Matrix Revolutions, The (AU - DVD R4)
While the anticipation for the third film waned a little when the first sequel wasn’t such a huge hit well all thought it wo...
The first film shook the foundations of Hollywood and instantly became one of the most enduring film images of the modern era. Not only a special effects film, The Matrix blended an incredibly intricate storyline with mind-blowing special effects, something which audiences took to immediately. A sequel wasn’t immediately on the cards, but with the film’s success it was probably inevitable. The Matrix Reloaded was born.
The second film tried to take the action and, more importantly, the story to a new level. Special effects were again the focus with some of the most visually appealing showcases sequences since, well, the first film. The narrative was really beefed up the second time around, much to the detriment of keeping the audience in touch with what was going on. I swear I could see a giant question mark over the whole cinema on first viewing, and a smaller version when I reviewed the new release DVD. But, like all great trilogies, the third installment is always the one to behold. Bring on The Matrix Revolutions.
Movie
Plenty of movies nowadays try to dumb down their stories to appeal to the lowest common denominator. This is certainly not the case here, as the focus turns squarely towards providing as much complexity as possible, audience comprehension be damned. With that in mind, I’ll give you the most simplified version of the plot. At least then you might have an idea of what’s going on.
Neo (Keanu “Whoa” Reeves) finished the first film in a coma, stuck between the Matrix and the real world. When Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) investigate, they find out that Neo seems to be inside the Matrix without being plugged in. Kind of like Super Mario without a Nintendo, so to speak. With the help of a brooding support player named Seraph (Collin Chou) who has been assigned the task of protecting mother hen figure the Oracle (Mary Alice, after previous actress Gloria Foster passed away before completion, bless her soul), the trio dig deeper and try to figure out a way to free poor old Neo from the clutches of technology.
And it wouldn’t be a movie if they didn’t, so the main problem then becomes man’s war against the machines. Zion, where all the characters live, is under impending attack from the machines. And they’re not your average toasters and washers; these are sentinels with enough brain power to think their way through a whole population of humans. So, every spare pair of hands is on deck to hold these machines at bay and hope a solution rears its head.
Of course, being a Wachowski creation there’s a whole lot more to it than that. Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving, brilliant as always) has inhabited the body of Neo’s former ally Bane (Ian Bliss doing a pitch perfect Hugo Weaving impersonation). This sets up the inevitable Neo vs Agent Smith battle we heard about all through production. There’s also the confrontation with the man who owns limbo, Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) and his wife (Monica Bellucci in all her busty glory), a side story involving Jada Pinkett-Smith’s Niobe piloting a ship through dangerous territory and the love story between Neo and Trinity that was unfinished from the second film.
While the showcase action sequences were the talk of the town before and after the film’s release, the pacing of the third installment isn’t actually all that quick. The calm before the storm dictates that some long dialogue sequences will be stacked up before we finally get to the action-packed payoff. Granted, the major eye-candy is nothing short of top notch as usual, but the story just doesn’t quite gel as well as it should, making the low-key scenes just seem like a way to make things more complicated as well as paving the way for the next visual feast.
Looking at the film as an action film with a lot of substance is definitely the way to go. While you might not grasp all the substance until either someone explains it to you or you watch the film again, there’s no doubt you’ll enjoy the two major set pieces, which will surely go down as among the most creative in cinema history. Neo’s fight with Agent Smith and his thousand clones in the pouring rain is an absolute treat, though the battle with the sentinels is stunning if not a little too monotonous over the course of its duration. The Return Of The King’s penultimate battle just had enough contrast here and there to keep us interested for the lengthy running time, whereas the major fight sequence in this film doesn’t quite do enough to stop us from merely watching humans and machines clash over and over again. The visuals themselves, however, are top notch, and quite possibly make every kid in the world wish he could ride one of those massive robots into battle.
It’s a shame the two sequels couldn’t quite live up to the lofty standards set by the first film. Sure, anyone would be hard pressed to match the unique quality of the first installment but at least there was a decent balance between some brilliant visuals and a story that doesn’t alienate its audience as soon as it opens its mouth. Hard-core Matrix aficionados (and there are many) will surely revel in all the detail, but casual fans may well just be frustrated by the lack of an identifiable story, save for the obvious elements such as the battles. At that point you tend to not really care what happens to most of the characters and purely sit back to soak in all the cinematography and CGI.
Not all the loose ends are tied up, many audience members might not know a loose end from a tied one and the many other more complex messages of the narrative may have flown well and truly over the heads of all but a few, so the ambitious Wachowskis have probably bitten off a bit more than they could chew. However, as entertainment this is still quite good, and when you’ve got two truly amazing action sequences in your arsenal there’s always still plenty to like about your work. The final battle is worth the price of admission alone, yet this is offset by the underlying sense of disappointment that the third act fails to rise to a greater level than it does.
Video
Does no one at Roadshow check the details on the back cover anymore? I swear the last handful of releases have a 1.85:1 transfer listed on the slick, regardless of the actual aspect ratio used on the disc. This is again the case with this film, though it matters little as the 2.40:1 presentation comes up an absolute treat in every department. The one thing the two sequels have over the original is picture quality, which is why the rumours persist that a better transfer for the first film might surface some time down the track.
The sharpness in the transfer is probably the most remarkable feature of the presentation. Everything looks so clean and crisp that it’s like you’re looking through a window at all the goings-on. Close-ups look magnificent and you never lose any objects in the long shots. Colour is spot on as well, with the white glows of the train station, browns and grey of Zion and the odd splash of blue and green here and there rendered perfectly throughout. The explosions and flashes of blue light from the machine battle look awesome on this disc and really do make this one to show to your mates when you’ve hooked up your killer home theatre.
To be honest I couldn’t find anything wrong with the print or the rendering at all, making this pretty much faultless on all counts. If I had to be picky I’d say that some scenes were unnecessarily dark but that’s about as far as the criticism goes. One can confidently say that this sits firmly alongside the Lord Of The Rings discs as the most impressive going around.
Audio
More speculation as to a special edition release will almost undoubtedly bubble along thanks to the exclusion of a DTS track, which admittedly wasn’t present on the previous releases either. What we do get here, however, is a stunning Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that will knock your socks off, and possibly your neighbours as well. This is what surround sound is all about, folks, so jump on board.
The most pleasing aspect of the audio mix has to be the balance between the effects and the dialogue, as well as the juggling act between volume levels for the quiet moments compared to the action sequences. You’ll never have to reach for the remote between scenes as the levels are set perfectly each time you make a transition from noisy to quiet environments.
In terms of surrounds this is a great sounding disc. The front sound stage takes on a life of its own, with not only the dialogue being positioned around each of the three speakers rather than just the centre, the effects are also not limited to subtle instances heard in the rears. The back speakers work overtime to provide that extra spark of ambient sound, effects and music. Bass levels are good without being over the top, and you’ll find yourself immersed even further by the Don Davis’ orchestral score.
If there was ever a time to hook up some 5.1 action it is now. With a disc such as this looking and sounding so good, you’ve got a ready-made reference disc in your hands to test your new gear out. Trust me, on the audio front you definitely won’t be disappointed.
Extras
A neat extras package has been assembled for this release, though I’m sure there will be more to come if the rumours prove to be true. The first disc is not surprisingly devoid of any commentary tracks, though after the effort on the first film I’m not sure they’re game to try it again. All we get on disc one is a teaser trailer set from The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Animatrix as well as the theatrical trailer for The Matrix Revolutions. Oh yeah, and there’s a weblink in there too.
Disc two is where it’s at, though. We begin with Revolutions Recalibrated, a 27-minute featurette that looks at the making of the film as a whole. The montage is quite good as it shows us a wide range of behind the scenes material, from the wire work, CG models and general outtakes and interviews with the key players. They cover the death of Gloria Foster and the way the rewrite came about to explain the use of a different actress, the use of stunt men and women and how crazy they are, and of course the computer generated imagery and animation from the film. It’s a pretty comprehensive featurette without going into too much detail on each subject.
Animation devotees will enjoy the featurette entitled CG Revolution, which combines the finished footage with a lot of pre-visualisation footage and the like. Running for around 15 minutes this is a pretty good look at how some of the effects were created by the rather large animation team from the film. Moving on, Super Burly Brawl is a multi-angle look at the penultimate scene with Neo and Agent Smith in the rain. You can use the angle button on your remote to choose between three angles; the behind the scenes footage, a storyboard sequence or the final version. The angles you don’t choose are still displayed in smaller windows below the chosen angle so it’s good to be able to see them running all at once.
The Operator section on the disc includes four featurettes about the production. The first, Neo Realism, delves into the groundbreaking nature of Bullet Time, created by the Wachowski brothers. Several people discuss the phenomenon and how it came about. It’s amazing to see all the technology behind all of it, even though by the third film it’s almost becoming, dare I say it, a little passé. Super Big Mini Models looks at the creation of miniatures for the purpose of blowing them up and making them look like a real-life explosion on film. Again, so much work goes into this stuff it’s mind blowing.
