Rating: 
Summary: A Different Way to Explore the World of "The Matrix"
Review: After reading some reviews it seems that fans of the Matrix either loved the Animatrix or hated it. If you're expecting these short animes to resemble anything like the Matrix then perhaps its not for you. But if you have an open mind to explore different visions and perspectives of the Matrix then you're in for a real treat.This project after all was the brainchild of the brothers Wachowski who presented several of the original stories to be animated and who had the final say in which stories made the final cut. What I do like is that they allowed these top-notch anime producers to have lots of freedom is the way the stories were expressed and some of the producers created the most original stories of their own. Fans of Ninja Scroll, Aeon Flux, Neon Genesis, Cowboy Bebop will not be dissapointed with this collection. It is a wonderful way to sample works from anime producers with vastly different styles and original storytelling. "Final Flight of the Osiris" "Renaissance" and "Program" are to me the most true to the Matrix. For originality in stories my favorites are: Kid's Story, Beyond, World Record, and Matriculated. For animated sequences that had me in awe are World Record (highly stylized), and A Detective's Story (effectively done in black and white). And don't miss the Director's interviews and commentaries. This was my favorite part of the DVD offering. These interviews add so much more depth to the animes as the each producer guides the viewer in his unique vision and development of the storyboards. To me its ironic that these masters of anime are so unanimated in the way they describe their work! Rather, their interviews are refreshingly humble and down-to-earth, so unlike their Western-counterparts. This DVD has me seeking out other works from these master anime producers.
Rating:
Summary: Must have for anyone who wants to learn more about the Matri
Review: These 9 shorts are excellent background material for the Matrix movies. Some of them are very important, if one wants to fully understand reloaded, as they tell the stories that were only briefly mentioned, and also let you know who that annoying kid was that greeted them when they first got to zion. The animation is first-rate, done by some of the top anime houses around. If you think animation is for children, then you definitely need to see this to show you what the medium can do for a story. An excellent set of stories, pay attention to the ratings, there is as much violence in these as there are in the movies.
Rating:
Summary: Cutting Edge Animation for Matrix Fans
Review: The Animatrix is a curiosity and it serves to highlight clearly the Wachowski brother's committment to this project. A series of short (each about ten minutes) animated adventures set in the world of the Matrix movies, The Animatrix explores the themes and possibilities of the movies using different techniques from CGI to traditional Anime. As a fan of CGI the two standout pieces for me were "Last Flight of the Osiris" and "Matriculated". "Last Flight of the Osiris" (from the team responsible for "Final Fantasy") is jaw dropping state of the art hyper-real CGI. It is obvious that much of the Matrix Reloaded was produced in this way. The opening scene is absolutely delicious as two very attractive CGI characters disrobe eachother in a virtual martial arts sword fight. The piece goes on to illustrate a link between the first two movies in the Matrix trilogy. But the one that really got me was "Matriculated". An astounding blend of CGI and handrawn animation this film really explores the possibilities of the medium and the results are mind-blowing, and quite psychadelic in places. A curious story about a group of humans who attempt to convert machines to their cause, "Matriculated" really pushes the boundaries. For hardcore fans it is worth owning the DVD for these two pieces alone, however the other pieces are excellent too, using more standard animation techniques to tell their stories. Those with a passing interest in the Matrix movies will probably be happier just renting The Animatrix. If you are unfamiliar with Anime it is worth noting that it often contains strong violence and sexual material, and the Animatrix is no exception. One scene in particular depicted violence against a robot made to look like a human woman and I found this quite uncomfortable to watch. After watching The Animatrix I am left feeling confident that despite the unexpected success of the first Matrix movie, the Wachowski brothers are committed to bringing the Matrix to the World with integrity. A lot of people have been disappointed in the second movie, but seen in the context of an action packed comic book sci-fi saga it all makes sense, and its really working for me. It is not going to be to everyone's taste, but this is to the directors' credit, not to their detriment.
