12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Speed Racer Episodes, March 31, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Speed Racer: Challenge Masked Racer [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This is the second "Speed Racer" episode I watched in its entirity (the first one was "The Great Plan", and I'd seen bits and pieces of "The Most Dangerous Race" and "Mach Five vs. Mach Five" before I saw "The Great Plan"), and the first one to introduce me to my favorite character in the series: Racer X. In this episode, everyone wonders about Racer X, a driver whom people believe causes car crashes. In fact, the crashes are caused by the Alpha Team, which is trying to cause Racer X to crash, but which gets other drivers by accident. Speed finds this out when the Alpha Team kidnaps him by mistake (he has on Racer X's mask). The audience (but not Speed) discovers that Racer X is really Speed's older brother Rex, who ran away from home after an argument with his father when Rex crashed one of his father's race cars.
I believe it is one of the best Speed Racer episodes, primarily because of the presence of Racer X. Mysterious, courageous, loyal to his brother, he is perhaps the most multi-faceted character in the series. We discover more of his talents in later episodes (he's also a talented fighter and shooter, and a skilled Interpol agent), but this is the first to showcase his racing ability, and his loyalty to Speed which may not win him races, but does win him the admiration of Speed -- and myself, when I watch him in action. In my opinion, he also brings an added excitement and intrigue which is missing in episodes in which he's not present. The disclosure of the relationship between Speed and Racer X also adds an amount of interest to future encounters between these two. Then of course, there are the usual attractions of "Speed Racer": exciting races, narrow escapes, and thrilling finishes.
For all these reasons, I like "Challenge of the Masked Racer" and highly recommend it to any fan of the show, whether his favorite character is Speed, Racer X, or somebody else.
Belle Book
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
They just don't make 'em this good any more!!!, July 2, 1999
This review is from: Speed Racer: Challenge Masked Racer [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I grew up watching tons of TV in the seventies, but only the shows that really had integrity and an attention to detail have remained. Speed Racer is one of these shows. It is crudely animated, but this in itself adds to the tone -- it is set apart from the goofier cartoons of the day. Dramatic to say the very least, this particular episode brings cult character Racer X (Speed's older brother) to the fore and Speed's angst at not knowing who he is and why he cares so much for him is brought out beautifully (the writers really CARED for these characters!!). Even the 'cinematography' is movielike. Oh yeah -- and it is great fun too!! (PS - Speed Racer fans and collectors contact me. I live in the UK)
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