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The Matrix
IMDB File:4hv out of 5.png 8.5/10 (177,860 votes)
Directed byAndy Wachowski
Larry Wachowski
Written byAndy Wachowski
Larry Wachowski
Produced byJoel Silver
Andy Wachowski
Larry Wachowski
StarringKeanu Reeves
Laurence Fishburne
Carrie-Anne Moss
Hugo Weaving
Joe Pantoliano
Gloria Foster
CinematographyBill Pope
Edited byZach Staenberg
Music byDon Davis
Distributed byWarner Bros, Village Roadshow Pictures
Release date
March 31 1999
Running time
136 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$63,000,000 (estimated)

The Matrix is a science-fiction/action film first released in the USA on March 31, 1999, written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski. It stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving. It has developed a strong following as a renowned Generation X/Generation Y classic.

Template:Spoiler The film describes a world in which the Matrix is an artificial reality created by sentient machines in order to pacify, subdue and make use of the human population as an energy source by growing them and connecting them to the Matrix with cybernetic implants. It contains numerous references to philosophical and religious ideas, the hacker subculture, and homages to Hong Kong action movies, Japanese animation and cyberpunk. Template:Spoilerend

The Matrix was filmed in Sydney, Australia. The film is a co-production of Warner Bros Studios and Australian Village Roadshow Pictures.

The Matrix series and franchise

Main article: The Matrix series

The Matrix earned $171 million in the USA and $460 million worldwide.[1] This relatively unexpected mainstream success led to the greenlighting of the next two films of what the Wachowskis maintain was conceived as a trilogy, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. It was a number of years and several iterations of scripts before the final movies were approved.

Also released was The Animatrix, a collection of nine animated short films, many of which were created in the same Japanese animation style that was a strong influence on the live trilogy. The Animatrix was overseen and approved by the Wachowski brothers but they only wrote four of the segments themselves and did not direct any of them; much of the project was created by notable figures from the world of animé. Four of the films were originally released on the series' official website; one was shown in cinemas with the Warner Bros movie Dreamcatcher; the others first appeared with the DVD release of all nine shorts.

The franchise contains three video games: Enter the Matrix (2003), which chronicles events between the Final Flight of the Osiris and/during The Matrix Reloaded and contains footage shot specifically for the game; The Matrix Online (2004), a MMORPG which continues the story beyond The Matrix Revolutions; and The Matrix: Path of Neo, which was released 8 November 2005 and focuses on situations based on Neo's journey through the trilogy of films.

Available on the official website are a number of free comics set in the world of The Matrix, written and illustrated by figures from the comics industry. Some of these comics are also available in two printed volumes.

Principal cast

Actor Role
Keanu Reeves Neo
Laurence Fishburne Morpheus
Carrie-Anne Moss Trinity
Hugo Weaving Agent Smith
Julian Arahanga Apoc
Marcus Chong Tank
Matt Doran Mouse
Gloria Foster the Oracle
Paul Goddard Agent Brown
Belinda McClory Switch
Joe Pantoliano Cypher
Anthony Ray Parker Dozer
Robert Taylor Agent Jones

Synopsis

Template:Spoiler The film begins with two voices discussing a man they believe to be "The One". In the midst of their discussion a trace program begins. The trace program cuts to police officers invading an apartment in a hotel to capture a woman named Trinity. After three mysterious government agents arrive, Trinity quickly escapes through amazing and seemingly impossible feats of strength and agility. Upon reaching street level, Trinity answers a ringing telephone booth just as a garbage truck slams into it, destroying it. The government agents step out of the truck and examine the remains. While the booth is destroyed, Trinity is nowhere to be seen. The agents remark that Trinity escaped, their informant is real, and they have the name of their next target: Neo. Neo, otherwise known as Thomas Anderson, is a computer programmer who deals in some illegal activity. He is contacted by Trinity at a night club. Trinity tells him that he is searching for Morpheus to answer a question that he already knows: What is the Matrix? Later in his cubicle at work, Neo is contacted by Morpheus, the man he's been searching for, who warns him of the agents that are searching for him. Despite Morpheus' guidance, Neo is captured by the agents. Inside an interrogation room, Neo's interrogation takes a nightmarish turn as his lips melt together and Agent Smith implants a robotic insect-like bug that crawls into Neo's navel. Neo awakens in his own bed, pausing for a moment believing it to be a dream. Suddenly his phone rings, and it is Morpheus requesting a meeting. Neo is picked up by Apoc, Trinity and Switch. Trinity removes the bug from Neo and takes him to meet Morpheus. During their meeting, Morpheus and Neo discuss fate and free will. Morpheus eventually explains that he has been searching for Neo his entire life, and offers him a choice between two pills: the blue pill, which would enable him to wake up in his bed and believe whatever he wants to believe; and the red pill which would allow him to "stay in Wonderland and see how deep the rabbit-hole goes", in other words, finally learn the truth about the Matrix. After accepting the red pill, Neo, scared and confused, abruptly wakes up naked in a liquid-filled chamber, his body connected by wires to a vast mechanical tower bristling with pods identical to his. Neo is ejected out of the pod into a dark pool of water. He is rescued by Morpheus and taken aboard his hovercraft, the Nebuchadnezzar. In the medical bay, Neo passes in and out of consciousness, though eventually recovering.

