''Speed Racer: Original Motion Picture Score'' is the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

of the film of the same name, which is based on the Japanese anime and manga series ''

Speed Racer ''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese media franchise about Auto racing, automobile racing. ''Mach GoGoGo'' was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in tankōbon book form by Sun W ...

'' by

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. The score was composed by

Michael Giacchino Michael Giacchino (; born October 10, 1967) is an American composer of music for films, television and video games. He has also served as a director for television. He has received many awards, including an Oscar for his work on '' Up'' (2009), a ...

. It was originally released on May 6, 2008 by

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. In Japan, it was released by

Geneon Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime within Japan. Th ...

on June 25, 2008. The orchestral score is performed by

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with American composer Tim Simonec conducting. Along with it an updated version of the "Go, Speed Racer, Go" theme song performed by Ali Dee and the Deekompressors was used in the film's ending credits. In 2007, its rights were purchased by

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, the writer, producers and film's directors, for use in the film. "Go, Speed Racer, Go" was released as a

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in the same day of soundtrack's release. The soundtrack overall has been well received by music critics.

Track listing

Reception

The score received favorable responses.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

stated it has "enough emotive interludes and lounge-tinged asides to render ''

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'' a period drama", while praised as "one of the most satisfying audio jumps from TV to the big screen since

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's score for 1989's

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-era

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said Giacchino "organically rearranging the little pieces as various leitmotifs throughout the movie" and "mines the entire late 60's for other pastiches", calling it "one of the best scores of the year." Giacchino remained "fairly faithful to the original score from the TV-series", and he was "able to inject his own sense of retro-flair that makes ''Speed Racer'' one score you might consider racing out to get", according to Tracksounds.com. ''

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'' noted "some of what you see in ''Speed Racer'' is indeed beautiful (as is the slyly old-fashioned orchestral score by Michael Giacchino)." ''Film Music Magazine'' qualified it "as energizing a ride as any musically re-tooled cartoon standard can hope for", adding it is "the musical equivalent of the film – garishly colorful, swingingly energetic – and a whole lot more sensical than the movie itself." It was described as "the real gusto" of the film by ''

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''. While praised Giacchino incorporation of the original themes, Daniel Schweiger of ''iF Magazine'' said it doesn't mean it "is lacking his own style." Schweiger stated the soundtrack "triumphs as the musical equivalent of the film- garishly colorful, swingingly energetic- and a whole lot more sensical than the movie itself." On the other hand,

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remarked it "start well, interestingly, with 'I Am Speed'" and that fans of the original show's music will appreciate the score. However, he criticized it for being "simply too explosively loud and incessantly enthusiastic to tolerate for lengthy periods of time", comparing it to "television commercials who try to sell you household cleaning products while shouting their praise for the item and never yielding to take a breath."

References

External links

''Speed Racer'' soundtrack
- official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Speed Racer (Soundtrack) Speed Racer 2008 soundtrack albums Michael Giacchino soundtracks Action film soundtracks Comedy film soundtracks