Still in the Operator section of the extras on disc two, Double Agent Smith looks at the Smith vs Neo fight once again but this time in the perspective of using Agent Smith rubber doubles instead of using the costly exercise of using CG. One would have to imagine Hugo would’ve been freaked out by seeing different versions of himself all over the place. A great little piece. The final featurette for this section is Mind Over Matter, a look at the stunt work endured by the actors. One can’t imagine how hard it would have been for them to be battered around and work so hard on the technique and end result. The 8-minute piece is well worth a look.
The second page of the extras holds three pieces. Future Gamer: The Matrix Online is like an extended trailer for the multiplayer video game. We look at how the story is continued from where the films left off and how the video game will allow you to become part of the story. It runs for an impressive 11-minutes and is quite interesting to watch. The Before The Revolution section is a text-based piece which tells the whole story of the Matrix from go to whoa. Be warned, though, there are a lot of pages to go through if you’re thinking of reading the whole thing. Thankfully it is divided into various sections for easy reference.
And rounding out the collection is the 3-D Evolution piece, which is a sort of stills gallery featuring concept art and storyboards. The navigation is kind of tricky to start off with but becomes easier as you go along. There’s some real value in this section, housed in a unique looking gallery environment.
That’s all for the extras, which really does point to a more packed edition further down the track. There’s a hell of a lot more to cover about all three films so it would almost be safe to say you should keep your ears peeled for any news. As an extras package, however, it’s not too bad, if a little plain with only a series of featurettes and stills galleries to keep you interested. Not the best on offer but I’m sure that will surface shortly.
Overall
While the anticipation for the third film waned a little when the first sequel wasn’t such a huge hit as we all thought it would be, there’s still plenty to like about The Matrix Revolutions. It’s a pity the storyline continues its complicated run and the action sequences, while very impressive, are just too few and far between to make it mindless fun. Fans will be divided over this one, though it’s still well worth checking out as a great piece of entertainment. The video and audio presentations are absolutely superb, while the extras are light on with a possible view towards saving the best for a special edition later down the track. The disc is very solid, though, so if you liked the film then be sure to pick this up if you’re not worried about a double-dip later on.
The second film tried to take the action and, more importantly, the story to a new level. Special effects were again the focus with some of the most visually appealing showcases sequences since, well, the first film. The narrative was really beefed up the second time around, much to the detriment of keeping the audience in touch with what was going on. I swear I could see a giant question mark over the whole cinema on first viewing, and a smaller version when I reviewed the new release DVD. But, like all great trilogies, the third installment is always the one to behold. Bring on The Matrix Revolutions.
Movie
Plenty of movies nowadays try to dumb down their stories to appeal to the lowest common denominator. This is certainly not the case here, as the focus turns squarely towards providing as much complexity as possible, audience comprehension be damned. With that in mind, I’ll give you the most simplified version of the plot. At least then you might have an idea of what’s going on.
Neo (Keanu “Whoa” Reeves) finished the first film in a coma, stuck between the Matrix and the real world. When Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) investigate, they find out that Neo seems to be inside the Matrix without being plugged in. Kind of like Super Mario without a Nintendo, so to speak. With the help of a brooding support player named Seraph (Collin Chou) who has been assigned the task of protecting mother hen figure the Oracle (Mary Alice, after previous actress Gloria Foster passed away before completion, bless her soul), the trio dig deeper and try to figure out a way to free poor old Neo from the clutches of technology.
And it wouldn’t be a movie if they didn’t, so the main problem then becomes man’s war against the machines. Zion, where all the characters live, is under impending attack from the machines. And they’re not your average toasters and washers; these are sentinels with enough brain power to think their way through a whole population of humans. So, every spare pair of hands is on deck to hold these machines at bay and hope a solution rears its head.
Of course, being a Wachowski creation there’s a whole lot more to it than that. Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving, brilliant as always) has inhabited the body of Neo’s former ally Bane (Ian Bliss doing a pitch perfect Hugo Weaving impersonation). This sets up the inevitable Neo vs Agent Smith battle we heard about all through production. There’s also the confrontation with the man who owns limbo, Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) and his wife (Monica Bellucci in all her busty glory), a side story involving Jada Pinkett-Smith’s Niobe piloting a ship through dangerous territory and the love story between Neo and Trinity that was unfinished from the second film.
While the showcase action sequences were the talk of the town before and after the film’s release, the pacing of the third installment isn’t actually all that quick. The calm before the storm dictates that some long dialogue sequences will be stacked up before we finally get to the action-packed payoff. Granted, the major eye-candy is nothing short of top notch as usual, but the story just doesn’t quite gel as well as it should, making the low-key scenes just seem like a way to make things more complicated as well as paving the way for the next visual feast.
Looking at the film as an action film with a lot of substance is definitely the way to go. While you might not grasp all the substance until either someone explains it to you or you watch the film again, there’s no doubt you’ll enjoy the two major set pieces, which will surely go down as among the most creative in cinema history. Neo’s fight with Agent Smith and his thousand clones in the pouring rain is an absolute treat, though the battle with the sentinels is stunning if not a little too monotonous over the course of its duration. The Return Of The King’s penultimate battle just had enough contrast here and there to keep us interested for the lengthy running time, whereas the major fight sequence in this film doesn’t quite do enough to stop us from merely watching humans and machines clash over and over again. The visuals themselves, however, are top notch, and quite possibly make every kid in the world wish he could ride one of those massive robots into battle.
It’s a shame the two sequels couldn’t quite live up to the lofty standards set by the first film. Sure, anyone would be hard pressed to match the unique quality of the first installment but at least there was a decent balance between some brilliant visuals and a story that doesn’t alienate its audience as soon as it opens its mouth. Hard-core Matrix aficionados (and there are many) will surely revel in all the detail, but casual fans may well just be frustrated by the lack of an identifiable story, save for the obvious elements such as the battles. At that point you tend to not really care what happens to most of the characters and purely sit back to soak in all the cinematography and CGI.
Not all the loose ends are tied up, many audience members might not know a loose end from a tied one and the many other more complex messages of the narrative may have flown well and truly over the heads of all but a few, so the ambitious Wachowskis have probably bitten off a bit more than they could chew. However, as entertainment this is still quite good, and when you’ve got two truly amazing action sequences in your arsenal there’s always still plenty to like about your work. The final battle is worth the price of admission alone, yet this is offset by the underlying sense of disappointment that the third act fails to rise to a greater level than it does.
Video
Does no one at Roadshow check the details on the back cover anymore? I swear the last handful of releases have a 1.85:1 transfer listed on the slick, regardless of the actual aspect ratio used on the disc. This is again the case with this film, though it matters little as the 2.40:1 presentation comes up an absolute treat in every department. The one thing the two sequels have over the original is picture quality, which is why the rumours persist that a better transfer for the first film might surface some time down the track.
The sharpness in the transfer is probably the most remarkable feature of the presentation. Everything looks so clean and crisp that it’s like you’re looking through a window at all the goings-on. Close-ups look magnificent and you never lose any objects in the long shots. Colour is spot on as well, with the white glows of the train station, browns and grey of Zion and the odd splash of blue and green here and there rendered perfectly throughout. The explosions and flashes of blue light from the machine battle look awesome on this disc and really do make this one to show to your mates when you’ve hooked up your killer home theatre.
To be honest I couldn’t find anything wrong with the print or the rendering at all, making this pretty much faultless on all counts. If I had to be picky I’d say that some scenes were unnecessarily dark but that’s about as far as the criticism goes. One can confidently say that this sits firmly alongside the Lord Of The Rings discs as the most impressive going around.
Audio
More speculation as to a special edition release will almost undoubtedly bubble along thanks to the exclusion of a DTS track, which admittedly wasn’t present on the previous releases either. What we do get here, however, is a stunning Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that will knock your socks off, and possibly your neighbours as well. This is what surround sound is all about, folks, so jump on board.
The most pleasing aspect of the audio mix has to be the balance between the effects and the dialogue, as well as the juggling act between volume levels for the quiet moments compared to the action sequences. You’ll never have to reach for the remote between scenes as the levels are set perfectly each time you make a transition from noisy to quiet environments.
In terms of surrounds this is a great sounding disc. The front sound stage takes on a life of its own, with not only the dialogue being positioned around each of the three speakers rather than just the centre, the effects are also not limited to subtle instances heard in the rears. The back speakers work overtime to provide that extra spark of ambient sound, effects and music. Bass levels are good without being over the top, and you’ll find yourself immersed even further by the Don Davis’ orchestral score.
If there was ever a time to hook up some 5.1 action it is now. With a disc such as this looking and sounding so good, you’ve got a ready-made reference disc in your hands to test your new gear out. Trust me, on the audio front you definitely won’t be disappointed.
Extras
A neat extras package has been assembled for this release, though I’m sure there will be more to come if the rumours prove to be true. The first disc is not surprisingly devoid of any commentary tracks, though after the effort on the first film I’m not sure they’re game to try it again. All we get on disc one is a teaser trailer set from The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Animatrix as well as the theatrical trailer for The Matrix Revolutions. Oh yeah, and there’s a weblink in there too.
