...this is a purchase for die-hard fans only.
Audio:
Appropriately, given the Japanese roots of the animation seen on this DVD, there are two Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks--one in English and the other in Japanese. (I´m not sure which is the dub and which is the original language for each short film.) Aside from the spoken dialogue, the tracks are technically identical. Aside from "Final Flight of the Osiris" (which was shown in movie theatres), most of the audio was simply done. There are a couple of directionality effects, and the music sounds rich and detailed. However, talking about the "fullness" of the sound requires me to mention that the audio is mostly just loud without a hint of grace or subtlety. When the subwoofer is pounding, pounding, pounding with dull repetitiveness, you get tired of listening to what the DVD offers. Also, for the most part, the rear speakers don´t have much to do.
Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles as well as optional English closed captions support the audio.
Extras:
There are four audio commentaries on the DVD. Mahiro Maeda talks during "The Second Renaissance Parts I & II". Yoshiaki Kawajiri muses during "Program". Takeshi Koike takes the mike for "World Record". Since the short films are all rather brief and entirely derivative (they depend on the ideas forwarded by "The Matrix" in order to make sense), the audio commentaries aren´t among the most illuminating that one can find. Sure, we find out about certain artistic inspirations, but there´s not much to be gained from listening to them. (Just to let you know, the commentaries are in Japanese, so some of you might need to rely on subtitles to understand them.)
"Scrolls to Screen: The History and Culture of Anime" is an introductory featurette to both the "The Animatrix" project and Japanese animation. There are interviews with people like producer Joel Silver, Japanese animators, academics, scholars, historians, etc. about the transition of Japanese art forms from wood block carvings to manga (graphic novels) to animation.
Next up are making-of featurettes about each of the short films on "The Animatrix" DVD. (Like the short films themselves, you can watch these featurettes separately or with a "Play All" function.) These featurettes offer interviews, too--mostly of the "The Wachowskis approached us about making something, and we did because we loved ´The Matrix´ so much" variety. The best of these making-of featurettes is probably the one for "...Osiris" because it shows Square´s test footage involving Aki Ross from the "Final Fantasy" movie beating up a Sentinel. :-)
Finally, there are text profiles of the directors and producers of the shorts on the "The Animatrix" DVD as well as promos for the "Enter the Matrix" videogame.
The DVD tells you that there are more extras if you play the disc in a DVD-ROM drive, but I was able to get only a couple of weblinks.
--Miscellaneous--
Information about the short films as well as the extras appears on the inside flap of the Warner Bros. snapper case cover.
Film Value:
How does one judge "The Animatrix"? The short films on this DVD can´t really exist on their own as self-contained pieces. They don´t really function well as an anthology of "Matrix"-related short stories, either. Instead, the enterprise feels like an excuse for the Wachowski brothers to work with Japanese animators whom they admire. That´s all fine and dandy for the Wachowskis and fans of "The Matrix" series, but there´s precious little here that will impress anyone else.
One very good thing may result from the release of "The Animatrix"--if the DVD reaches big enough of an audience in the United States, Japanese animation may become accepted by mainstream America after all. Then again, if mainstream Americans see "The Animatrix" and think that this is the best of Japanese animation, they might end up shunning the medium forever...yikes!
Appropriately, given the Japanese roots of the animation seen on this DVD, there are two Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks--one in English and the other in Japanese. (I´m not sure which is the dub and which is the original language for each short film.) Aside from the spoken dialogue, the tracks are technically identical. Aside from "Final Flight of the Osiris" (which was shown in movie theatres), most of the audio was simply done. There are a couple of directionality effects, and the music sounds rich and detailed. However, talking about the "fullness" of the sound requires me to mention that the audio is mostly just loud without a hint of grace or subtlety. When the subwoofer is pounding, pounding, pounding with dull repetitiveness, you get tired of listening to what the DVD offers. Also, for the most part, the rear speakers don´t have much to do.
Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles as well as optional English closed captions support the audio.
Extras:
There are four audio commentaries on the DVD. Mahiro Maeda talks during "The Second Renaissance Parts I & II". Yoshiaki Kawajiri muses during "Program". Takeshi Koike takes the mike for "World Record". Since the short films are all rather brief and entirely derivative (they depend on the ideas forwarded by "The Matrix" in order to make sense), the audio commentaries aren´t among the most illuminating that one can find. Sure, we find out about certain artistic inspirations, but there´s not much to be gained from listening to them. (Just to let you know, the commentaries are in Japanese, so some of you might need to rely on subtitles to understand them.)
"Scrolls to Screen: The History and Culture of Anime" is an introductory featurette to both the "The Animatrix" project and Japanese animation. There are interviews with people like producer Joel Silver, Japanese animators, academics, scholars, historians, etc. about the transition of Japanese art forms from wood block carvings to manga (graphic novels) to animation.
Next up are making-of featurettes about each of the short films on "The Animatrix" DVD. (Like the short films themselves, you can watch these featurettes separately or with a "Play All" function.) These featurettes offer interviews, too--mostly of the "The Wachowskis approached us about making something, and we did because we loved ´The Matrix´ so much" variety. The best of these making-of featurettes is probably the one for "...Osiris" because it shows Square´s test footage involving Aki Ross from the "Final Fantasy" movie beating up a Sentinel. :-)
Finally, there are text profiles of the directors and producers of the shorts on the "The Animatrix" DVD as well as promos for the "Enter the Matrix" videogame.
The DVD tells you that there are more extras if you play the disc in a DVD-ROM drive, but I was able to get only a couple of weblinks.
--Miscellaneous--
Information about the short films as well as the extras appears on the inside flap of the Warner Bros. snapper case cover.
Film Value:
How does one judge "The Animatrix"? The short films on this DVD can´t really exist on their own as self-contained pieces. They don´t really function well as an anthology of "Matrix"-related short stories, either. Instead, the enterprise feels like an excuse for the Wachowski brothers to work with Japanese animators whom they admire. That´s all fine and dandy for the Wachowskis and fans of "The Matrix" series, but there´s precious little here that will impress anyone else.
One very good thing may result from the release of "The Animatrix"--if the DVD reaches big enough of an audience in the United States, Japanese animation may become accepted by mainstream America after all. Then again, if mainstream Americans see "The Animatrix" and think that this is the best of Japanese animation, they might end up shunning the medium forever...yikes!
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