History Film / SpeedRacer

* BeeBeeGun: one of the viking-themed headhunters in the Casa Cristo use a bee hive catapult against Taejo.

** There is no conventionally possible way to transmit power to a wheel that can turn 360 degrees inside the fender, much less steer it. The wheels are clearly being driven by ''something'', as the Mach 6 is able to leave burnout marks from a standing start.

** As in ''Film/DaysOfThunder'', the Racer team only has one Mach 6 car at any given time. While the Racer family are established as poorly-funded underdogs, most real world auto racing teams have multiple cars, not only to ensure the team can continue operating in the case of an accident, but often build cars to suit distinct tracks.

* BeeBeeGun: A bee hive is used as a weapon in-race.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Speed is a good man overall, but the best way to piss him off is putting his girlfriend in peril. Best exemplified during the rally when Snake Oiler pulls off an offensive maneuver (positioning his speeding car so that his front wheel is dangerously close to Trixie's face) that could have cost a disguised Trixie her life; an enraged Speed performs the same move against Snake, coming inches away from killing the terrified man before relenting.

* TheBigRace: Several [[SerialEscalation increasingly over the top races]] culminating in the WRL Grand Prix.

* BulletTime: ''It was written and directed by the Wachowskis.'' [[Film/TheMatrix Think about that]].

* CarFu: Also actually called such in the video game.

* CementShoes: Cruncher Block wants to use this method on Taejo, but he instead decides to use piranhas to try and eat Taejo's hand.

* ChekhovsArmoury: All of the "defensive modifications" on Speed's car come into proper use. [[TheArtifact Except for the Homing Bird.]]
* ChekhovsGun: When Sprite and Chim-Chim [[spoiler:sneak into a restricted area of Royalton Industries, they see testing for the spearhook in the Industry's cars. Later on Royalton tells Cannonball Taylor that a spearhook has been fitted into the Royalton GRX car he'll be using at the Grand Prix just in case he needs it, and while Taylor insists he doesn't need one to win, the fact that a whole flashback is dedicated to it makes it clear it'll come into play somehow later - which it does when Taylor gets desperate enough to use it against Speed, which ends up backfiring as Speed manages to free himself from it and expose both Taylor and Royalton for corruption and cheating in the process]].

* DogpileOfDoom: Several racers try to do this to Speed during the final Grand Prix, by piling their cars against him to shove him up against the track side. Unfortunately for them, the Mach 6's jump jacks are more than strong enough to fling all of them off in one go.
* {{Doorstopper}}: Royalton's contract document ''is thousands of pages'' long, arranged in four giant stacks on a table.

* DubNameChange: In the LATAM dub, Speed is renamed Meteoro[[labelnote:Translation]]Meteor[[/labelnote]] and Sparky as Bujía[[labelnote:Translation]]Spark Plug[[/labelnote]] as both names sound way better in Spanish than their literal translations (i.e., Velocidad and Chispita). Spritle is the one go becomes Chispita.
* EpicRace: The Casa Cristo 5000.
* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting: See BadassFamily.

** Just look at how Speed acts in the opening scenes--how does anyone miss such obvious signs of ADHD? Or worse?

* FauxAffablyEvil: Despite being warm and friendly while initially courting the Racer family, after Speed rejects his offer, Royalton reveals his true CorruptCorporateExecutive personality by giving Speed a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: You know what is going to happen to the GratuitousNinja attacking the Racers when Pops performs a PunchCatch and the camera zooms to the ring he's been wearing all film long so we can read it: [[CurbStompBattle "Greco-Roman Wrestling State Champions"]].

* FloatingAdviceReminder: On the last lap of the Grand Prix, Speed has flashbacks of his friends and family's advice, which spurs him on to a HeroicSecondWind.

** Inspector Detector asks Racer X if he really wants to be at the Racer house for the attempt at recruiting Speed. Racer seems unusually emotional about it. We learn later that [[spoiler:Racer X is Rex, Speed's older brother who everyone believes died years before in a racing crash.]]
** During the Racer family's tour of Royaltan Industries, a Royaltan escort is extremely rough while removing Trixie's jacket, which Trixie notes with a "what the hell" look on her face. This is a very early indication that Royaltan and his business are [[FauxAffablyEvil not as nice as they try to appear]].