Disc two is where it’s at, though. We begin with Revolutions Recalibrated, a 27-minute featurette that looks at the making of the film as a whole. The montage is quite good as it shows us a wide range of behind the scenes material, from the wire work, CG models and general outtakes and interviews with the key players. They cover the death of Gloria Foster and the way the rewrite came about to explain the use of a different actress, the use of stunt men and women and how crazy they are, and of course the computer generated imagery and animation from the film. It’s a pretty comprehensive featurette without going into too much detail on each subject.
Animation devotees will enjoy the featurette entitled CG Revolution, which combines the finished footage with a lot of pre-visualisation footage and the like. Running for around 15 minutes this is a pretty good look at how some of the effects were created by the rather large animation team from the film. Moving on, Super Burly Brawl is a multi-angle look at the penultimate scene with Neo and Agent Smith in the rain. You can use the angle button on your remote to choose between three angles; the behind the scenes footage, a storyboard sequence or the final version. The angles you don’t choose are still displayed in smaller windows below the chosen angle so it’s good to be able to see them running all at once.
The Operator section on the disc includes four featurettes about the production. The first, Neo Realism, delves into the groundbreaking nature of Bullet Time, created by the Wachowski brothers. Several people discuss the phenomenon and how it came about. It’s amazing to see all the technology behind all of it, even though by the third film it’s almost becoming, dare I say it, a little passé. Super Big Mini Models looks at the creation of miniatures for the purpose of blowing them up and making them look like a real-life explosion on film. Again, so much work goes into this stuff it’s mind blowing.
Still in the Operator section of the extras on disc two, Double Agent Smith looks at the Smith vs Neo fight once again but this time in the perspective of using Agent Smith rubber doubles instead of using the costly exercise of using CG. One would have to imagine Hugo would’ve been freaked out by seeing different versions of himself all over the place. A great little piece. The final featurette for this section is Mind Over Matter, a look at the stunt work endured by the actors. One can’t imagine how hard it would have been for them to be battered around and work so hard on the technique and end result. The 8-minute piece is well worth a look.
The second page of the extras holds three pieces. Future Gamer: The Matrix Online is like an extended trailer for the multiplayer video game. We look at how the story is continued from where the films left off and how the video game will allow you to become part of the story. It runs for an impressive 11-minutes and is quite interesting to watch. The Before The Revolution section is a text-based piece which tells the whole story of the Matrix from go to whoa. Be warned, though, there are a lot of pages to go through if you’re thinking of reading the whole thing. Thankfully it is divided into various sections for easy reference.
And rounding out the collection is the 3-D Evolution piece, which is a sort of stills gallery featuring concept art and storyboards. The navigation is kind of tricky to start off with but becomes easier as you go along. There’s some real value in this section, housed in a unique looking gallery environment.
That’s all for the extras, which really does point to a more packed edition further down the track. There’s a hell of a lot more to cover about all three films so it would almost be safe to say you should keep your ears peeled for any news. As an extras package, however, it’s not too bad, if a little plain with only a series of featurettes and stills galleries to keep you interested. Not the best on offer but I’m sure that will surface shortly.
Overall
While the anticipation for the third film waned a little when the first sequel wasn’t such a huge hit as we all thought it would be, there’s still plenty to like about The Matrix Revolutions. It’s a pity the storyline continues its complicated run and the action sequences, while very impressive, are just too few and far between to make it mindless fun. Fans will be divided over this one, though it’s still well worth checking out as a great piece of entertainment. The video and audio presentations are absolutely superb, while the extras are light on with a possible view towards saving the best for a special edition later down the track. The disc is very solid, though, so if you liked the film then be sure to pick this up if you’re not worried about a double-dip later on.
Review by Pete Roberts
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The Matrix - A Retrospective
The Matrix - A Retrospective
Big Image
"Oh, man - you've just gotta see it."
F uck that, I thought. I've got exams coming up and there's no way I can afford to take time out to watch some lo-jack Keanu flick.
"Sure thing, dude. I'll make it down to the cinema this Friday."
Uh-huh...
And so it goes that I missed what could have been one of the most innovative cinema-going moments of my life. When it came out on VHS and DVD, that same friend who couldn't stop talking about this blasted movie kept bugging me to borrow his video. I took it, and it lay on my window ledge for over a month.
He then asked me if I'd seen the film. I replied that I hadn't got around to it. He said he wanted it back and so I gladly lifted the buren off my shoulders. That day I gave it back to him, and he asked my teacher during art-class if he could play it in class - my teacher was cool like that. Draw him a pic of Spidey and he'd orgasm and give you an 'A'. And he loved to keep movies running whilst we compiled our critical studies. Being the busy bee that I was, my attention was utterly focussed on my work, and the ambient noise of the classroom drowned out the sound from the movie.
"Dude, look! Look!"
He hadn't put on the film until about thirty minutes into the half-hour lesson, and the lesson was damn-near over. So I figure "what the heck - I'll just pretend to be interested for a few minutes and I'll pack my s hit and leave."
The next thing I see is some dude covered in slime, looking out of a pink pod at billions of other people encased inside similar pink pods. As far as the eye could see, there were pink pods down the sides of vast, Giger-esque towers (I was especially aware of this influence because I was researching Giger at the time...needless to say, my critical studies were about to take a whole new form...) with huge bolts of electrical lightning roaring between them and within them, human beings lying dormant.
As the amaceated skin-head gets 'flushed' out of his pod, the teacher starts dismissing us and I'm like "whoa, wait... wait..."
I turn around to see my friend standing there, grinning.
With a sheepish-looking face, I ask "hey...uh...?"
"yeah, go for it."
And so I took the video home and watched it from start to finish.
I was kicking myself.
Taking the Red Pill:
Big Image
Whilst my fandom of The Matrix wouldn't start for another four years upon the release of the simply stunning second installment of what the Wachowskis maintain was envisaged as a trilogy-worth of metaphysical mayhem, the first movie was still in a league of its own when compared to its Hollywood contemporaries and predecessors.
Having been a huge fan of animé since the age of 13 and having been introduced to my first cyberpunk work at the age of 14, I was very aware of where this new neo-noir was coming from. What's more, this was the kind of movie that I'd already seen in my head long before I'd seen it on screen. It was a rush to see my mind be put so well on my TV screen that I certainly wasn't in any hurry to hand my friend's copy of the film back to him. It was smart, fun, furious and disorienting - all the things I felt defined me as a teenager.
In this way, as with the protagonist of the movie, The Matrix was a wonderfully liberating experience.
However, what I began noticing after my second or third viewing of the movie were some of the potential flaws and set-backs. For example, minimal time had been spent on expressing any convincing connection outside of superficiality between Neo and the main love interest, Trinity. There were some painfully childish lines of dialogue where they literally tell you what's going to happen next ("we can't use [the EMP] until [Neo] is out"
.
Gee. Thanks, Trin.
And then there were the plot holes. How in the world can the system not locate a cookie-baking granny stationed in a sh itty ghetto apartment? And why the Hel is she not unplugged? And if she is unplugged, how come she's able to stay in that one location in both the Matrix and on whichever ship she's from?
And it wasn't just oddities about the Oracle, either.
There was a lot of stuff about Morpheus, too.
"No need to hope, Trinity. I know it!"
If I didn't know better, I'd say this guy was near-desperate. Underneath that sleek apprearance and behind those armless round shades is a man who seems more like a Jehovah's Witness with subsequently dangerous, fanatical tendancies. Surely this guy can't be as 'good' as we think he is.
There were also personal pet-niggles that developled rather quickly - I hated how the machines had been demonised. I mean, s hit, we'd already seen this in the Terminator movies (among countless others) and it might have been neat to see something a bit more fresh. And one thing that always got to me...the ending. I mean, the whole story was not even a story. It was 90 minutes of "is he or isn't he", albeit, very well executed in terms of technique. But it was all kind of cliché with a bit of a one-dimensional "happy ever after" ending with the good guy flying off. I couldn't harbour a seething hatred for it, because it was so stylishly done. But for a film that come out of the minds of some obviously capable directors, I couldn't help but feel that the movie was a little bit too much of...dare I say it...emptiness in a cool outfit. A hollow shell, at least compared to what it could have been. Ironically, the movie became an emboddiment of its central Baudrillardian conceit - a lack of meaning and definition beyond the surface appearance.
It was just like any other movie, only with substantially more style over an above-average but ultimately inconclusive substance.
Walking through the door...
Big Image
The Morpheus of the shooting script was slightly different from the Morpheus of the final cut of the movie.
Fishburne's dogmatic freedom fighter seemed more "dogmatic" and less "freedom" oriented in the Wachowskis script. Neo being but one in a string of potentials who - like himself - had been made to believe in their false messianism, and were left dead after confrontations with Agents bearing striking similarity to that which Neo faced in the movie's climax. They, however, weren't so lucky as to be resurrected as a 'Master of the Matrix' à la Neo, and were but forgotten.
However, with Morpheus effectively being 'the exposition guy' throughout the movie, the Brothers probably decided that it would taint his credibility if Morpheus were seen to be that..well...utterly insane.
