The Matrix (4K Ultra HD) [4K UHD]

I decided to start a 4k movie collection and the Matrix has the honor to be the very first movie. It's an absolute scifi classic and a beautiful 4k transfer from the old dvd which i also own. I yet have to purchase a 4k player so i was pleasantly surprised to find a regular bluray in the case also, so i can already enjoy this amazing movie.

The Matrix is a film classic, and it will continue to appreciate as we ascend into the technological advancements of today's world. It's incredibly odd watching this movie 20 years later now, and seeing how some of the assumptions about the internet, technology, and society were addressed here. All of that withheld, it's still a great piece of sci-fi action that has rarely been met with a competitor or similar style. A lot of the stylistic elements of The Matrix have been attempted in other films, but never used quite as successfully as it was here. Things such as "bullet time" have been overused since the release of this film, but exemplify the impact it had on movies and viewers.The Wachowskis are particularly interesting to watch in Special Features, especially now that they are both women. They don't seem to have any highly technical background or understanding of film, but are making the movie they want to see and being particular where they as a viewer think it would count. I think this movie was the beginning of Keanu's highly popular career arc from the late 90s to the mid-2000s. Where he seemingly died off and has now been resurrected again by John Wick. Laurence Fishbourne is great as Morpheus and plays the master to Neo perfectly. Carrie Anne-Moss, where is she?! She's outstanding in this film, but probably no one is better than Hugo Weaving, who with little to say or do than glance makes such an impact on the film, and ultimately the story of this universe. This all looks fantastic in 4K!This release is jam-packed with special features and FOUR audio commentaries, which I was incredibly excited to listen to. I can't say it shed any light on concepts or ideas that I haven't heard of before, but it's so interesting to hear intellectuals, philosophers, and psychologists talk about both what they like about the film and its depictions, as well as what they don't like. One of the commentaries is from film review writers that hated the film, and despite their critiques find a way to frame the film's importance in cinema. It's quite interesting, and it's prefaced by a letter from the Wachowskis on pitching this commentary to WB, which is hilarious. Imagine another movie that would have a review from people who didn't like it, just to give the viewer another perspective from which to absorb this wild ride.At this point, I believe there's a trilogy release on 4K as well as a steelbook at other retailers. I'd recommend getting the whole package as it's likely cheaper, and I bought this when the other 2 weren't released yet and had to buy the last 2 movies separately. This movie is still phenomenal, and holds up just as well today if not better. It's incredible to see how this film has matured and become social commentary that's just as relevant now as it ever was. The Wachowskis have gone on to do some great films and some not so great, but hoping that the new M4TRIX (see what I did there) does to post-2020, what this film did for the early 2000s.

The audio engineers did an amazing job of remastering this movie in Dolby Atmos TrueHD! Definitely good enough to demo your system with this disc and flex for fun. Thank you for reading this!

4K disc audio defaults to Dolby 5.1 instead of better Dolby Atmos. All my gear supports Atmos and it worked fine when selected. Just so buyers know to manually choose Atmos audio. Great video and audio for a great movie, a worthy upgrade from the original DVD release.

we introduced our 10 year old to the matrix this weekend

Finally saw this movie. Rented it here and glad I didn't buy it. One viewing was fine. Agree with another reviewer about the sound being sub-optimal in too many places. Glad it wasn't just me who missed some dialogue.I saw three things in particular I would have missed years ago. One, the pods of cloned babies drifting in space so their loosh could farmed, which made me think of the orphan trains of maybe a hundred years ago. Two, seeing human remains injected into the characters. Many states in the US allow water cremation, or alkaline hydrolysis, and the resulting "sterile" water from that goes down the drain into the sewer system ... and into our drinking water supply? Three, seeing the dominance of AI (especially personified in a character) which we all see now as pervasive.Predictive programming?

This was an original script with amazing special effects for its time. No one had done the bullet tracking and the signature 'matrix moves' of fighting characters before this movie. By the time the 2nd and 3rd movies were made so many of the special effects had been parodied that the sequels looked almost cliché. This movie is in a cannon by itself and IMHO is unattached to sequels in everyway regarding story. The story was simple A.I. gone bad, enslaves humanity, humanity needs to liberate itself by destroying A.I. or humanity dies as continually evolving species. This is completely changed in the other movies. It makes me believe the story about the Wachioski brother's having stolen this story idea from another writer. It's obvious b/c of the length of time between the 1st movie and the sequels the Wachoski brothers had nothing written to follow-up the original Matrix. Who does that in sequel idis Hollywood now a days--unless you stole the idea from someone else and had no idea where the story was going? Not saying this is true, but it makes one wonder upon viewing the complete different goal of humanity in the sequels. The Matrix is an amazing movie and story by itself and is best reviewed as a stand alone film. END OF MATRIX REVIEW#Spoiler #whysequels suckThey contradiction the goal our heroes in the first movie to destroy the Matrix. In short humanity (Zion) decides to work with the A.I. to keep it running while allowing some human beings to remain as batteries for the machine. What? This would surely set-up the extinction of the human race. Humanity could not survive or evolve in a machine / holographic world. The goal of humanity is to evolve beyond all illusions and bondage to materialism--eventually I suppose. Humanity is part of nature (we forget) and if profound alter a natural being particularly on with higher intelligence then it would either shut down or wake up from an inferior creation matrix created by the A.I. It wouldn't matter whether the A.I. was evolving or not. A program is limited by its creator and if a creation destroys or enslaves the creator then it kills itself. Humans must evolve or die like all species. Remember Malcolm's speech in the first Jurassic Park regarding how nature cannot be contained. That's what the out of control A.I. is doing to humanity...containing it. The A.I. in the sequels falsely presents itself to the humans of Zion as being on their side. It pretends that the Mr.Smith Program has gone rogue and the humans should join them program by defeating Mr. Smith. This is ridiculous because the A.I. is ONE program. The A.I. is cleverly misdirecting the humans. Morpheus clearly stated in original movie that the Matrix had to be destroyed for ALL of humanity to be truly free. In these sequels Morpheus' character is diminished as we are informed that he is wrong in his initial goal to destroy the A.I. and free all human beings. So let's just through the most famous line in firs Matrix movie, "Free Your Mind." By the 3rd movie the A.I. has convinced the humans of Zion that it's best for some humans (already in the matrix) to remain plugged in the system. It offered to give the plugged up humans a choice. The sequels ultimately show the death sentence for humanity as they give-up their collective rights as autonomous species. Sound familiar.