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The Animatrix

The Animatrix

List Price: $19.96
Your Price: $15.97
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A MUST SEE FOR MATRIX FANS
Review: ....First of all , i'm writing this review cuz i did enjoy that movie..and certainly that means i'd recommend it for you people to see .
so, The Animatrix was released parallel to the Matrix Reloaded ...it's an Animation movie made of 9 Chapters All separated from
each other.each has it's own style of drawings and animation .Except for 2 chapters..
THe Plot or the motive for the events of the Matrix reloaded is found in the Animatrix's first chapter..(the last flight of osiris )..as the
machines are found to be digging 4000 meters above Zion ( the home of revolutionists ) to reach them..and it happened that Osiris
which is another Craft like that in matrix ( nubukhadnasser ) has reported it before it crashes..which leads us to matrix
reloaded..also a young man who newly appears in matrix reloaded , you'd find his story in chapter 9 ( a kid's story )
...but all the above doesn't mean that The two movies completes each other..
more you'd find in the Animatrix.. a historical archive about the reason of the Matrix..the reasons that led to Machines overtaking
Earth and demolishing people's awareness of life..
you'll find explaining some paranormal phenomenon like Ghosts on the behalf of the philosophy of the Matrix (in the chapter :
Beyond )..Trinity's tries to find Neo ( a detective's story )..

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A visual and audio treat
Review: The Matrix was a film that appealed to many different groups of people for many different reasons. For some, it was a masterful tribute to video games and martial arts movies. For others, it was a populist gateway into a branch of philosophy by a couple of outstanding visual artists. It left many of us in awe, a visual and mentally stimulating treat.

Animatrix is a collection of eight or nine ("The Second Renaissance" has been broken into two halves) animated shorts which explore various aspects of the Wachowskis' Matrix universe. Some come across as "fan fiction", featuring some of the stars from the first movie; others are designed to prepare the viewer for the two sequels Reloaded and Revolutions, others still simply explore the world itself or the consequences of its philosophy.

Three of the most interesting pieces are The Second Renaissance, Beyond, and Matriculated. The latter turns the Matrix universe upside down and explores the idea of putting a sentient robot into a virtual universe to instill in it an empathy with humans. There's some very surreal imagery in this thoughtful, witty, piece. "Beyond" explores a "what if" situation where a part of the world simulated by the Matrix has been corrupted. It's a very sweet story about a woman and some children who play in a "haunted house" before the bug is detected.

Most dramatic is "The Second Renaissance", a pseudo-history of the events that lead up to the machine's enslavement of humanity. This is stunning graphically, and covers a story that falls outside traditional shallow Hollywood story telling. At a time culturally when self-criticism sometimes seems to be considered a form of treason, the story describes a decadent humanity which creates a new sentient life form and fails to respect it, moving through a path variously of exploitation, vengeance, fear, desperation, and finally submission. Directed by Mahiro Maeda, and with a stunning score from Don Davis, the piece uses humanoid robots and strong external references to overcome the viewer's natural disattachment to the machines.

Animatrix contains many scenes which may be unpleasant to the young, and - perhaps I'm over-reacting - but knowing the kind of emotional and mental impact The Matrix series has on many people, I was a tad concerned about the potential affect one of the pieces, Kid's Story, might have on a depressed teen. Those who enjoyed the Matrix series for the action may find themselves disliking a substantial portion of Animatrix, as with one or two exceptions they're not those kinds of stories. It's worth noting that all the films are fairly short, averaging less than ten minutes each.

I do wish I'd watched this before seeing Reloaded. Either way, I suspect most people who loved the Matrix in some way will find something in this to enjoy. There's some highly intelligent, thoughtful, beautifully scored, provocative visual masterpieces on this DVD, it's certainly worth a look.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Filling in Some Gaps and Other Stuff.
Review: THE ANIMATRIX is a set of nine anime all having to deal with the world of The Matrix. The nine shorts are:

"Final Flight of the Osiris"--this feature first was seen before the movie DREAMCATCHER. It shows the journey of the ship Osiris as the crew tries to plant a message in the Matrix that is crucial to the rebellion and the people of Zion.