* GoshDangitToHeck: ''Averted''; there's a moderate amount of cursing ("ass" is said a lot; there's both an in-movie bleeped and entirely uncensored "shit") and Spritle even [[FlippingTheBird flips Royalton off]] after the factory tour. Yet it's still rated PG.

* HappyEnding: With kiss included. But then, see BitterSweetEnding.
* HardWorkMontage: One of the many {{Montages}} of the film, the 32 hours before the 91st Grand Prix shows the Racer family hard at work building the Mach 6, contrasting with Royalton's high-class business schmoozing and the primping for the fancy Grand Prix gala.

* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Despite full-faced helmets being mandatory in most forms of motorsports for decades, none of the racers in the film wear more than an open faced helmet.

** The female member of the Barbarian team (y'know, the ones that were ''[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments bribed with furs?]]'') is attempting to launch a '''[[AwesomeButImpractical beehive via built-in catapault]]''' into Taejo's car, but a quick side bump from Speed sends the giant honeycomb straight into the air, and back into the driver's seat.

* MegaCorp: Royalton Industries is the premiere maker of T-180 race cars, and is headed by CorruptCorporateExecutive Royalton.

* MeaningfulName: Crooked racer ''Snake Oiler''. Amongst his many dirty tricks, he uses [[OilSlick oil slicks]] and [[AbnormalAmmo launches friggin' SNAKES at opponents]]. He's also a [[SmugSnake smug jerk]], earning him the trope trifecta.

** Though way more visible in the top-down view of the car in one of the movie's special features than in the movie itself, the spoiler on the Thor-Axine Viking team cars sports a Sparco logo.

* SeriousBusiness: Even more so than in the anime. Auto racing is the most popular and most noble sport in the world, there's coverage in multiple languages (which in RealLife doesn't happen at most sporting events that aren't the Olympics, admittedly including Formula One), and the outcomes of races have far-reaching effects on the global economy. [[spoiler: This is because the "Big Five" corporations fix races to manipulate the stock market to suit their whims. If Royalton's largesse is any indication, those Big Five ''do'' have a major effect on the global economy]].

** Convertible sports cars like the Mach 5 would be the last vehicle to take on a cross-country rally. One, the vehicles lack the suspension travel for a route over desert sand and pockmarked asphalt, two, the racers would be choked by the clouds of sand kicked up by their competitors in the desert section and three, the vehicles' long wheelbases wouldn't have been ideal for the tight mountain roads. A rally car would be a better choice.
** T180's like the Mach 6, also make V8EngineNoises despite appearing to be rocket powered.

The film also stars Creator/ChristinaRicci as Trixie, Creator/JohnGoodman as Pops Racer, Creator/SusanSarandon as Mom Racer, Creator/MatthewFox as Racer X, Creator/RogerAllam as Arnold Royalton, Benno Fürmann as Inspector Detector, Creator/HiroyukiSanada as Musha, Ji Hoon Jung as Taejo Togokahn and Creator/RichardRoundtree as Ben Burns.

* TheBigDamnKiss: Speed and Trixie's kiss at the end after Speed wins the Grand Prix.

* BittersweetEnding: Speed wins the Grand Prix, Royalton's cheating and corruption are exposed and he is put in prison, it is implied that the WRL will be reformed. However, Racer X has decided against [[spoiler:revealing to his family that he is actually Rex Racer, and that he is still alive.]]

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Speed and Trixie tell a fib to help Racer X and Inspector Detector by racing in the race that killed Rex.

* CreatorCameo: Peter Fernandez, Speed original voice actor, appears as a race commentator at Thunderhead.

* DawnOfAnEra: Ben Burns even says so when [[spoiler:Speed manages to not only expose Royalton but manages to break speed records to win the race from last place. In front of the entire world an Independent Team, Car, and Racer blew out all of the Big 5 to win the largest race in the world. By winning, Speed's not only singlehandedly crippled, if not outright demolished, the systemic race rigging, but destroyed one of the biggest companies ever, in one fell swoop]].

* DestinationDefenestration: Pops throws the ninja who infiltrated the Racers' hotel room out of their window.

** During the rally, Cruncher Block raids the Togokahns' private helicopter to take Haruko hostage and doesn't notice Taejo swapped places with his sister until he sees his face, despite the siblings' large difference in build.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The elderly announcer at the start says "I knew Rex Racer" because the announcer is Peter Fernandez who voiced Rex/Racer X in the dub of the original anime.

