Rating: 
Summary: A great cross-section of anime for Matrix fans
Review: Personally, I love the Animatrix, and I believe the Wachowski brothers repay a large debt of gratitude and creative license to the Japanese animation industry by exposing so many talented animators and directors through this collection.However, those hoping to get all of their Matrix-universe questions answered before the release of "Matrix: Revolutions" may be sorely disappointed by this showcase. Although some short films provide backstory (more in the descriptions below), they are also standalone pieces. The strength of this collection is in the strength of its contributors, and it provides a diverse cross-section of modern Japanese anime which will give the uninitiated an opportunity to see what's being produced. The short films in the collection are: "Final Flight of the Osiris" - This short produced by Square (also the production company for some of the best video games of the past decade, and the "Final Fantasy" film) provides an almost creepy example of "digital actors" whose skin texture, bounce and movement are nearly impossible to distinguish from the real thing. Only their lip sync gives it away. The story involves the captain and pilot of the Osiris, the doomed ship which (in the Reloaded timeline) sends the warning to Zion that the machines are digging. It is also a direct introduction to the "Enter the Matrix" video game, as it depicts the drop of the letter which Niobe or Ghost must retrieve from a post office in the first act of the game. "The Second Renaissance, Parts I and II" - If one can overlook the fact that more information is contained in this "Zion Archive file" than Morpheus told Neo the humans knew, these two short films provide a compelling and lushly illustrated history of the fall of humanity and the rise of the machines. In particular, the fluid art style and the haunting voice-over make this an easy 18 minutes to spend, and it invokes more sympathy for the machines than you'll get from the human-centric viewpoint of the Matrix films. "Program" is the weakest film in the series; mercifully, it is short. Although the animation style is as classic in the world of anime as "Snow White" is in the world of Disney, the story line is weak. I enjoy this more if I turn down the sound and just watch. "World Record" attempts to illustrate what happens to a human in the Matrix whose desire to accomplish something physically pushes him to the brink of the reality he thinks he knows. The art design is not for everyone, but is beautifully realized with tremendous detail in every cell. The music is also a plus. This won't add much to your "Matrix IQ" but is a very creative exploration of what happens to people whose minds are not freed by the Zionists, and who do not find their way out through a computer. "Kid's Story" is one of my two favorites on the disc. It ties into "Matrix: Reloaded" by telling us how the annoying kid in Zion came to know and love Neo. It's no secret to those who have seen the film that the kid "self-substantiates", or gets himself out of the Matrix without help. His journey to that point, though, is detailed in a lush, deliberately-paced, gorgeously-scored piece of animation that will leave you breathless. One of two films directed by Shinichiro Watanabe of "Cowboy Bebop" fame. "Beyond" - Koji Morimoto (an assistant animator on the legendary "Akira") turns in the most inventive and beautiful short piece of the disc. It takes a simple question - what would happen if the Matrix's physical rules malfunctioned in some locations? - and explores the answer, from the bizarre physical happenings that children call hauntings to the arrival of futuristic wrecking equipment that razes and rewrites the affected locale. This, along with "Kid's Story", makes the DVD worth the price of admission. "Detective Story" - this black-and-white second entry from director Shinichiro Watanabe plays like a Sam Spade film. Its comic book style is stark and beautiful, and the addition of Carrie-Anne Moss's voice really grounds it in the Matrix universe. At the end of the day the story doesn't matter much, but it's an enjoyable nine minutes all the same. "Matriculated" - Peter Chung (of Aeon Flux) shows a real flair here for art, but tells a somewhat convaluted story of humans who try to get machines to "choose" to betray their own kind. My complaint with this piece is not its technical execution, which is brilliant and shows that Chung dedicated himself to improving an already great talent, but rather in its plot. Like "Program", watch this one for the art.
Rating: 
Summary: Good
Review: Hey its anime and it has the a short flim from the maker of Cowboy Bebop. It gets a 5.
Rating: 
Summary: View from a teen.
Review: Being young I am not the selected audience for this video. (Though I do enjoy anime.) I only watched two parts, second renasaince (Part two), and beyond. The first was thoroughly disturbing and might scar me for life. (Overly dramatic sighs, fake faint.) Okay maybe not that bad but still more gruesome then I like. Beyond was very cool, almost like a human interest piece for the matrix, made it worth siting through the awful, gruesome renasaince! (more dramatic sighs) I'm a teen girl what do you expect, rationality?!
Rating: 
Summary: The Animation is good, but the story kills it.....