There were hints of that left, both in the passage I quoted in the previous section and in the Oracle revealing how even she could not pierce through Morpheus' powerful obtuseness; but now it could simply be alternative as Morpheus being the 'good Christian', the 'steadfast believer'.
In effect, he retains his now-popular dubbing as the John The Baptist figure of the piece.
This is one of many place in which The Matrix Reloaded exceeded, my expectations.
No longer viewing the Wachowskis world as filtered through the eyes of Morpheus and his ship, we are brought into the greater context. We are brought into Zion. Here, we see that Morpheus' opinion - whilst popular with many - is never to far away from the Cypher-like scepticism that seemed like such a gross perspective to have in the first film.
He is met with hostility for his views by superiors and peers alike. BUt it is that same unwavering, charasmatic power and belief that jerked Neo out of his slumber that works its magic throughout the people of Zion. In the Enter The Matrix game footage, co-scpetic lovers Locke and Niobe talk of Morpheus power over Zion, and the fact that .35 million sentinals inching their way towards the gates of Zion rendered everyone petrified.
Everyone but Morpheus.
As Niobe says, "you need him".
But, the Wachowskis being indifferent to the concept of religious subscription, wouldn't have Morpheus' faith be unshakeable. Morpheus personal extrapolation of and absolute resolution with the prophecy becomes his downfall.
Rewatching The Matrix after Reloaded and Revolutions (as I did today, which is what inspired this article) Morpheus comes across as an almost tragic figure. Seeing that child-like glee flash over his eyes in the first installment every time Neo does something out of the ordinary or when he responds to Neo's enquiry of the Oracle's revelation to him by saying "[she said] I would find the One" with a confident smile across his face...Morpheus elicits a sense of immense pathos that we might associate with those following the strict laws of many of the world religions.
Morpheus is disillusioned, trapped within his own 'Matrix'.
Unlike Neo, however, Morpheus doesn't just throw up and get over it...throughout Revolutions he is a broken man who seems to have abandoned his gift for inspired speech, but never stops trying to find some light in the darkness that has so suddenly and violently destroyed his entire sense of life. When Morpheus is asked why he wants to search the Matrix for Neo without a head-jack into the system, he can but implore Captain Roland of the Mjolnir with an uncharacteristically timid-yet-sincere "please...for me".
In many ways, this is what makes Morpheus last declarative speech of the trilogy one of the greatest. Whilst the pre-Architect summoning Morpheus gives in his "we are soldiers" speech of Reloaded tingles the spine and spurs the heart, it is the soul-shattering bleakness of his proclamation that keeps you hanging on to the end of Revolutions after an exhausting Zion seige.
For the first time in the trilogy, the lexical compostion of his speech is full of "don't know"s...which makes the final "I know" all the more powerful.
"Neo is doing what he believes he must do.
I don't know if what he's doing is right, and I don't know if he'll reach the machine city...and if he does, I don't know what he can do to save us.
But I do know that as long as there is a single breath in his body...he will not give up.
And neither can we."
~Morpheus~
Morpheus is coming to terms with Neo's potential to save both man and machine-kind as being a real sacrifice, and not just some sleek, airy-fairy surgical procedure. This is also where the stylitic departure of Revolutions from Reloaded takes its cue. Neo's journey is no longer one of super-coolness, arrogance and blind brute (pun not intended). It has instead become a journey through "the desert of the real" wrought with pain, death, suffering and clasping onto the smallest strain of hope ("the quintessential human delusion", as the Architect would have it) in order to acheive a state of enlightenment that Buddha would be proud of.
Built of light...
Big Image
Throughout human history we have been dependent on machines to survive.
Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.
~Morpheus~
Morpheus gives us a highly summarised outline of transpired events that reshaped the face of the planet. It was pretty obvious that the one-dimensionality of the first movie that was predicated upon the basis that a relatively unreliable Morpheus was our guide through this world would extend to every facet of said story.
One such facet was the viewers opinion of the machines as dictated by Morpheus.
Despite Morpheus' confession that the Earth's sky was destroyed by men and not machines, the movie seems to propagate this sense of 'good' versus 'bad' throughout the entire thing. There is no compromise.
As long as the Matrix exists, the human race will never be free.
~Morpheus~
Like I said; no compromise.
What's interesting is that Neo seems more open to change than the guy who believes beyond any doubt that he will kick the machines' collective a ss. Neo levels with Morpheus about what he's found out about the systematic manufacturing of the prophecy and the One with a straight-but-solemn face. He's bummed, sure. But it's Morpheus whose life-long illusion would be shatered.
In the kind of symmetry whose opportunity on which only the Wachowskis could capitalise, Neo echoes the words of his ex-mentor right back at him from way back when he first introduced Neo to the nightmare of his CG dream: "I didn't say it would be easy - I just said it would be the truth".
But Neo's relative open-mindedness compared to Morpheus was something that was evident ever since the end of the first movie. That final speech (in the script version) is actually much more moderate in tone, wording and central ideal than what Morpheus has been yelling at us for the last 90 minutes. But - with confused and underwhelmed test-audiences damanding something more along the lines of a George Bush declaration of war, the Brothers made Neo's final speech more overtly empowering to humans, Morpheus' cause and himself.
In other words, Neo's final words in the first film are coming from a place of egocentric power.
Isn't it wonderful, then, that after six months of "show[ing] these people what [the machines] don't want them to see", Neo is sitting in the Neb mess hall confused about what the Hel he's supposed to do next? "Surely this can't be what I'm here to do", he's thinking. And sure enough, the machine army that's just perched itself of Zion's front lawn catalyses the events that follow, and Neo continues his journey within this web of illusions. It is his uniquely questioning nature, however, that allows him to ascend come Revolutions. He's willing to make changes that no One before him ever did.
Seeking out the Oracle:
Big Image
It never ceases to amaze me how - as more and more of the deceptions are stripped away - just how differently we view the Oracle in each film.
In the first movie, we know only what we're told: she's old, she's wise, and "she can help you to find the path".
There are no questions. There are no 'if's or 'but's. Morpheus insists that one not view the Oracle's words as correct or incorrect. Which is effectively asking one to make that same leap of dogmatic faith as Morpheus because it overlooks one of the core practices of all philosophy: critical reason.
It is this critical reason that the second film borders on. She challenges Neo with two choices "acceptance" or "rejection".
In other words, you either trust her or you don't.
In Reloaded, we find out a number of facts that suddenly fill up the gaping holes left in the first film. Facts that suddenly shift your perspective of all that has transpired so far in Reloaded and the 90 minutes of the first film that preceded that.
The Oracle is not 'human'. She is a computer program. In other words, she's from the same place as the relentless Smith program that we so fear throughout the trilogy. This suddenly puts the Oracle of the first film into a different light. Furthermore, it challenges our view on those oh-so-evil machines. I still remember how my face went from a confused crumple into a childish grin as I heard Neo utter the words "you're not human, are you" in response to the Oracle's intent to "get the obvious stuff out of the way". What was even more great was the reply, "it's tough to get any more obvious than that".
Totally. Friggin'. Human.
The fact that it makes perfect sense is what makes it even more disturbing to the viewers who took Morpheus' words in the first movie as law. For me, I just couldn't stop smiling. The toughest part was trying to quieten all the thoughts now racing through my head as I listened to the rest of what the Oracle had to say.
Finally, almost half-way through the second film of the trilogy, the Wachowskis had begun the journey of breaking out of the Matrix...
Quintessentially human...
Big Image
Pompous, arrogant, logical and menacing...the Architect emboddies the concept of mathematical malevolence.
Whilst the Architect differs in his approach to the idea, he seems to concur with his 'bastard son', Smith, that life is relatively purposeless. At the end of the movie, Smith lists all the "vagaries of human perception" he could imagine that might be motivating Neo to continue to defy his logic. Interestingly, one of those "delusions" is love - and Smith specifically states how "only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love".
And yet, Rama-Kandra, Kamala, Sati...even the Oracle seem to deem love as an important and essential factor. And they're not even 'human'.
But what is this term, 'human'? We use it to describe our species, yes. But we also use terms like "inhuman" and "humanitarian", both derivatives of the word "human". The semantic implication of the word "human" is one of morals, decency and love - things that we human beings take for granted as being our sole domain of function. And yet, here we stand, confronted with computer programs who are expressing those same "temporary constructs". As with Project #3501 in Ghost In The Shell, sentient life that has been allowed to evolve is expressing traits that we previously considered to be applicable only to us.
This is why Sati really is so important.
As Smith says, they are all "as artificial as the Matrix itself". Our own, self-created Matrices; like Morpheus being trapped within his construct of the prophecy, or Neo trying desperately to figure out what the next step in his journey must be, or even Trinity who is willing to go wherever Neo goes without ever looking back to ask "why". Are they are all "trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose"?
Perhaps.
But this seems to be what we're all after from birth till death.
We live our lives punctuated by the constant attempt to define it, to label it.
And that's what Neo learns at the end of the film. That to break free of that simulacrum of obsession with the 'surface of self' and to truly break free, he must realise the one universal concept that fuels all sources of liberation:
There is no spoon.
