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The Matrix

The Matrix

List Price: $19.96
Your Price: $14.97
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Matrix DVD, a hit or miss? BOTH!
Review: First of all, I would like to say that this DVD is one of the most innonative in the market right now. Unfourtanely, it does have it's flaws; the first flaw is probably the "White Rabbit" option. Although very unique, I have found it does not work on my DVD player, a Toshiba. Second of all, there's something about the film transfer that's, soft, I can't quite put my finger on it. Well, now to the good things in the DVD. All the documentaries available from the menus are highly entertaining and very informative; although some stuff is repeated, not that it bothers me or anything. Also, both commentaries are very good; even though the solitary music track with composer's commentary is my favorite. Why? because I finally heard the Lobby Shootout song that's why; believe me, this DVD is worth it's price just for this sequence with music only. Anyhow, although this DVD is very, very good, it does have it's unfourtanate flaws. Even with these nitpickings, I highly recommend this execptionally well done job by Warner Bros.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This movie is a joke
Review: First off the "fight scenes" are stiff and slow, if you think they are good then you have never seen good kung-fu flicks, where wire-fu is done right. Wire-fu is an art, but this is a joke. Also thee gun fights are dumb. Watch the JohnWoo film HardBoiled and you will know what I am talking about. Second the story has been done a million times before, and everytime it is better than this. The Truman Show, 13th Floor, and Dark City all handle the "None of this real" theory better. Third the FX are not as WOW! as you think they are, StarWars Ep.I a re better. Finaly the bad acting, the acting alone makes me hurl

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Getting the facts straight.....
Review: First off this movie is no where near to be called the next "geek movie". Geeks useually refer to people who have no life and spend all their time either being on computers or watching bad TV shows or whatever. Well the Matrix is just a bad movie period. It has no script, tons of cgi effects that make you want to look away, and the louiset acting you will ever find. Give me Star Trek and Star Wars any day of the week,

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant, mind-blowing, 1st film of the 21st century
Review: First saw this at the cinema, throughout the second half of the film no-one uttered a word. Having seen it a 2nd time on DVD I love it, we've been waiting for something like this from Hollywood for a while now, it certainly beats the new Star Wars movie. I do hope they make a sequel or 2, or maybe a T.V. series, brilliant.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing
Review: First time I watched it I had a couple of drinks in me (at the movies), and I thought it was the best movie I had ever seen. I had to prove this by watching it again and, I was right! Exhilarating from beginning to end. Easy to get involved in the plot. A plus to have in your personal collection. Can't wait for the next two sequels to come out...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing
Review: First time I watched it I was drunk (at the movies) and, I thought it was the best movie I had ever seen. I had to prove this by watching it again and, I was right! Exhilarating from beginning to end. Easy to get involved in the plot. A plus to have in your personal collection. Can't wait for the next two sequels to come out...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not that I really need to comment here...
Review: First: awesome film and DVD.
There isn't really anything bad I can say about this DVD. Of course, extra scenes not included in the theatrical release would have been nice, but oh well. If there is any drawback at all it is this : one of the primary special features goes overboard in giving a synopsis of the plot and explaining what the matrix is. Normally, people watch the special features after having seen the movie. And if you've seen the movie already, you should certainly know all about the plot and what the matrix is. So this feature comes off as very redundant, even patronizing.
On the other hand, there is a very good music-only ( the score and the contributions by musical groups ) track of the film.
I find that many people exaggerate their original impressions of this film when discussing Reloaded. They act as though they all gave the first film a four-star rating when it came out, and they imply Reloaded doesn't hold up. Unfortunately, this is an example of what could be called "retroactive continuity": it didn't go down like that. The quality of this film was only fully recognized after the fact.
Also, even though it sounds like an unlikely statement, some airheads watch these films without fully understanding what's going on - like not knowing when characters are in the matrix and when they're not. Test it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Matrix as science fiction?
Review: Firstly, I have to confess that I'm not much of a cinemagoer. So I've never caught The Matrix on the big screen like some other people might have. More's the pity, because it simply isn't possible to appreciate how good this film is when you're watching it on video. On the other hand, if you're lucky enough to have a DVD player, you can finally appreciate this film the way its creators wanted it to be.

So what is so good about The Matrix? In recent years, Hollywood seems to have had great difficulty in releasing any genuinely intelligent science fiction films. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, Wild Wild West, Batman and Robin, Lost in Space...the list is seemingly endless. Thanks to the success of the Star Wars films, studio executives seem to think science fiction films are an excuse to print money. This is despite the fact that Star Wars greatest strengths were its character and its plot.

Have these executives ever read Isaac Asimov? Arthur C. Clarke? Ben Bova? Jerry Pournelle? Science fiction wasn't always about big explosions and glossy special effects. At it's heart, the best science fiction stories force people to question what the future may hold, and our perception of reality. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a marvellous example of that.