* LoopholeAbuse: [[spoiler:Taejo's sister Horuko uses this to get Speed into the Grand Prix. Ordinarily you'd need to win an entry certificate, which Speed technically did not, but since he helped Taejo win the team rally and Taejo declined, he can claim the spot.]]

* MagicPlasticSurgery: [[spoiler:Racer X aka Rex Racer]].

* MetaTwist: The identity of Racer X -- it's obvious if you are familiar with the anime. [[spoiler: He's Speed's older brother Rex Racer, who is believed dead by everyone. The film actually takes the fans' knowledge into account, pulling off a DoubleSubversion. When he takes off the mask, he seemingly turns out ''not'' to be Rex, only for it to be revealed at the end that he ''is'' Rex and had undergone plastic surgery to hide his identity]].

** Matthew Fox as Racer X.

** Racer X sports a very sexy piece of eye candy that is most likely his girlfriend. Her main purpose is as the MsExposition technician detailing all of the defensive modifications added to the Mach 5 for Casa Cristo, and in all other scenes she serves as Racer X's date at events.
* MundaneMadeAwesome: When facing a ninja, Racer X whips out a length of cloth, whips it around dramatically, then ties it around his face to act as a mask.

* MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours: In retaliation to Speed snubbing his offer, Royalton does everything he can to sabotage Racer Motors and Speed so that he doesn't win an entry certificate and thus can't qualify for the Grand Prix. However, [[spoiler:[[LoopholeAbuse Horuko finds a rule that says that as part of the winning team in Casa Cristo, he is eligible to participate since Taejo declined his invitation.]] And when Royalton tries to protest Speed's entry, Inspector Detector points out that the entry rule is ironclad and if Royalton insists on breaking it, he'll have to shut the race down and conduct a full investigation, right before the event is about to start. Since Royalton can't afford such a debacle, he is forced to back down and let Speed race]].

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Roger Allam, the actor who plays bad guy Arnold Royalton, bears an astonishing resemblance to British writer and critic Christopher Hitchens, right down to the accent. Many reviewers have commented on it.

* OilSlick: Used by Snake Oiler during the Casa Cristo rally.

* SaveTheDayTurnAway: Racer X [[spoiler:is really Rex, who faked his death]] to assume the Racer X identity. He decides to not to reveal his identity to keep his family safe. X tells [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Inspector Detector]] that while hiding the truth may have been a mistake, it is a mistake he will have to live with.
* ScantronPicture: At the beginning of the movie, the young Speed fills the bubbles on a test to read '''GO REX GO''', prompting his teacher to call his mom in for a meeting.

** The Crucible race has plenty of shout-outs to the original series, even giving Speed an excuse to wear a [[ScarfOfAsskicking neckerchief]] (so he can use it to cover his mouth during the desert run). At the end of the race, he jumps out and poses like in the original anime intro.

* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Racer X chose not to reveal himself as Rex to his family, even telling Speed that his brother is truly dead.]]

** Cruncher Block's big rig has holes for the people in the trailer to shoot out of and a missile launcher in the grill.

* WoundedGazelleGambit: Taejo Togokahn offers to turn over incriminating evidence if Racer X and Speed help his team win the Casa Cristo 5000, on the grounds that Royalton will ruin his family financially if they don't. [[spoiler:They do, which causes Togokahn's stock to skyrocket, and he leaves them empty-handed.]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Speed_Racer_film_8690.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"Ho-Hoa!"]]

'''Pops''': More like a ''non''ja.

* StoutStrength: Pops is a very corpulent man, but as a former wrestler, he is strong enough to toss around bad guys like they're ragdolls.

* CreatorCameo: Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr, Speed and Trixie's original voice actors, respectively appear as a race commentator at Thunderhead and an announcer at the Grand Prix.

* CreatorCameo: Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr, Speed and Trixie's original voice actors, appear as racing announcers at Thunderhead.

* CreatorCameo:
** Peter Fernandez, Speed's original voice actor, appears as a racing announcer at Thunderhead.
** Corinne Orr - Trixie's voice actress - appears as the race announcer at the Grand Prix.

* DawnOfAnEra: Ben Burns even says so when [[spoiler:Speed manages to not only expose Royalton but manages to break speed records to win the race from last place. In front of the entire world an Independent Team, Car, and Racer blew out all of the Big 5 to win the largest race in the world. By winning, Speed demolishes the race rigging and destroyed one of the biggest companies ever, in one fell swoop]].