"The 2nd Renaissance Part I & Part II"--these two shorts explain how the Matrix came to be. The story sounds a lot like THE PLANET OF THE APES. First man creates machine to make life easier for him. Then machine revolts and man tries to destroy machine, but ends up losing.

"Kid's Story"--a story that tells about how a teenage boy escaped the Matrix. The boy later plays a crucial part in the Matrix movies.

"Program"--a story involving a very lifelike simulation in the Matrix that might be more real than it's supposed to be.

"World Record"--the world's fastest man briefly escapes the Matrix and experiences moments of true freedom as he attempts to break the world's short distance speed record.

"Beyond"--a group of children discover a neighborhood where things that aren't supposed to happen do.

"A Detective Story"--a crime noir. A detective gets caught up with Trinity and is chased on a train by agents.

"Marticulated"--in the world outside the Matrix and group of rebels capture machines and jack them into a machine matrix causing them to "turn" human and fight against the machines.

The DVD includes making of documentaries on each film as well as a short documentary about the history of anime. There are also director commentaries for both episodes of "2nd Renaissance", "Program", and "World Record".

The animation in some of the shorts isn't very good, while in others it is extraordinary (e.g. "The Final Flight of the Osiris"). Some of the stories are rather lame and don't add much to the Matrix universe while others fill in the gaps in the Matrix chronology. This is a DVD that many people probably won't enjoy watching. It's more for fans of the Matrix movies of fans of anime. Still, if you're an action/sci fi fan and are looking for something a little different and don't mind Japanese anime, then it might be for you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A must see dvd before you see Reloaded and Revolutions
Review: A majority of people thinks Reloaded and Revolutions' story is weak. This is simply because a lot of plots are not there, but here, in Animatrix and in Enter the Matrix. There are several links from here to the movies. I wish there is a trivia for this, I can think of a bit more than a dozen.

Final Flight of the Osiris brings about the first level of Enter the Matrix. It is the crew of the Osiris who sacrifice their lives to inform Zion about the machines' movement. This one links to Reloaded and Enter the Matrix. The CG of this episode is welly done, the coloring and character modelling are almost at the same level as Final Fantasy - the Spirit WIthin.

Kid's Story - This one is about the so-called self-substantiation(also refered in World Record) of Mr. Popper, who is afterwards refered as the kid in the movies. His role in the movie is a disciple and true believer of Neo, the One, the Savior, the Massiah, Jesus. He is often misunderstood as an extra jarjarbink-like character in the movie, but he is definitely not. In the movies, he made references to both his own words here in this episode and another one from another episode(Beyond). The drawing here is also significant. It uses a draft-like style, used to represent dreams in many anime in the 60's and 70's. Also, during the chase, characters are twisted, torn, rendered into random forms to represent chaos, irrational, unreal, imaginary, etc.

Detective's Story - This probably happens before the Neb crew found Neo. This episode used a grey-scale coloring, featuring a mixture of old and new technologies. Reminding the audience that this is the Matrix. This also reveals the desire of human-being to know the truth(Beyond also talks about this)

World Record - Spoke about self-substantiation, the time-line basically happens in a few seconds, but showing the Dan's memory. This episode shows us that those who realize the Matrix, their will and desire to be freed. Like the Kid's Story, it twisted the character into a random shape to express the idea of chaos.

The Second Renaissance (Parts 1 and 2) - These two episodes refer to the birth of the matrix, also refered as the Genesis of Matrix. It reveals many arguments exists nowadays about the development of true AI. This issue is pretty controversial, but the brothers obviously think that AI robots also deserves respect. This episode is a turn point of good and evil in the whole Matrix idea: it is human who started the war (the elimination of B166ER's kind) and the first side to ask for peace is the machine.

Program - This episode reminds us of the idea "Ignorance is bliss." Cypher, who betrayed the Neb, is also mentioned here. The drawings are great and full of direction and momentum. My favourite part is the zoom-out near the end of the episode.

Matriculated - This one refers to the possible of the existence of love in machine/program. This lies a clear plot to Rama Kandra's love to Sati and Kamala in Revolutions. This episode is the most complicated episodes in the collection. Few of the scenes are hard to understand their purpose unless you spend time to think about it. Anyways, this episode is the deepest of all.

