Home :: DVD :: Boxed Sets :: Sci-Fi & Fantasy  

Action & Adventure
Anime
Art House & International
Classics
Comedy
Documentary
Drama
Fitness & Yoga
Horror
Kids & Family
Military & War
Music Video & Concerts
Musicals & Performing Arts
Mystery & Suspense
Religion & Spirituality
Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Special Interests
Sports
Television
Westerns
The Matrix - Limited Edition Collector's Set

The Matrix - Limited Edition Collector's Set

List Price: $79.98
Your Price: $71.98
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 .. 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 .. 287 >>

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: MAYTRICKSome viewers as sensible sci-fi
Review: For a fiction to work out well- it would have to be proportionally realistic with its plot's structure. This movie fails to level that way with its story. For a try-hard sci-fi flick that tried hard to carry its plot with a bunch of far fetch scientifical explanations, still it was never able to resist on going its way to incorporate the element of fantasy to its story- in this case dealing with prophetical predicaments within its storyline surprisingly, that it doesn't fit well with its already preposterous script, which borrows heavily from the doctrines of Buddhist teachings - giving a ridiculous effect in the result ; and as if it weren't enough, they also borrowed heavily from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!

Filled with bad acting and bad action choreography sequences- sure this movie may have some great overbloated special fx, but they are even all blown out of proportion at times, unnecessarily with its scenes perhaps except only for the purpose of showing off. Just recently last week i've watched X-MEN 2 on the cinema, and among the most previous films to have come out it's such that is a well made enough film to use impressive and inane type of 90's fx married well with its scenes coherent to the storyline, unlike this cacophony hogwash of a movie. If you're looking for science fiction with solid plot structure, go for them classic 70's sci-fi's like SOYLENT GREEN and The OMEGA MAN (both starring Charlton Heston) + the original PLANET OF THE APES (w/c still stands well with its satirical social commentary, unlike its remake which is completely washed out of any substance from the original siries, and is nothing but a deliberately commercialized attempt to cash in with the dime-a-dozen sci-fi movies of the past few years (quite a mojor disappointment considering that it's a film by Tim Burton)), and the Stanley Kubrick film epic of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY. And for a sci-fi flick that goes well of its mixture with fantasy elements-- no one could go wrong with George Lucas' classic trilogy of the original STAR WARS, for the most familliar so to speak...

I'm a major fan of the sci-fi/fantasy genre myself, but for me this pretensious hack goes down to the gutter with the now forgotten fad of the X-FILES...

I wouldn't nary give a hoot about its couple of sequels now showing in the cinemas. So bumb this review - i don't care.

Rate: 1 1/2 out 5 - for the special-effects.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Outstading corporate profit-generator
Review: For all its psychological and symbolic posturing, "The Matrix" is ultimately way, way more style than substance. But hey, at least its style is very cool - Great stoner friendly FX. Indeed, credit must be given to the Wachowski brothers for giving The Matrix an illusion of sophistication. They have certainly fooled the kids into thinking there is something important here. The fact is, The Matrix is an unapolegetic post-modern sci-fi that is anything but original -- ("Brazil," "Alien," "Lost Highway," "Terminator 2," "Dark City", "Fifth Element", "Ghost in the Shell" can all be seen here). And its basic theme, that reality is but a shadowplay on a cavewall, is as old as sci-fi literature itself.

Keanu Reeves returns as another incarnation of Johnny Mnemonic. I can't believe this guy gets casted - He is almost unbearable to watch. I don't know who is more artifical, Keanu or The Matrix itself. All in all, it is fun in a Hong Kong Martial Arts kind of way, but just leave at that. If you want an education, go read a book.

