Rating: 
Summary: No Question
Review: Please....if you havent seen The Final Flight of the Osiris before Dreamcatcher then you are weird....I would pay [$] for THIS alone! Then uve got 8 more episodes! Its a no brainer...buy the DVD...preorder it - NOW!
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Summary: Final Flight of the Osiris
Review: OMG! I will buy this as soon as it is released so I can have my own personal copy of Final Flight of the Osiris! I've seen it at least 10 times already and I can't get enough. Square Pictures is incredible! These guys have yet to get the credit they deserve for both this short film and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Their animation is groundbreaking and is just the begininng of new filmmaking. Critics really annoy me too because the animation isn't perfect yet, well so what? It takes time folks, if this studio just had more support behind them they would have a masterpiece within 5 years! But no, the critics don't think the characters look real enough and that real actors are better. I say, let the technology improve, PLEASE give them more opportunities to make feature films! PLEASE!
Rating:
Summary: Very good idea, very good results.
Review: Anime obviously had a lot of influence on the Matrix so this suits it perfactly. The storys catch you up with the happenings pre-Matrix Trilogy. For an example, the first short film is about the first machine who kills his master, the upriseing, and the humans reaction to this. Great stuff. BUY THIS. But just download it while you wait for the release.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Matrix fans
Review: I don't even like anime that much. But I am a HUGE fan of the Matrix. After seeing the two shorts that are currently available at [the website] I have to have this DVD. Running time is a bit short, but it's packed with extra features.If you're a fan of the Matrix, get this now.
Rating: 
Summary: Crossover
Review: The Animatrix is a perfect crossover between American action and the greatest Japanese animation. There are 9 different stories, some written by the brothers themselves, others by artist from around the world who also used their own style of drawing, which makes it look a little uneven. It does however sets a perfect setting. A detective story for example evokes the time of the thirties and old newspapers. The last story is more comic book style, not so much animation. For those interested in the mythology of the Matrix, this movie will provide more insight in how the Matrix works and how it came into existence, we finally are shown the events that lead to machines taking over. It reminded me a little of the Terminator movies. It may also be a good introduction into Japanese animation, which is not like Disney, but far more artful. This animation is a perfect addition for Matrix fans AND Japanese Animation fans
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: Fill in the blanks and new concept for programmers
Review: This is a great DVD for Matrix fans and non-fans. I found the rennaisance stories worth the entire DVD. Final flight of the Osiris took my breath away. Kid's Story, if no one has noticed, is the story of the kid that appears giving ammo to the robots defending the deck in "Revolutions". Finally, Beyond is THE story that'll change your mind if you, like me, are a programmer. Is this how bugs look like inside a program? How many times have you tested modules and then left them in the hard disk? When a system accesses a defective set of subroutines, do they look like this? When your OS repairs a defective function, do the deletion leaves other programs without a place to find solace, amusing? If you want your brain scrambled like the eggs in your breakfast, buy this one!!
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Summary: WHAT IS THE ANIMATRIX?
Review: In Brief Combining styles of animation from CGI to anime, to traditional western animation, here nine short films expand the universe & mythology of The Matrix. Bringing together veteran talent from both Japan & America the Wachowski brothers hand picked and personally approved each story and variation on theme. With such legends as Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll), Peter Chung (Aeon Flux), Shinchiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop) and Andy Jones (Final Fantasy) displaying their wares the Animatrix has arrived. Review The Matrix on its original release changed the film industry forever, its influence could be seen in its contemporaries, parodies, TV shows and even nature documentaries. Yet the environment and famous fight scenes were primarily inspired by Japanese Anime; the animated form of Manga whose cult following in the western world cannot even mirror its mainstream success in its native homeland. Classic works in this medium such as Mamoru Oshii's Ghost In The Shell & Katshuhiro Otomo's Akira have often being cited by the brothers as a driving force in the creation of The Matrix. Therefore an Anime anthology seemed the perfect way in which to suggest the full richness of the world they had created and was an ideal way to explore background & sub-plots that until now had never been realised before. Most similar in style to the Oshii & Otomo's work is the brilliant The Second Renaissance by Mahiro Maeda that flows directly into the storyline of the recent feature films. Here with stunning passion Maeda tells the story, in far more detail than before, of how the machines & the humans destroyed one another resulting in a power-shift that would leave the world devastated. This is the closest that an anime has come to in leaving ones heart pounding with the same fear & sadness that Akira did many years ago. Each of the shorts that follow will leave many a spine tingling with anticipation for the next. Unexpectedly each short takes the viewer on a new tangent away from the source material and none of the work can be faulted in any way. Three worthy of higher praise are: Worlds Record, in which the world of an athletes existence is questioned in a visually shocking & invigorating manner. Here in the final race one can almost feel every foot fall shuddering through your body as the central character heads towards the finish line. Next up is the innovative Kid's Story where the entire reality & existence of the feature films are put into question as parallels are made between fantasy & the reality of a dysfunctional teenager who believes he is being called. The result is shocking and the most relevant to a contemporary audience that obsesses after a cheap thrill rather than content. Finally the Final Flight of the Osris is the culmination of work from the groundbreaking bankrupt studio that produced the Final Fantasy movie. Working off models that were produced for Fantasy, the perfectly named Final Flight will make you question just how long it will be before people are replaced, in films at least, as a superbly animated sequence goes as far as to rival the trilogy & set a new standard. Not only is it slick but scarily its rough & sensual enough to appear real. Like all of the work on offer here the Animatrix has taken us to the next level. The Verdict I can't remember when I last felt so blown away by any form of animation, let alone one that is premiering on the small screen. This is a collection of work to outshine all others & works perfectly in conjunction with the main movies that established this universe. The Animatrix will reign supreme for a long time to come as everything that follows will be judged against what this work has achieved.
