Rating: 
Summary: Amazing! Enjoyable! Fascinating!
Review: "The Animatrix" is a collection of nine short films that tie into the Matrix trilogy and fill in the gaps that are not further explored in the movies.1) Final Flight of the Osiris- The story ties in "The Matrix Reloaded", which tells about how the machines are digging into Zion. My most favorite out of the nine short films and amazingly stunning to watch with incredible animation from Square USA Pictures. 2) The Second Renaissance Part 1 & 2- A two-part story of how the war between man and the machines began. Not my favorite to watch due to some disturbing images but a good film. 3) Kid's Story- The story tells about a kid who is being chased by Agents due to a message he received from Neo to enter the real world. Also one of my favorites and a good film to watch. 4) Program- The story about a girl in a training program who must make the choice between love and death. The most Japanese anime style film out of "The Animatrix" and also one of my favorite. 5) World Record- The story about a runner who discovers he's in the Matrix by making a world record. This film has a new style of anime and is somewhat confusing, but enjoyable to watch. 6) Beyond- The story about a girl who discovers a bug in the Martix. Fun to watch but not my favorite. 7) A Detective Story- The story about a detective who is assigned to find a hacker named Trinity. A little disappointing but the film has a cool style to it and great animation. 8) Matriculated- The story about how humans try to reprogram a machine and turn them on their side. The film has cool visuals and interesting animation. Although the ending isn't that great, the film is worth watching. Overall, "The Animatrix" is good to buy. If you like Japanese anime, you'll like it. And if you love "The Matrix", you'll love this.
Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing backstories provide greater understanding
Review: I have The Animatrix here from netflix, so I sat down tonight and watched it. Wow. I was very impressed with it. It's nine short anime-style films (four written by the Wachowski brothers, if I'm not mistaken; the others conceptualizations from famous anime writers/directors) based in/around the world of the Matrix. It makes a very nice supplemental piece to the film; adds greater depth and provides a deeper understanding of some of it. (Plus, it's always fun to see Neo and Trinity again! lol bonus that they were voiced by Keanu and Carrie-Anne.) Great techno beats in a lot of the shorts, and some truly stunning visuals. Some of the concepts were raw, disturbing, edgy. A lot of really interesting types of machines in there too. I think that, hands down, my favorite one was "Final Flight of the Osiris". The animation is computer-generated, by the same team that did the Final Fantasy movie, and boy is it impressive. I really wasn't convinced at first that it WAS animated. :) The story is such that it could fit right in to one of the movies. I also really enjoyed The Second Rennaissance, Parts One and Two: these two were the backstory of why the machines rose up against man, how the surface was destroyed, how the machines took over and began using man, and how the world became what it is "today". Four out of five stars from me. (Five star movies are ones I'll watch over and over again, and though I am likely to revisit this movie with other Matrix fans, I would probably only watch the three mentioned in my review on a repeated basis.) If you're a fan of the Matrix movies and/or anime, I'd highly recommend watching these.
Rating:
Summary: Not just eye candy, and not only for matrix junkies!
Review: Don't be put off the the negative reviews! First up this isn't directly relating to the Matrix films, it is a collection of animated short films set in the Matrix universe or setting. Each is by a different animator/director and each is very different. This is it's strongest point, not a weak point. The first is a computer gen'd short that most directly follows the matrix movies, but do be honest its more eye candy than story. On this point it is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING, the quality of animation is incredible, going beyond the realism of the Final Fantasy movie computer animation. From here there are two shorts in traditional animation explaining the truly epic history that led to the creation of the matrix and the war. It is presented as a historical report, with news like footage of different stages and events. This is the disturbing highlight because it is very logical and plausible, and quite damning of human nature. Some might not like these two because of the savage imagery but they warn us to not assume that just because we are in a "modern" and "civilised" world we are above the mistakes of oppression made previously. The remaining are very varied, and each is strongly stylised. One is from the animators of Aeon Flux, with the same surreal and disproportioned style that makes Aeon Flux fascinating to watch. Another is a detective story with an almost 1960's black and white style, in which a private eye is recruited in the hunt for Trinity. Read the above review for a rundown on each. Each one for me was fascinating and I've watched this dvd a few times over already. There are more tie-ins to the movies than you'll realise at first, but at the same time the stories are independant of the movies, free to explore an idea to its end without limit like any good short story or film should. By the way I'm no Matrix freak or even a massive Anime fan, this is just genuinely fresh and fascinating veiwing, presented with heaps of eye candy and an awesome soundtrack to boot. Perhaps other reviewers were looking for straight matrix bulls**t fight scenes and action, and were disappointed with it having some actual depth?
Rating:
Summary: Awesome.