Rating: 
Summary: Definet Rental
Review: Rent this DVD. Don't buy it. Each one is unique and fairly interesting but the whole thing isn't worth owning. If you are fan and will get the trilogy boxed set when it comes out then if this isn't included then I would get it. Otherwise just wait for it. Second Renasiacnace Part 1 & 2 is great since it is a prequel to the films. Kid's story explains who that annoying kid that pops up in Matrix Reloaded. Anyway they are interesting but unless you've got money to blow just wait till a boxed set comes out.
Rating: 
Summary: A waste
Review: As I sat through these short stories my eyelids got heavier and heavier. The pointless stories had me thinking "Why do I care so much about this?" And the answer was "I don't care." I love anime. That's why I watched the Animatrix. When anime goes bad it's REALLY bad. The problem many animes have is there's too much complicated chatter that the average person will hear as "blah blah blah." The dry dialog is enough to put anybody to sleep. The animation is beautiful. So the one star I'm giving it will stand for that. But at one point I felt as if I were watching "Final Fantasy." The characters and backgrounds look like they have been ripped directly from that movie. But it is clear that they did not have as much time to develop this story as they did on Final Fantasy because the animation is choppy and doesn't flow at all. The lips never match up to the voices and the faces have no emotion at all. All in all this DVD is a waste of time. What is happening is the story of the Matrix is being ruined by all this junk coming out. Toys, video games, TV shows, short stories, and worst of all, one sequel right after the other that only tells the exact same story the first movie told. End it already will you?
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Summary: ¿To an artificial mind all reality is virtual.¿
Review: Animatrix is a welcome twist in the Matrix universe. Those of us who are the true fans of Matrix world will find this series of episodes to be a creative elaboration on the concept of the Matrix. It could also be a device used by Warchovski's to keep our hunger to see Matrix Revolutions at bay. While some episodes are free standing, Kid's Story and Final Flight of Osiris are intimately linked to the events of the Matrix: Reloaded. Those of us who loved the Matrix have to admit; the idea of machines creating an artificial reality is a great one. Warchowski's were not the first ones to come up with the idea of dream skepticism but their execution of it makes for a fascinating concept. The idea of the Matrix is filled with mystery, danger, fear, and much of unknown and unexplored.
The use of the animation was a great idea to address some of the plot holes of the Matrix series as well as to create more entertainment for those of us who want to see Matrix without Keanu Revees. What makes Animatrix a good DVD is that it incorporates nine wholly different stories and styles of presentation. While some will dislike particular episode or episodes most of us will walk away with at least one element or a story as profoundly touching. In other words, you might not like all, but at least something here. There are two particular episodes I found especially exciting. They are Matriculated and Program. Even though both of these episodes do not seem to appeal to general liking I find them particularly profound. Matriculated is very abstract piece and unlike some other episodes its message is not spoon feed directly to the audience. The visual imagery was stunning and memorable and was intended to make us come up with our own interpretations of what seemed bizarre. Perhaps Matriculated yields a hint at what will happen in Matrix Revolutions, I can't wait.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent companion DVD to "The Matrix" trilogy
Review: THE ANIMATRIX is a series of nine groundbreaking animated shorts designed as companion pieces to the MATRIX film trilogy, each about 5-10 minutes in length, the longest is about 20 minutes. This is also produced by the Wachowski Bros. and Joel Silver. The range of animation techniques on display here is simply astounding- which easily makes this a 5 star DVD, but THE ANIMATRIX will possibly hold the most appeal to MATRIX fanatics who know the movies inside and out (I'm not one of them so cut me a little slack, mmkay?). What I found most amusing is that the end credits to the films run twice as long as the shorts!
