Rating: 
Summary: A review of my favorite part...
Review: The Second Renaissance Parts I and II - ***** - These films are an excellent prequel to the trilogy. They explain how--like God created humans--man created machines. Should please the critics who bashed 'The Matrix' for leaving its religous overtones out.
Rating: 
Summary: Inanimatrix
Review: This is a series of 9 shorts each of which is,unfortunately, too long,too predictible and too boring. Necrotic. Plus, the interface stinks and you have the pleasure of seeing all nine sets of credits at the end of each individual short. This is one star because reviewers can't give zero stars! Don't buy this. Don't rent this. Don't ever bother yourself with this.
Rating: 
Summary: A load of crap.
Review: I anticipated the Animatrix to be a good production. First I saw Final Flight of the Osiris which was the best anime short that I have ever seen. But then I saw The Second Renaissance I was disquested. The Second Renaissance was the worst short that I had ever seen in my WHOLE LIFE. After that, all the others were either boring, pointless or just plain lame. Do not buy this DVD...
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Summary: I Had No Idea Such Talent Existed
Review: This absolutely fantastic companion to The Matrix blew me away with its quality of story, quality of animation, pace, action and soundtrack. It tells so many smal stories that supplement and explain someof the unexplained aspects of Matrix and Matrix Reloaded. I'm not a big Anime fan - some of this is "anime" - most of it isn't. If you liked the Matrix and the Matrix reloaded, you'll enjoy this too. There are apparently two versions - one that comes with a CD soundtrack of Matrix unloaded and one that doesn't. Check it!
Rating:
Summary: Deserving of Five Stars
Review: This sweet prize for us real anime fans (before it was all "mainstream") is exactly how I billed it, a sweet prize.
And now ladies and gentleman an average episode by episode review! Final Flight of the Osiris An interesting short; however it only really needed one go. The story that it provided was, indeed, important to the continuity of the Matrix storyline. Yet, it was mostly just showing off the new rendering software. I believe that is enough on that. The Second Renaissance Part I & II These deserve more than their first impression. The information that needs to be conveyed within these shorts its not of the most pleasant nature. While utterly gruesome at moments, it does all have meaning. Watch them through a second time and you'll know what I mean. Kid's Story Ah, the first short by the director of Bebop. A flowing tale with an equally flowing animation style. Probably my favorite of the shorts. A long drawn out story with an amazing conclusion. Although the few people that may be able to relate to this story will possess a deeper understanding. Not to be missed. Program A short, classic clip. Poses ideas upon ideas upon ideas while keeping the visuals very cool. At the minimum you have to admit that the girls hair is awesome. Not to be missed. World Record While some may say the visuals are un-pleasing, I agree with the old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words". Seeing as this is a nine minute clip, hand drawn, with 24 frames per/second, I'd say it's worth about twelve million nine hundred and sixty thousand words. That's quite a few. Again, not to be missed (under any circumstances). Beyond One of the most amazing. Poses a glitch in the system that a girl stumbles into. Not to miss. A Detective Story Very classy. I've never actually seen artistically B&W anime before but it is a very nice touch. I'll just call this the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass short. It is more the latter though. Matriculated Peter Chung. What more needs to be said. Well other than a review of course. Taking on the feeling of Aeon Flux Matriculated asks a simple question: What happens when a robot is introduced to a human created matrix? And what happens when it falls in love with anti-reality? Not to be missed. To sum it all up The Animatrix requires a certain level of...depth. Not to insult various reviewers *mumble* but this collection should be treated as a set of independent movies, not a mainstream bit. Now while The Matrix offered the independent movie feel it also kept a mainstream feel. You could say that is where this collection is lacking. Bottom Line, if you enjoy Anime (or are an old fan) then buy it. If you've never seen anime but find yourself on IFC all the time, buy it. If both apply, buy the special edition. If neither, *shudder* rent *shudder* it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad
Review: This DVD wasn't too bad. My favorite were the first 4 stories, even though two episodes were one long story. The only story I didn't like was the last one, I just dont understand how loading a machine into a program converts him. But oh well. I have to say that *most* of the animation was very good. Overall this was a pretty good DVD, but I would only reccomend a purchase for the "hard core" fans, because it's kind of repetive. For the rest of you I'd say either use or get your Blockbuster card.
Rating:
Summary: great DVD
Review: I thought the Animatrix was pretty cool, but the political messages (hidden) kinda take away from the point of the Matrix
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Summary: excellent sci-fi
Review: When I watched the Matrix for the first time I thought that it was a good entertaining movie but nothing more. When I watched the Matrix Reloaded I thought that this was an intelligently written well done film. When I watched the Animatrix I thought this is pure sci-fi. The Animatrix in my mind grounds the Matirx films as some of the most intelligent and well made sci-fi that has come out in a long time. Up on the level of film works like Blade Runner, 2001 & Akira. Intentional or not, it also pays homage to great sci-fi books like William Gibsons Neuromancer and Frank Herberts Dune. For a long time Japanese animation has picked up the slack of good sci-fi storytelling and concepts that most American sci-fi films have neglected. Look at Ghost in the Shell. The fact that the Matrix films are encompassing the deeper aspects of what makes good science fiction into something that the largely gullable American public can digest is wonderful. Like great science fiction, I will return to this stuff again and again to be taken in awe at the creative and intellectual forces that made this. I can't wait for the third film.
Rating: 
Summary: Some of this didn't even seem remotely like the Matrix...
Review: I had mixed feelings after watching this dvd. "Final Flight Of the Osiris" is hands down the stand out short story, and it is good, having most to do with the actual Matrix movies than the rest of this mixed bag did. Some of the stories in this offering are just crazy, disjointed, R-rated cartoons that don't look or feel like anything from the Matrix with the exception of some of the terminology used. What's worse is that (at least I deduced) the people who created these cartoons are actually attached to the Matrix movies. Some of this was just [bad], in my opinion, and doesn't belong to be associated with the Matrix franchise. Also the quality of some of these cartoons just did not live up to the "state of the art" quality advertised with this dvd. Once again the "Osiris" story far outperformed the other ones. This dvd is not for everyone. Hardcore Matrix fans will probably like it quite a bit but less-involved fans who just think it's a cool story will be less likely to embrace some of the material...
Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating Piece of Animation Work
Review: To anyone who is familiar with Anime, or Japanimation, the Japanese influences on the makers of the Matrix should be clear. The energy and style of the action scenes in this sci-fi modern classic are borrowed directly from the classic Anime features of the 80s and 90s like Ghost In The Shell, Akira and Ninja Scroll. What we see in Animatrix is a fascinating project: The best directors and animators in Japanime were approached by the Wachowski Bros. to create short animated stories taking place in the reality of the Matrix saga. The result: nine short films by seven different directors. Each of the creators took the ideas that make the Matrix to entirely different ends, and each film uses different styles and techniques of animation and storytelling. Not one of them is traditional Japanese animation, and though each one borrows from its old and respectable roots, each one is surprising and unique in a very different way. That makes this compilation of the nine films a very rewarding watching experience, if you're interested in either the Matrix or animation in general, or both. The first segment, The Final Flight Of The Osiris, is a direct prequel to Matrix Reloaded, though it features none of the lead characrers from the movies. It's my least favorite movie in the series, but makes for a good start to the collection. The animation here is entirely computerized 3D graphics, and as technology goes it's the most impressive film in the series. The two part movie The Second Renaissance (directed by Mahiro Maeda) looks more like traditional anime. It's essential for eager Matrix fans, because it chronicles the Second Renaissance and man's war against the machines - events that were only referred to in the movie Matrix. It's a fascinating watch, more for the story than for the animation. Kid's Story (directed by the brilliant Shinichirô Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop fame) is the first movie here that really caught my attention. A rather small story about one of the many people who realized the truth about the Matrix and were freed to reality (with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss doing small cameos), the animation on Kid's Story is as far as you can get from any kind of traditional animation, Japanese or otherwise. It's energetic, powerful, and hypnotically beautiful. The World Records was created by Takeshi Koike (director) and Yoshiaki Kawajiri (writer), the immensely talented team that worked together on the cult classic Ninja Scroll. Koike's very unique art style comes on strongly on this segment, with his deformed characters, exaggerated motion and expression and very strong shadowing, and the characters' motion is strong and beautiful. The Program, directed by Kawajiri himself, is relatively closer to classic anime, but it's well written and has good energy. Not one of my favorites, though. A Detective Story was both written and directed by Shinichirô Watanabe. Unlike his other work, Kid's Story, a Detective Story greatly resembles his work on Cowboy Bebop. It blends the atmosphere and clichés of classic film noir into the Matrix reality, and has great writing and animation. The art is in black on white, with a great gritty texture that gives it a real film noir feel. Beyond is a rather small story about children in Japan who find a 'haunted house', where objects appear and disappear, and people can float in the air and defy the rules of nature - actually, of course it's just a glitch in the Matrix and the Agents are soon sent to remedy the situation. The long scene of the children playing in the haunted house is beautiful and imaginative, and wonderfully animated. Matriculated, the final segment, is a very difficult and disturbing one, and I didn't really care for the choice of putting it last in the series. Psychedelic and very philosophical, Matriculated is shown mainly from a machine's point of view. The bonus features on the DVD are also fantastic: they include fascinating documentaries on all each film, and also on the project in general and on the history and tradition of Japanese animation. For animation enthusiasts, this DVD is a must.
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