Sorry, had to remove your images, they were too big - Mal
Big Image
"Oh, man - you've just gotta see it."
F uck that, I thought. I've got exams coming up and there's no way I can afford to take time out to watch some lo-jack Keanu flick.
"Sure thing, dude. I'll make it down to the cinema this Friday."
Uh-huh...
And so it goes that I missed what could have been one of the most innovative cinema-going moments of my life. When it came out on VHS and DVD, that same friend who couldn't stop talking about this blasted movie kept bugging me to borrow his video. I took it, and it lay on my window ledge for over a month.
He then asked me if I'd seen the film. I replied that I hadn't got around to it. He said he wanted it back and so I gladly lifted the buren off my shoulders. That day I gave it back to him, and he asked my teacher during art-class if he could play it in class - my teacher was cool like that. Draw him a pic of Spidey and he'd orgasm and give you an 'A'. And he loved to keep movies running whilst we compiled our critical studies. Being the busy bee that I was, my attention was utterly focussed on my work, and the ambient noise of the classroom drowned out the sound from the movie.
"Dude, look! Look!"
He hadn't put on the film until about thirty minutes into the half-hour lesson, and the lesson was damn-near over. So I figure "what the heck - I'll just pretend to be interested for a few minutes and I'll pack my s hit and leave."
The next thing I see is some dude covered in slime, looking out of a pink pod at billions of other people encased inside similar pink pods. As far as the eye could see, there were pink pods down the sides of vast, Giger-esque towers (I was especially aware of this influence because I was researching Giger at the time...needless to say, my critical studies were about to take a whole new form...) with huge bolts of electrical lightning roaring between them and within them, human beings lying dormant.
As the amaceated skin-head gets 'flushed' out of his pod, the teacher starts dismissing us and I'm like "whoa, wait... wait..."
I turn around to see my friend standing there, grinning.
With a sheepish-looking face, I ask "hey...uh...?"
"yeah, go for it."
And so I took the video home and watched it from start to finish.
I was kicking myself.
Taking the Red Pill:
Big Image
Whilst my fandom of The Matrix wouldn't start for another four years upon the release of the simply stunning second installment of what the Wachowskis maintain was envisaged as a trilogy-worth of metaphysical mayhem, the first movie was still in a league of its own when compared to its Hollywood contemporaries and predecessors.
Having been a huge fan of animé since the age of 13 and having been introduced to my first cyberpunk work at the age of 14, I was very aware of where this new neo-noir was coming from. What's more, this was the kind of movie that I'd already seen in my head long before I'd seen it on screen. It was a rush to see my mind be put so well on my TV screen that I certainly wasn't in any hurry to hand my friend's copy of the film back to him. It was smart, fun, furious and disorienting - all the things I felt defined me as a teenager.
In this way, as with the protagonist of the movie, The Matrix was a wonderfully liberating experience.
However, what I began noticing after my second or third viewing of the movie were some of the potential flaws and set-backs. For example, minimal time had been spent on expressing any convincing connection outside of superficiality between Neo and the main love interest, Trinity. There were some painfully childish lines of dialogue where they literally tell you what's going to happen next ("we can't use [the EMP] until [Neo] is out"
.Gee. Thanks, Trin.
And then there were the plot holes. How in the world can the system not locate a cookie-baking granny stationed in a sh itty ghetto apartment? And why the Hel is she not unplugged? And if she is unplugged, how come she's able to stay in that one location in both the Matrix and on whichever ship she's from?
And it wasn't just oddities about the Oracle, either.
There was a lot of stuff about Morpheus, too.
"No need to hope, Trinity. I know it!"
If I didn't know better, I'd say this guy was near-desperate. Underneath that sleek apprearance and behind those armless round shades is a man who seems more like a Jehovah's Witness with subsequently dangerous, fanatical tendancies. Surely this guy can't be as 'good' as we think he is.
There were also personal pet-niggles that developled rather quickly - I hated how the machines had been demonised. I mean, s hit, we'd already seen this in the Terminator movies (among countless others) and it might have been neat to see something a bit more fresh. And one thing that always got to me...the ending. I mean, the whole story was not even a story. It was 90 minutes of "is he or isn't he", albeit, very well executed in terms of technique. But it was all kind of cliché with a bit of a one-dimensional "happy ever after" ending with the good guy flying off. I couldn't harbour a seething hatred for it, because it was so stylishly done. But for a film that come out of the minds of some obviously capable directors, I couldn't help but feel that the movie was a little bit too much of...dare I say it...emptiness in a cool outfit. A hollow shell, at least compared to what it could have been. Ironically, the movie became an emboddiment of its central Baudrillardian conceit - a lack of meaning and definition beyond the surface appearance.
It was just like any other movie, only with substantially more style over an above-average but ultimately inconclusive substance.
Walking through the door...
Big Image
The Morpheus of the shooting script was slightly different from the Morpheus of the final cut of the movie.
Fishburne's dogmatic freedom fighter seemed more "dogmatic" and less "freedom" oriented in the Wachowskis script. Neo being but one in a string of potentials who - like himself - had been made to believe in their false messianism, and were left dead after confrontations with Agents bearing striking similarity to that which Neo faced in the movie's climax. They, however, weren't so lucky as to be resurrected as a 'Master of the Matrix' à la Neo, and were but forgotten.
However, with Morpheus effectively being 'the exposition guy' throughout the movie, the Brothers probably decided that it would taint his credibility if Morpheus were seen to be that..well...utterly insane.
There were hints of that left, both in the passage I quoted in the previous section and in the Oracle revealing how even she could not pierce through Morpheus' powerful obtuseness; but now it could simply be alternative as Morpheus being the 'good Christian', the 'steadfast believer'.
In effect, he retains his now-popular dubbing as the John The Baptist figure of the piece.
This is one of many place in which The Matrix Reloaded exceeded, my expectations.
No longer viewing the Wachowskis world as filtered through the eyes of Morpheus and his ship, we are brought into the greater context. We are brought into Zion. Here, we see that Morpheus' opinion - whilst popular with many - is never to far away from the Cypher-like scepticism that seemed like such a gross perspective to have in the first film.
He is met with hostility for his views by superiors and peers alike. BUt it is that same unwavering, charasmatic power and belief that jerked Neo out of his slumber that works its magic throughout the people of Zion. In the Enter The Matrix game footage, co-scpetic lovers Locke and Niobe talk of Morpheus power over Zion, and the fact that .35 million sentinals inching their way towards the gates of Zion rendered everyone petrified.
Everyone but Morpheus.
As Niobe says, "you need him".
But, the Wachowskis being indifferent to the concept of religious subscription, wouldn't have Morpheus' faith be unshakeable. Morpheus personal extrapolation of and absolute resolution with the prophecy becomes his downfall.
Rewatching The Matrix after Reloaded and Revolutions (as I did today, which is what inspired this article) Morpheus comes across as an almost tragic figure. Seeing that child-like glee flash over his eyes in the first installment every time Neo does something out of the ordinary or when he responds to Neo's enquiry of the Oracle's revelation to him by saying "[she said] I would find the One" with a confident smile across his face...Morpheus elicits a sense of immense pathos that we might associate with those following the strict laws of many of the world religions.
Morpheus is disillusioned, trapped within his own 'Matrix'.
Unlike Neo, however, Morpheus doesn't just throw up and get over it...throughout Revolutions he is a broken man who seems to have abandoned his gift for inspired speech, but never stops trying to find some light in the darkness that has so suddenly and violently destroyed his entire sense of life. When Morpheus is asked why he wants to search the Matrix for Neo without a head-jack into the system, he can but implore Captain Roland of the Mjolnir with an uncharacteristically timid-yet-sincere "please...for me".
In many ways, this is what makes Morpheus last declarative speech of the trilogy one of the greatest. Whilst the pre-Architect summoning Morpheus gives in his "we are soldiers" speech of Reloaded tingles the spine and spurs the heart, it is the soul-shattering bleakness of his proclamation that keeps you hanging on to the end of Revolutions after an exhausting Zion seige.
For the first time in the trilogy, the lexical compostion of his speech is full of "don't know"s...which makes the final "I know" all the more powerful.
"Neo is doing what he believes he must do.
I don't know if what he's doing is right, and I don't know if he'll reach the machine city...and if he does, I don't know what he can do to save us.
But I do know that as long as there is a single breath in his body...he will not give up.
And neither can we."
~Morpheus~
Morpheus is coming to terms with Neo's potential to save both man and machine-kind as being a real sacrifice, and not just some sleek, airy-fairy surgical procedure. This is also where the stylitic departure of Revolutions from Reloaded takes its cue. Neo's journey is no longer one of super-coolness, arrogance and blind brute (pun not intended). It has instead become a journey through "the desert of the real" wrought with pain, death, suffering and clasping onto the smallest strain of hope ("the quintessential human delusion", as the Architect would have it) in order to acheive a state of enlightenment that Buddha would be proud of.
Built of light...
Big Image
Throughout human history we have been dependent on machines to survive.
Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.
