Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)So, you waited MANY years to finally get the original Speed Racer show on DVD! (I know I did!) Well, you may be disappointed with this release. (I know I was!) Why was I so upset? Well, read on:
First and foremost, this is NOT the same version of Speed Racer we grew up with! Both the opening credits sequence and the closing credits sequence have been re-done. Gone are the original "Trans-Lux" credit and the exciting swirling white animated "Speed Racer" logo. Now, the opening boasts cheesy yellow & red titles that were obviously created by computer. The lousy graphics were then placed over a re-edited opening sequence that uses the original Japanese version as its base (You can see the swirling red Japanese title in the middle of the wheel). This is where the computer-generated credits are used (with jarring, ham-fisted edits!). The closing credits also feature computer-created graphics that are superimposed over out-of-focus background animation. The closing theme also appears to have been re-recorded...
Look, I know you shouldn't base your purchase solely on the fact the opening and closing credits were changed, so let's look at the episodes themselves:
The colors are very good, as it does look like the producers of this DVD went back to the original Japanese masters. The problem is that the producers decided to pack *5 hours* of material onto *one* single-sided DVD! The episodes have been compressed too much! The bit rate fluctuates from only 2.1Mbps to about 4.5Mbps. (Compare this to the 6.9Mbps to 10.0Mbps bit rate of Rhino's "Battle of the Planets" DVDs.) The Speed Racer episodes suffer from quite a bit of digital artifacting. My disc's video also freezes from time to time.
Maybe the producers of this think they are being generous by including 11 episodes. Well, I think they could have given us 11 episodes over 2 discs, or at least one double-sided disc. They compressed the material too much, and the final results are very disappointing.
Beyond the video compression the producers used to cram 5 hours of material onto one DVD, many of the episodes have also been "time-compressed", meaning they have been sped up. This is usually done so stations can air more commercials, but for a home video release, it's inexcusable!
So, how do I know they have been time-compressed? Well, I compared the actual episode content (minus the opening & closing credits) of the first eight episodes to the Japanese version. Of these first 8 episodes, 3 run faster than the originals. Now, the US-version is edited in a few places, so that will shorten their runing time, but identical portions should run the same speed. Sadly, they don't.
When you watch the episodes side by side (something my TV is capable of doing), the US Speed Racer episodes start getting ahead of their Japanese counterparts. Episodes 1, 7, and 8 all immediately start running faster than the originals. The running time for the first episode is 21:31. Compare that to the 22:45 of the Japanese original (1:14 faster). That's enough for 2 more commercials! Episode 7 is 1:35 faster, and episode 8 is a minute faster.
I don't want to speculate on why the producers felt the need to time-compress these episodes, but it shouldn't have been done!
The Japanese release of "Mach Go Go Go (Speed Racer's original Japanese name) came out on a total of 9 DVDs. They cost a lot more than this disc, yet they feature a much better picture, with less compression. I only wish the US-version was of the same high-standard as the Japanese-version. Sadly, it's not.
Finally, to emphasize how [bad] an operation this whole DVD is, look at its "1966" copyright date. Well, "Mach Go Go Go" wasn't released in Japan until 1967, and the US version didn't come out for another year or two...! Why 1966? How can a company release a truly definitive version of Speed Racer when they don't even know when it was made..?!
Click Here to see more reviews about: Speed Racer - Episodes 1-11 (1967)
The world's favorite high-octane animated hero is back! Roaring into action aboard his trusty Mach-5, it's the intrepid youngrace car driver who sparked an international cult phenomenon: the oneand only SPEED RACER! Now, for the first time ever, the first 11 episodes of this classichugely popular "Japanimation" series are brought together in thisspecial limited edition DVD.Turbo-charged with all of Speed Racer'strademark animated thrills, offbeat humor, unforgettable characters andcliff-hanger racing action, these collectible, specially remasteredepisodes are the stuff of every fan's dreams.So fasten your seatbelts- and join Speed, girlfriend Trixie, Speed's two brothers, onemischievous monkey, and an outrageous assortment of villains for onefast-lane, no-brakes, nonstop adventure after another! Ready...Set...Go, Speed Racer, Go!
Click here for more information about Speed Racer - Episodes 1-11 (1967)
