Photosensitivity Warning: The 4K UHD disc of Speed Racer includes the following warning that, “[t]his film may cause seizures in viewers susceptible to photosensitivity epilepsy.”
“Get that weak shit off my track.”
– Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer in Speed Racer
2008 was a wild year for films. It’s the same year as the strike-impacted Quantum of Solace, the beautifully emotional WALL-E, the still shocking The Dark Knight, and the birth of the modern MCU with Iron Man — to name a few. Each of the above are examples of distinct contrasts in which this reviewer (then a graduate student) went to the films with expectations that were defied (typically in the opposite direction) each time. But that summer, there were two films that would garner such different responses than initial expectations that they each felt identity-shifting as EoM Editor Crystal Davidson and I attended a sneak for Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull vibrating with excitement but left confuzzled, only to then go see the Wachowski Sisters’ Speed Racer out of sheer curiosity and leaving exhilarated. Neither of us could be described as deep in the lore of the Tatsuo Yoshida-created Speed Racer program that ran from 1967 – 1968 based on the 1966 serial, and were just as familiar with the Mach 5 as anyone, yet we couldn’t help but get swept away by the technicolor dream the Wachowskis created in their adaptation. As history has shown, we would be in the minority with the film being panned by critics and general audiences alike, eventually making less than $100 million worldwide by the end of its run (odd for a film from the makers of The Matrix trilogy). But like the contrast of films that make big splashes on release which are then forgotten to the sands of time, films misunderstood in their day can grow in fandom. Now, not only is Speed Racer and the rest of the cinematic Racer family viewed with the proper respect, but, thanks to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Speed Racer has a 4K UHD with HDR edition coming available, gathering together five previously available featurettes and one brand-new just for this release.
At an unknown time and place, one thing is certain: racing is life. Among the best of the best is young Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch), lone driver for independent banner Racer Motors, who makes a big splash when he wins Thunderhead, though secretly and purposefully failing to beat his late brother Rex’s (Scott Porter) time in the process. Approached by many possible sponsors, only E.P. Arnold Royalton (Roger Allam) of Royalton Industries makes it across the threshold of the Racer homestead, offering Speed not only funding, but the gateway to a different life while promising continued independence. However, when Speed rejects the offer, the true face of Royalton and all of racing within the World Racing League (WRL) reveals itself, threatening to destroy all that Speed and his family have built. Can one lone racer change the world or is the corporate machine too big to fail?
The following home release review is based on a retail 4K UHD Blu-ray provided by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE). This brand-new edition is something that fans have clamored for since the transition from HD Blu-ray to 4K UHD, so let’s get into everything you need to know.
The official press release doesn’t identify what type of disc WBHE used, Bill Hunt at Digital Bits (someone who is well respected in the home release space and has had an inside line on the 4K UHD edition of Speed Racer for some time) claims that WBHE used a 100 GB disc for the release. Even if he didn’t say it, the bitrate on the disc does support this (more shortly). What the press release *does* state is that this new 4K UHD with HDR (via Dolby Vision) remaster includes all the previously available featurettes, as well as a new one with co-writers/co-directors Lilly Wachowski and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy; Cloud Atlas), with a new Dolby Atmos audio track. This results in the best edition audiences are going to get short of the recently-revived theatrical edition (which also used the 4K UHD remaster). If you’re even remotely aware of the film, Speed Racer is a heavily-computer generated experience. This isn’t Phantom Menace (1999) levels of CG wherein sets were absent, so much as even when the actors aren’t driving bumper car-like stationary vehicles against a green screen and are very much on a set or location, everything in frame is digitally-enhanced to help capture the maximalist technicolor dream that is the world of Speed Racer. Additionally, the film itself was shot on 2K Digital Intermediate (not film) for theaters in its original run, which requires the digital finished product to be upsampled into 4K instead of being translated into a native 4K (which is able to be accomplished with restorations or remasters taken from film). All of this is important to note because this typically results in a significantly low bitrate regardless of the on-screen presentation; however, that’s not the case here as the film holds in the 90 Mbps range for the bulk of the picture with occasional drops into the 40s, 60s, and 70s, and peaks in the 140s. 4K UHDs max their bitrate at 148 Mbps and, in order to hit that, need as much space as possible on the disc. Considering that this edition is (a) heavily digital, (b) upsampled, and (c) contains two HD and three SD featurettes while maintaining higher-than-expected bitrates is impressive. This does translate to a viewing experience unlike what the Blu-ray offers; this is a film that revels in turning everything up to 11: the colors, the emotions, the action, mixing together expectation and abstraction into a swirling mixture of hues and bombast that delight from beginning to end, unafraid of being cringe as it revels in its sincerity. It’s a true marvel that with everything turned up (the stunning differences between on-set versus final footage captured within the featurettes), the story never loses its grounding elements which keep one engaged.
Once more, I beg WBHE to go back to including the Blu-ray edition of a film and house the bonus features solely on that disc. Is it a pain to switch between 4K UHD and HD discs to watch the bonus features? Marginally. But being able to watch the 4K UHD presentation without having to worry about the space the featurettes take up would be ideal, from a home viewer perspective. Though, with home releases becoming harder to find in stores due to the drop in perceived value amid the digital boom, one is at least grateful for what we get.