~Morpheus~
Morpheus gives us a highly summarised outline of transpired events that reshaped the face of the planet. It was pretty obvious that the one-dimensionality of the first movie that was predicated upon the basis that a relatively unreliable Morpheus was our guide through this world would extend to every facet of said story.
One such facet was the viewers opinion of the machines as dictated by Morpheus.
Despite Morpheus' confession that the Earth's sky was destroyed by men and not machines, the movie seems to propagate this sense of 'good' versus 'bad' throughout the entire thing. There is no compromise.
As long as the Matrix exists, the human race will never be free.
~Morpheus~
Like I said; no compromise.
What's interesting is that Neo seems more open to change than the guy who believes beyond any doubt that he will kick the machines' collective a ss. Neo levels with Morpheus about what he's found out about the systematic manufacturing of the prophecy and the One with a straight-but-solemn face. He's bummed, sure. But it's Morpheus whose life-long illusion would be shatered.
In the kind of symmetry whose opportunity on which only the Wachowskis could capitalise, Neo echoes the words of his ex-mentor right back at him from way back when he first introduced Neo to the nightmare of his CG dream: "I didn't say it would be easy - I just said it would be the truth".
But Neo's relative open-mindedness compared to Morpheus was something that was evident ever since the end of the first movie. That final speech (in the script version) is actually much more moderate in tone, wording and central ideal than what Morpheus has been yelling at us for the last 90 minutes. But - with confused and underwhelmed test-audiences damanding something more along the lines of a George Bush declaration of war, the Brothers made Neo's final speech more overtly empowering to humans, Morpheus' cause and himself.
In other words, Neo's final words in the first film are coming from a place of egocentric power.
Isn't it wonderful, then, that after six months of "show[ing] these people what [the machines] don't want them to see", Neo is sitting in the Neb mess hall confused about what the Hel he's supposed to do next? "Surely this can't be what I'm here to do", he's thinking. And sure enough, the machine army that's just perched itself of Zion's front lawn catalyses the events that follow, and Neo continues his journey within this web of illusions. It is his uniquely questioning nature, however, that allows him to ascend come Revolutions. He's willing to make changes that no One before him ever did.
Seeking out the Oracle:
Big Image
It never ceases to amaze me how - as more and more of the deceptions are stripped away - just how differently we view the Oracle in each film.
In the first movie, we know only what we're told: she's old, she's wise, and "she can help you to find the path".
There are no questions. There are no 'if's or 'but's. Morpheus insists that one not view the Oracle's words as correct or incorrect. Which is effectively asking one to make that same leap of dogmatic faith as Morpheus because it overlooks one of the core practices of all philosophy: critical reason.
It is this critical reason that the second film borders on. She challenges Neo with two choices "acceptance" or "rejection".
In other words, you either trust her or you don't.
In Reloaded, we find out a number of facts that suddenly fill up the gaping holes left in the first film. Facts that suddenly shift your perspective of all that has transpired so far in Reloaded and the 90 minutes of the first film that preceded that.
The Oracle is not 'human'. She is a computer program. In other words, she's from the same place as the relentless Smith program that we so fear throughout the trilogy. This suddenly puts the Oracle of the first film into a different light. Furthermore, it challenges our view on those oh-so-evil machines. I still remember how my face went from a confused crumple into a childish grin as I heard Neo utter the words "you're not human, are you" in response to the Oracle's intent to "get the obvious stuff out of the way". What was even more great was the reply, "it's tough to get any more obvious than that".
Totally. Friggin'. Human.
The fact that it makes perfect sense is what makes it even more disturbing to the viewers who took Morpheus' words in the first movie as law. For me, I just couldn't stop smiling. The toughest part was trying to quieten all the thoughts now racing through my head as I listened to the rest of what the Oracle had to say.
Finally, almost half-way through the second film of the trilogy, the Wachowskis had begun the journey of breaking out of the Matrix...
Quintessentially human...
Big Image
Pompous, arrogant, logical and menacing...the Architect emboddies the concept of mathematical malevolence.
Whilst the Architect differs in his approach to the idea, he seems to concur with his 'bastard son', Smith, that life is relatively purposeless. At the end of the movie, Smith lists all the "vagaries of human perception" he could imagine that might be motivating Neo to continue to defy his logic. Interestingly, one of those "delusions" is love - and Smith specifically states how "only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love".
And yet, Rama-Kandra, Kamala, Sati...even the Oracle seem to deem love as an important and essential factor. And they're not even 'human'.
But what is this term, 'human'? We use it to describe our species, yes. But we also use terms like "inhuman" and "humanitarian", both derivatives of the word "human". The semantic implication of the word "human" is one of morals, decency and love - things that we human beings take for granted as being our sole domain of function. And yet, here we stand, confronted with computer programs who are expressing those same "temporary constructs". As with Project #3501 in Ghost In The Shell, sentient life that has been allowed to evolve is expressing traits that we previously considered to be applicable only to us.
This is why Sati really is so important.
As Smith says, they are all "as artificial as the Matrix itself". Our own, self-created Matrices; like Morpheus being trapped within his construct of the prophecy, or Neo trying desperately to figure out what the next step in his journey must be, or even Trinity who is willing to go wherever Neo goes without ever looking back to ask "why". Are they are all "trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose"?
Perhaps.
But this seems to be what we're all after from birth till death.
We live our lives punctuated by the constant attempt to define it, to label it.
And that's what Neo learns at the end of the film. That to break free of that simulacrum of obsession with the 'surface of self' and to truly break free, he must realise the one universal concept that fuels all sources of liberation:
There is no spoon.
Sorry, had to remove your images, they were too big - Mal
Revolutions is Logically Flawed
The first movie, true had not given all the answers, however, it felt complete and satisfying in its own way. It may have closed with an open ending, however, the ideology, flow and feel of the plot, was logical in many ways. Reloaded was simply a setup for what was hopped to be an overwhelming conclusion with some wishing for it to top even the first movie.
I saw the first movie 5 times in the theatre and I cannot count how many times on my home theatre. I watched reloaded twice at the movies and 5 times on DVD. Revolutions?? hmm...once in the theatre and chances are I will buy the DVD but not even watch it. I will simply buy it out of a sense of duty rather than out of enjoyment or a sense of appreciation of the production efforts.
I found Revolutions to be much easier to grasp, swallow and digest. However, many points did not make any sense at all, to me as well as many of the fans I have come to know. I will mention a couple of them now, if anyone can explain or clarify these points I will be truly impressed.
First of all it was made clear by the architect that Zion had been in existence for a much longer time than it was thought before. Neo after all is the 6th version of the “ONE”.
Nonetheless the humans do not know that truth at all. Which leads to the conclusion, they must know how every part of Zion works, in order to maintain as well as defend and power it. The whole matrix philosophy is based on the fact that the machines have only the humans as a power source, hence the creation of the matrix in order to subdue the humans into becoming batteries. Now here is the big twist, If the humans can find an alternative power source to power a city which can sustain 250 thousand humans plus a fleet of hover craft ships, wouldn’t the more superior and advanced machines have the ability to use that power source? Therefore eliminating the need for the humans, the matrix and the war?
Another point, we all remember when Neo and Trinity’s ship went over the clouds, viewing for the first time in reality the real sun, while the squidies are falling out of the sky for no apparent reason? If the machines could build fields amongst fields of human batteries, would it not be logical then that they can construct a device to go over the clouds collecting the sun’s solar power? Which once more would rid them for eternity of the need for humans!!!
These are merely two points of a big pool of a seemingly flawed approach in explaining and concluding what had been a true original, yet ended up obliterating not only the story line but the true fan base as well. In all honesty, me and many others I am sure, would have rather waited another year instead of a few months for the final chapter, had we known it would have, no not sucked, no not blown and no not simply disappointed but a complete and real heart break for many believers of not only the philosophy, but the Wachowski brothers as well.
Ps.
I refuse to accept Revolutions as the actual ending of the story. In my mind I am still awaiting the conclusion of the matrix.
I saw the first movie 5 times in the theatre and I cannot count how many times on my home theatre. I watched reloaded twice at the movies and 5 times on DVD. Revolutions?? hmm...once in the theatre and chances are I will buy the DVD but not even watch it. I will simply buy it out of a sense of duty rather than out of enjoyment or a sense of appreciation of the production efforts.
I found Revolutions to be much easier to grasp, swallow and digest. However, many points did not make any sense at all, to me as well as many of the fans I have come to know. I will mention a couple of them now, if anyone can explain or clarify these points I will be truly impressed.
First of all it was made clear by the architect that Zion had been in existence for a much longer time than it was thought before. Neo after all is the 6th version of the “ONE”.
Nonetheless the humans do not know that truth at all. Which leads to the conclusion, they must know how every part of Zion works, in order to maintain as well as defend and power it. The whole matrix philosophy is based on the fact that the machines have only the humans as a power source, hence the creation of the matrix in order to subdue the humans into becoming batteries. Now here is the big twist, If the humans can find an alternative power source to power a city which can sustain 250 thousand humans plus a fleet of hover craft ships, wouldn’t the more superior and advanced machines have the ability to use that power source? Therefore eliminating the need for the humans, the matrix and the war?