So in a decade where almost all science fiction films are more oriented towards big explosions and action sequences, it's good to see a movie that finally revisits these classic science fiction themes. And then wraps them in some very memorable big action sequences to make it accessible to mainstream audiences.

But at its heart, The Matrix addresses two important questions - where are we going, and what is reality? In The Matrix, we see a future where humanity has been almost wiped out by the machines that we created. It's a sobering reminder to the current generation not to become too enamoured of technology...that in order to control our destiny we must retain control over what we create.

It also forces us to question reality in a way that I haven't seen a film do...ever. The reality we live in is a computer construct? Impossible! And yet...we see humans perform feats that should be completely impossible. Executing superhuman martial arts combat moves, dodging bullets at lightning speed, constructing worlds out of thin air.

"Is it really so hard to believe?" asks Morpheus. Well...yes, it is actually. But then, The Matrix IS at its heart a science fiction film. And the first pure science fiction film that I've seen in a very long time. I sincerely hope that studio executives are paying attention to its success. Because it shows that treated properly, a science fiction film can be an extremely powerful medium to present some powerful ideas.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: MAYTRICKSome viewers as sensible sci-fi
Review: For a fiction to work out well- it would have to be proportionally realistic with its plot's structure. This movie fails to level that way with its story. For a try-hard sci-fi flick that tried hard to carry its plot with a bunch of far fetch scientifical explanations, still it was never able to resist on going its way to incorporate the element of fantasy to its story- in this case dealing with prophetical predicaments within its storyline surprisingly, that it doesn't fit well with its already preposterous script, which borrows heavily from the doctrines of Buddhist teachings - giving a ridiculous effect in the result ; and as if it weren't enough, they also borrowed heavily from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!

Filled with bad acting and bad action choreography sequences- sure this movie may have some great overbloated special fx, but they are even all blown out of proportion at times, unnecessarily with its scenes perhaps except only for the purpose of showing off. Just recently last week i've watched X-MEN 2 on the cinema, and among the most previous films to have come out it's such that is a well made enough film to use impressive and inane type of 90's fx married well with its scenes coherent to the storyline, unlike this cacophony hogwash of a movie. If you're looking for science fiction with solid plot structure, go for them classic 70's sci-fi's like SOYLENT GREEN and The OMEGA MAN (both starring Charlton Heston) + the original PLANET OF THE APES (w/c still stands well with its satirical social commentary, unlike its remake which is completely washed out of any substance from the original siries, and is nothing but a deliberately commercialized attempt to cash in with the dime-a-dozen sci-fi movies of the past few years (quite a mojor disappointment considering that it's a film by Tim Burton)), and the Stanley Kubrick film epic of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY. And for a sci-fi flick that goes well of its mixture with fantasy elements-- no one could go wrong with George Lucas' classic trilogy of the original STAR WARS, for the most familliar so to speak...

I'm a major fan of the sci-fi/fantasy genre myself, but for me this pretensious hack goes down to the gutter with the now forgotten fad of the X-FILES...

I wouldn't nary give a hoot about its couple of sequels now showing in the cinemas. So bumb this review - i don't care.

Rate: 1 1/2 out 5 - for the special-effects.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Outstading corporate profit-generator
Review: For all its psychological and symbolic posturing, "The Matrix" is ultimately way, way more style than substance. But hey, at least its style is very cool - Great stoner friendly FX. Indeed, credit must be given to the Wachowski brothers for giving The Matrix an illusion of sophistication. They have certainly fooled the kids into thinking there is something important here. The fact is, The Matrix is an unapolegetic post-modern sci-fi that is anything but original -- ("Brazil," "Alien," "Lost Highway," "Terminator 2," "Dark City", "Fifth Element", "Ghost in the Shell" can all be seen here). And its basic theme, that reality is but a shadowplay on a cavewall, is as old as sci-fi literature itself.

Keanu Reeves returns as another incarnation of Johnny Mnemonic. I can't believe this guy gets casted - He is almost unbearable to watch. I don't know who is more artifical, Keanu or The Matrix itself. All in all, it is fun in a Hong Kong Martial Arts kind of way, but just leave at that. If you want an education, go read a book.

As far as the DVD itself goes - Go ahead, pick it up. With a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and extras that include hidden special effects documentaries, an audio commentary, and a special "white rabbit" feature, this DVD is awesome. If you select the white rabbit feature, a cute little bunny pops up during various sequences from the film. When you see the bunny, you hit enter on your remote, and bang - you're watching the scene being filmed from multiple angles. It's an utterly unique way in which to spotlight special effects and takes full advantage of DVD technology. Very well done.


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