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Category:    Home > Reviews > Animation > Action > Adventure > Automobiles > Cars > Animé TV > Speed Racer – The Complete Classic Collection (Original 1967 - 1968 Animated TV Series/Lionsgate DVD)

Speed Racer – The Complete Classic Collection (Original 1967 - 1968 Animated TV Series/Lionsgate DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Episodes: B+

 

 

After covering the individual volumes in one review, the entire, original and only Speed Racer is being issued as one set.  Our original coverage about the series and these DVDs can be found at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4505/Speed+Racer

 

 

At the time, I was optimistic that the then-upcoming feature film version would be a revival that would work, but it and a Next Generation animated TV series have been awful and set the franchise back in ways words cannot describe.  Having already blasted both as the failures they are elsewhere on this site, new thoughts on the show and this new set.

 

Besides the likable metal Mach 5 shell holding a square with all of the episodes that are exactly of the same quality we already covered, there is a bonus DVD with the fourth episode of that Next Generation show, a making-of that Next Generation series (both of which are disposable and self-serving) and a History Of Speed Racer featurette that is good, but could have been longer and fit on a DVD of better material.  However, it is what you get besides the packaging if you get this version.

 

Versus the political correctness of the awful new feature film, the original show may have some stereotypes and some politically incorrect moments, but the original Japanese version Mach A Go Go (which ought to have been included here in its entirety) had even more violence.  What re-impressed me about the show is how smart and mature it really is versus the infantilization of all of its revivals.

 

Also, The Cold War is going on during the original show and though it is never explicitly acknowledged, it is all over the place.  Besides the very real possibility of injury or death in racing that the original series was so good at keeping in mind, the oddest component of their Cold War approach is that Arab villains were suddenly joining in the fight against The West!

 

Best of all, the humor is better and some of the dialogue classic, plus character and machine designs hold up very well.  Speed Racer – The Complete Classic Collection does not include the collectible goodies each of the five previous volumes did, but is the ultimate way to have the show until Lionsgate gets to a Blu-ray version.  It will also help you recover from the remakes.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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