Rating: 
Summary: Kiddie porn
Review: The Wachowski Brother's would never say where they got the idea for the movie. Was it the 486 PC game by Bullfrog called, "Syndicate"? Being Polish, was this really about reparations and Auschwitz. Or, is this just about the evil US media? No this is the selling of porography. Most likely from the book: Ghost in the Shell, the Matrix is based on Anime. In US films where the male hero has been replaced with the female, the The Wachowski Brother's are also revoutionary for replacing female anime characters with male. Hence the androgenous sleepy choice of Keanu Reeves. He's not a Schwarzenegger by any means.
Let's take the lines from some anime "In a world where the human mind can be programmed like a comptuer, at what point does the human soul end and the cybernetic machinery begin?" Masamune Shirow. Yep, looks familiar. Why would you give a boob job to a robot? We want the money from teens, already confused with the onset of puberty. Other titles include "Black Magic", "Dark Horse", "Dominion: Conflict", "Witch Hunter", "Stray Dog", "Angel's Egg", "Blood the Last Vampire". The Masamune Shirow Poster "Steam Angel" just about said it all. So it's pretty clear anime is bad.
And, I think that this is the source idea for the anime, and the movie that follows. (It had to be cleaned up to draw in some of the conservate audience.)
Why is this bad? Too often once in the middle of something, you can't use Johari's window to see out. David Westerfield (San Diego kid killer) and his son were both into Anime.
You may think this stuff is really, really, really cool, but sit back and look at what you are doing. Would you share this movie with your grandma? Could you talk about this at church? Do you want your 6 year old watching this? Again, you will not see this when your are caught in it's grasp. Get out of the Matrix. Real life is much more difficult, but much more rewarding. Oh, I did like the movie The Matrix. Just not the kiddie-porn anime Animatrix.
Rating:
Summary: Use your illusion
Review: This collection of nine animated films (actually eight, one arbitrarily divided into two parts) inspired by THE MATRIX (1999) explores aspects of Matrix-mythology glossed over in the feature films. The First, "Final Flight of the Osiris," played briefly in theaters shortly before THE MATRIX RELOADED (2003) opened. Animated in the photo-realistic style of 2001's FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN and written by the Wachowski brothers, "Osiris" follows the ship's last doomed mission. Its crew, Jue and Thadeus (Voices of Pamela Segall and Kevin Micheal Richardson), are the first to spot the drilling machine and the sentinel army that threaten Zion in RELOADED, and Jue makes a daring leap into the Matrix to deliver a warning.
"The Second Renaissance, Parts I and II," also written by the Wachowskis, constitute a prequel to both MATRIX features. The conceit: We're viewing Zion historical file 12-1, which chronicles the rise of the machines, from their earliest, mindless incarnations to the sensational murder trial of B166-ER, the first android to kill its master, and the founding of the machine nation Zero-one. Persecuted by a coalition of fearful human nations, the citizens of Zero-one fight back; in a last ditch effort, humanity blots out the sun in hopes of starving the machines of solar energy. But they compensate, eventually enslaving their former human masters.
In "Kid's Story," alienated hacker Micheal Popper (Clayton Watson) gets a call from Neo (Keanu Reeves) and makes a perilous escape from the Matrix.
"Program" follows Cis (Hedy Burress) as she participates in a favorite fight simulation set in feudal Japan. But her training partner, Duo (Phil LaMarr), has made a deal to return to the Matrix; Cis can join him or die.
"World Record." the least attractivly animated film in the group, chronicles the unusual awakening of Dan Davis (Victor Williams), an Olymic caliber runner who pushes himself beyond the bounds of human endurance and creates a rip in the veil of the Matrix.
In the spooky "Beyond," teenage Yoko (Hedy Buress) tracks her cat, Yuki, to a local "Haunted House" where neighborhood kids have discovered the laws of nature don't apply. Cans float in midair, a broken light bulb appears and diappears in a flash of light, youngsters turn cartwheels in the air and drift to earth like feathers. They're experiencing a glitch in the Matrix, and debuggers are on their way to fix it. Writor-director Koji Morimoto's haunting short story offers a genuinely different view of the world of THE MATRIX, from its old-fashioned Japanese architecture to its quizzical ending.
The B&W film noir pastiche "A Detective Story" reaches back to Trinity's (Carrie-Anne Moss) pre-Neo life as a super hacker, and follows the efforts of a hardboiled dick (James Arnold Taylor) to track her down.
Finally, in "Matriculated," human revolutionaries try to convert machines to their cause by creating a Matrix of their own. Though the premise is clever, writor-director Peter Chung ("Aeon Flux") get bogged down in psycheldelic images that make the film look like a Frutopia commercial.
MATRIX completists (Including me) will revel in the films' interlocking stories and animation buffs will appreciate the range of talent the Wachoskis brought to bear on these shorts, including noted anime directors Yoshiaki Kawajiri (VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST) and Shinichiro Wantabe (COWBOY BEBOP).
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