The Matrix (1999)
Ok, so everybody has probably already seen The Matrix, but I watched it today, and I'm bored, so here's my review of it.
The Matrix (1999)
The losers who worked on this aren't important, especially since one got a sex-change, quote: "Because I was bored."
Cast
Keanu Reeves as Neo/Anderson
Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus
Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith
Full Cast List
IMDb's Rating (09/11/05) = 8.6/10 (155,040 votes)
Ranking on IMDb's Top 250 = #34
Vixen's Rating (circa 1999) = 9.5/10
Vixen's Rating (09/11/05) = 7.5/10
MPAA: Rated R for Sci-fi violence and brief language.
Runtime: 136 min.
SPOILER RATING = 5 (If you haven't seen it or the sequels, be warned)
So, the first time I saw this movie, I was a freshman in college at NNU and honestly, I was getting ready to go to bed. Then all the sudden this guy who lived on my wing, threw open the door and said, "Hey Aaron, want to go to a movie?" And I honestly replied, "What movie?" And he said, "I dunno. It's something I heard about called 'Matrix' or something. I have no idea what it's about, but it would be you, me, and like five girls from 3rd North." That sold me.
So, the seven of us piled in his car and drove to Boise to see this movie. From the moment it started, I totally forgot there were female bodies sitting on either side of me. I was enamored with the story, the cinematography, and the detail. Once Trinity dissappeared in the phone booth, I knew the movie was about some sort of Artificial World or Virtual Reality. Being a fan of Sci-fi novels and settings, that much was easy to discern. But the overall story, I didn't call until Neo woke up in the "real world" for the first time and began unplugging himself and looking around. From that point, I understood there was a war going on between man and machine, another common sci-fi theme.
But what makes The Matrix so different from all the other Man vs. Machine and VR stories out there is the added elements of religious themes, faith, and the Agent Smith character. Actually, one of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Agent Smith is describing the human race as a virus to Morpheus, who happens to be the Moses/John the Baptist character to Neo, the Jesus character. Trinity of course is a combination of the two major Mary's of the bible, the mother and Magdeline. Agent Smith by my estimation is the representation of evil or Satan. Fighting and tempting Neo and the other characters to help him destroy and enslave humanity forever.
The other films, of course, change this first movie in many ways. Once you see the sequels, the Matrix you thought you knew, no longer exists. For this reason, there are two ratings at the top. My current, changed views of this film, and the original feelings I had, walking out of the theater, hardly able to believe that we'd seen the last showing, I hadn't driven myself, and I couldn't just turn around and see it again. No other movie had captured my imagination such as this since I was a child watching "Star Wars" movies over and over.
And now, we must all wait in anticipation of Keanu Reeves's next big "blockbuster just waiting to happen", A Scanner Darkly. A Scanner Darkly is an Animated feature film about a future America where two out of ten Americans are hired by the government to spy on the other eight. Co-starring with Reeves are Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, and Winona Ryder. But more importantly, A Scanner Darkly which is scheduled to be released to limited screens in the US on March 6th, is that it will probably be a fan-driven favorite like The Matrix was.
The Matrix was first released in U.S. theaters on April 4th, 1999. It did roughly $37 million business it's first week. Then almost the same amount the following week. And with each week it stayed in the theaters, it brought in more and more money. Of its estimated $63 million budjet, very little was spent on advertising. Unlike most movies, there wasn't budgeted money to play trailers in front of dozens of other movies across the country in the months before its release. Neither was their budgeted money for TV spots. Posters were made and distributed, but many theaters hadn't heard of the movie, so didn't put them up until the 2nd or 3rd week of release. Word of mouth spread this movie like wildfire, and it was kept in Box Offices until September 19th 1999, staying in theaters all summer, competing with Star Wars: Episode 1, The Phantom Menance which had roughly twice the budget and respectfully, made almost twice as much as The Matrix's six-month $171 million dollar income.
But, The Matrix is still an important film, even with my lowly "7.5" rating. It is loved by thousands and has spawned two movie sequels, a series of animated shorts, a multi-DVD box set with hours of "How we did it" features, several video games, novels, art books, comics, and plenty of other merchandise. But, more importantly ... it changed the way we view movies. It was not the first movie to spawn sequels, but it was the first recent movie to be so successful that the filmmakers decided to make sequels 'because' of success. While that in itself is not a new idea, it seems to have truly taken hold in the 21st century film industry.
