H D - S E N S E I

A view on Hi-def DVDs by Gary W. Tooze

Speed Racer (3-disc) [Blu-ray]

(Andy Wachowski + Larry Wachowski, 2008)

Review by Gary Tooze

Studio:

Warner Home Video

Discs:

Region: FREE! (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)

Feature Runtime: 2:15:00

Chapters: 30

Feature film disc size: 20.6 Gig (single-layered)

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: September 16th, 2008

Video:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Resolution: 1080p

Video codec: VC-1

Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, DUBs: French: Dolby Digital 1.0, Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles:
Feature: English SDH, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, none

Supplements:

• Featurette: Spritle in the Big Leagues (14:35 - SD)
• Featurette: Speed Racer: Super Charged (15:38 - SD)
• Featurette: Speed Racer: Car-Fu Cinema (27:39 - SD)

Disc 2

Game

Disc 3

Digital Copy

Product Description: From the popular 1967-68 TV series of the same name (reviewed HERE on Blu-ray) Born to race cars, Speed Racer is aggressive, instinctive and, most of all, fearless. His only real competition is the memory of the brother he idolized - the legendary Rex Racer, whose death in a race has left behind a legacy that Speed is driven to fulfill. Speed is loyal to the family racing business, led by his father, Pops Racer, the designer of Speed's thundering Mach 5. When Speed turns down a lucrative and tempting offer from Royalton Industries, he not only infuriates the company's maniacal owner but uncovers a terrible secret - some of the biggest races are being fixed by a handful of ruthless moguls who manipulate the top drivers to boost profits. If Speed won't drive for Royalton, Royalton will see to it that the Mach 5 never crosses another finish line. The only way for Speed to save his family's business and the sport he loves is to beat Royalton at his own game. With the support of his family and his loyal girlfriend, Trixie, Speed teams with his one-time rival - the mysterious Racer X - to win the race that had taken his brother's life: the death-defying, cross-country rally known as The Crucible...

The Film:

You’ve got to hand it to the Wachowski Brothers, they don’t do things by halves. They were last seen cramming the back-to-back Matrix sequels so full of references to obscure anime, classical fantasy and Jean Baudrillard’s philosophy of symbolic exchange and hyperreality, it was the first known sighting of ‘dumbing up’. The films became interminable. They have now arrived at Speed Racer, once known as Mach Go Go Go, an anime TV series from the late 1960s (reviewed HERE on Blu-ray) that spilled into the daydreams of American boys.

Word has it - and they never talk - they were weaned on its brilliantine Scalectrix-world of loop-the-loops and banking curves, its bright buzz of colour and characters equally defined in bold rudimentary tones.

This was not your typical anime huddled beneath clouds of apocalyptic menace; here was a sun soaked, sweet-wrapper coloured universe obsessed with motor sport, centred on the conveniently surnamed Racer family. In particular, the full-throttle adventures of middle-son Speed, a dumb-lug who can make the T-180 race cars leap and spin, smashing competitors in what the directors have knowingly christened ‘car-fu’. Nodding to both Goldfinger and Ben-Hur, the cars come armed with naughty extras like drill-loaded hubcaps and oil slicks.

Excerpt from Empire Magazine (UK) located HERE

Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Holy Moley! Color exhibited by the 20.6 Gig of space on the single-layered Blu-ray is totally over-the-top. A lot is artificially fabricated but much is just great art direction and production. Either way it looks absolutely amazing. There is no image on DVD or Blu-ray that I can compare this with. What it very minor-ly lacks in detail it more than makes up for in the color brightness, brilliance and contrast. This Blu-ray is demonstration quality. Warner appears to have gone a shade lower-tier with the single-layering and the, now standard, 5.1 audio but, regardless, I can't imagine how much more this could have been elevated. This is the most extravagant visual feast I've ever seen in m y home theater. This transfer quality is healthy enough to endorse solely based on the image (forget the film's guts) and there is no DNR or edge enhancement that I could detect. This image is crisp, clean and totally outrageous. The screen captures (linked to full-resolution versions) could probably do a better job of selling the image quality than my words.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Audio & Music:
The 5.1 track is aggressive and quite buoyant. It is the only option with no TrueHD, Lossless or similar choice. There are three foreign language DUBs. The audio quality of Speed Racer is almost as impressive as the video with head-turning incidents abounding. Sound effects tend to overpower dialogue at times but it's not fatal. Rumbling car engines, crowd cheers and some occasional explosions can really rock the floorboards. The original score by Michael Giacchino seems well supported and we are given Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" to boot. Subtitles are offered in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Extras:
Not too much with three SD featurettes (totaling about an hour's worth) although there are two extra discs - one with a game (untested) and another with the digital copy of the film. The Car-Fu Cinema bit has input from Goodman, Ricci and many others plus a healthy look at the original Japanese anime impetus of the story. There are no exclusive Blu-ray features that I could discern.

Bottom line:
Well.... D'uh - YEAH! This was a ton of fun and everyone I've shown it too watches open-mouthed at the first 15 minutes. And if you want your speakers to get a workout - well Speed Racer can deliver. The Blu-ray image is.... magnificent - period. This is kind of like an enhanced live-action Cars with way more intensity. Absolutely a thumbs up!

Gary Tooze

September 10th, 2008

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