August 2025

Speed Racer: A Need for Speed

This story was originally published in AC May 2008. Some images are additional or alternate, and the directors' names have been changed to reflect their preferred gender identities. In 1967, Tatsuo Yoshida's pioneering animated character, Mifune Go, was renamed Speed Racer and brought to American television. There, his exploits behind the wheel of the Mach 5 became every bit as legendary as they were in Japan. Now, directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski have taken Speed Racer to the big screen, breaking new ground in visual effects to move the character into the live-action world. The film centers on young Speed (Emile Hirsch) and his attempts to save the family racing business, which is led by his father (John Goodman). After Speed turns...more