The Matrix (1999)
The losers who worked on this aren't important, especially since one got a sex-change, quote: "Because I was bored."
Cast
Keanu Reeves as Neo/Anderson
Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus
Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith
Full Cast List
IMDb's Rating (09/11/05) = 8.6/10 (155,040 votes)
Ranking on IMDb's Top 250 = #34
Vixen's Rating (circa 1999) = 9.5/10
Vixen's Rating (09/11/05) = 7.5/10
MPAA: Rated R for Sci-fi violence and brief language.
Runtime: 136 min.
SPOILER RATING = 5 (If you haven't seen it or the sequels, be warned)
So, the first time I saw this movie, I was a freshman in college at NNU and honestly, I was getting ready to go to bed. Then all the sudden this guy who lived on my wing, threw open the door and said, "Hey Aaron, want to go to a movie?" And I honestly replied, "What movie?" And he said, "I dunno. It's something I heard about called 'Matrix' or something. I have no idea what it's about, but it would be you, me, and like five girls from 3rd North." That sold me.
So, the seven of us piled in his car and drove to Boise to see this movie. From the moment it started, I totally forgot there were female bodies sitting on either side of me. I was enamored with the story, the cinematography, and the detail. Once Trinity dissappeared in the phone booth, I knew the movie was about some sort of Artificial World or Virtual Reality. Being a fan of Sci-fi novels and settings, that much was easy to discern. But the overall story, I didn't call until Neo woke up in the "real world" for the first time and began unplugging himself and looking around. From that point, I understood there was a war going on between man and machine, another common sci-fi theme.
But what makes The Matrix so different from all the other Man vs. Machine and VR stories out there is the added elements of religious themes, faith, and the Agent Smith character. Actually, one of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Agent Smith is describing the human race as a virus to Morpheus, who happens to be the Moses/John the Baptist character to Neo, the Jesus character. Trinity of course is a combination of the two major Mary's of the bible, the mother and Magdeline. Agent Smith by my estimation is the representation of evil or Satan. Fighting and tempting Neo and the other characters to help him destroy and enslave humanity forever.
The other films, of course, change this first movie in many ways. Once you see the sequels, the Matrix you thought you knew, no longer exists. For this reason, there are two ratings at the top. My current, changed views of this film, and the original feelings I had, walking out of the theater, hardly able to believe that we'd seen the last showing, I hadn't driven myself, and I couldn't just turn around and see it again. No other movie had captured my imagination such as this since I was a child watching "Star Wars" movies over and over.
And now, we must all wait in anticipation of Keanu Reeves's next big "blockbuster just waiting to happen", A Scanner Darkly. A Scanner Darkly is an Animated feature film about a future America where two out of ten Americans are hired by the government to spy on the other eight. Co-starring with Reeves are Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, and Winona Ryder. But more importantly, A Scanner Darkly which is scheduled to be released to limited screens in the US on March 6th, is that it will probably be a fan-driven favorite like The Matrix was.
The Matrix was first released in U.S. theaters on April 4th, 1999. It did roughly $37 million business it's first week. Then almost the same amount the following week. And with each week it stayed in the theaters, it brought in more and more money. Of its estimated $63 million budjet, very little was spent on advertising. Unlike most movies, there wasn't budgeted money to play trailers in front of dozens of other movies across the country in the months before its release. Neither was their budgeted money for TV spots. Posters were made and distributed, but many theaters hadn't heard of the movie, so didn't put them up until the 2nd or 3rd week of release. Word of mouth spread this movie like wildfire, and it was kept in Box Offices until September 19th 1999, staying in theaters all summer, competing with Star Wars: Episode 1, The Phantom Menance which had roughly twice the budget and respectfully, made almost twice as much as The Matrix's six-month $171 million dollar income.
But, The Matrix is still an important film, even with my lowly "7.5" rating. It is loved by thousands and has spawned two movie sequels, a series of animated shorts, a multi-DVD box set with hours of "How we did it" features, several video games, novels, art books, comics, and plenty of other merchandise. But, more importantly ... it changed the way we view movies. It was not the first movie to spawn sequels, but it was the first recent movie to be so successful that the filmmakers decided to make sequels 'because' of success. While that in itself is not a new idea, it seems to have truly taken hold in the 21st century film industry.