Description:
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 histor
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
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Manufacturer: Lions Gate
Release date: 6 May 2008
Number of discs: 1
EAN: 0012236240914 UPC: 012236240914
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Login![Speed Racer the Next Generation: The Beginning [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](https://i9.lisimg.com/image/products/280/B0014D5P8O/dvds/B0014D5P8O.jpg "Speed Racer the Next Generation: The Beginning [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
