The Matrix DVD > Reviews > I'd Rather Stay Within The Matrix

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Outstanding

Advantages:	Excellent story, effects, acting, music, fight scenes
Disadvantages:	Can be a bit confusing for some

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I have watched the Matrix quite a few times now, and I never tire of it. I guess most other people have seen it too by now, but for those that have not had the chance yet, or for those that have, and maybe want a reminder, here is the story:

Keanu Reeves stars as Thomas ’Neo’ Anderson, a computer hacker living alone in a run down apartment, hacking into other computers. He downloads information and data for other people illegally, and gets paid for it. In the daytime, works for a major computer company.
Neo becomes obsessed in finding the master of hackers, Morpheus (played by Laurence Fishburne). Instead, Morpheus finds him, and the Agents begin to realise Neo is looking for Morpheus. The Agents are guys that resemble typical FBI agents, they make sure that the Matrix runs smoothly, and to make sure the humans do not find out that they are living in a computer program. The human race has actually been wiped out, and the Agents now create them to use as ‘batteries’ to run the Matrix. One of them, Agent Smith, played by actor Hugo Weaving, was excellent in his role. Very smooth, slow talking.

What is the Matrix? That is a question that was not answered for me until I had watched it a few times. I think it really needs to be viewed a few times before you can actually get to grips with the storyline. Many people have told me that they didn’t understand it, or that it was too confusing. I can understand what they mean, and I have recommended that they view it again. After all, it IS an excellent film.

The film was first released in 1999, written and directed by the Wachowski brothers. The effects shown in previews showed it to be a film with fascinating special effects. And indeed it sure does. There are fantastic special effects throughout the story. One that springs to mind, my favourite scene, is where Neo and Trinity set off to save Morpheus from the Agents. With excellent music in the background, they walk up walls and somersault to avoid bullets, and many shots done in slow motion so that you can savour the action.
Fighting scenes were also taken to new heights in movie history. Some of the best fight scenes I have ever seen..
Scenes between Neo and Agent Smith fighting in mid air were breath-taking, as were many other of the action scenes.

Carrie-Anne Moss plays Trinity, and does an excellent job. Having been released from the Matrix by Morpheus some time before, she now helps him to search for others. She is not a beauty to look at, but with her black PVC tight clothing, enough to make any man turn his head, she does look very sexy indeed.

All the cast were believable, and have all done an excellent job in making this film the success that it has become. The upcoming sequels are going to be a must on everybody’s list.

Although it did not get an award for the Best Picture, it did scoop 4 other awards.

The DVD has many excellent features:
Scene Selection (38 scenes to choose from)
HBO First Look: Making The Matrix (behind the scenes documentary)
Follow The White Rabbit ( 9 special effects mini documentaries)
Take the Red Pills (hidden special effects documentaries)
Filmographs
Languages (English/Arabic/Romanian/Bulgarian) in Dolby Digital 5.1

If you play this through your PC, you can access these special features:
The One (answer questions about the ‘One’)
Special Web Events (check for listings of celebrity chat room guests and other special events)
Screenplay and Storyboards (follow the film from script to storyboard and then to final cut)
7 Special Essays and Articles (A martial Arts retrospective and more)
Do You Know Kung Fu? (Jump to your favourite kung-fu action scene)
Original Theatrical Web site (All the features of the web site including links)

Minimum system requirements for your PC :-
Win 95 or higher
DVD/ROM drive
166 MHZ Pentium Processor
32 MB Ram
5-20 MB available disk space
Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher