm also dissapointed it was critically panned a box office failure. I give it an 8/10.

[ScaryFreak1827]

Speed Racer is awesome and it's a shame many can't/refuse to see it. It really is a visually unique and exciting film that is VERY entertaining. I'm hoping with DVD/Blu-ray sales this film will finally be noticed more and screw critics/the box-office, Speed Racer rocks:D

[Potzer! 37]

I've been interested since I heard about it and I still plan on seeing it a day or 2 from now. I think it's insane that a movie like this can "fail". It's got a built in auidence of kids and parents who don't want pg-13 movies yet. It's made with new style and with actors kids like.

I was gonna see it on mothers day, but the bad press put my mom off of it...and as it was her day, we didn't see it. But if I see it and like it, I'll eventually rent/buy it and she'll watch it.

Not so with most people. They dismiss a film and no matter what another person says they won't give it a chance.

Same time, last year: Grindhouse tanks...WHY? How could anybody see that tralier and not wanna give it a shot. I told all my friends with back up from those that saw it and nobody else went to see it. One guy, a big tarantino fan I'd show pulp fiction too, dismissed it as a girl power movie, before seeing it. I told it how good it was and if he liked any of Tarantino's stuff there would be something for him in the three hours worth of film he'd be seeing, but no...

Black Snake Moan---seriously. I see that poster, I'm there...as a male, I'm going. As a fan of any of Sam Jackson's movies, I'm going. As a guy with any appriciation for Ricci, I'm going. And as a kid interested in film, who recently got around to watching Hustle and Flow on dvd, is in love with both Ricci and Jackson and heard there was nudity, I was there.

And it was amazing on the big screen with an auidence. So cool. Great songs. Great writing. Sam Jackson's best yet. Ricci's perfect body and great performance. And enough love, humor, drama, music and visuals for anybody to enjoy...nothing at the box office...

Zodiac I understand a little...but I don't like it...I wish it had gotten an Oscar nod so people would watch it...amazing film all the way around....sigh...I hate living in a world like this.

[Moviefan1234]

It was a decent movie, nothing good but also nothing bad. I rated it as a 6/10, it was a pretty average movie. I think what hurt it was that it opened up right after IRON MAN, which was a fantastic movie. The comparisons between the two really hurt SPEED RACER.

[Richard Kylea]

It was a decent movie, nothing good but also nothing bad. I rated it as a 6/10, it was a pretty average movie. I think what hurt it was that it opened up right after IRON MAN, which was a fantastic movie. The comparisons between the two really hurt SPEED RACER.


Ironman kicked ass at box office, i dont think people expected such a big intake from it considering batman, superman, xmen etc tend to be more popular superheros today.

Back to topic, i thought Speed Racer was quite cool, similar to SinCity in how at times i felt i only really enjoyed it as it was a visual treat from start to finish... I'd recommend it

[Z_oasis]

I saw it TWICE and loved it EVERYTIME!!!! Best movie ive seen in awhile. WOW! Critics are fucking stupid!

[JINYX]

I loved it and so did the person I saw it with. I think this will be a cult classic in the future and everyone will be wondering how it only had a 20 million opening and had to fight to make 50 million. Either that or everyone that slept on it in the theater will go and rent it and then be like "wow, why did I sleep on this, I went and saw Ironman for the 3rd time instead of going to this, I'm a dumbass." And then it will be popular then but I doubt it. I think bad timing, and being a movie everyone was unsure about hurt it, but hopefully in the future it will prove to be huge.

[Bourne101]

I'm surprised there isn't a rant on this movie


There is. Pages and pages of rant in these threads:

Speed Racer (Current Movie Talk)
The Official Speed Racer Thread (Upcoming Movie Talk)
Box-Office Numbers (Current Movie Talk)
2008 Summer Box-Office Predictions (Upcoming Movie Talk)

You want to see rants, check out those threads.

[Lost in Space]

bad movie, bad release date, bad reviews, bad advertising, bad actors, bad fucking everything

[Dragula]

I don't know about you guys but I fucking loved this movie. It gets a 4.8/5

[Cyd V]

I fully expected it to bomb and i'm glad it did, because 1. i hated the matrix 2. the flick looked really really fucking cheezy, like video game cheeze 3. the psykadelic colours looked like a big time gimick 4. the effects look cartoonish and just flat out ridiculous, i go by the logic of if it looks like an effect it's a bad fucking effect 5. i fucking hate the wachowski's and their bullshit cgi, nothing they create looks real and the cgi gets in the way of their story, plus they always use the most irritating locations.. 6. they get the credit for creating the matrix when they did no such thing, which is why they were sued for a billion dollars.. so they should quit bragging about being the geniouses behind it when all they did was take a brilliant idea and turn into dog shit..

[chasingbanky]

I loved it, and don't give a fuck how much money it made, how many people pan it, or if there will be a sequel... Job well done by two guys(and I use that term lightly) I didn't think had it in them. If you watched it and think it sucks, I'm surprised... If you didn't watch it, and think it sucks, you're just clueless.

