What’s so great about watching people who don’t know martial arts and do them poorly?
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The Eddie Strikes:
The "Matrix" movie series has many fans. I ask the fans the following:
What´s so great about watching
1) people who don´t know martial arts and do them poorly?
2) people who perform martial arts so slowly that you can sense them counting the seconds as they go through the motions of their choreography? Real kung-fu is organic, swift, and brutal, not mechanical, torpid, and harmless.
3) a prolonged fistfight that concludes with one guy flying away when he could´ve flown away in the first place?
4) the first movie declaring that EMPs were the only way to defeat a certain enemy only to have the third movie showcase defeating the enemy with bullets?
5) a protagonist who keeps dying and resurrecting whenever it´s convenient for the story?
6) computer-generated imagery, which is fake and requires no skill or discipline and allows for anything to happen? The cool thing about watching people like Jet Li and Jackie Chan is that they overcome real-world obstacles and perform miraculous physical feats through force of will. In the "Matrix" series, nobody is doing anything for real, and I have no respect for that.
I don´t even have to mention how much I dislike the misguided, convoluted attempts at introducing philosophical ideas and theories into this mess in order for you to see how "The Matrix", "The Matrix Reloaded", and "The Matrix Revolutions" don´t even work as pornography (of violence and not of sex) for me. Instead of thinking about how cool all the black clothes and sunglasses are, I was thinking about how the black clothes were indicative of a lack of personality for even the human characters and how the sunglasses hid the actors´ general inability to act. Instead of wet-dreaming about the weapons, gadgets, and vehicles in the movies, I thought about what desserts I should be getting from the 7-Eleven across the street from me.
The "Matrix" series is about a world run by machines and computers. Humans have been enslaved and are used as organic batteries by the machines/computers. The humans who have been able to escape the Matrix--the virtual mental world created by the machines/computers--wage a war against the machines/computers and pin their hopes on Neo (Keanu Reeves), a messianic figure. However, Neo isn´t the only human who knows that it´s possible to bend or to break the rules in the artificial construct of the Matrix. Therefore, why doesn´t everyone bust out a can of whoopass like he does? It´s not as if Neo is uniquely self-actualizing in the real world.
Warner Bros. has already released "The Matrix" (one disc), "The Matrix Revisited" (one disc), "The Matrix Reloaded" (two discs), "The Matrix Revolutions" (two discs), and "The Animatrix" (one disc) on DVD. Now, the studio has seen fit to release the entire series in a ten-disc box set. You can also buy a limited edition box set that includes a ceramic bust of a half-organic/half-mechanical Neo. Both are self-important, pompous, and hubristic celebrations of a waste of time.
Video:
Generally, the 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen images are very sharp and clear. There´s a real sense of depth. However, there are serious problems, too. For example, "The Matrix" has been given a green tint during sequences set inside The Matrix so that the first movie "looks similar" to its sequels. However, "The Matrix" is too green when compared to its sequels, so the continuity isn´t there anyway. When objects move very quickly, objects sometimes blur or give off a strobing effect. I saw what looked like print damage or pieces of hair during parts of "The Matrix" and "The Matrix Reloaded". Finally, there are some scenes in "The Matrix Revolutions" that have mosquito noise. Overall, I´d say that the video suffered from surprisingly sloppy work.
Audio:
The appropriately thunderous and immersive Dolby Digital 5.1 English tracks are the best things about the movies. Bullets and shrapnel fly in every direction. The speakers accurately image sounds over, below, and next to viewers. Despite all the tumult, the dialogue is always clear and understandable without being transparently so (either too loud or sounding like ADR).
Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles as well as optional English closed captions support the audio.
Extras:
--Discs 1, 3, and 5--
Aside from the movie, you get a note about the lack of an audio commentary by the Wachowskis, an audio commentary by philosophers Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber, and an audio commentary by critics Todd McCarthy of "Variety" magazine, John Powers of "Vogue" magazine, and David Thomson, author of "The New Biographical Dictionary of Film". As far as I´m concerned, Cornel West should have his Ph.D. revoked, and the philosophers are either silly or loony for trying to legitimize the movies´ pretentious ramblings. While I share the critics´ low opinion of the series as a whole, I didn´t find their commentaries worth my time, either, because they referred to mundane points or were simply boring.
--Disc 2--
"The Matrix Revisited" is a two-hour documentary that details the making of "The Matrix" and looks ahead to the making of "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions". "The Matrix Revisited" was originally released as a stand-alone DVD that added to the extras available for "The Matrix" and also increased fans´ interest in "The Animatrix" as well as the theatrical sequels.
"The Music Revisited" was originally an Easter Egg on the stand-alone DVD. You get 41 tracks of music (three hours total). "Behind the Matrix" offers six behind-the-scenes featurettes that were presumably dropped from the final cut of "The Matrix Revisited". The two "Take the Red Pill" featurettes were originally accessible via the stand-alone "The Matrix" DVD´s "Take the Red Pill" branching option. The nine "Follow the White Rabbit" featurettes were originally accessible via the stand-alone "The Matrix" DVD´s "Follow the White Rabbit branching option.
--Disc 4--
Disc 4 offers extras for "The Matrix Reloaded". The eight "Car Chase" featurettes cover the highway car chase sequence in detail, and there are two "Teahouse Fight" featurettes. The five "Unplugged" featurettes examine the Burly Brawl between Neo and Smith, The four "I´ll Handle Them" featurettes look at Neo fighting the Merovingian´s thugs, and the two "The Exiles" featurettes explain the existence of computer programs that are special players in the humans vs. machines/computers fight. Finally, you get to see the 23 live-action sequences that were shot for the "Enter the Matrix" videogame. Yes, you get to see Monica Bellucci kiss Jada Pinkett-Smith.
--Disc 6--
Disc 6 offers extras for "The Matrix Revolutions". The four "Crew" featurettes lauds the behind-the-cameras team members for their efforts. The six "HEL" featurettes lets viewers see how the moviemakers shot the scenes that were set during Neo´s "purgatory" time. There are four "Super Burly Brawl" featurettes. The five "New Blue World" featurettes and the five "Siege" featurettes take viewers into Zion, humanity´s last stand. The four "Aftermath" featurettes focus on the post-production stage of the "The Matrix Revolutions".
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[release]12927[/release]