The Ultimate Matrix Collection (The Matrix / The Matrix Reloaded / The Matrix Revolutions / The Animatrix)
by Andrew R. Jones, Andy Wachowski, Josh Oreck, Kôji Morimoto, Lana Wachowski
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Carrie-Anne Moss, Gloria Foster, Hugo Weaving, Keanu Reeves, Laurence FishburneDirector: Andrew R. Jones, Andy Wachowski, Josh Oreck, Kôji Morimoto, Lana Wachowski
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 618 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-12-07
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of The Ultimate Matrix Collection (The Matrix / The Matrix Reloaded / The Matrix Revolutions / The Animatrix)
Movie Review: "Free Your Mind" (An Opinionated Overview):
Summary: 5 Stars
I must confess that, for me, the controversy and caustic criticism surrounding `The Matrix Trilogy', when coupled with the analysis these movies tend to inspire in the devoted, is generally more interesting to observe, as a phenomenon, than the actual films themselves. Having already reviewed both sequels previously (check my profile), I'll confine this review to that of the box set itself.
Disc One: The Matrix
Released with very little fanfare or industry buzz in the `dead' season of early spring, 1999, `The Matrix' sprung seemingly out of nowhere and captivated millions with its heady blend of Gnostic metaphor, surreal sci-fi splendor, and uber-stylistic excess. I have to admit, on first viewing, being less overwhelmed by the virtual-reality `twist' as I was impressed by the overall synthesis of Dickian mindwarp, cyberpunk, and Japanese anime (etc.) into one coherent package. Like a cinematic comic book, `The Matrix' was long on surface thrills and visceral impact, and brimmed with enough actual content to help stave off the inevitable "cool-backlash" endemic to all media trends. In retrospect, the film has aged quite well, thanks in large part to the future/past conceptual design and the new digital transfer specific to this box-set release. It's also the least of the three films, IMO, far too predictable in its dramatic arc and revolutionary rhetoric - hence, of course, its golden-sheen nostalgia-status for some in the wake of its unconventional sequels. Still: entertaining, well-made eye candy.
Disc Two: The Matrix Revisited
This supplement disc documents the making of `The Matrix,' from initial script treatment to the final product. Originally released with the first film as a dual-DVD package and as a stand-alone documentary.
Disc Three: The Matrix Reloaded
The hype for this film was beyond belief. The pre-release trailers featured greatest-hit montages of its many thrillseeker peaks, to some degree spoiling the visual virginity of the newly developed `virtual camera' technique; but the surface thrills of this film were/are secondary to the overall statement it made about the human condition. Free from the studio-tether, the Wachoski Bros. returned to their original script and made two films far, far ahead of the mainstream audience's paradigm-threshold. The backlash begun, thanks in large part to the tell-all denouement of the Architect. Neo, so-called "one" simulation of revolutionary praxis, became no more than a link in a chain, a slave; and so in turn could be interpreted the audience itself, feasting on H-wood illusion and seeking enlightenment therein. The sense of confusion and subsequent resentment was all-too-tangible in my theatre once the Architect opened his mouth and unleashed all those ten-dollar-words...alas, no feel-good counter-culture prozac here!
In retrospect, I probably like this film the best out of the three. It poses the essential dilemmas of philosophy; heaps complication after complication like any good second act; and contains the most subliminal material of the trilogy. The action sequences kick a$$, too.
Disc Four: The Matrix Reloaded Revisited
Contains documentaries focusing upon the freeway chase, teahouse scene, Burly Brawl and the Merovingian's lair. Also includes the 23 cut-scenes filmed for the god-awful `Enter the Matrix' video game.
Disc Five: The Matrix Revolutions
The meme was out on this film long before its actual release, and the subsequent bleating of disgruntled critics - professional and amateur, print and internet - was truly a sight to behold: voluminous ignorance rabidly expressed! Promptly proclaimed to be one of the worst sci-fi films ever made, the innumerable complaints tended to more portray limitations of the consumers rather than that of the creators - most amusing/pathetic of all being those who, obviously not "getting" it, claimed there was nothing to "get!" I will say this: anyone that demands passively receiving easy answers to the spiritual and humanistic quandaries posed by the W. Bros., without doing any in-depth research or critical analysis of the clues that are given, is going to have a very rough time of it. (Side-note: the critical commentary on the films is the epitome of this type of pretentious dismissal, served with increasing doses of stomach-churning pomposity). As for myself, I was astounded and disappointed by this widespread laziness, but extremely satisfied with the movie itself. `The Matrix Revolutions' is an epic finale, and easily the best of the three in terms of sheer brain-candy extravagance.
Disc Six: The Matrix Revolutions Revisited
Contains documentaries on the Club Hel, Super Burly Brawl and Siege sequences; profiles of cinematographer Bill Pope, the art-design team and 2nd unit crew, along with featurettes of the editing, sound and music.
Disc Seven: The Animatrix
Nine short anime films that give further insight to the backstory of the trilogy. Personal favorites will vary from person to person (I like Beyond and Matriculated), but the unequivocal masterpiece of the set is `The Second Renaissance, Pt. One and Two.'
Disc Eight: Roots of the Matrix
Features two documentaries: `Return to the Source: Philosophy and the Matrix,' a cohesive-if-basic primer into the philosophers/philosophies that inspired the trilogy, and `The Hard Problem: The Science behind the Fiction,' in which modern scientists, writers and philosophers converse about the Matrix and its eventual probability in contemporary society.
Disc Nine: The Burly Man Chronicles
A huge documentary about the preparations and principle photography of `Reloaded' and `Revolutions.' Akin to `The Matrix Revisited' doc, in format and feel, although BMC is divided into three sections *without* scene selection - very annoying! - and interspersed with a whole host of `white rabbit' branch-off links detailing the various artisans, crew and actors that helped make these films possible.
Disc Ten: The Zion Archive
A collection of trailers for all three films, along with an edited sfx segment and a promotional puff-piece for the upcoming Matrix MMORPG (sorry Bros, I ain't buying it).
...
Packaging is quite nice - slipcases for the films and documentaries, a booklet describing the interior content (with a sardonic introduction by the Wachoski Bros.) and a boxcase resplendent in gleaming green code. Essential for any Matrix fan - elitists and rigid ignoramuses need not apply.
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Summary of The Ultimate Matrix Collection (The Matrix / The Matrix Reloaded / The Matrix Revolutions / The Animatrix)
The definitive ten-disc DVD set, The Ultimate Matrix Collection features all three films in the trilogy together for the first time ever with a newly remastered picture and sound for The Matrix. Also included is the companion piece The Matrix Revisited and the best-selling The Animatrix, plus five entirely new DVDs packed solid with brand-new supplemental materials that encompass every aspect of the Matrix universe, including two new audio commentaries on each film, Enter the Matrix video game footage, 106 deep-delving featurettes/ documentaries and much more!DVD Features:
Additional Scenes:Filmed for Enter the Matrix video game
Audio Commentary:The Philosophers: Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber; The Critics: Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson
DVD ROM Features
Documentary
Easter Eggs
Featurette
Introduction:by the Wachowski Brothers
Music Video
Photo gallery
Storyboards
TV Spot
Theatrical Trailer
The Matrix
By following up their debut thriller Bound with the 1999 box-office smash The Matrix, the codirecting Wachowski brothers--Andy and Larry--annihilated any suggestion of a sophomore jinx, crafting one of the most exhilarating sci-fi/action movies of the 1990s. Set in the not too distant future in an insipid, characterless city, we find a young man named Neo (Keanu Reeves). A software techie by day and a computer hacker by night, he sits alone at home by his monitor, waiting for a sign, a signal--from what or whom he doesn't know--until one night, a mysterious woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) seeks him out and introduces him to that faceless character he has been waiting for: Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). A messiah of sorts, Morpheus presents Neo with the truth about his world by shedding light on the dark secrets that have troubled him for so long: "You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad." Ultimately, Morpheus illustrates to Neo what the Matrix is--a reality beyond reality that controls all of their lives, in a way that Neo can barely comprehend.
Neo thus embarks on an adventure that is both terrifying and enthralling. Pitted against an enemy that transcends human concepts of evil, Morpheus and his team must train Neo to believe that he is the chosen champion of their fight. With mind-boggling, technically innovative special effects and a thought-provoking script that owes a debt of inspiration to the legacy of cyberpunk fiction, this is much more than an out-and-out action yarn; it's a thinking man's journey into the realm of futuristic fantasy, a dreamscape full of eye candy that will satisfy sci-fi, kung fu, action, and adventure fans alike. Although the film is headlined by Reeves and Fishburne--who both turn in fine performances--much of the fun and excitement should be attributed to Moss, who flawlessly mixes vulnerability with immense strength, making other contemporary female heroines look timid by comparison. And if we were going to cast a vote for most dastardly movie villain of 1999, it would have to go to Hugo Weaving, who plays the feckless, semipsychotic Agent Smith with panache and edginess. As the film's box-office profits soared, the Wachowski brothers announced that The Matrix is merely the first chapter in a cinematically dazzling franchise--a chapter that is arguably superior to the other sci-fi smash of 1999 (you know... the one starring Jar Jar Binks). --Jeremy Storey
The Matrix Reloaded
Considering the lofty expectations that preceded it, The Matrix Reloaded triumphs where most sequels fail. It would be impossible to match the fresh audacity that made The Matrix a global phenomenon in 1999, but in continuing the exploits of rebellious Neo (Keanu Reeves), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) as they struggle to save the human sanctuary of Zion from invading machines, the codirecting Wachowski brothers have their priorities well in order. They offer the obligatory bigger and better highlights (including the impressive "Burly Brawl" and freeway chase sequences) while remaining focused on cleverly plotting the middle of a brain-teasing trilogy that ends with The Matrix Revolutions. The metaphysical underpinnings can be dismissed or scrutinized, and choosing the latter course (this is, after all, an epic about choice and free will) leads to astonishing repercussions that made Reloaded an explosive hit with critics and hardcore fans alike. As the centerpiece of a multimedia franchise, this dynamic sequel ends with a cliffhanger that virtually guarantees a mind-blowing conclusion. --Jeff Shannon
The Matrix Revolutions
Despite the inevitable law of diminishing returns, The Matrix Revolutions is quite satisfying as an adrenalized action epic, marking yet another milestone in the exponential evolution of computer-generated special effects. That may not be enough to satisfy hardcore Matrix fans who turned the Wachowski Brothers' hacker mythology into a quasi-religious pop-cultural phenomenon, but there's no denying that the trilogy goes out with a cosmic bang instead of the whimper that many expected. Picking up precisely where The Matrix Reloaded left off, this 130-minute finale finds Neo (Keanu Reeves) at a virtual junction, defending the besieged human enclave of Zion by confronting the attacking machines on their home turf, while humans combat swarms of tentacled mechanical sentinels as Zion's fate lies in the balance. It all amounts to a blaze of CGI glory, devoid of all but the shallowest emotions, and so full of metaphysical hokum that the trilogy's detractors can gloat with I-told-you-so sarcasm. And yet, Revolutions still succeeds as a slick, exciting hybrid of cinema and video game, operating by its own internal logic with enough forward momentum to make the whole trilogy seem like a thrilling, magnificent dream. -- Jeff Shannon
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