Generally speaking, each of these episodes cannot stand alone by itself. They are connected somehow together with the movies. Each episode is drawn in different styles: full CG, Computer Assisted animating, hand-draft, Japanese Anime, etc. All those who oppose Reloaded and Revolutions must see these movies and this review, for this anime is also a crucial element in the series.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Adds depth to a mediocre finish...
Review: Ok right now: Do you want the red pill or The Blue pill?
These words(While paraphrased...) hooked me into one of the best science fiction sagas of all times. While the first had mystery, the second relied on action, the third...still trying to figure that one out. That's where the Animatrix and the Enter the Matrix video game come in. While many reviewers have already said what I am going to say, here goes...This gives you a deeper understanding of what the matrix actually is. My favorites are as follows:
1. Final Flight of the Osiris is by far the best one on the disc.
2.The Second renissance (If I spelled it wrong, my aplogies) parts one and two are wholly depressing but tell you about the machines rise to power.
3. A detective story tells a fun version of everyone that we want to be.
4. Kids story explains the theory of self-sustination outside of the matrix
5.World record also tells how one person can become aware of the matrix and the world around them
The others are not that integral to the overall storyline for Reloaded or Revolutions, but are entertaining nonetheless...
So now the question arises:

Does the Matrix Have you...?

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: An Uneven Collection Ranging from Great to Awful
Review: I had very high hopes when I rented this collection, and at first, I thought that those hopes would be fulfilled. The first two shorts, Final Flight of the Osiris and The Second Renaissance, Part I, were gripping and exciting. If only the rest of the disc could have maintained that level of excitement, I would probably own the collection now.

Unfortunately, the best way to describe this collection is uneven, both in terms of style and characterization. Where Final Flight of the Osiris is a very literal, reality-grounded CG interpretation of the Matrix story, other entries (like Matriculated) are highly abstract stories that explore wildly different (and in some cases, unwatchable) variations on anime.

The Second Renaissance is a visceral, cautionary tale to humanity, and is also a must-see for Matrix fans. Kid's Story and Detective Story are tolerable, but not great. Most of the others are scarcely worth mentioning.

It is almost as if the Wachowski brothers arranged the tracks in descending quality order, as the disc starts out strong but gets downright weird by the end. The viewer would do well to stop after the Detective Story, which is really the final track with any substance or direct correlation to the Matrix films.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Matrix 1.5
Review: This is ESSENTIAL for every Matrix fan! The story-line will never become clear unless you see this collection of excellent anime films. A must buy! Excellent graphics too!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: No BS, Good DVD
Review: No need for a sypnopsis or anything because you can read that everywhere. This DVD is composed of different styles of anime, and in more ways artistic. Good sub stories to the Matrix, and need DVD for all Matrix lovers out there.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Must see for FANS of Matrix , Manga ( japanese anime )
Review: ....First of all , i'm writing this review cuz i did enjoy that movie..and certainly that means i'd recommend it for you people to see .
so, The Animatrix was released parallel to the Matrix Reloaded ...it's an Animation movie made of 9 Chapters All separated from each other.each has it's own style of drawings and animation .Except for 2 chapters..
THe Plot or the motive for the events of the Matrix reloaded is found in the Animatrix's first chapter..(the last flight of osiris )..as the machines are found to be digging 4000 meters above Zion ( the home of revolutionists ) to reach them..and it happened that Osiris which is another Craft like that in matrix ( nubukhadnasser ) has reported it before it crashes..which leads us to matrix reloaded..also a young man who newly appears in matrix reloaded , you'd find his story in chapter 9 ( a kid's story )
...but all the above doesn't mean that The two movies completes each other..
more you'd find in the Animatrix.. a historical archive about the reason of the Matrix..the reasons that led to Machines overtaking Earth and demolishing people's awareness of life..
you'll find explaining some paranormal phenomenon like Ghosts on the behalf of the philosophy of the Matrix (in the chapter : Beyond )..Trinity's tries to find Neo ( a detective's story )..

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Bridges the gap between the movies.
Review: If you really want to know how it all started, this is the DVD to get. While the sequels touched on the origin of the Matrix, and tried to explain things a little further, the Animatrix DVD puts more of the story into perspective.
Very original animations, from various artists, weave common threads of stories into more of a revelation than either of the sequels.
Good sound and video quality. If you own the movies, your collection won't be complete without this DVD.


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