Friday, June 01, 2007

Behold the Mach 5




As a fan of the super sweet 60s cartoon Speed Racer I can think of no better treat than this first official production photo for the upcoming Wachowski brothers live action Speed Racer adaptation thats coming to screens May 9th, 2008. Ladies and gentlemen, check out the true awesome magnificence of the Mach 5...




Speed Racer is filming now, and stars Emile Hirsch, of The Girl Next Door fame, as Speed, with Christina Ricci as Trixie, John Goodman as Pops, Susan Sarandon as Speed's mom, Matthew Fox as Speed's rival Racer X, and a real live chimpanzee as Chim Chim!!!

Thanks to USA Today for their article revealing this great pic of the tricked out super car, the Mach 5. If you haven't ever seen, or heard of the awesome old cartoon Speed Racer, I have to say you've missed out. It's chock full of tripped out stories, pretty choppy animation with cliched dialogue, and waaaay over the top action sequences. But after Astro Boy and Gigantor it was one of the first popular animes to make it in the western world. And once you watch it you'll understand why. Speed Racer is just plain fun. Its got lots of great cheesy impossible and thouroughly entertaining action, and has a fantastic retro look that only adds to the charm.

The show, and movie, follows young hot shot race car driver Speed as he battles to win races, often for desperate causes, like saving his family's workshop from closing down, or to rescue his kid brother Spritle from the trunk of Racer X's car. I have the first season of the show on dvd, and I have to say it holds up very well. Maybe because its past the point of being just old, its classic, iconic even. I really recommend you check out the show if you get a chance. This movie has the potential to be totally awesome.

One word of caution; if you are unfamiliar with the story of Speed Racer, there is one largish plot point that was, in the series at least, hinted at a lot but only actually revealed in the latter episodes. It concerns the origin of Speed's rival, the masked Racer X. I've been seriously disappointed to see a lot of the press carelessly tossing this spoiler about the internet. So if you're trying to avoid the potential big twist ending of the film next year, I would wait a little bit for more official press to start coming out regarding the film before you start reading.

Anyhow, you can just keep your eyes on this site right here, cause you know I'll be bringing you more info as it becomes available.

Go Speed Racer,
---------- Go Speed Racer,
------------------ Go Speed Racer GO!!!

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