As far as the DVD itself goes - Go ahead, pick it up. With a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and extras that include hidden special effects documentaries, an audio commentary, and a special "white rabbit" feature, this DVD is awesome. If you select the white rabbit feature, a cute little bunny pops up during various sequences from the film. When you see the bunny, you hit enter on your remote, and bang - you're watching the scene being filmed from multiple angles. It's an utterly unique way in which to spotlight special effects and takes full advantage of DVD technology. Very well done.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: DVD PROBLEM
Review: For all those that can't run The Matrix on their DVD they need to notify the manufacturer. Warner Bros has put out a DVD that is incompatable with some players. Namely Samsung and Pioneer

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The film of the century!
Review: For all those who didn't like the film I would like to say that their mind didn't help them to do so. It is the best film of the 1999

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SuperCalaFragaListicExpialy-dope flick!
Review: For all y'all who don't know. Dope means tha bomb. Bomb means the baddest ever! Critics will say it wasn't original, idiots will say it's not worthy of the title "film" and was a waste of thier $$$. Loosen up would ya? The Matix is the best Sci-Fi movie to date since Terminator 1 & 2. The fighting choreography was so phenomenally constructed, the newly introduced graphics was superbly enhancing. The acting? I wont even bump that. It wasn't almighty and superb, sensational and smashing, yet it was adequate enough to warrant my 5 star rating! It is a must see. Anybody who insults this movie just cannot comprehend what sci-fi means or the depth of hypothetical thinking. Every friend I know who hated this movie has re-seen it by my recommendation and has ended up thanking me. I just bought a DVD Player and now await the best purchase of my life. Matrix on DVD - Widescreen, Dolby Digital Stereo... oh yeah!!! Can't wait for the sequels. 2 thumbs way up!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Matrix- One of the top 3 movies i have ever seen
Review: For anyone who hasn't seen the Matrix, you are missing out on probably the best movie of the year. This movie has it all, suspense, action, sci fi, and some of the best special effects ever created.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I haven't seen a movie so good in years !
Review: For both Action and Sci-fi movie fans. I was amazed at how original and well done (on all counts) this movie was. I thought Reeves and Moss did a fine job of acting. It had a great plot, humor enough to keep it from being dark, good dialogue, a slight romance, great action scenes, and special look to it. Non-stop entertainment that I've seen 3 times and enjoyed each time. The only people I've heard give negative remarks are those who blabbed during it and missed understanding what was going on and people who just don't like action pictures in general. (As for the black leather trenchcoats & shooting; It was a "good guys" against the inhuman "bad guys" thing and done as "super hero" characters so I never related it to the Colombine tragedy as anyone so obviously could with DeCapprio's movie Basketball Diaries). The message I took from the movie was "believe in yourself or you just won't be what you could have been"

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Matrix is one of the Best movies of the Year!
Review: For everyone planning on buying this movie, a warning, do not see it if you are in the mood for a light easy to understand, not thought movie, don't step out of the room, or else you just won't get it. In this thought provoking, freaky movie that makes you paraniod(kinda like psycho made people scared to shower) about life. The plot of this movie (without giving away any secrets) is so fresh original and new, yet at the same time it is confusing until it all comes together, which it does. The end will not leave you going, "Huh?" if you paid attention. But the Matrix is one of those mindblowing films that everyone has to see

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Matrix
Review: For four years, people had been telling me how great this movie was, but for some reason I never got around to seeing it. Sick of people talking about it and people messing with me because I hadn't seen it, I rented the DVD, and I must say it is one of the best action flicks I have ever seen! Unlike most films that get bragged about in today's society, this one actually lives up to expectations, if not surpasses them. After now seeing the movies that followed this masterpiece, I must say that this has by far the strongest plot of the trilogy, since the other two focus on action more. The characters in this movie are unforgettable, despite me not being a big fan of Reeves. I especially think that Fisburne takes the cake with his character of Morpheous, and I think that Moss does an outstanding job as the leading lady in Trinity. So overall, this is one movie that everyone should see and lives up to expectations!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: ¿It Just Kicks A--, and Never Stops¿
Review: For me, there are two Matrices: The one I lose myself in while watching, and the one that I dissect afterwards. First, The Matrix in action.

The Matrix is the most visually dense, dazzling picture I've ever seen. From the title design of endlessly flowing green numbers, to the fight scene, to the exquisitely choreographed chase, to the bang-up conclusion, the opening sequence is breathtaking. The kinetic action is perfectly accompanied by Don Davis' score, which at that point evokes the dark feel of a classic, Hollywood thriller. And the writer-directors, the Wachowski brothers (Bound), make every shot tell.

The story is about a future in which humans created machines so intelligent, that the machines won a war which left the world a desert, and humans their slaves. Most of the humans now live in pods, until they are harvested by the machines for energy. The rest live in "the matrix," a virtual world created by the machines to delude the humans that they live in a gleaming, prosperous city -- actually, gleaming Sydney, Australia. (The movie is muddled as to whether or how some humans aren't living in pods. I've seen it twice, and still am not clear on this.)