Regarding the featurettes, this edition carries over “Spritle in the Big Leagues!,” “Speed Racer: Supercharged!, and “Speed Racer: Car-Fu Cinema” from the prior North American release and adds in the international-only featurette “Speed Racer: Ramping Up!.” This marks the first time in North America that all four are in one place, but, with the new addition “FAST | FUTURE | FAMILY: Speed Racer Revisited,” the 4K UHD edition becomes the current comprehensive edition, as well as the best format. In the latest, Lana and Lilly sit down in a somewhat relaxed setting to discuss the film having just rewatched it a few days prior, all while their words are intercut with behind-the-scenes and final-film footage. While fans like myself would love to have members of the core cast discuss their reactions to the way Speed Racer has been received over time, there’s a certain kind of significance to only hear from the Wachowskis as this was their film, their artistic response to having completed the Matrix films and surrounding projects (speaking of, where’s the 4K UHD edition of The Animatrix, WB?). In the 13-minute featurette, they talk about how their childhood inspired the making of the film from its style to dialogue, how the film itself is part of a larger effort to encourage folks to break out of binaries (themes explored in much of their world), and how the concept of love (not competition) is what drives the entire narrative of Speed Racer. There’s a lot to learn and process in this lone featurette that will likely be most appreciated by those who experienced the film in 2008 and have been championing it since.
At the time of release, there was nothing like Speed Racer in theaters and, frankly, even with audiences embracing comic book adaptations via Iron Man and the subsequent Marvel Studios titles that would make up Phase One (The Incredible Hulk; Iron Man 2 ), even with live-action manga adaptations becoming all the rage over time (Blade of the Immortal; Kingdom; Edge of Tomorrow; Ghost in the Shell; Sakuran), even with anime itself moving from niche communities into popular culture (My Hero Academia Boku no Hīrō; Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba; Jujutsu Kaisen, to name a few), there’s still been nary a film able to touch the creativity, the sensitivity, and the artistry in Speed Racer. Seemingly inspired by the use of technicolor in films like Yasuharu Hasebe’s Black Tight Killers (1966) and Seijun Suzuki’s Tattooed Life (1965), color is a massive part of the Speed Racer universe. The reds that the Racer family wears are indicative of their individual passion, the whites on Speed’s uniform speak to his purity (or naiveté, as Royalton views it), and the deep purple of Royalton conveys an opulence of wealth that’s as obscene now as then. The costumes by the cast are almost entirely monocolor with little intermixing or complex patterns, rather, as discussed in “FAST | FUTURE | FAMILY,” the only time we see colors swirling together is in the final race when Speed is in the zone, using the Mach 6 like a paint brush to create abstract art as he careens, leaps, and spins the car around the competition and toward victory, the final move turning the red-and-white checkered finish line into something that spins at immense speed and takes over the screen. Color is, quite literally, everywhere and within everything, even in Royalton’s factory, from the obvious color-marked employees traveling on their color-marked lines to the vertical car construction machine whose sparks align with the color of the mechanical arm doing the welding. Then there’s the way in which information is shared, sometimes in dialogue heavy scenes with characters engaged with one another, but, more often, as part of a montage sequence in which locations, actions, and characters are layered upon one another as each move independent from the other in and out of frame. This choice makes the moments in which the characters are still feel weighted and significant (like John Goodman’s Pops doing better by Speed than by Rex in their talk pre-Grand Prix) or positively dynamic and unpredictable as landscapes grow larger as cars race through mountainous terrain amid broadcasters who fly-by the screen so as to offer their commentary without disrupting the action (such as in the second half of the Casa Cristo 5000). Speaking of dynamism, that fight between Team Togokhan and Cruncher Block’s (John Benfield) men takes advantage of the snow flurries within the mountainous range to craft motion lines akin to how they’re depicted in manga. It’s presented so naturally that one might easily miss it as merely an affectation of the film when it’s just another utilization of the source material. Finally, much in the same way that The Matrix became about the power of acceptance and passivity to combat violent forces, Speed Racer is entirely fueled by the notion that no corporation is so big that it can’t be defeated by optimism, good will, and actual talent. It certainly feels like a pipe dream as AI companies seek to defraud the public out of their homes and environmental resources while the American government allows it to happen; however, the power of love isn’t just romantic, it’s the support systems we develop and nurture (family bonds within the Racer family), the trust that forms from doing the right thing *because* it’s the right thing (Yu Nan’s Horuko Togokahn giving Speed his earned invite to the Grand Prix), and the understanding that living a life of passion and drive can lead to changing perceptions as the first step to dismantling the machines profiting off consumption (Speed winning the whole damn thing). You want to defeat a bully? Show them that you can’t be stopped regardless of their threats. No time better than now to realize this truth.
Speed Racer is a marvel of a film and it’s fantastic that it’s finally getting its due. Our house has been proselytizing it since 2008, including but not limited to making it one of the features in our first-ever movie marathon upon moving into our house in 2013 after being forced to upgrade our television. It is kind and joyous, brilliantly paced so that the 135-minutes flies by, understands that car races (just like fights) need to move characters forward beyond the thrill of the action, and does it all with the kind of sincerity that defies the now-popular “cringe” descriptor for anything that outwardly expresses emotions. The time is ripe for folks to shed any notions of what is and isn’t an inappropriate form of joy and just lead with their hearts. This is the heart of Speed Racer and what makes it linger in those who enjoy it. It’s not just about racing, it’s about fighting for something you believe in with your whole spirit alongside a team of people who see the world as you do and make that reality real.
Speed Racer Special Features:
- *NEW* FAST | FUTURE | FAMILY: Speed Racer Revisited (13:11)
- Spritle in the Big Leagues!
- Speed Racer: Ramping Up!
- Speed Racer: Supercharged!
- Speed Racer: Car-Fu Cinema
- Speed Racer: Wonderful World of Racing, The Amazing Racer Family
Available on 4K UHD and digital May 19th, 2026.
For more information, head to the official Warner Bros. Pictures Speed Racer webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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