Speed Racer
Headline: ** Candy-Colored Popcorn Fantasy **
Title: SPEED RACER
Quality: * * * * Acceptability: -1
SUBTITLES: None
WARNING CODES:
Language: LL
Violence: VV
Sex: S
Nudity: N
RATING: PG
RELEASE: May 9, 2008
TIME: 135 minutes
STARRING: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Matthew Fox, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Paulie Litt, Roger Allam, Kick Gurry, Rain, and Richard Roundtree
DIRECTOR: The Wachowski Brothers
PRODUCERS: The Wachowski Brothers, Joel Silver and Grant Hill
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Lane Seltzer, Michael Lambert and Bruce Berman
WRITER: The Wachowski Brothers
BASED ON THE COMIC BOOK SERIES CREATED BY: Tastuo Yoshida
DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros.
CONTENT: (BB, PP, Ro, Cap, LL, VV, S, N, D, M) Ultimately strong moral worldview with a strong positive view of Americans in a story about good overcoming corruption and conquering evil that also extols family, with parents playing a positive role in their children's lives, plus some Romantic elements and possible anti-capitalist content where corporate racing moguls are seen as corrupt, but this is overcome by the movie's positive presentation of a small business owner, who is the protagonist's father, and a message that extols merit being rewarded in society through competition; five or six obscenities (including one possible "s" word), one strong profanity using Jesus, seven light profanities, young boy gives bad man the finger, plus a TV feed bleeps an obscenity; strong action violence, some of it intense, includes cars crashing and exploding, race cars skid around treacherous curves and ramps, martial arts fighting, race cars bump into one another, drivers try to deliberately cause other cars to crash and hero defends himself from such cheating, man punched, death threats; no sex scenes but sultry women in race car settings, big kiss at end of race and hero sits in car with his snugly dressed girlfriend who asks him repeatedly "Do you like this?" (meaning perhaps romance and having a girlfriend, but there is a slight uncomfortable innuendo in her question); brief upper male nudity and some female cleavage and women in short skirts; no alcohol; no smoking but a racer is drugged so he can't drive; and, heroes betrayed, corruption in sport, villainous race car drivers cheat, and lying.
GENRE: Adventure Fantasy/Sports Drama
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older children to adults
Please address your comments to:
Jeffrey Bewkes, CEO, Time Warner
Barry M. Meyer, Chairman/CEO
Alan Horn, President
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
(A Time Warner company)
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522-0001
Phone: (818) 954-6000
Website: www.movies.warnerbros.com
SUMMARY: SPEED RACER is an exhilarating live-action version of the old TV cartoon. In the story, Speed teams up with his rival, Racer X, to battle corruption in the racing world. The movie has a morally uplifting worldview with heartwarming family values, but it contains some obscenities, one strong profanity using Jesus, seven light profanities, and very light sexual innuendo.
IN BRIEF:
SPEED RACER is an exhilarating live-action version of the old TV cartoon, starring Emile Hirsch in the iconic title role. The death of Speed's brother in a racing accident has left Speed with a legacy to fulfill. The maniacal owner of Royalton Industries tries to enlist Speed as one of his drivers. When Speed turns him down, Royalton shows Speed that he and other racing tycoons are fixing the biggest races to boost profits. He threatens to prevent Speed from ever crossing another finish line. Speed joins forces with his rival, the mysterious Racer X, who is also battling corruption in the racing business. Together, they battle the corrupt tycoon and his devious minions.
SPEED RACER is a wildly exhilarating, delightful ride. Filmed in eye-popping Technicolor, the photography is rich with visually stunning state-of-the-art computer graphics. The race scenes are full of pumped-up action. The story tells a tale of good overcoming corruption and evil and positive family values, with true merit ultimately being rewarded. There are some obscenities, profanities and very light sexual innuendo, which require caution for older children. For more information about SPEED RACER, please visit movieguide.org.
NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide Magazine. For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest Movieguide Magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at www.movieguide.org. Movieguide is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. Movieguide now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, atwww.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers.
