Okay, I'm not trying to sound like one of those little kids who don't know anything about film-making and the sort, but The Matrix Reloaded looks really really sweet!
The Wachowski Brothers have done it again. I am completely in love with everything that has to do with the Matrix, and am anticipating May 15th (the day Reloaded comes out) like wildfire. I have asked my mom to let me skip school and see the first showing of it, but unfortunately, my grades took a huge drop on my last report card (I spent way too much time on this site) and she isn't sure whether or not she is going to let me go.
I personally think it is a genious idea, and it has truly revolutionized my way of thinking. From the cinematography to the story itself, The Matrix changed my life. But anyways, I am sure the Matrix has been talked about before on this site, but I would like to know what other people's feelings are on the two new movies being released this year.
Pointgravity Productions
Posts: 603 | Location: Richmond, VA USA | Registered: January 19, 2003
The reason The Matrix changed my life so much was it was the movie that made me want to make movies. I had been making movies before it came out, but that is when I got serious.
Pointgravity Productions
Posts: 603 | Location: Richmond, VA USA | Registered: January 19, 2003
The brothers packed soo much into the first Matrix... so much symblism, parallels, and allusions. So Much thought went into that movie. Every word is significant.
I just hope that the next two are brain-packed with more stuff for me to watch 40 times and study. (I did a 16 page research paper on The Matrix last year)
"This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time"
Posts: 324 | Location: University of Southern California | Registered: February 08, 2003
Not to offend any die-hard Matrix fans, but I thought that everything it had to say- its "deep messages", subtexts, allusions, etc., were all pretty much worn on its sleeve. Matrix isn't that clever, and isn't that original. It's an amalgamation of several clever, tried and true formulas. That's all. It's not that meaningful...it pretty much says everything it has to say right in the front row. "Oooh...nihilism...the world is fake...it's all a hoax...I never thought about it that way before The Matrix" is getting damn old. It's nothing new folks. But...that doesn't mean I'm saying it isn't damn fine entertainment. It's wonderfully directed, beautifully photographed, and one helluva of a ride. But cut me a break folks...it's nothing groundbreaking...and I've taken more subtexts and meaning out of "Starship Troopers." That's brilliant scifi writing. Peace folks.
Brian
Posts: 83 | Location: Plantation, FL USA | Registered: February 07, 2003
I think the reason the MAtrix is seen as really deep is because it really has different meanings for all different types of people. It's totally open for interpretation, and really, no interpretation is wrong.
Religious fanatics will see Neo as Jesus. There's even a part where some guy says "you're my own personal Jesus Christ."
Then there's the whole "the world is a hoax" outlook for people of other beliefs.
Then there's the whole meaning behind the names "Neo, Trinity, etc"
Then there's the anarchist outlook on how over organized, impersonal "robots" are literally running the lives of people who are better off free..and who are the same people who keep their oppressors alive.
And really, the best part is, above the surface of all this deep, spiritual/political meaning, it's a good action movie with everything that would work on a shallow action movie.
The Matrix series is amazing. The Wachowski brothers along with Peter Jackson are basically reinventing the way cinema is made and looked at. For these next two sequels, the Matrix crew had to invent TWO new forms of film-making to achieve some of the shots they created (they invented bullet-time for the first one). One of the new technologies used, Peter Jackson started to use in LOTR, but the Matrix crew took it to a whole new level. That technology is a virtual cam. If you have the extended DVD of LOTR:FOTR, there is a big section on how they did the scene with the cave troll, and that was using virtual cam. I just can't wait for Reloaded and Revolutions. It pains me to think that May 15 isn't here yet. The Neo vs. 50 agent Smiths scene looks amazing. That shot in the trailer where Neo's balanced sideways on the pole and kicking all the agents is mind-blowing. That was a virtual cam shot.
Anyway, the cool thing about the Matrix movies is that even if you don't appreciate the movies for its deep meanings and symbolism (Brian), you can still enjoy is as an amazing sci-fi movie. I also like what napsorter said in that it can be interpreted so many ways. That's part of the genius of the movies, it can represent so many ideas. It's not just "the world is a hoax" Brian. And please, Starship Troopers? Give me a break. If you're talking about the movie, you have no idea what you're talking about, but if you're talking about the book on the other hand, then what you said is obviously true, and not even worth mentioning.
Anyway, the Matrix sequels are going to rule!
Another cool thing I read: Half the budget for both the sequels were spent on a 17-minute sequence (the final battle) that will appear in Revolutions. This is the most money ever spent on a scene in a movie in history.
