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| Keanu
Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Hugo Weaving |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Agent
Smith: I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time
here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized
that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively
develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but
you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply,
until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive
is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet
that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease,
a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.
A
computer hacker finds out that the world he knows is actually a computer
simulation developed by malevolent AI robots to enslave the human race.
 No
other movie has succeeded as The Matrix has in bringing the visuals
and sensibilities of comic books to life. Everything from the noirish
camera angles to the impossible feats of derring-do to the 'Chosen One'
mythology reflect the fact that the Wachowski brothers are comic book
addicts who have succeeded in bringing a no-holds-barred comic book
reality to the screen. Like good comics, The Matrix has an astounding
and consistent look, it takes a great concept as its premise, and it
shows off impossible sets, stunts and visions on a grand scale. In doing
so, it brilliantly combines tricks 'borrowed' from Hong Kong action
movies, elements from almost every major science-fiction movie from
the last twenty years, and a nifty camera trick that even supports the
film's central concepts.
The downside is that The Matrix also has the shortcomings of
most comic books (and cyberpunk science fiction novels). For once the
central concept has been explained, the narrative settles into a comfortably
familiar routine made up of clichés, flat characters and nonsense.
The incredibly high level the film maintains througout its first hour
takes a nosedive once the Pantoliano character's treachery begins. From
then on, it's merely a succession of predictable developments interspersed
by the occasional impressive action sequence. The movie manages to hold
together and more than sustain interest however thanks to its magnificent
staging and cinematography. The only segments that feel artificial and
studio-bound are the ones set in 'the real world' on board the ship.
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The
Region 2 release looks the same as the Region 1 version, but the audio
commentaries, the isolated score and some behind-the-scenes footage,
plus some extra DVD-ROM material is not included. This review refers
to the Region 1 release.
The
Matrix was a great opportunity for Warner to sell audiences on DVD,
a format they had committed to much earlier than other studios, and
if there's any one title that jump-started the DVD market, it's this
one. The transfer therefore had to be close to perfect, and that is
exactly what it is. The anamorphic widescreen image is framed at 2.35:1
and faithfully reproduces the stylized cinematography of the theatrical
release. An occasional shot does reveal some compression artifacts,
but this is only a rare occurrence on an otherwise reference quality
transfer.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is likewise an example of how the sound
design for a movie like this should be handled and reproduced on DVD.
The fully immersive sound field has a deep and wide stage with great
directional effects and excellent use of the .1 LFE.
One
of the few feature-packed early Special Edition DVD releases from Warner,
The Matrix is truly a milestone in the rather short history of
the format, as it was really the first title to demonstrate to a large
audience what some of the possibilities of the medium are beyond superior
sound and image quality. Looking back, a year after its initial DVD
release, much has changed and The Matrix is already no longer
as impressive a DVD release as it was at the time. But it still holds
up as a fine edition of generation-defining movie.
The feature that is still fairly unique to this release is the 'Follow
the White Rabbit' option. Reflecting the movie's references to Lewis
Carroll's children's books, this option displays a white icon vaguely
resembling a rabbit in the corner of the screen during key sequences.
Pressing 'Enter' on the remote then interrupts the movie for behind-the-scenes
look at how that sequence was put together. These short segments, ranging
in length from two to four minutes, have no narration or dialogue, and
provide some nifty visual insight into how that particular scene was
shot. The only drawback is that the segments are not anamorphic, so
if you're watching the movie on a 16x9 widescreen TV set, you'll be
adjusting your TV settings constantly.
Other interesting features can be found as Easter Eggs: two red pills
are 'hidden' on the menu screens, and contain some of the most interesting
background information on the disc. The 25-minute promotional featurette
is fairly standard, with some behind-the-scenes footage and the usual
cast and crew interviews.
The audio commentary (not included on the Region 2 release) is
rather surprisingly not done by the Wachowski brothers but by actress
Carrie-Anne Moss, editor Zach Staenberg and visual effects supervisor
John Gaeta. It starts out promisingly, with a lively dialogue between
the three and some informative anecdotes and technical detials. But
Moss soon disappears completely, and the Staenberg and Gaeta quickly
run out of steam and fall silent for great lengths of time. The isolated
music score has commentary by composer Don Davis that is often more
interesting. This
DVD was made to impress, and the menu screens gave us a first glimpse
of the possibilities animated menus can give us. The main menu screen
is preceded by a montage of quick cuts from the movie, after which the
menu options appear and the montage becomes an impressive animated background.
This looks very impressive the first few times, but do start to grow tiresome
as you go back to this DVD again and again (and trust me: you will). There
are also animated transitions to the other menu screens, and they do take
a fraction longer than one would like.
Dan Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: 2001
Click
here for IMDB info on The
Matrix .
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