Living in a world where Speed Racer’s 4K remaster now existsis pretty amazing, and I know I’m not the only person who thinks so. After almost two decades the world is falling in love with The Wachowski Sisters’ masterpiece all over again, as it deserves to be seen.
As someone who can personally vouch for this recalibration for the modern age, I would go as far as saying that this living, breathing anime is a must buy for anyone’s home library. Those feelings only grew when talking to senior colorist John Daro; one of the key team members behind Speed Racer’s 4K restoration.
Anybody who thinks they can’t appreciate this movie’s beauty even more is in for quite a ride. So sit back, and enjoy Mr. Daro’s tale of using all the tools in the box to resurrect a modern classic – which pushes the picture even further ahead of the pack.
Speed Racer’s “Ahead Of Its Time” Energy Persists In Its New Restoration
A huge thanks has to go out, once again, to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; without whom this chat wouldn’t have taken place. Actually, that may not be the total truth, because considering how much of a Speed Racer fan John Daro is, it would have probably been a matter of time.
At least that’s how it felt when speaking with him, on behalf of That Hollywood Show. Seeing the Racer family’s triumph in a literally new light continues to be a joy. Naturally, that sort of victory doesn’t come easy; and right from the start of our chat John Daro filled in :
This was right at the time when P3 projectors were coming online. …it’s really what digital could do. So it [had] a mega cranked grade on it, and this is just my personal opinion, I think it was a little too ahead of its time. I mean, the style of the wipes and the editorial way of doing these things, it was not traditional cinema, right? It was really pushing the envelope.
Digital projection was still in its early years back in 2008, and that was also when Warner Bros. became one of the first Hollywood studios to majorly support the IMAX format. Both factors are now cornerstones to the cinema industry; but when Speed Racer debuted, they were novelties.
So of course, bringing that beauty up to HDR code saw some special hurdles that needed to be cleared. Of course, the results have given John Daro and his team some of the highest praise from two very important Racer enthusiasts.
The Wachowski Sisters’ Approval Makes This Mammoth Undertaking Worth While
In a similar vein Speed Racer’s living, breathing anime style of split diopters, cool wipes, and hyper colorful environments now feel like The Wachowskis once again staking claim on the future of filmmaking. Bringing that vision up to the level of modern theatrical and home theater setups was certainly a daunting challenge; which makes The Wachowskis’ approval, shared via John Daro below, even more heartwarming:
When it was first created, it was turned up to 11; and I really do think we’ve gone to 12 now. I remember when [The Wachowski Sisters] first came in, the first race sequence happens, and they went like this [snapping their fingers]. And I’m like, ‘Okay, I think that’s good. I think we’re alright.’ It was really exciting to see how happy they were with the end result, and all of the work that we put in.
Knowing the end result is a product worthy of fans’ love helps when making our way through the rest of the story. Because now, it’s time to dig deeper into what the entire 4K restoration team of Speed Racer had to work with – through John Daro’s viewpoint.
Speed Racer: From Digital Trailblazer To Difficult Transfer
As anyone who saw Speed Racer’s 4K upgrade in theaters will tell you, the film really does feel cranked to 12. All told, the movie now exists in 4K versions for home enjoyment (in both digital and physical media), as well as shiny new Dolby Vision, IMAX, and traditional theater versions – ready for a future of repertory screenings.
Alas, this is where being ahead of the curve becomes a gap in the process. The all-digital nature of The Wachowski Sisters’ original production led to one of the greatest challenges: isolating and updating the individual elements involved with each shot of the picture.:
It was a little bit tricky, because the original house that did [digital intermediate], it’s out of business, so where do you find the original lookup table for that? How do you even begin to start? …When they were doing the visual effects, there were matte lines and things that are baked into those visual effects that, unless I had the splits, there’s no way to fix those.
Without the raw sources from Speed Racer’s original production, trying to upgrade anything was going to take a lot of careful time and effort. Thankfully, John Daro’s team had some tricks up their sleeves, thanks to custom tools that allowed them to isolate the effects and fix the matte lines.
That approach also applied to upgrading the picture to its superior HDR state; especially when it came to the colors. In order to discuss that final piece to this puzzle, John Daro was able to use an example that anyone who truly loves this movie could appreciate.
John Daro “Most HDR” Moment, Naturally, Comes From Speed Racer’s Grand Prix Finale
Reading through the Twitter reactions to Speed Racer’s IMAX revamp, I found myself smiling over how much Speed’s final lap at the Grand Prix came up. It’s the beating heart of the movie that presents the main themes, and slowly pushes the movie into a sensory overload that feels amazing.
True blue fan John Daro understands the beauty of that sequence, and his description of how it translates into the work is perhaps his greatest testament to this 4K wonder. Using that thematic analogue, Daro claims the Grand Prix finale as “the maximum HDR-ness of that show,” as well as “the most HDR that [he’s] ever done.”
That’s due to a “very subliminal” cranking of color throughout that last act crowd pleaser, which was based in this piece of cinematic inspiration:
Often, people want things to feel like the theatrical version. … In this case, because it was the perfect film, you have to have motivation [to go further], right? … And with that build-up, we went all the way up to 4,000 nits – when there’s the explosion and some of the electricity that’s zapping around – and I was like, ‘Let’s go!’ If there is ever a film for it, it’s this one. … And that is the perfect [sequence]. You’re pushing that to the max, the car is being pushed to the max, to the brink of collapse. Crank it up, and then settle it back down.
If you want to see John Daro talking the picture up in the flesh, check out this promo video from Warner Bros:
Speed Racer is currently available on Digital and 4K UHD Blu-ray, and feels destined to be an IMAX repertory title. And as always, for all of the latest and greatest in pop culture, make sure to keep a browser tab tuned to THR’s Movie News archive!
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