Another point, we all remember when Neo and Trinity’s ship went over the clouds, viewing for the first time in reality the real sun, while the squidies are falling out of the sky for no apparent reason? If the machines could build fields amongst fields of human batteries, would it not be logical then that they can construct a device to go over the clouds collecting the sun’s solar power? Which once more would rid them for eternity of the need for humans!!!
These are merely two points of a big pool of a seemingly flawed approach in explaining and concluding what had been a true original, yet ended up obliterating not only the story line but the true fan base as well. In all honesty, me and many others I am sure, would have rather waited another year instead of a few months for the final chapter, had we known it would have, no not sucked, no not blown and no not simply disappointed but a complete and real heart break for many believers of not only the philosophy, but the Wachowski brothers as well.
Ps.
I refuse to accept Revolutions as the actual ending of the story. In my mind I am still awaiting the conclusion of the matrix.
I loved Reloaded and Revolutions but theres no way in hell there better than the first one but still a good trilogy.
Oh just one more thing for any potential geeks out there, this may be your type of thing..
Just wanted to mention comcast's G4 video game network just bought TechTV and the channels are merging now
Read about it here
Bout time, TechTv was starting to look like public cable access, their production values should go up now.
Just wanted to mention comcast's G4 video game network just bought TechTV and the channels are merging now
Read about it here
Bout time, TechTv was starting to look like public cable access, their production values should go up now.
Quote: Originally posted by Chris Gould
[quote] It's not a qustion of respect, it's a question of taste. Aliens is better action picture anyway, and that is nowhere near the top.
I think you'd be pretty fun to have a drink with on a saturday over the topic of movies. As long as you think Aliens and T2 were good movies I could care less about nitpicking exact marks for it. However, I'll be bold enough to say this. Since the first Terminator I dont think Cameron has made a bad film. The Abyss came close, but seeing the directors cut totally added a whole new storyline that made the movie make sense so it counts as good for me. Aliens is one of the most pulse pounding movies ever. I even think Titanic was pretty good, if not downplayed now because it became so over-saturated with how big it became.
[quote] It's not a qustion of respect, it's a question of taste. Aliens is better action picture anyway, and that is nowhere near the top.
I think you'd be pretty fun to have a drink with on a saturday over the topic of movies. As long as you think Aliens and T2 were good movies I could care less about nitpicking exact marks for it. However, I'll be bold enough to say this. Since the first Terminator I dont think Cameron has made a bad film. The Abyss came close, but seeing the directors cut totally added a whole new storyline that made the movie make sense so it counts as good for me. Aliens is one of the most pulse pounding movies ever. I even think Titanic was pretty good, if not downplayed now because it became so over-saturated with how big it became.
Quote: Originally posted by Shc Shc
[quote]Oh and a sidenote, T2 deserves more than 7 in the 'movie section'..!!!
Come on, it's basically the best action movie ever made!
You should show more respect for the movie that holds 2nd place in worldwide boxoffice for "R" rated movies!
When were we talking about T2? I thought we were discussing T3? I happen to think that T3 was very poor. T2 was a good film, but not as good as the original, hence the seven. The rest of the disc is amazing though.
As for it being the second highest grossing R rated film (all time worldwide that is), Reloaded is the number one and that only gets an eight (not that it matters). It's not a qustion of respect, it's a question of taste. Aliens is better action picture anyway, and that is nowhere near the top.
[quote]Oh and a sidenote, T2 deserves more than 7 in the 'movie section'..!!!
Come on, it's basically the best action movie ever made!
You should show more respect for the movie that holds 2nd place in worldwide boxoffice for "R" rated movies!
When were we talking about T2? I thought we were discussing T3? I happen to think that T3 was very poor. T2 was a good film, but not as good as the original, hence the seven. The rest of the disc is amazing though.
As for it being the second highest grossing R rated film (all time worldwide that is), Reloaded is the number one and that only gets an eight (not that it matters). It's not a qustion of respect, it's a question of taste. Aliens is better action picture anyway, and that is nowhere near the top.
Quote: Originally posted by Shc Shc
Oh and a sidenote, T2 deserves more than 7 in the 'movie section'..!!!
Come on, it's basically the best action movie ever made!
You should show more respect for the movie that holds 2nd place in worldwide boxoffice for "R" rated movies!
The Matrix trilogy didn't need fixing, its really good. My expectations for T3 were pretty low too considering Cameron wasnt involved, although while it didn't really deepen anything, I found it very enjoyable too.
T2 definately deserves more then a 7 out of 10. It's a Science Fiction masterpiece. Aside from the obvious technical problems with a few of the visuals, the directing, acting, story, and everything else is amazing. I rate movies outta 5 and its definately a 5.
I even think Robert Patrick should have at least been nominated for an oscar. He completely menaces you without saying much of anything and just using body movements and looks.
But ot be honest im just responding to the above, I havent actually seen the rating in the datebase, meaning I dont know if its rating the movie itself or the DVD overall.
Oh and a sidenote, T2 deserves more than 7 in the 'movie section'..!!!
Come on, it's basically the best action movie ever made!
You should show more respect for the movie that holds 2nd place in worldwide boxoffice for "R" rated movies!
The Matrix trilogy didn't need fixing, its really good. My expectations for T3 were pretty low too considering Cameron wasnt involved, although while it didn't really deepen anything, I found it very enjoyable too.
T2 definately deserves more then a 7 out of 10. It's a Science Fiction masterpiece. Aside from the obvious technical problems with a few of the visuals, the directing, acting, story, and everything else is amazing. I rate movies outta 5 and its definately a 5.
I even think Robert Patrick should have at least been nominated for an oscar. He completely menaces you without saying much of anything and just using body movements and looks.
But ot be honest im just responding to the above, I havent actually seen the rating in the datebase, meaning I dont know if its rating the movie itself or the DVD overall.
Opps..
Quote: Of course it's a personal opinion; you posted it 'personally', so who else's would it be? Unfortunately the sentence made no sense, unless of course you meant to put Reloaded not Revolutions. As for T3 being better, I'll steal a line from Nelson Muntz if I may - "Ha-ha".
OOPS!! haha! Thanks for pointing that out. Hehehehe!!
Im so stupid.
I meant Reloaded..
Oh and a sidenote, T2 deserves more than 7 in the 'movie section'..!!!
Come on, it's basically the best action movie ever made!
You should show more respect for the movie that holds 2nd place in worldwide boxoffice for "R" rated movies!
Hmm, is it just me or am I going off-topic again????
Anyway, back to the topic, I said Revolution was more "dissapointing" than T3 + Reloaded. My T3 expectation was pretty low because of Mostow (the director) while I still had great expectations for Revolution to "fix" the series up.
OOPS!! haha! Thanks for pointing that out. Hehehehe!!
Im so stupid.
I meant Reloaded..
Oh and a sidenote, T2 deserves more than 7 in the 'movie section'..!!!
Come on, it's basically the best action movie ever made!
You should show more respect for the movie that holds 2nd place in worldwide boxoffice for "R" rated movies!
Hmm, is it just me or am I going off-topic again????
Anyway, back to the topic, I said Revolution was more "dissapointing" than T3 + Reloaded. My T3 expectation was pretty low because of Mostow (the director) while I still had great expectations for Revolution to "fix" the series up.
The Matrix stands as a film in its own right, much like the original Star Wars. But as with Lucas' trilogy, the second and third parts work much better when taken together (and this is especially true of the Matrix films). They all get a very respectable 8/10 from me based on our scoring system.
I thought the movies were all equally as good as the other. They are afterall, one long story.
It got the same score as Reloaded!
-Josh Simons
-Josh Simons
I couldn't have said that better myself.
The movies were designed to be one long movie (PLUS game footage) and the more I think about it the more I think that these two movies together (the real way) definately stand a chance of succeding the original.
By the way, the more I watch Reloaded, the more it grows on me. I love it!
Josh Simons
The movies were designed to be one long movie (PLUS game footage) and the more I think about it the more I think that these two movies together (the real way) definately stand a chance of succeding the original.
By the way, the more I watch Reloaded, the more it grows on me. I love it!
Josh Simons
Indeed. The original film was fresh when it hit cinemas back in 1999, and there was no way that these sequels could have the same impact. I’ve read some fascinating essays on the sequels (by individuals who have given them far more thought than me) and there is a wealth of meaning in both the dialogue and the symbolism throughout the trilogy. I love thinking back to the original Matrix with lines such as “You’re my personal saviour. My own Jesus Christ” and “You think you’re special. That somehow the rules do not apply to you” etc. I also love the first scene with the Oracle, when she tells Neo that he’s waiting for his next life all to the tune of Duke Ellenton’s ‘I’m Beginning to See the Light’.
Admittedly Reloaded and Revolutions don’t stand as well as the first picture individually, but then they weren’t conceived as standalone movies. The matrix was a neat little package as there was no guarantee that it would be a hit and sequels would be made. With the sequels the story has been woven throughout the two films. Take a look at this site for some really interesting theories and discussions.
