Speed Racer the Next Generation - The Beginning

Movie / Show Details

Amazon.com

The venerable Japanese animated series Speed Racer zooms into the not-so-distant future in this breezy American update. Speed himself is nowhere to be seen in this hourlong feature (he appears in an subsequent episode of the Nicktoons series), but his son, X Racer, is on hand, and showing that he’s a chip off the old man’s block by holding down the top spot at his family’s Racing Academy. But the arrival of an orphan named Speed with even greater racing skills challenges not only X’s position at the Academy, but everything he knows about his long-absent father. On the plus side, Speed Racer: The Next Generation honors its history by including elements from the original series like the Mach 5 and Speed’s brother Spritle Racer (voiced here by Peter Fernandez, who also played Speed for the American dub of the original series), as well as a mechanized Chim-Chim. But it’s also unnecessarily complicated in its plotting, and the dialogue is awfully trite (though the original didn’t win any prizes in that department). The animation is also disappointingly mediocre and sterile, which may be the kiss of death for both fans of the original series and younger viewers looking for state-of-the-art craftsmanship. The DVD includes a making-of featurette which looks at the challenges presented in updating the series for a new audience, and a fun Virtual Racing game that emulates the track at the Academy. Text bios for the main characters are also included. –Paul Gaita

Product Description

Grab the wheel as you steer your way into the future of action with Speed Racer The Next Generation: The Beginning-the full-throttle movie that jump-starts the new TV series, Speed Racer The Next Generation. When Speed, a teenage orphan with amazing driving instincts, enters the elite Racing Academy, he shifts gears for a series of futuristic adventures that unite the classic fun of the original Speed Racer and the out-of-this-world excitement of virtual racing. Pulse-pounding trouble follows at every turn as Speed uncovers the secrets of his identity. Not only is the legendary Speed Racer his father, but his top competition, X, is his brother! Speed also finds the top secret plans for his super-slick racing car the Mach 6, but the evil billionaire, Zile Zazic, will do everything in his power to stop Speed from crossing the finish line and discovering the remaining clues that Speed Racer left behind for the creation of a gasless engine to run the Mach 6. With the help of his crew, Lucy, Conor, and Chim Chim the Robot, Speed will have to do more than just outrun Zile-he’ll have to master cutting-edge techno-racing in this adrenaline-pumping thrill ride featuring Speed and his crew!