* BloodSport: While there are plenty of car crashes, this is downplayed by the fact that all cars have the foam bubble "Kwik-Save" system installed, and any devices that are designed for or can be used to intentionally harm other racers, such as the Spearhook, are illegal. This makes it probably the most plausible bloodsport in fiction.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Inspector Detector asks Racer X if he really to be at the Racer house for the attempt at recruiting Speed. Racer seems unusually emotional about it. We learn later that [[spoiler:Racer X is Rex, Speed's older brother who everyone believes died years before in a racing crash.]]
* During the Racer family's tour of Royaltan Industries, a Royaltan escort is extremely rough while removing Trixie's jacket, which Trixie notes with a "what the hell" look on her face. This is a very early indication that Royaltan and his business are [[FauxAffablyEvil not as nice as they try to appear]].
* GoshDangitToHeck: ''Averted''; there's a moderate amount of cursing ("ass" is said a lot; there's both an in-movie bleeped and entirely uncensored "shit") and Spritle even flips Royalton off after the factory tour. Yet it's still rated PG.

* HeroicSecondWind: During the Grand Prix, [[spoiler:while Speed Racer is able to expose Royalton's spearhook and break the Mach 6 free of it, it still leaves the Mach 6 unable to start up, putting him at dead last.]] Speed Racer is frantic and despondent over what to do, thinking he's going to lose for real... [[spoiler:until he remembers Rex's childhood advice on DontThinkFeel when race-driving. He intuitively jumpstarts the Mach 6, getting back into the race and shooting up from dead last in a short amount of time.]] The previously concerned crowd goes absolutely wild at this, with Cass Jones triumphantly shouting, "He's back!"

* IronicEcho: Royalton TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Speed gets one [[spoiler: in the finale as he uses sheer HeroicWillpower to come up from behind]]
--> "You ready to throw away your toys?! Are you ready to become a real race car driver!?"

** Racer X sports a very sexy piece of eye candy that is most likely his girlfriend. As she appears in a total of two scenes (with an aggregate amount of screen time of about 30 seconds), her main purpose seems to be to stand around and be hot, which she accomplishes most deftly.

* NonFatalExplosions: The cars all have a system called "Kwik-Save" that puts them in a protective foam bubble when they crash. [[SmugSnake Snake Oiler]] has a parachute. A failure in this system was blamed for the death of Rex Racer.

** After the ''non-ja'' is pantsed by Spritle & Chim-Chim, he bumps into and tries to attack Pops, who easily catches his fist and pulls him into a hold. This is when he notices that Pops won the Greco-Roman Wrestling State Championship.

-->"Get that weak shit off my track."

** Racer X has numerous machine guns on his vehicle (the Shooting Star) when rescuing Taejo.
** Cruncher Block's big rig has holes for the people in the cab to shoot out of and a missile launcher in the grill.

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Put into play during the Crucible when Snake Oiler, foiled in his attempts to beat Speed, pulls out a pistol and opens fire on him. This is obviously cheating (and attempted murder), so he would have been disqualified even if Speed hadn't sent him flying off the cliff.

* ContextSensitiveButton: Speed has one button for each of the Mach 5's various tricks, however they're each shown capable of performing a variety of very precision maneuvers. For example, the "jump" button may deploy all four jump feet to hop over someone, or it might deploy just the left two to flip to the right, like how 'tap','double tap', 'press' and 'press and hold' can do different functions in a video game but with more options than the ones mentioned above.

** [[spoiler:Racer X]] thoroughly erases his identity as [[spoiler:Rex Racer]], not only faking his death but getting plastic surgery so no one will be able to recognize him. When Inspector Detector asks him, at the end, if he wants to rejoin his family following Royalton's defeat, he quietly refuses, believing the loss of his former identity is a mistake he needs to live with.]
** Pops Racer out and out tells Rex this when he announces that he's leaving Pops' racing team; his underlining intention is to protect his family, as he really means to take down the crime cartel. Pops (even without ever learning Rex's true motives) later admits that he deeply regrets sayin that to his eldest son.

* MetaTwist: The identity of Racer X -- it's obvious if you are familiar with the anime. [[spoiler: He's Speed's older brother Rex Racer, who is believed dead by everyone. The film actually takes the fans' knowledge into account, pulling of a DoubleSubversion. When he takes off the mask, he seemingly turns out ''not'' to be Rex, only for it to be revealed at the end that he ''is'' Rex and had undergone plastic surgery to hide his identity]].