Review: I saw the Final Flight of the Osiris in the theater and I thought it was great. It had a great story and the animation was awesome. When the DVD came out I ran and bought it. OOPS!!! I started watching it and I loved the animation, they had some of the top Anime artists. The problem was the story lines, some of them just seemed pointless and you were just left saying ummmm ok. This would be a good DVD to rent, but don't buy it!!
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly artsy and fantastically entertaining!
Review: The Animatrix is one of the best anime films I've ever seen. It's nine segments are all intriguing, plunging you further into the world of The Matrix. The first four segments are based on the story written by the Wachowski brothers, the remaining five are simply random tales from the mythology of The Matrix. FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS - Visually stunning (can we expect anything less from SquareSoft?) and an integral part of The Matrix story...especially if you've played the Enter The Matrix video game. THE SECOND RENAISSANCE PART I AND II - An in-depth look at how machines took over the world. It's in-your-face violence and depiction adds a huge impact on the story. KID'S STORY - Remember the young kid in Matrix Reloaded that Neo saved? This is his story. It's animation style is reminiscent of the film Waking Life and features the voice of Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss. PROGRAM - A very short piece involving a sparring program. The animation style is traditional anime. WORLD RECORD - Not my favorite, but still an alright story of a runner who accidentally discovers the matrix while trying to break a world record. BEYOND - There's a house where the program of the matrix is not entirely stable and some kids enjoy the effects of this glitch. Very cute story. A DETECTIVE'S STORY - An agent hires a private eye within the matrix to find a hacker called Trinity. A very dark style. Also features Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity. MATRICULATED - This is my absolute favorite. Some rebels try to convince some machines to defect to the human side by jacking them in to a human-generated program. The visuals in this segment are breathtaking and trippy. This is from the animators of Aeon Flux. Overall, a great DVD. Bad-[rear] soundtrack and better-than-average surround sound. The picture quality is crystal-clear. If you have a 16:9 TV or even just component video hooked up this will be a fantastic ride. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: For those of you who have never been into Anime (like me), The Animatrix should be the first you buy. Not only does it include 9 incredible works of art, but also a bonus feature which explains the history of Anime and it's role on society. This made me view Anime in a different light and has permanently made me a new fan.
Rating:
Summary: Animatrix == Robot Carnival lite
Review: A lot of other reviewers have already commented on how the Wachowski Brothers borrow heavily from anime and manga to create The Matrix. They now complete the circle with The Animatrix. THE ANIMATRIX is a series of short animated films from several Japanese anime directors (and a couple of American ones as well). I call attention to the now 15+ year old ROBOT CARNIVAL, which is a Japanese movie composed of a series of animated short pieces strung together by the narrative hook of robots. Perhaps not surprisingly, there is an overlap as Kouji Morimoto directed bits for both films ("Franken's Gear" in Robot Carnival and "Beyond" in The Animatrix). The Animatrix does succeed in extending Matrix universe by allowing other creative minds to play with the setting. "Final Flight of the Orsiris", essentially a prologue to Matrix Reloaded, is from the creators of the beautifully rendered but soul-less Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. As the closest thing to "film" in The Animatrix, it makes for a nice bridge between this animated and the theatrical release. (Okay, I admit I wasn't sure if they were CG-characters or rotoscoped at first.) As animation, it is nothing new or special. My favorites of the short films are "The Second Renaissance", Parts I and II. There is some filling of the backstory on the history of Men and Machines. It also makes the best use of anime as a mirror for reality. Another piece I really liked was "Matriculated" from Aeon Flux creator Peter Chung. The idea of humans kidnapping and reprogramming machines by seducing them with fleshy pleasures is the closest The Animatrix come to extending (and inverting) the metaphor of the Matrix. The other story which is most scifi is "Beyond". Here, in a glitch in the Matrix creates a "haunted house" in the midst of a Tokyo (?) burb. It is also the most fantastical story with a classic (cliche?) twist ending. For me, "Beyond" is childlike and plain delightful. "Kid's Story" and "World Record" are cool enough vignettes of other humans in the Matrix. Stylistically, they very much echo anime conventions. They don't add new understanding to the Matrix, however. The one piece that could have and should have dealt with the whole "blue pill/red pill" dichotomy is "Program". Here, a recruit is tempted by her trainer/handler to return to the Matrix. It could have been an interesting extension of humans choosing between the discomfort of reality vs the faux-paradise of the Matrix. Instead, "Program" is merely a battle between two humans. Thus "Program" is merely an animated rendering of a film apeing anime conventions. (Echoes of Scary Movie/Scream/teen slasher movies, anyone?)