Review: I was lucky enough to find a 1.6 gigabyte DVD rip of the Animatrix, with all 9 episodes. Beautiful. Its just beautiful. There are complaints about varying animation... Well, when like 8 different studios with totally different teams of animators do these, that is the result. Personally, I love the different styles, they set each episode apart and make it unique. I will say that I AM GOING TO BUY THIS DVD. It's totally worth it to support the creators of this masterpiece with my money. Ok, now I will say that some of the shorts were more enjoyable than others... I loved A Detective Story (You can see this one on the official site) as it is a true tribute to film noir. However, I will say although it flowed well and the animators were obviously well-directed, the script was poor. I think I will watch it in japanese when the DVD comes out. There's also Program, my least favorite of the bunch. It's pretty good the first time around, although short... The voice acting is good, but it just wasn't my thing. Hardcore anime fans would love it, though. The highlight of the bunch was Final Flight of Osiris, which I saw in theaters before Dreamcatcher, with its amazing CG done by Square, maker of the Final Fantasy movie. I think my favorites of the bunch were Kid's Story and Beyond, both not found on the official site. They were well-directed, well-acted, well-scripted, and VERY well-scored (music was nice). The Second Renaissance Part 1 was informative, but not especially gripping. Part 2 was absolutely INCREDIBLE. It's also nice that the soundtrack is bundled with this set. I'd give you all an in-depth decription of every episode, each of which I thoroughly enjoyed, but as I am limited in the length of this review, JUST BUY THIS DVD and YOU be the judge. Hope my review was helpful!
Rating:
Summary: A good collection for matrix fan
Review: This is must had for die hard matrix fan, eventhought some of movie has little related to the film, however is overall is good unique experience.
Rating:
Summary: Varied and enjoyable
Review: The Animatrix is a set of nine short animations, all very different in look and in story, loosely set in the world of The Matrix. There's a lot to like in this set. The opening piece, 'The Final Flight of the Osiris,' is the best super-realistic animation I've seen to date. Later, 'World Record' uses its hard-edged graphic style almost in praise of its central figure, an athlete. Realism could never convey the human physical power shown here. The final piece, 'Matriculated,' uses a more fantastic style, creating almost a sense of a war between gods. Each piece ends on an ambiguous note; there's always more story to come. I will be interested to see more, if it holds to the standard set by the best of these pieces. There is a real danger of downward sequel creep, though. Even within this collection, some pieces lacked the energy of others. This is an enjoyable and varied set of animations. They are loosely federated under the Matrix banner, but you don't need to have seen (or even have enjoyed) The Matrix to like these.
Rating:
Summary: THE thing to buy for those anime fans who love The Matrix.
Review: I'm an anime geek, nerd, dork, otaku, whatever. I'm a member of my school's anime club. When I first heard that the Wachowski Brothers were anime fans as well and were planning to release a DVD of Matrix-inspired anime, I jumped up and down with happiness! I bought it the day it came out. I was not disappointed. Many people do not like The Animatrix for one reason or another, but if you're like me and love both anime and The Matrix very very much, this is a must buy! The DVD features nine Japanese- and/or CG-animated short films. Final Flight of the Osiris is an American CG-animated film from the creators of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. This is the favorite among most. My favorites are Kid's Story and A Detective Story because they are both directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, director of Cowboy Bebop. Other short films include The Second Renaissance: Parts 1 and 2, Program, World Record, Beyond, and Matriculated. As I said before, if you LOVE anime and The Matrix, this is a MUST-BUY!!
Rating:
Summary: More enjoyable then the theatrical sequels to The Matrix
Review: It is rather chilling to see how much more entertaining and dynamic the Matrix storyline is in the hands other film makers. Thou direct connections to the theatrical movies of the series are sparse, the Animatrix takes the Matrix concept to those risky limits we caught a glimpse of in the original. These self-contained stories give the audience different views of the Matrix, showing how it can be an interesting medium for a variety of stories. If there is any effort to further the Matrix series, I hope the producers have the sense to put it in the hands of one of these filmmakers instead of the Wachowskis.
Rating:
Summary: Neo and Trinity Live on
Review: This was a great concept film by the Wachowski Brothers. Textures and stories which bring you back into the world of The Matrix. However, like other reviewers, I feel that this movie and the first Matrix are far superior to the sequels, which glossed over major charater development could have been far more than what the finished product turned out to be. Sequel bashing complete. There is a lot of depth & backgrounds that can be taken from this compilation of anime which should not be missed by any true fan of the series. Enter the Matrix again and enjoy...
Rating:
Summary: Ignore the sequels, watch this and the first movie only
Review: Well, even if you don't ignore the second and third movies you HAVE to include this as an important part of the series. Not all the episodes are brilliant, but a few give valuable insight into the background of the film story. My favorite may be the kids playing in a "broken" area of the matrix, where the rules of physics don't seem to apply. But others include the history or the human/robot war and an incident reffered to briefly in the second film. You cannot consider yourself a fan of the Matrix and not include this in your library.
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