[Cronos]

Enjoyed it more than I thought I would, the visuals (especially during the races) were fantastic, currently I'd give it 7/10, would have been a solid 8 had it not been for the annoying kid and the monkey.

I'm surprised it bombed though, expected it to be a big hit.

[Shockwave]

I liked it alot. Good fun. 7/10

I was hoping it would at least make its budget back, but even that looks unlikely.

I really dont get where all the venom for this movie comes from.

[KCJ506]

Like I said in the SP thread the timing was poor. Had it been delayed for a little while it probably would have done better.

[Potzer! 37]

Just saw it today and really enjoyed it. was gonna be a 7/10 but the end race with the music and the editing back to other moments from the movie and his family watching really got to me so the final score is an 8. I love that device of ending a movie with scenes that show what it's about like Annie Hall or Crimes and Misdeameanors.

I gotta say if I was 8-10 again I would've flipped for this...I really recall my sense of humor back then and it hit every nail on the head...I really enjoyed it.

It'll be huge on dvd.

[Duke Nukem]

I was aware of those other rant threads. I wanted to create an official rant in the rant forum where I could avoid senseless back and forth. I'm glad to know there's others who enjoyed it as much as I did and feel the same about its disappointing box-office. I wanted to focus more specifically on the movie and it's lack of box-office than some of those chaotic threads were turning into.

Some other evidence I didn't consider was Evidence C, the presence and direction of the W. brothers behind "The Matrix" and it's two infamous sequels. I never thought of that before, because I enjoyed all of those movies. I did not go crazy over them, but I did in particular feel "The Matrix Revolutions" was kicked around too much.

Bad release date? Coming in after the hot success of "Iron Man." I can see that as Evidence D.

Bad previews? Bad reviews? Bad actors? Bad everything? This is where everything becomes subjective. One, there's plenty of "bad" movies to have been panned by critics and still make their money back. I will partially agree about the previews. They could have been handled a little better. But I've seen other previewed movies handled much worse. I especially disagree about the "bad" actors.

The one to mention the effects, colors and special effects as a bad gimmick I especially disagree with. That's partly why I enjoyed the movie. The actors stood out in almost scene, but they were supposed to. This is something based off an anime cartoon. They did what they did to preserve the original. If they did all of it straight, it wouldn't have been Speed Racer. It would have been flat compared to the anime. I can see you and others having a hard time getting into the completely artificial environment, but I feel the movie benefitted from it with all things considered. I respect your opinion nonetheless and move on.

I thought about another movie I felt was good and didn't get the respect in the box-office. "The Island" by Michael Bay. I felt that was a damn good movie and one of his best films to date. I felt it got no interest, because people were sick and tired of Michael Bay. Only they picked the wrong movie of his to make an example of.

Thus taking me back to Evidece C. The presence and direction of the W. brothers behind "Matrix" and their flashy effects, etc. I can see people annoyed over how the "Matrix" sequels turned out and sticking it to filmmakers here. I will also point out that "Speed Racer" is obviously a lot less straight-forward a motion picture than "The Island" was. But still. In the end, I didn't see this many people going out of their way to spite them.

Oh, well. Their loss. At least I'm not alone in this. We can't take back the opening weekend. It probably will develop real interest on DVD, though. That's probably true.

[Weapon X]

I finally managed to see it this afternoon.

PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY'RE MISSING.

[bigred760]

I wasn't expecting much, especially after its poor performance at the box office.

I was impressed. I had fun watching it, the race sequences were phenomenal, the story wasn't half bad, and neither were the performances. Am I pissed that it's doing poorly . . . not really, I could care less. I would recommend it to anyone who asks, but its poor performance doesn't phase me that much.

8/10

[Gordon]

No matter how shitty a film I feel bad when it...

Costs 300 million...

Makes 18.

[bigred760]

No matter how shitty a film I feel bad when it...

Costs 300 million...

Makes 18.

No need to exaggerate since it only made $18 million its first weekend.

[fooknasty]

Wow, this movie tanked HARD!!

I knew it was going to be a flop, but not this bad. Geez...

[Bourne101]

Saw it last night. It was a very average film, but the visuals are spectacular.

[copious]

Freaking LOVED this movie!!! One of my favorite movies I've seen so far this year by far! I thought it was a lot better than that very anticipated and VERY disappointing movie Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But yeah, I give Speed a 9/10

[EZM22]

While watching the previews, I was kinda afraid at the fact that they resembled a demo for a Playstation game. But after seeing the movie... well, it has awesome stylized visuals, the racing scenes were incredibly fun (hell, if Formula One racing was as slick as this, I'd watch it every day), and it was just great eye candy.

The plot was cheesy as hell, which is something that a lot of local reviewers focused on, but I don't think the anime is an example of narrative complexity, do you? I've only seen a couple episodes of the series, but I do remember not liking it because a) the animation is incredibly dated; b) I don't like cars and c) the damn monkey and the kid annoyed the hell out of me.

If the movie had been made without those visuals, it would have been pretty damn boring. I give it a 7/10, entertaining and altogether innovative in its visuals.