Soundtrack Review: Speed Racer by Michael Giacchino (2008)
This is a review of the motion picture score for Speed Racer by Michael Giacchino.
“Once I started listening to it, I could immediately hear that it’s really fast paced and sometimes even silly”
This is the score the awaited Wachowski Brothers movie Speed Racer. There’s been a lot of hype about this one and naturally the soundtrack. By watching the trailers, I had some idea of what to expect and I also know what Michael Giacchino is capable of. He was nominated last year for his excellent score to Ratatouille and hopes to build on that success this year with Speed Racer and Star Trek later this year (or possibly next). This is the track list of Speed Racer:
Track List
- I Am Speed
- World’s Best Autopia
- Thunderhead
- Tragic Story Of Rex Racer
- Vroom And Board
- World’s Worst Road Rage
- Racing’s In Our Blood
- True Heart Of Racing
- Casa Cristo
- End Of The First Leg
- Bumper To Bumper, Rail To Rail
- The Maltese Ice Cave
- Go Speed, Go!
- He Ain’t Heavy
- 32 Hours
- Grand Ol’ Prix
- Reboot
- Let Us Drink Milk
- Speed Racer
Road Runner?
The soundtrack is nicely filled with 19 tracks and has a total play time of 58:39. The thing with Michael Giacchino is that he repeats himself a lot. In some eyes, that is not a bad thing. If you are a fan, you will no doubt love everything he does. After all, Thomas Newman has a “sound”, Trevor Rabin has a “sound” etc. and it hasn’t done them any harm. It seems to have escaped Michael Giacchino too because he get a lot of work and recently nominated for an Academy Award. Once I started listening to it, I could immediately hear that it’s really fast paced and sometimes even silly, like a Road Runner cartoon. Nothing wrong with that though, since it probably fits the movie quite well.
The Incredibles Part II
However, if you have heard The Incredibles by Michael Giacchino you have heard this soundtrack. It is strikingly similar and if The Incredibles get a sequel, they might just copy this CD and slap The Incredibles II cover on the front. This is the problem with Michael Giacchino though, he repeats himself too much and doesn’t know how to repeat well. What I mean by that is that if he is going to repeat himself, then at least do it with style like Thomas Newman. Maybe I’m not a big fan of Giacchino’s work, but I believe this is a valid point. John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, they all repeat themselves, but it’s always done well and I hope Michael Giacchino isn’t too set in his ways to tweak his style a little.
Negatives:
- Too similar to The Incredibles
- A bit too silly
Positives:
- Fast paced, in sync with the movie
Listen to Speed Racer by Michael Giacchino below:
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I’ll be picking this soundtrack up at some point. Michael is one of my favorite composers. I’ve been a big fan of his well before his movie score days. His Medal of Honor scores are some of my favorite soundtracks of all time.