Product Details

• Actors: Michal Friedman, Michael Sinterniklaas, David Zen Mansley, Kurt Csolak, Carter Jackson
• Directors: Frank Rivera, John M. Holt, Matt Rodriguez
• Writers: Aaron Bergeron, Allan Neuwirth, Larry Schwarz, Susan Kim
• Producers: Amy Ackerman
• Format: AC-3, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: May 6, 2008
• Run Time: 66 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0014D5P8O
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,448 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Speed Racer the Next Generation - The Beginning" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic for kids and parents !, July 2, 2008

By	**Mufi (Boston) - See all my reviews

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!)

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This is a terrible, extremely low budget show, April 28, 2008

By	M. Murphey - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

4.0 out of 5 stars Speed Racer the Next Generation - The Beginning ...., March 3, 2009

By	blackaciddevil (in the USA somewhere.....) - See all my reviews

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.