The features are as follows, with my personal faves denoted by an asterisk: 1. FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS (This was screened in NZ as a short film before DREAMCATCHER, which I haven't seen yet.) 2. THE SECOND RENAISSANCE PART 1. 3. THE SECOND RENAISSANCE PART 2. (Logically enough). 4. KID'S STORY*: Unlike the first three shorts, KID'S STORY actually has a good human interest plot at its core and absolutely brilliant animation. It's about Michael Copper, a geeky high school kid with an obsession with THE MATRIX movies, who finds himself the target of Agents. Best of all, regular schmucks like me can follow it with no problem. Woohoo! 5. PROGRAM*: I can't adequately put this one into words, but once you see it you'll understand why. (Yeah, because as I acknowleged in one of my earlier reviews, I'm an uncultured chump.) Anyway, this rocks. Take my word for it. 6. WORLD RECORD: In this anecdote, a World Class track sprinter tries to break his own record, but in the tradition of sci-fi wackiness this doesn't go according to plan. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that his coach looks like the World's worst (c)rapper Vanilla Ice. Mercifully, he doesn't start pumping his fist and chanting "Go White Boy Go White Boy Go!". Whew! 7. BEYOND*: A teenage girl searching for her missing cat traces her pet's whereabouts to a haunted house. There's loads of surprises and great visual FX in this short. 8. A DETECTIVE STORY*: Excellent black and white detective noir anime in which a Private Eye is hired by agents to capture Trinity. The only catch is the last Detective assigned the same case ended up going stark raving bonkers... 9. MATRICULATED*: Final short is the longest at 20 mins, but this one's a real stunner, which is why I won't spoil anything by summarising it. All in all, THE ANIMATRIX is a dazzling showcase for a broad range of talented animators; though personally SPONGEBOB's still #1 in my book. It's just personal taste. Check it out.
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Summary: Anime+Matrix=Animatrix
Review: I really like this set of films. The website really provided a good idea of what kind of things to respect. The first three films were written by the Wachowski Brothers and deal with the films directly like what happened to the Osiris and why that boy always follows Neo around. The rest of the films range from wonderful (Detective Story) to down right freaky (matriculated), but absolutely great. I would highly recommend this for any anime fan and fan of the Matrix. And, if you didn't like Reloaded, don't worry, this is much cooler!
Rating:
Summary: Small Works of Art
Review: In The Animatrix, the storyline of the Matrix trilogy is further expanded with 9 animated shorts by some of the best in the field. Each of the short films helps to explain a part of the Matrix that was glossed over in the movies, helping to enrich our understanding of what was going on and where these characters came from. A number of famous anime names were involved in this creation, including Shinchiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop), Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll), and Koji Morimoto (Robot Carnival). Because of this, each short has its own style, telling its own piece of the story in a unique way. This also means that some of the shorts are brilliant, but others are not quite as technically stellar. An example of how the shorts fill in pieces can be seen with Final Flight of the Osiris, created by Square Pictures (the guys behind the Final Fantasy movie). In the movie The Matrix Reloaded, things begin with a mysterious package that "Thadeus" got to a post office, sacrificing his entire crew to do. Pretty much nothing else is said about that - the story focusses on what the package held. To help clarify this background, the game "Enter the Matrix" is all about how Niobe and Ghost managed to get to this package in the post office, and get it out to safety. But Final Flight of the Osiris takes it one step further. It introduces us to Thadeus and his crew, and explains how they saw what they then felt was so important to tell others about. The only way they thought they could get the news to others was to put it in a package and drop the package into a mailbox - sending it to a secure post office box. So a character and situation that maybe got one line in the movie now takes on a life of its own - helping to explain further both the movie and the game. Matrix fans will love all of the extra information they're given by these shorts, and anime fans will love some of the gorgeous work shown by some of the best anime people around. Yes, they're short. And yes, they're not related to each other. But each is a small work of art that helps show just how amazingly far we've come in anime - and gives a hint of what is yet to come.
Rating:
Summary: Only one segment is worth watching! Careful!
Review: Careful about buying this DVD. I just finished watching 70% of it at home, and multiple times throughout the DVD my wife and I wanted to turn it off. The first short is the best. Flight of the Osiris. Everything else is terrible, and now I know why the first short is the only one released to the theatres. Pretty obvious difference in quality between that and the others. Had they shown any of the others in the theatre, there would have been a stampede to the bathroom to hurl. Yes, the rest of the DVD is that bad.
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