The idea of "the matrix" as technological dream world, evokes Marxist guru Herbert Marcuse's 1960s book, One Dimensional Man. Marcuse couldn't explain how he was able to see through the technofog that deluded everyone else. The Wachowskis do a somewhat better job of explaining that part. They also take a page or two from Alice in Wonderland, The Planet of the Apes, 1984, and even Japanese comic books.

It is the "agents" who give the machines a "human" face. The agents look like feds - replete with ear pieces, sunglasses and interchangeable, nondescript suits - but they are machines; hence their superhuman power and speed. (The Wachowskis also throw in some "shape-shifting," a trope from New Age/American Indian mythology, which was introduced in the movies in Thunderheart.) As "Agent Smith," Aussie actor Hugo Weaving is a memorable heavy.

A hardy band of human freedom fighters traveling around in a rusty old "Mark III" ship and a circa-1965 Lincoln Continental (the Wachowskis evidently have a soft spot for old Lincolns), in addition to those whom we don't see, back in the city of Zion at the earth's core, are humanity's last, best hope.

The picture alternates between didacticism and action. Most of the lessons are taught by "Morpheus" (Laurence Fishburne) who initially seems to be the savior, but who is actually he who will groom the Saviour, "The One."

Enter "Neo" (Keanu Reeves), the hacker whose name is clearly an anagram of One, as in The. The movie hinges on whether Neo is The One.

The other main character, "Trinity" (Carrie-Ann Moss), is a passionate, butt-kicking female member of the rebel troupe.

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of The Matrix, is that within a set-up that could easily have deteriorated into New Age verbal diarrhea and emotionally empty technical effects, the movie makes you -- or at least, me -- care deeply about these people.

The cast does praiseworthy work, especially Fishburne, Moss, and in a brief but moving scene, Gloria Foster ("the Oracle"), a woman of a certain age who still looks great. The stars clearly do a lot of the fighting themselves. Note, too, the forty stunt men who risked their very real butts for your movie-going pleasure.

Now, let's consider the elements that get lost in the sights and sounds of viewing.

The movie suggests a Christ-like savior, but This One has little in common with Christianity's Messiah.

I'm not crazy about Keanu Reeves; he's no Gene Hackman. And as for fictional savior types, I much prefer Lance Henriksen's tortured, all-too-human "Frank Black" from the classic Chris Carter TV series, Millennium.

The science is terrible, but then, it seems that "s/f" almost always gets the "s" wrong. Computers will never be able to initiate thought and action.

A parallel problem is the depiction of human beings learning physical skills without any physical practice, through merely having software downloaded into their brains.

Why is The Oracle fallible, and why does she quote the phrase "Know thyself" in Latin, instead of the original Greek?

As movie critic Steve Sailor pointed out, the movie perfectly matches Hollywood's notions of multiculturalism: The heavies are all pasty-faced white guys, whereas the good guys are a mix of blacks and whites.

All of the above issues must be compartmentalized while watching the movie, in order to enjoy it. (I know - I'm too literal-minded.)

Note that while kids usually love The Matrix, it's also not necessarily a good idea to watch it with very young ones. At its conclusion, my three-year-old started wacking away at me, in his best imitation of kung fu. And so, you might not want to show this to any of your children, prior to their thirtieth birthday.

The DVD is chock full of goodies. One feature allows you to watch the movie with subtitles, in order to see how Don Davis' musical subtly carries it. Davis breaks in at times, with his own commentary. His score is a serendipitous mélange of styles - from classic thriller-style to punk rock - fashioned to match the unique mood of each scene.

Another feature gives you the option of stopping the movie, to view footage of the special effects that went into the scene being shown. The purist in me complains, "That's like a magician explaining how he does his tricks," but the guy who at 18 wanted to become a movie director, says, "More! More! More! The more knowledge, the better!"

Yet another feature, on the making of The Matrix, focuses on the Hong Kong-style kung fu training the cast endured for some six months, and the "bullet-time" special effects invented for the movie.

With this DVD you get your money's worth, and then some.


<< 1 .. 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 .. 287 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates