Speed Racer Vs Indy
May 2008 sees Speed Racer and the fourth Indiana Jones movie vie for the pole position as the year's first must-see blockbuster. Speed Racer has the head start, gunning its engine two weeks before Indy cracks his whip, but the real battle here is for the future of filmmaking. Speed Racer has been pimped with laser edge technology, while Spielberg wears his old school methods as a badge of honour. Could this be one race too close to call?
We've been here before. Back in 1999, the first Star Wars prequel was supposed to be the blockbuster to rule them all. But, the phantom menace that year was an upstart sci-fi flick entitled The Matrix, which lost out to Star Wars box-office wise, but trounced George Lucas' eagerly awaited film in the all-important cultural impact influence stakes.
Now, Lucas and longtime best buddy Steven Spielberg are resurrecting another franchise from an era long gone (the 1980s) and again are facing off against another Wachowski Brothers dazzler that promises "never before seen effects"TM.
But, there are crucial differences: Steven Spielberg is the finest blockbuster moviemaker in history, this is a new Indiana Jones film, and Speed Racer's production history has stalled as often as Indy IV's.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, to give its full (wordy) title, has endured a well-documented script development hell, with writers including Frank Darabont, M. Night Shyamalan and Stephen Gaghan attempting to please Spielberg, Lucas and Ford, and Jurassic Park scribe David Koepp finally cracking it.
But, Speed Racer's roll-call is just as impressive. Since Joel Silver purchased rights in 1992, Johnny Depp, Vince Vaughn and Henry Rollins (!) have been attached to star, with Julien Temple, Gus Van Sant and Alfonso Cauron almost on board as directors, and wunderkind J.J Abrams amongst others had a bash at the script.
With the future of movie production currently on a tipping point, the greater success of either Speed Racer or Indy is bound to have repercussions.
Speed Racer was shot on HD with green screen virtual sets, while in an interview with Empire Spielberg stated, "advances in film technology would change the heart of this movie... I wanted the actors to walk onto real sets, to stage real stunts."
Who is right? Or has it gone beyond right and wrong? Spielberg used CGI to bring dinosaurs back to life, and subtle digital effects turned Saving Private Ryan's famed beach invasion into one of cinema's finest moments.
And without CGI and blue/green screen, would movies such as Starship Troopers, The Lord of the Rings trilogy or The Host have been the masterpieces they are?
The argument here is not with the use of digital technology (even the new Indiana Jones uses CGI to remove safety harnesses), 
but that for the sake of ease and expense this filmmaking will replace all others. And jaw-dropping CGI cannot rescue a dud movie - see Pirates 3 or Transformers for more information.
In the hands of artists, there is nothing to worry about - Peter Jackson's King Kong was a digital triumph, Robert Rodriguez's Sin City was a stunning recreation of the comic books - but the danger is most films will resemble Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow or the visually dated Star Wars prequels, and filmmaking will get mired in fantasy land.
It could become a world of George Lucas movies, not Steven Spielberg movies.
Model work and stop-motion has a believability often absent from CGI extravaganzas - if in doubt compare the end battle in Return of the Jedi with any space battle in the Star Wars prequel.
Or play the hundred Agent Smith beat-em-up in The Matrix Reloaded with Quentin Tarantino's old-school swordplay finale in Kill Bill Vol. 1 side-by-side. It's clear which one is live and which is Memorex.
Will Speed Racer compare to the real life hot pursuit of Death Proof or the legendary Raiders of the Lost Ark truck chase?
The Wachowski's have surprised us before, and despite the headachy Trailer 1, subsequent Speed Racer trailers promise a Wizard of Oz style visual trip that should make even the most addled eight-year old stop in his tracks. And if it gets more kids into Japanese anime then the Wachowskis can rest easy.
Certain filmmakers are attempting to blend the old with the new: J.J Abrams and Zack Snyder (director of the Playstation looking 300) are reportedly using physical sets wherever possible on Star Trek and Watchmen.
May 9th will prove if Speed Racer victoriously donuts over the finish line, and come May 22nd we'll know if Spielberg's old school methods bottled lightning one more time.
One argument that can be settled now is the threat of HD ruining the look of movies. With films such as Zodiac, Dogville and Rocky Balboa all shot digitally, some new technologies are still at the service of the story, not vice versa.
Rob Daniel
