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What Is The Matrix?
The Matrix is a sci-fi action series written and directed by brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski. Its debut film, "The Matrix," was released in theaters in 1999 and had a mildly successful response, with $171 million in earnings in the US. What was yet to come was the series' inception into cinematic history. As word of the movie spread its popularity caught on, it became the shape of what became a new millennium of science fiction filmmaking. The movie significantly "raised the bar" in terms of visual effects, with a brand new, never before seen technique termed "bullet time."
Premise of the Matrix
When The Matrix first came out, it introduced star Keanu Reeves: still known at the time as "that guy from Bill and Ted," (albeit somewhat more popular from his starring role in the movie "Speed"), who wound up pleasantly surprising audiences by being the perfect choice for the role of "Neo" - underground computer hacker and soon-to-be superhero. Carrie-Anne Moss starred as his partner and romantic interest "Trinity," and Laurence Fishburne as the pivotal, cornerstone character "Morpheus" - the seemingly all-knowing adviser and guide of the the false reality known as The Matrix.In helping to show Anderson the true meaning of the Matrix, Morpheus offers him the choice of a red pill or a blue pill - the latter, resulting in "life as usual." The read pill, however, was a tracer program that would ultimately free a human being from the falsities of the Matrix forever and witness the real world - a choice that Anderson obviously made.
Along with a team of fellow freed rebels traveling through the "real world" in the Nebuchadnezzar hovercraft, the team constantly avoids attacks from robotic Sentinel squids, and worse yet - the relentless Agents who serve the purpose to destroy them for having broken free.
The three films were meant to represent "Birth," "Life" and "Death" as each film's theme took viewers through a series of events leading to a dramatic, bittersweet (and in most cases - confusing) conclusion.
The movie description sections on this page contain spoilers.
The Matrix Trilogy on DVD
The Ultimate Matrix Collection (The Matrix/ The Matrix Reloaded/ The Matrix Revolutions/ The Animatrix)
Beyond the three full feature movies and the Animatrix disc, extras include: Additional Scenes: Filmed for the 'Enter the Matrix' video game - Audio Commentary:The Philosophers: Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber; The Critics: Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson - Documentary - Easter Eggs - Featurette - Introduction:by the Wachowski Brothers - Music Video - Photo gallery - Storyboards - TV commercials - Theatrical Trailers
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![The Complete Matrix Trilogy (The Matrix/ The Matrix Reloaded/ The Matrix Revolutions) [HD DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51w2PHrb8IL._SL75_.jpg)
The Complete Matrix Trilogy (The Matrix/ The Matrix Reloaded/ The Matrix Revolutions) [HD DVD]
Contains the same featues listed above, but in HD DVD format.
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1999: The Matrix
"Birth"
In the initial film, black-hat programmer Thomas Anderson's computer sends a cryptic message, using symbolic directions that leads him through a series of paths that ultimately result in his capture by a strange group of emotionless government agents. Upon being bugged and experiencing an impossible event where his mouth is magically sealed off, he wakes up confused and unknowing if what he experienced is real. Upon being led to Trinity, Anderson later meets Morpheus - a seemingly legendary member of the hacker underground who knows of "The Matrix."Undergoing a sedation, he is assisted to the separation between fantasy and reality - as he reappears in a nightmarish field inhabited by massive machines and millions of humans encased in jelly-filled pods. Anderson is released from a pod. After the cords binding his spine are released, he is later rescued and meets the real Morpheus in what is known as "the real world." Being debriefed, Anderson learns of his alternate persona as "Neo," or "The One" who holds great promise in the illusionial world known as the Matrix.
