Rating: 
Summary: Pulled Off Well
Review: I wasn't sure whether I wanted to spend my money on a copy of The Animatrix, so I read dozens of reviews and did some research, then decided to go with it. I'm glad I did because I thoroughly enjoyed watching these 9 short films based on the world of The Matrix. Before this I disliked anime, but now I see that it can be used in beautiful ways- the films are very diverse testimonies to that. But, the only full CGI film is the one that looks the best. Anyway, I liked the stories, thought they looked beautiful, and sounded great. 4/5
Rating: 
Summary: so-so animation, weak stories
Review: This DVD contains 9 different short stories drawn by different artists. In some cases, I liked the animation, and in others I disliked it. I found the drastic changes in the artists' style to be distracting at best. But this is a matter of personal taste. I was really disappointed and a little annoyed by this collection because the stories themselves seemed trivial and sometimes incomplete. At the end of many of them I thought so what? Nothing of substance occurred and there seemed to be no point to many of them. Much like the Enter the Matrix video game (which I also own and am disappointed with), the Animatrix felt like a cheap grab for more of my money. It seemed hastily written and slapped together just to squeeze out a few more bucks from me. While I sort of liked Matrix Reloaded, I think the release of that movie coupled with the video game and the animated stories was overly commercial and really diminished my enthusiasm for Revolutions and my overall opinion of the Matrix storyline. The Animatrix should have just been included on the Matrix Reloaded DVD for free when it is released. I would not waste your money on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Anime+Matrix=Wow
Review: I just got Animatrix on DVD and LOVE it. The first episode is a little glimpse into what happens to Zion because of Neo's choice. (Remember what Neo did at the end of Reloaded?)The rest of the short films are sort of like history records. A seemingly computer generated woman (very purdy) narrates stories about Humans and Robots and their decent into what eventually became the Human/Robot wars. A big prequil to the Matrix. My favorite episode was one about a 'bug' in the matrix. The animation style is very close to that of Furikuri (FLCL). There is this house that all the kids think is haunted and three of them venture in. They find out that things like the laws of gravity and time are messed up there... and they have a ball! Diving off the roof and stopping before they hit the ground, suspended in the air just an inch away, and other nifty things. Of course agents find out about the bug... There is an episode where humans are trying to reform the machines they catch because it's unethical to just reprogram them to serve since they are intelligent. They hook the captured machine to a 'matrix' of the humans design and five humans, a monkey (yes... a monkey) and the machine enter this tweaked world so the machine can shed his machine-ness and become more human... but lo, what happens if it falls in love while in this world? And what will happen when a group of other machines attack them? What will it do? You all must get this DVD. It rules.
Rating: 
Summary: A few good shorts..wathc it if you like Heavy Metal...
Review: After seeing the teaser Animatrix about The Osiris inthe movies, I was excited when my roommate got it on DVD, but after watching The Flight of The Osiris and getting into some of the other short animations, I realized that the first short was also the best. If you're looking for computer animation and interesting story lines, I would suggest watching the first Matrix movie, but there are some interesting revelations that tie into the second movie...overall, I would say rent it!
Rating:
Summary: DAMN!!!
Review: This DVD was cooky and weird the one I really did'nt like was the Second Reinneisance it was to much for me blood and boobs and I like gore but when the robot split the head open I could'nt take it My favorites were Kid's Story,Program,the 7th one I forgot what it was called,and espcially Final Flight of the Osiris this should be rated "R" too much suffering and people screaming while their blood sheds its sicking this is like Terminator the human race is almost extinct and machines rule the earth number 9 was probably the worst tale of the Matrix but im sick of writing so Auf Wiedersien
Rating:
Summary: RENT BEFORE BUYING
Review: i bought this after seeing commercials on tv about it and i thought it would be awesome considering that i love the matrix. i wish i rented it instead of buying it. i thought it was pretty bad and would have given 1 star but there are a couple of good ones on here. 1.final flight of the osiris-probably the best one. good animation and interesting to watch.
2.the second renaissance-kind of boring but gives you the detailed history on how the machines came to rule everything.
3.kid's story-this one was fun but i thought the animation [was unacceptable].i don't know why people keep saying it was good. the colors were hard to tell making it all mucky and basically it's hard to identify anything becausethe drawings are all messy and just bad. the story is good though.
4.program-i liked this one. i think this was one of the better ones. the fighting was good and the animation wasn't bad.
5.world record-this one was plain stupid.it is about a guy setting the world record in running or someting and it kept having him break his leg and stuff and just made no sense.the animation was so-so.
6.beyond-this one is weird. it is about a girl looking for her cat in this abandoned house that gives you matrix like powers. animation is good but didn't really have any point in it.
7.a detective story-this one was good. it has trinity in it and it is about this detective that is looking for her or something. i didn't really like the animation in it not to mention the whole thing is almost completely in black and white.
8.matriculated-animation is really good but boring. it's about being able to make the robots work for the humans and making them good or something and giving them a mind of their own. Overall, rent it and don't buy it unless you have rented it and like it. Even the ones that i said were good still are not true matrix level, not to mention short.they just seem like a waste of time and they don't amount to the movie in anyway whatsoever.
Rating:
Summary: cutting edge animation
Review: This movie is obviously meant to appeal to fans of the Matrix, and of course it is released in perfect marketing timing while the Matrix: Reloaded is in theaters.