Admittedly Reloaded and Revolutions don’t stand as well as the first picture individually, but then they weren’t conceived as standalone movies. The matrix was a neat little package as there was no guarantee that it would be a hit and sequels would be made. With the sequels the story has been woven throughout the two films. Take a look at this site for some really interesting theories and discussions.
I agree with you Chris, although it didn't quite seem to live upto the first ones expectations you cant really measure a film to the first movie.How many movies out there ever live upto there original(only a hand full). If you paid careful attention to detail after many viewings and countless readings of the 'O' so tiny details they give to everything in the film : such as number plates representing versus from the bible and gospels. Many people would come to realise how everything seems to wined up into a nice ball of yarn with no loose ends.
I for one would be glad to put this dvd onto my top shelf.
I for one would be glad to put this dvd onto my top shelf.
Like I said before, if you cut Reloaded and Revolutions together removing some of the non key plots and characters you'd have a much more exiting, interesting and flowing movie which would rival the first... but i'll still buy it and still get the box set/extended/remastered versions when that comes out.
Don't get me started on Reloaded. I like that more than the other two!
Personally I loved Revolutions. Although, Reloaded looked like they made it up as they went along......
I'm sure you remember that I actually said I was disappointed. I never said the film was bad, merely that my own expectations had been somewhat different to the finished article. However, I've watched the film a few more times since and I've come to understand just how clever the whole trilogy is. Where's my copy?
Calm down Chris You were saying Revolutions sucked the big one yourself a few months back! As for why Resurrection would be a more appropriate title - I think he means that they resurrected the franchise just to make a few extra quid. I'm waiting till I've seen Revolutions before I make my mind up on that, but if it's anywhere near as bad as Reloaded then I'd have to agree...
You were saying Revolutions sucked the big one yourself a few months back! As for why Resurrection would be a more appropriate title - I think he means that they resurrected the franchise just to make a few extra quid. I'm waiting till I've seen Revolutions before I make my mind up on that, but if it's anywhere near as bad as Reloaded then I'd have to agree...
I don't quite understand why anyone would say that there is no revolution in the film. The entire world is thrown into revolution, with fundamental changes to the way in which both machines and humans exist. How is that not a revolution? You could also look at it from the cyclic point of view; the anomaly was both the beginning and the end. As for resurrection, how is that a more appropriate title? What the hell was resurrected?
I’m increasingly annoyed by people slagging off the sequels without actually making any fair points. Comments such as “The Matrix sucx”, while not only ridiculous text speak, offer no evidence to substantiate the claims. If you’re going to attack something then at least have the decency to make a convincing, coherent argument.
I’m increasingly annoyed by people slagging off the sequels without actually making any fair points. Comments such as “The Matrix sucx”, while not only ridiculous text speak, offer no evidence to substantiate the claims. If you’re going to attack something then at least have the decency to make a convincing, coherent argument.
Quote: Originally posted by Shc Shc
*Sigh* Imo, Matrix Revolutions was much more dissapointing to Terminator 3 + Matrix Revolutions combined..
I can't believe they ruined the series just to milk the cow out.
*Btw, it's my personal opinion*
Of course it's a personal opinion; you posted it 'personally', so who else's would it be? Unfortunately the sentence made no sense, unless of course you meant to put Reloaded not Revolutions. As for T3 being better, I'll steal a line from Nelson Muntz if I may - "Ha-ha".
*Sigh* Imo, Matrix Revolutions was much more dissapointing to Terminator 3 + Matrix Revolutions combined..
I can't believe they ruined the series just to milk the cow out.
*Btw, it's my personal opinion*
Of course it's a personal opinion; you posted it 'personally', so who else's would it be? Unfortunately the sentence made no sense, unless of course you meant to put Reloaded not Revolutions. As for T3 being better, I'll steal a line from Nelson Muntz if I may - "Ha-ha".
Quote: Originally posted by Jon Weicher
Wait, Im confused. How many special editions or box sets are there? Im only aware of the Trilogy Box Set that Joel Silver said, but I dont know what the other SE's you are talking about are.
I was only talking about an SE of the original film, which was put on hold until the sequels were completed. Google for it an you'll see what I mean. The other bits are rumoured to be included in the trilogy boxed set.
Wait, Im confused. How many special editions or box sets are there? Im only aware of the Trilogy Box Set that Joel Silver said, but I dont know what the other SE's you are talking about are.
I was only talking about an SE of the original film, which was put on hold until the sequels were completed. Google for it an you'll see what I mean. The other bits are rumoured to be included in the trilogy boxed set.
Bah, Matrix sucx.
Just pure speculation on our part, really. But all signs point to an upcoming release of some sort, at least with the two sequels, which will include more extras such as commentaries as well as maybe a DTS track down the line. It's hard to say for sure but in the current climate it would definitely come as no surprise that a jam-packed SE version is available some time soon.
I don't need to go to sunday school when i go to the movies. The Wachowski's have just let me down so bad it is not funny anymore. The Film feels like a Jackson Pollock painting with all VFX shots wish where well done. but over all blah. Maybe this film needs to be call the Matrix Resurrection and not the The Matrix revolutions since there is no revolution in this film.I am sorry but i know it is not Sci-fi story but Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky it is a better story about the human race then the Matrix and the part with the cave in The Republic by Plato is a lot better also blah.I don't care about this DVD . this part does not have the great philosophical story like the first and some of part 2.I know what the Wachowski Brothers' intentions are, they are taking operatic, religious and philosophical storytelling and disguising it as a comic book action movie. The end of the saga was taking straight out of a anime ( Neon Genesis Evangelion The End Of Evangelion )that i love.
Wait, Im confused. How many special editions or box sets are there? Im only aware of the Trilogy Box Set that Joel Silver said, but I dont know what the other SE's you are talking about are.
Quote: Originally posted by Chris Gould
Oh and Pete, what's all this about Reloaded not being a huge hit? it's only the highest grossing 'R' rated film of all time!
I should have said 'critical hit', as it was largely canned by critics and audience members who weren't devout fans of the first film. Grosses were always going to be high by virtue of the enormous anticipation; if the movie stinks it's too late to get your money back.
Oh and Pete, what's all this about Reloaded not being a huge hit? it's only the highest grossing 'R' rated film of all time!
I should have said 'critical hit', as it was largely canned by critics and audience members who weren't devout fans of the first film. Grosses were always going to be high by virtue of the enormous anticipation; if the movie stinks it's too late to get your money back.
*sigh*
*Sigh* Imo, Matrix Revolutions was much more dissapointing to Terminator 3 + Matrix Reloaded combined..
I can't believe they ruined the series just to milk the cow out.
*Btw, it's my personal opinion*
I can't believe they ruined the series just to milk the cow out.
*Btw, it's my personal opinion*
yeah...
till passion CRUSHES it.
Look out for the boxed set
I was reading a transcript of an interview with Joel Silver in which he gave the reasons behind the delay of the special edition of The Matrix. Apparently it will be arriving -- either seperately or as part of a boxed set -- and will feature a remastered transfer as the W Bros. are not happy with the current effort. They think it's too light; let's not forget the grain either.
The interview also mentioned a boxed set that will have a version of the film -- and presumably they were talking about Reloaded here -- with the scenes from Enter the Matrix re-integrated as a 'White Rabit' feature. Should be cool, and will give some much needed back story to those who didn't get the game (or who couldn't get it to stop crashing, the bug ridden piece of crap that it is).
I imagine the set will have lots of other goodies as well (he hinted that it will be a monumental collection). Perhaps the W Bros. will actually record commentary tracks when they've had some time to step back from the trilogy. I'd love some deleted scenes as well. I for one will be at the front of the 'milk me dry' queue when the boxed set is released (no doubt at a vastly over inflated price if Warner UK have their way).
Oh and Pete, what's all this about Reloaded not being a huge hit? it's only the highest grossing 'R' rated film of all time!
The interview also mentioned a boxed set that will have a version of the film -- and presumably they were talking about Reloaded here -- with the scenes from Enter the Matrix re-integrated as a 'White Rabit' feature. Should be cool, and will give some much needed back story to those who didn't get the game (or who couldn't get it to stop crashing, the bug ridden piece of crap that it is).
I imagine the set will have lots of other goodies as well (he hinted that it will be a monumental collection). Perhaps the W Bros. will actually record commentary tracks when they've had some time to step back from the trilogy. I'd love some deleted scenes as well. I for one will be at the front of the 'milk me dry' queue when the boxed set is released (no doubt at a vastly over inflated price if Warner UK have their way).
Oh and Pete, what's all this about Reloaded not being a huge hit? it's only the highest grossing 'R' rated film of all time!
Recommended for mature audiences.
Disc Details
Release Date:
2nd April 2003
Discs:
2
Disc Type:
Single side, dual layer
RCE:
No
Video:
PAL
Aspect:
2.40:1
Anamorphic:
Yes
Colour:
Yes
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Subtitles:
English
Extras:
Teaser trailers, theatrical trailer, featurettes, photo galleries, storyboards, weblinks
Easter Egg:
No
Feature Details
Director:
Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski
Cast:
Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett-Smith
Genre:
Action and Sci-Fi
Length:
123 minutes
Ratings
Amazon.co.uk
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