Plagued by robotic squid-like machines known as Sentinels, Morpheus' crew undergoes evasive and defensive maneuvers to escape the clutches of an overwhelming population of these highly intelligent foes. Once "plugged in" through the back of the neck with a data spike, all crew members are able to enter the Matrix - either in isolated training rooms, or within the world they once believed was real (in which the rest of the world is still oblivious to). Neo's mind is then filled with mastery-level skills in hand-to-hand combat, weapons and vehicle knowledge. In training, Neo learns of the agents who originally captured him - and their nearly invulnerable status, as they are simply code that can transfer into any other being at a mere whim.
Upon finally meeting the revered Oracle - an all-knowing individual highly valued by Morpheus, Neo is surprised at the sight of an older woman serving as a nanny to children with various telekinetic powers. She proclaims he is not the One that Morpheus speaks of, further confusing him.
Using the knowledge that the rules of the Matrix can be bent - Neo learns how to move faster than bullets themselves, in a dramatic 360-degree slow motion rotating effect. He inevitably faces agent leader Smith once again, using his focus, confidence and knowledge to fend him off.
The Matrix movie trailer
The Matrix on DVD
The Matrix: Official Soundtrack
The Matrix: Music From The Motion Picture
1. Rock Is Dead - Marilyn Manson
2. Spybreak - Propellerheads
3. Bad Blood - Ministry
4. Clubbed To Death (Kurayamino Mix) - Rob D
5. Prime Audio Soup - Meat Beat Manifesto
6. Leave You Far Behind - Lunatic Calm
7. Mindfields - Prodigy
8. Dragula (Hot Rod Herman Remix) - Rob Zombie
9. My Own Summer (Shove It) - Deftones
10. Ultrasonic Sound - Hive
11. Look To Your Orb For the Warning - Monster Magnet
12. Du Hast - Rammstein
13. Wake Up - Rage Against The Machine
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2003: The Matrix: Reloaded
"Life"
In the highly anticipated sequel, viewers first witness an event that shows a new power within Neo: premonition. The crew of rebels returns to gather at a secret location within the Matrix, which is thereafter interrupted by an appearance by Agent Smith. Seeking to merely give a package to Neo, Smith leaves and two agents almost immediately barge through the heavy gauge steel door. Neo appears in full confidence, easily dispatching the agents, who seem to be more relentless than before.A scene cuts to real world denizen Bane as he is cloned by Agent Smith - picking up the ringing phone and entering the real world.
The crew return to Zion after an agreement, as the ship docks and Neo visits for the first time. They are confronted by the false Bane, who nearly attempts an assassination. Morpheus later makes an encouraging speech to the remaining humans of the real world.
Visiting the mysterious Oracle for consultation is not as easy, as Neo first encounters the respectful Seraph - offering him a test of fisticuffs in order to know that he truly is the One. Seraph leads Neo through a bizarre white hallway of doors - each one, a "backend" to another location. Eventually opening a door into a concrete courtyard of an apartment complex, Neo meets the Oracle and learns of her inhuman status. She further explains the existence of Exiles - or artificially intelligent programs that control everything from the wind to animal life...which sometimes run errant, and do what they are not programmed to do.
The conversation is then cut short by the Oracle, after informing him that he must meet an exile known as the Keymaker, currently being held by a powerful aristocratic exile: the Merovingian. Upon her departure, Smith enters and begins by notifying Neo of his status as 'no longer an agent of the system, unplugged...' He appears erratic and almost insane, as copies of himself begin walking out from the alleyways and fences of the complex. Sensing danger, Neo backs off and Smith attempts to clone himself into Neo's body - which is resisted. The attack begins: through a long series of outstanding fight scenes, Smiths keep pouring out of nowhere, until the complex is flooded with a mass of his clones. As the current agent leader arrives and sees the bizarre scene, he is quickly overcome and transformed into another Smith, by a clone. The impossible battle is ended as Neo blasts off, in order to fight another day.
continued...
In rescuing the Keymaker, Merovingian uncovers the plot against him by his wife, and unleashes his best combatants against a lone Neo - who eventually dispatches each one with his mastery of combat and Matrix rule-breaking techniques. Unable to catch the elusive Merovingian, Neo is lost as each door within the chateau opens to a random location - in this case, an area a the peak of an unknown mountain.
While flying back to a recon point, the rest of the crew make their escape...only to be confronted by the Merovingian's guards: the Twins...these ghostlike Exiles turn transparent at will, and are dangerously skilled at combat. Eventually, Trinity takes the Keymaker on a wild, wrong-way motorcycle run, escaping death at every turn. Morpheus fends off an agent alone, and as the audience wonders where Neo is - he swoops in at the nick of time for a dramatic rescue.
The keymaker serves his purpose by teaching Neo the way to a door that only he can open - leading to the actual Architect of the Matrix. The Architect, a highly intelligent being (unknown if human or not), speaks in confusing jargon as he justifies Neo's actual existence as an anomaly. He further states that 99.9% of the pod-residing population of humans accepted the Matrix, keeping it stable - but the emergence of anomalies such the denizens of Zion threaten its existence. In order to create a final balance, it is up to Neo to choose 23 individuals from the Matrix to rebuild Zion...at the consequence of total Matrix destruction - and therefore, of the entire human race.
In a surprise event, Neo and crew experience the loss of the Nebuchadnezzar. They are then ambushed by Sentinels - in which the real world Anderson raises his hand, and inexplicably, sends forth an EMP shock that destroys the sentinels - sending his body into a coma induced from extreme exhaustion. The movie ends as Anderson and Bane [Smith] lie near each other in a medical ward.
Matrix Reloaded is actually a 2-part series, coupled with the successor "Matrix Revolutions."
The Matrix Reloaded movie trailer
Matrix Reloaded Trailer Soundtrack
- Opening skyscraper scene: the song is "The Power Plant" by Don Davis
- Neo jacks in/WB logo: the song playing is "The Wonders Of You" by Andy Hunter
- Smith clones close in on Neo/the courtyard battle: the song playing is "Supermoves" by Overseer
- The power plant explodes: the song playing is "I'm Not Driving Anymore" (instrumental version) by Rob Dougan
- End of the trailer/Neo flies off: the song playing is "Trinity Infinity" by Don Davis
The Matrix Reloaded on DVD
The Matrix Reloaded (Widescreen Edition)
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The Matrix Reloaded: Official Soundtrack
The Matrix Reloaded
Disc: 1
1. Session - Linkin Park
2. This Is The New Sh** - Marilyn Manson
3. Reload - Rob Zombie
4. Furious Angels (Instrumental) - Rob Dougan
5. Lucky You - Deftones
6. The Passportal - Team Sleep
7. Sleeping Awake - P.O.D.
8. Bruises - Unloco
9. Calm Like A Bomb - Rage Against The Machine
10. Dread Rock - Oakenfold
Disc: 2
1. Main Title - Don Davis
2. Trinity Dream - Don Davis
3. Teahouse - Juno Reactor Featuring Gocoo
4. Chateau - Rob Dougan
5. Mona Lisa Overdrive - Juno Reactor/Don Davis
6. Burly Brawl - Juno Reactor vs. Don Davis
7. "Matrix Reloaded" Suite - Don Davis
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Furious Angels
Go beyond the soundtrack, and listen to Rob Dougan's incredible work! Famous for the Matrix Reloaded track "Furious Angels," which played in the background during Neo's first fight with the 'upgraded' agents at the beginning of the movie, other very notable tracks include hybrid classical/new age masterpieces such as I'm Not Driving Anymore, Left Me For Dead, There's Only Me, and many others. Also includes a 2nd disc with instrumentals!
Disc: 1
1. Prelude
2. Furious Angels
3. Will You Follow Me?
4. Left Me For Dead
5. I'm Not Driving Anymore
6. Clubbed To Death (Kurayamino Variation)
7. There's Only Me
8. Instrumental
9. Nothing At All
10. Born Yesterday
11. Speed Me Towards Death
12. Drinking Song
13. Pause
14. One And The Same (Coda)
15. Clubbed To Death 2
Disc: 2
1. Will You Follow Me (Instrumental Version)
2. Furious Angels (Instrumental Version)
3. Left Me For Dead (Instrumental Version)
4. I'm Not Driving Anymore (Instrumental Version)
5. There's Only Me (Instrumental Version)
6. Instrumental (Instrumental Version)
7. Nothing At All (Instrumental Version)
8. Born Yesterday (Instrumental Version)
9. Speed Me Towards Death (Instrumental Version)
10. One And The Same (Instrumental Version)
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2003: The Matrix: Revolutions
"Death"
Continuing immediately where Reloaded ended off, this film was released in theaters 7 months afterwards, in November 2003.The film begins where Neo (whose real-world body is still in a comatose state) is trapped in a limbo area, depicted by a subway station. Located somewhere between the Matrix and the actual mainframe, he's completely unable to leave without the consent of a Merovingian-loyal script known as the Trainman.
Taken to an underworld club, Neo's release is sought by Trinity and Morpheus, ending in a standoff where drawn guns point everywhere - including the head of the Merovingian himself...as he submits and releases him. Later, upon visiting the Oracle, Neo learns that his connection between the Matrix and the real world (as demonstrated at the end of Reloaded) is due to a connection with the Source - or the Matrix's mainframe system. Additionally, he learns of former agent Smith's stature as his negative, or opposite. The Oracle informs Neo of Smith's danger to both worlds, and that of Machine City. After Neo's departure, Smith clones infiltrate the Oracle's apartment, and she helplessly submits to a cloning - as a new Smith clone gains the new gift of premonition.
Bane finally awakens, tricking others into thinking he had amnesia. Meanwhile, Neo - whose new mission is to travel to Machine City, pleads to take one of the available hovercraft himself. Once doing so, along with Trinity, the other ships depart back to Zion, only to then see that Bane has killed one of their shipmates, but is nowhere to be seen. He then appears as a stowaway on Neo's ship, and holds Trinity captive. In an ensuing battle, Neo - who does not have superpowers in the real world - fends off Bane with his fists alone...only to be severely wounded as Bane sticks two live wires into his eyes, destroying them and leaving Neo completely blind. Miraculously, Neo experiences a new type of energy vision, rendering yellow glimmers of his surroundings. This allows him to see through Bane to his true self - Smith. Neo eventually breaks off Bane's head with a lead pipe, and makes his way back to the cockpit.
The scene changes back to Zion, as forces prepare in mechas and traditional defensive weapons for the impending Sentinel attack - of which eventually breaks through the tip of the dome surrounding the city, swarming in like an infestation of thousands of bees. Their defenses barely fend off the onslaught.
continued...
Neo and Trinity finally make their way to Machine City after a series of struggles, resulting in a crash landing that mortally wounds Trinity. She soon after dies, leaving Neo completely alone. Finding his way to the heart of the city, Neo encounters the bizarre Deus Ex Machina - the personification of the Matrix mainframe, who manifests himself into a large metallic face. Neo strikes a deal with the entity, informing it of the threat of Smith. Deus Ex Machina agrees, jacking Anderson into the Matrix, as he reappears to make his last stand against Smith.
In a final, dramatic conclusion: Neo appears on a Smith clone-lined street in the pouring rain, facing off what appears to be the 'leader' Smith in an epic battle on land and air. Ending with a piledriver from thousands of feet in the air, the two land in a crater within the street, prompting a final scene where Smith obviously can't seem to lose. Smith overcomes Neo, successfully copying him. With the "loss" of Neo comes the pact with the Deus Ex Machina - as it is finally able to access Smith after the cloning - starting a self destruct that wipes out all Smith clones.
The city of Zion watches a swarm of dormant Sentinels hovering over above - it was obvious that Neo completed his task. The Matrix itself begins to visually shift - translating itself into a new world. Back in Machine City, Neo's body is carried off by a hovering machine, to an unknown location. Although it appears as though he is dead, the outcome is never revealed.
The Architect and Oracle appear in the newly formed Matrix, discussing the danger over what has just happened. Upon asking of the fate for all "bluepill" humans within the Matrix, the Architect proclaims that they will all be freed. The dawn of a new day illuminates the sky, and vibrant colors compose the Matrix, as never seen before.
The Matrix Revolutions movie trailer
curated content from YouTube
The Matrix Revolutions on DVD
The Matrix Revolutions (2-Disc Widescreen Edition)
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The Matrix Revolutions: Official Soundtrack
The Matrix Revolutions
1. The Matrix Revolutions Main Title
2. The Trainman Cometh - Juno Reactor
3. Tetsujin - Juno Reactor
4. In My Head - Pale 3
5. The Road To Sourceville
6. Men In Metal
7. Niobe's Run
8. Woman Can Drive
9. Moribund Mifune
10. Kidfried
11. Saw Bitch Workhorse
12. Trinity Definitely
13. Neodammerung
14. Why, Mr. Anderson?
15. Spirit Of The Universe
16. Navras - Juno Reactor Vs. Don Davis
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The Animatrix
Animated renditions and stories
The Animatrix is a collection of several short animated films that were created by artists who were the inspiration to create the films. The Wachowski brothers collaborated with the filmmakers but only had a minor part in the creation of the films (they only wrote four of them, and the rest were entirely up to the other directors).Each "story" was entirely independent of the rest within the DVD - not only in script, but in artistry. They all dealt with different interpretations of the Matrix, how it is perceived by those who accidentally discover it, and the way it effects their lives. Neo and Trinity (voiced by their original actors) appear briefly in only one of the segments.
These are not films for children in any way, as they deal with visible violence, drug use, abuse and other adult material.
Animatrix trailer
curated content from YouTube
The Animatrix on DVD
The Animatrix Gift Set (Includes CD Soundtrack)
Includes the Animatrix, special features & extras, and the CD Soundtrack
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The Animatrix
Includes the Animatrix with special features & extras
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The Matrix: Collector's Figures
Various busts and statues of characters from the Matrix were released shortly after each movie; primarily by the famous sci-fi figure manufacturer, Kotobukiya. "Koto" statues typically depict sci-fi characters in dramatic poses, or capture the look and feel of a movie in some way.Other famous statues of Matrix characters are manufactured by company Gentile Giant, who is known for their sci-fi character busts.
Get a Matrix Collector's Figure
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Philosophy of The Matrix
Philosopher Nick Bostrom created a set of measures and countermeasures for this possibility, stating that our existence itself may simply be a reality created by an advanced race. This reality is so advanced that we are completely oblivious to its existence. This concept can be compared (to a much lesser extent) to an analogy of the computer game "The Sims," where people are living in computer programs that are bound by rules.
Counter theories suggest that Occam's Razor comes into play: the philosophy that if there is a simplistic explanation and a vastly complicated one, the simplistic one is more than likely true.
Several books have been written on this extremely sophisticated theory, with many different angles for and against it.
Read Books about the Matrix Philosophy
Philosophers Explore The Matrix
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Like a Splinter in Your Mind: The Philosophy Behind the Matrix Trilogy
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Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix (Smart Pop series)
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The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (Popular Culture and Philosophy)
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More Matrix and Philosophy: Revolutions and Reloaded Decoded (Popular Culture and Philosophy)
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Reader Feedback
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- StressyBull StressyBull Nov 10, 2008 @ 6:14 am
- Excellent lens mate. I love the Matrix films so much they are amazing! The first one is by far the best, I love every second!
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- Sleep_Soundly Sleep_Soundly Sep 28, 2008 @ 3:32 am
- Read and share your review on Reality Creation Secrets and many other Ebooks On How To Increase Mind Power here.