The Animatrix is a series of short animations which all are centered around the Matrix universe. One moment you feel as if you are watching Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, the next moment Princess Monokole, and then then next an episode of Aeon Flux. And there is a reason for that; the creators of those pieces all worked on this movie.
The result is like a more mature version of Heavy Metal, which made for a terrible movie, but the animation at the time was quite creative. It is also very interesting to see each artists unquie interpretation of the Matrix world. Each director chooses a different way of telling stories, all based on the same subject. This is experimental animation at its best.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME-ATRIX!!!!!
Review: If you love the Matrix, but felt that the Matrix 2 should have been called "Overloaded" rather than Re-loaded, then this is a redeeming piece of material. This DVD is a fantastic plunge into the world of the Matrix, loaded with great stories and most of all wonderful variations of animation styles. It breaks the background history down in a refreshing way that leaves the viewer wanting more. Almost every story is wonderfully done and gives you better sense of understanding for the entire world in which the Matrix spawns. You don't even have to be a geek to apprecaite this DVD!...Buy it or rent it!...You'll be pleased for sure!
Rating:
Summary: Is real, real? Am I awake, or dreaming?
Review: I didn't watch this set of animated shorts with any expectations and therefore was not dissappointed. I think too many reviewers are being overly critical of these short anime films. How can they compare to the orginal after all. That said, I was pleasantly suprised and enjoyed most of it only let down a bit by World Record, though even that one had much promise that ultimately went unfulfilled. For the most part, the animation and stories were excellent. My favorites were the awsome Final Flight of the Osiris, the two Second Renaissance segments with their allusions to today's world, Kid's Story for it's loose, exciting animation, and Beyond for it's interesting story premise and great direction. I would say this is a solid addition to the Matrix universe, just don't expect there to me more to it than your rightfully should. Also, watch the bonus material, it will give you a deeper appreciation of the shorts.
Rating:
Summary: Anime Tricks
Review: The real trick of the Animatrix collection is how it tries to stealthily introduce an American audience to some of the stunning animation work developed from Japan's anime tradition. Or so it may have been envisioned when the project started. The award-winning "Spirited Away" may have already gone a long way towards revealing to American audiences that Japanimation does not end with Pokemon. Animatrix expounds on this, bringing more of an American storytelling element and presumably making the dazzling imagry more relevant to an American audience. To be honest, though, I found some of the stories submitted by the anime directors to be the most intriguing and engaging. Not that it all falls apart, either. Each of the 8 stories feels very distinctive, both in story and look. As such, the disc not only serves fans of "The Matrix" by exploring aspects of its world not covered in the films, but also explores the anime tradition with such wonderful variety. They short films are anything but a series (with the exception of a two-part episode) and this gives them each a freshness that is great for the viewer. I especially enjoyed the two works by the man behind "Cowboy Bebop", Shinchiro Watanabe. "Kid's Story" is astoundingly imaginative in visual presentation. The "hand-drawn" look bleeding to distortion is not only great to look at, but propels the story forward. I kept thinking of "Waking Life" and how it played with reality as this film progressed. His other work "A Detective Story" is very reminsant of "Cowboy Bebop" without feeling derivative. Playing with color and tone really establishes the feel of the piece. The design of the characters and props, too, creates an appealing retro-future nevertime very appropriate for a story from within the Matrix. Very clever work, all around. My favorite, though, is "Beyond." I simply cannot say enough about how stunningly artistic this film is. In many way's, its story is the most simple and is really the only one to be told from a life within the Matrix without any intrusion of "the real world". It is wildly imaginative in story and presenation, and you must see it for yourself. It is realistic and magical at the same time. "The Second Renaissance" stories are interesting and really beg for a larger presentation. I'd have loved to see the story told with twice the time, as I think it would lend greater impact to the savage violence we see in the second part of the story. It is a fascinating mythology, and it does come across well here. The animation is a bit self-consciously inconspicuous if that makes any sense. The story is definetly what is important here, but the visual seems to be trying to hard to not be noticed, as opposed to the seemlessness of the other episodes I mentioned. The remaining episodes, however, are all about the visual and usually to their fault, I'm afraid. It is hardly a horrible fault, but they do feel less cohesive. "Matriculated" is the best of the remaining episodes. From the creater of Aeon Flux (and believe me, you can tell), the visual is splashy and inventive and the play with color is supurb and important to the story. My only complaint is that I don't think enough story was told. Its a very intriguing concept, but a bit underdeveloped. The same can be said for "World Record." A nice idea, but it seems a little hollow here. The visual presentation, however, makes up for it. It is very impressionistic and individualistic and impressive. I can't say the same for "Program", however, which is a shame because there is so little story here that it needed a powerful visual presentation to make the story. Instead, it just drags and is my least favorite of the bunch. Which leaves the much talked about "Final Flight..." I'm not that impressed. Oh, sure, it is a wonderful technical achievement but as with the Final Fantasy movie, the characters don't seem alive which is a major problem when your animation is banking on its realism. Its a major step forward, and the action scenes are engaging, but this "photo-realistic" style just seems like bells and whistles to me. All style and no substance. Especially in contrast to the wonderful living characters created by Pixar. The studio would do well to employ more quality animators who have really developed an eye for the way people move and live. I've seen many, many traditional animation characters that exhibit more life. They just aren't living up to the promise of the technology. It felt like all of the effort was poured into the animation here, and it just didn't come together for me. The extras are nice. Nothing of any enormous significance, but a solid compliment to the disk. I would certainly recommend this DVD to anyone with an interest in "The Matrix" or in anime.
| 