Rating:
Summary: Needless but Entertaining Backstory
Review: What's the deal with the unexplained reference to "the Osiris" in "The Matrix Reloaded"? Or the backstory of the character known only as "Kid"? How and why did the machines overthrow mankind? And what about what's happening to the world away from the characters we know from the central movies? "The Animatrix" answers those questions. There are nine segments in this piece, one CGI and eight mixes of computers and flat-cell animation. All are done in the style of Japanese "anime," with everything good (sophisticated story development) and bad (demeaning attitudes toward women) that entails. Everything is pure backstory--you'll find nothing that changes the course or meaning of what you'll find in the core movies. And not all of it is necessary. Four segments--"Final Flight of the Osiris," "The Second Renaissance" 1&2, and "Kid's Story"--dovetail directly into the content of the two movies. "Kid's Story" features cameo appearances by Keanu Reeves as Neo and Carrie-Ann Moss as Trinity. Moss also reappears as Trinity in "A Detective Story," which seems to provide some clue as to why Neo recognizes her name the first time they meet. Four other segments--"Program," "Matriculated," "World Record," and "Beyond"--don't actually add anything material to the story. However, they allow us glimpses into what's going on when the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar isn't looking: a flaw in the Matrix programming, a campaign to convert machines to the human cause, an alternate way to comprehend the reality of the Matrix, and more. Some of them are interesting, others are self-consciously artistic and verge on incomprehensible. All of the pieces have one thing in common--they're too short for us to immerse ourselves in the content and characters. In "Final Flight of the Osiris," we've barely met the characters before they're all dead. Some are never even given names. It risks becoming a barrage of free association, especially when each segment is separated from the ones that flank it by a lengthy credit sequence. Still, it makes an adequate diversion, even if it's not as groundbreaking as the live-action movies. It often seems unnecessary, and probably is, but it's entertaining, and that's what we really want from our anime, isn't it?
Rating:
Summary: Expected Better
Review: I was highly disappointed by the Animatrix. I would say that only four of the shorts are any good and two of them are downright terrible-"World Record" and "Beyond" I had to read reviews to find out what they meant and how, at all, they related to the Matrix. You can tell which ones are good just because they are the ones that were actually written by the Wachowskis'. I would definetly not recommend buying this, but renting it wouldn't be a bad idea. I was really hoping that these would shed some more light on the Matrix, but it did not at all. I think the problem was that the Wachowskis' gave way to much power to the Anime directors to change the stories. If they had kept more control then I think these would have been alot better and more served their purpose.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing eye-opener
Review: The Animatrix was always something I intended to pick up, but after I had more cash. While I love the Matrix, the semi-disappointment of Matrix Reloaded and the over-barrage of media hype that came with it made me want to lay off anything Matrix-related for awhile. But when I found the Animatrix for an exceptionally low price, I decided to snatch it up now rather than pay more later. And I'm glad I did. I've browsed the other reviews here and a lot of anime/DVD sites, and can understand how the hardcore anime community might dislike the Animatrix. Some really bad dialogue seems to creep in now and then, and there are probably a lot more than the few anime cliches I picked up on (the feudal Japan training sim in the short "Program" is the most blatent one). However, this release still blew me away. For someone whose anime experience has been limited to watered-down American dubs like Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Ultimate Muscle, the animation in these shorts is jaw-dropping. Mind-blowing. Certain art styles fans will like more than others, but all of them have the high detail of anime AND the fluidity of American animation. It's the best of both cultures, and like the old saying goes, "I never knew it could be this way." On a side note, also to be commended is "Final Flight of the Osiris", the non-anime short that uses the "Final Fantasy" CGI graphics. I never saw Final Fantasy, and while the animation here was incredible, it still looked CG to me. However, certain shots of the main character(the Asian girl) looked so real I'd have sworn she was a live actor. Kudos to Square for making me believe. As for the quality of the actual stories, I agree with the majority in that the four outstanding ones are Osiris, Second Renaissance I and II, and Detective Story. The others are open to a bit more criticism, and will each have their share of supporters and detractors, but I enjoyed all of them, and find that all the shorts are worth owning. Some great supplements are included too, including commentaries and an informative documentary on the history of anime. Either way, there's enough good stuff here for all anime fans to justify adding it to their collection. And if you love the Matrix, but think of anime only in terms of Pokemon, then I highly recommend you snag this eye-opening disc; you'll never view anime the same way again.
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