Customer Reviews

Speed Racer the Next Generation - The Beginning

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Speed Racer the Next Generation - The Beginning is great!
My son LOVES the TV show. That's what it is all about. Entertaining
kids. Good, clean fun with some socially redeeming value. I was a teen
when the original Speed Racer show hit American TV. I go into while
babysitting. It made a lot of sense to do a "next" generation.
We also appreciate how they do the animation style. Speed Racer anime
style. Highly recommend this DVD (and the TV show!)

I watched the first episode of this show on Nick this weekend, and it was a flat-out embarrassment. The show looks like a homemade web cartoon...and honestly, that's an insult to some homemade web cartoons. The fact that a major Hollywood summer blockbuster is backed by an animated series that is this poor is just a shame.

I find it hard to believe that anyone could give this series a 5 star review. I'm sure there are some others who will enjoy it more than I did, but 5 stars is just out of the question with something this poorly done.

It's clear from the get-go that this show is geared more towards younger fans than how the original show was. Still, Speed Racer the Next Generation - The Beginning is a fun romp that fans of the original will enjoy as well as those new to the series.

Speed Racer the Next Generation - The Beginning tells the story of Speed, an orphan who gets to join an elite racing academy to learn how to be a great racer. There, he meets Conor and Lucy as well as X whom he later learns is his brother. Spritle from the old tv series is headmaster of the academy in this show. But, the evil Zile Zazic is the series protagonist who is trying to get his hands on the Mach 6. Things get pretty interesting in this barely over an hour animated film.

While it probably won't appeal to original Speed Racer fans, it will appeal to the younger set. Honestly, though, I enjoyed it very much.

Great movie for young kids. Reminds me of when I was a kid too!

My son loves the DVD, he is 2 1/2yo, I like the next generation dvds better than the original because is not violent, they don't try to stab people or shoot them like the original speed racer. My daugther 5yo likes it too.

I have been a fan of Speed Racer since I saw it years ago, and when I saw this I had to get it because the story was great to hear that they carried on Speed, and family... and just knowing and seeing the behind the scenes... which I am a fan of most movies/tv... and heard that the orignal voice actor who did Speed/Racer X did the voice of older Spritle... and I LOVED IT... the story was great, and I can't wait to get the rest.

We bought this movie without any inkling of quality and are very pleased with the purchase. Both our daughter and our son enjoy it, and have wanted to watch it many times already.
The quirky characters fast moving storyline and 1 hour run time make it great for kids. The voice acting is good and the art is good (not great) with many backgrounds of classic Speed Racer images.

"Just watch me when I get on the track," Speed Racer tells the headmaster on his first day at the Racing Academy, where everyone's rather amused that he shares the name of the founder and major idol of the facility. So begins the journey of the animated "Speed Racer: The Next Generation," which takes Speed -- unaware that he's actually the son of the legendary Speed Racer -- on a quest to find his missing father and get to know his brother, X, who's developed quite a following of his own.

Thankfully, there are a few friendly faces at the academy: the sensible Lucy, the quirky Conor and Chim-Chim the pesky, monkeylike robot. After a little trash-talkin' with the other students at the academy, the kids hit the track (where the visuals -- lush, bright and heavy on the oranges and blues like the original until now -- turn more photographic and three-dimensional and CG). Despite a technical mishap with the clunker car he was given, Speed makes an impression. X, determined to reflect the legacy of his father, is getting a mite bit jealous.

Lionsgate launches the new Friday-night Nickelodeon animated series with this sleek pilot film. Bringing the original series, which ran for just 52 episodes in 1967 and 1968, up to speed, the movie allows its main character to discover his true identity rather quickly. He and his new friends find the "real" Speed Racer's car, the Mach 5, in pieces at the junkyard, and the key that was left with young Speed at the orphanage powers up the grand old machine!

As is often the case, this update of a classic TV icon requires an upgrade. Much like the new "Knight Rider" movie turned the 2000 KITT model into the 3000, the Mach 6 is now the engine to beat in this show, after the resurrected Mach 5 takes an unexpected spill. But the academy's wealthy (and sinister!) investor, Zile Zazic, doesn't want Speed or anyone else to take the wheel of this technologically advanced Mach 6, amazingly powered without gasoline (a timely issue!). Add in a "virtual" racetrack, and you've got some turbo-speed new-millennium fun.

Kurt Csolak voices Speed (above right), while Robbie Sublett is X (left). Peter Fernandez, who voiced Speed and Racer X in the original and even wrote the lyrics for the original theme song, voices Spritle, headmaster of the academy and brother of the legendary Speed Racer (Fernandez does a cameo on the live-action flick, too). Included in the movie's writing crew is Jimmy Palmiotti, the mastermind behind "Painkiller Jane" and the sweetie-pie that I used to love to say hello to at comic cons through the latter '90s. (Listed as "James Palmiotti" here -- so serious, Jimmy???)

The DVD's extras include a featurette on the making of the TV show (Fernandez and others offer their thoughts), full bios of the characters at the Racing Academy, a trailer gallery and the "Virtual Track Racing Game" (using the arrow keys on your DVD remote). Previews include a glimpse of Marvel's new DVD take on the Avengers (also "the next generation") coming in August.

Speed Racer The Next Generation: The Beginning builds on the adventures of the original series by focusing on Speed's orphaned son as he juggles school life at the Racing Academy while uncovering secrets behind his father's disappearance. The new chapter of Speed Racer utilizes a cutting-edge style of animation inspired by the original series, while incorporating topical storylines like the pursuit of a car built with a gasless engine. The movie features Peter Fernandez (as Headmaster Spritle) - the voice of Speed Racer in the classic TV series and the man responsible for the lyrics of original Speed Racer theme song.

Hey Speed Racer fans,

I recently came to learn that this Amazon page doesn't have the full release information posted for for Speed Racer The Next Generation: The Beginning! So on behalf of Lionsgate, I'm happy to share that information with you here.

Get the scoop on this all new movie at [...]
FROM THE PRESS RELEASE:

Speed Racer The Next Generation: The Beginning (Lionsgate) builds on the adventures of the original series by focusing on Speed's orphaned son as he juggles school life at the Racing Academy while uncovering secrets behind his father's disappearance. The new chapter of Speed Racer utilizes a cutting-edge style of animation inspired by the original series, while incorporating topical storylines like the pursuit of a car built with a gasless engine. The movie features Peter Fernandez (as Headmaster Spritle) - the voice of Speed Racer in the classic TV series and the man responsible for the lyrics of original Speed Racer theme song. The DVD (out May 6th) includes an interactive racing game and the "Creating The Next Speed Racer" featurette.

Speed Racer The Next Generation: The Beginning sets up and launches the new animated half-hour TV series which airs Fridays at 7pm ET on Nicktoons Network; and also coincides with the Warner Bros. live-action feature film which hits theatres on May 9th.

Speed Racer the Next Generation - The Beginning