Chandler Mays
Posts: 99 | Location: Alpharetta, Georgia, USA | Registered: April 07, 2003
Um, sorry to burst your bubble, but peter jackson pretty much ruined lord of the rings with what he did in two towers. fellowship, on the other hand, was very, very good.
Posts: 270 | Location: Toronto | Registered: November 05, 2002
Just to clear something up...The Matrix team DID NOT invent bullet-time. It was being used in commercials and a couple music videos a few years before matrix. And also can be seen in the "Lost in Space" movie, from 1997. They IMPROVED the technology...but certainly didn't invent it. And yes, as I've mentioned, The Matrix is massively entertaining scifi goodness (although if Cameron had helmed T3...I have a strong feeling Matrix would have been knocked onto its ass). And yes, Starship Troopers, the book, is great literature...but I also defend the movie. I absolutely adore it...it's brilliant filmmaking, and for those of you who can't see the movie for what it truly is...I'm sorry. Do some research on WWII propoganda films...fascism...you'll come to realize what an absolutely brilliant film it is. Ed Neumier and Paul Verhoeven have made some of the most underrated and clever scifi films ever. I won't get into it, but believe me...Starship Troopers is MUCH more than meets the eye.
Brian
Posts: 83 | Location: Plantation, FL USA | Registered: February 07, 2003
Yes, starship troopers has a VERY strong propoganda understructure. (think along the lines of "would you like to know more" clips...u love it cuz its made to be loved)
Posts: 270 | Location: Toronto | Registered: November 05, 2002
I thought bought LOTR were pretty boring. I found myself checking my watch every 30 minutes"when is this gonna be over". Maybe I just don't like that "middle ages" type genre...not that is was suppose to be in the middle ages, but yeah...you know what I mean. But,but,but the fight scene in the second movie is pretty bad ass. oH and the opening in the first one is cool!
Besides filming, the only other thing I ever did good was filming.
Posts: 608 | Location: Everett,WA,USA | Registered: December 06, 2002
Um, are you just ******? Tolkien's story telling is magnificent and not easily matched. If it really were boring, do you think 3, 3-hour movies would have been made? No.
Posts: 270 | Location: Toronto | Registered: November 05, 2002
The Matrix is fantastic, but it is not anywhere NEAR as original as everyone makes it out to be. For one thing, look at Dark City (another great movie).
Both films have a superior race (Matrix=highly-evolved computers/Dark City=alien race) which create a fake world and fake lives for the people in it. Then, one day, a Christ figure (Neo/John Murdock) is basically the next step in evolution and mounts a revolution against the conspirators. Through training, he is able to gain superhuman powers (Neo bending time and space/John using telekinetic "tuning"). Both plots begin with the main character getting a telephone call from a man who knows the story of the whole conspiracy and becomes a mentor figure. Both have mysterious suit-wearing figures chasing after the main character, both have that character realizing their full potential at the end of the film. Both movies allow people to give themselves instant memories and and skills (In the Matrix, they are "downloaded," in Dark City, memories are injected with a needle).
PEOPLE, THEY ARE THE SAME DAMN MOVIE. ALMOST EXACTLY. IT IS LIKE TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE TELLING THE SAME STORY.
And Dark City was released in 1998...a year before The Matrix.
Yeah but I hated Dark City and the Matrix is one of my favorite Sci-fi movies of all time. The only thing I appreciated about Dark City was set designs and cinematography, but other than that I thought it sucked. I can't really explain why though, it just didn't connect with me or interest me. The Matrix on the other hand... holy god that movie never gets old. The story, the dialogue, the concept just stuck with me so much more. Plus the action was great.
Posts: 99 | Location: Alpharetta, Georgia, USA | Registered: April 07, 2003
And by the way, even though Dark City came out a year before the Matrix, the Matrix was in pre-production before Dark City was. It just took them longer to make it.
Posts: 99 | Location: Alpharetta, Georgia, USA | Registered: April 07, 2003
The movie certinly spawned some of the now most famous effects and action sequences which seem to be spoofed and refrenced in every other movie from Charlie's Angels to Shrek
"They look like psychos? Is that what they look like? They were Vampires. Psychos do not EXPLODE when sunlight hits them. I don't give a f*** how crazy they are!" - George Clooney in 'From Dusk Till Dawn'
Posts: 1073 | Location: Sacramento, CA | Registered: April 02, 2003