After being introduced to the crew of the ship, Neo is told by Morpheus that it is not 1999, but closer to 2199 but he doesn't know exactly what year it really is. He then offers to show him. He takes Neo to the center of the ship, sits him in an antique dentist chair, at which time a metal plug is inserted into Neo's head and, instantly, he appears in a blank white expanse, his appearance has returned to the state it was before he took the red pill. Morpheus is also there, and explains that they are in the Construct program, a virtual reality environment used for training. Neo is told that humanity is fighting a war against intelligent machines. After being denied their primary power source, the sun, by the human race, the machines responded by enslaving human beings and using them as their source for energy. It turns out that the world which Neo has inhabited since birth, the Matrix, is an illusory simulated reality construct of the world of 1999, developed by the machines to keep the human population docile whilst they are connected to generators and their energy is harvested. Morpheus and Trinity are part of a group of free humans who "unplug" humans from the Matrix and recruit them to their resistance against the machines. Neo quickly refuses to believe Morpheus. After he is unplugged, he quickly faints at the idea of the truth. Neo awakens in his bed on the ship, Morpheus at his side. Morpheus explains that Neo cannot go back to the Matrix and that he rescued Neo from the Matrix because he believes that he is "The One", a man prophesied by the Oracle to "hail the destruction of the Matrix, end the war, bring freedom to our people". Morpheus believes that Neo has the power to free humankind from its enslavement through complete mastery of the Matrix. Neo is skeptical. In the morning, Neo discusses Zion with the ship's operator, Tank. Tank explains that Zion is the last human city and brings Neo to be plugged in for training. Tank trains Neo by downloading information straight into Neo's brain. Neo is taught all of the major martial arts. Morpheus asks to see Neo in action, and so Neo is brought into a sparring program, a world that is very similar to the Matrix. He is told that the Matrix is nothing more than a computer program with rules. Rules can be bent and some can be broken. Neo spars with Morpheus and soon grasps the idea of defying the physics of the Matrix. They are then transferred to "the jump program," a simulation of two skyscrapers that are a significant distance apart. Morpheus presents the same basic task, for Neo to "free his mind" and jump from one building to the other. Neo attempts and fails. After being brought out of the simulation, Neo is bleeding. He questions Morpheus about this, as he thought the training program was not real. Morpheus replies that his mind makes it real and if he is killed in the Matrix, his physical body will also die, "The body cannot live without the mind." he tells Neo.

From left to right: Agents Brown, Smith, and Jones

In another training program Morpheus warns Neo of the rebels' main hazard in the Matrix: Agents. The men in suits who interrogated Neo earlier were actually self-aware programs who behave as anti-virus utilities; their purpose is to seek out and eliminate any problems within the Matrix in order to keep it stable. Anyone who has not been unplugged from the Matrix is potentially an Agent, because they have the ability to take over the body of anyone still connected to the system. They possess incredible martial arts skills, superhuman strength, agility, and speed, but Morpheus explains that Agents are still nonetheless limited by the physical rules of the Matrix. Once Neo, being The One, fully understands the true nature of the Matrix, the Agents will be no match for him. However, later, another member of the crew, Cypher, advises Neo to disregard Morpheus's advice, telling him that if he sees an Agent, his only chance of survival is to run away. Cypher is later seen having dinner inside of the Matrix with Agent Smith. Cypher strikes a deal with Smith that he will arrange for Morpheus to be captured if the machines will reinsert him into the Matrix as a celebrity and with no memory of true reality.

Neo is brought by Morpheus to an apartment and meets with the Oracle (Gloria Foster), who he first sees as an old lady baking cookies. Neo is puzzled at her ability to predict future actions. She then implies that Neo is not the One, and that he seems to be waiting for something — his next life, perhaps. She states that Morpheus believes Neo is "The One" so blindly, he would sacrifice his life to save Neo's, and predicts that Neo must make a choice between his life and that of Morpheus. As they leave, Morpheus explains to Neo that the Oracle's words were for him alone. After the meeting, the crew heads toward the nearest "hard line", a telephone line in the Matrix which may be used by the rebels to safely exit from the virtual world. As they approach the exit they become trapped, with Agents and a police SWAT team in pursuit. In their attempt to escape, an unarmed Morpheus saves Neo from Agent Smith's grasp, but is effortlessly beaten and captured himself. The others manage to escape. Cypher is separated from the group and is the first to reach the hard line. After exiting the Matrix, Cypher wounds Tank and kills Tank's older brother, Dozer. The crew discovers that Morpheus was captured due to a betrayal by Cypher, who preferred living in ignorance within the Matrix and blames Morpheus for giving him the red pill. Cypher murders Apoc and Switch by unplugging them, but before he can kill Neo and Trinity, Tank recovers and shoots Cypher. Meanwhile, Morpheus has been imprisoned in a government building. Three Agents attempt to use a serum to gain information from him regarding access codes to the mainframes of Zion. During this time, Smith confesses to Morpheus that (despite being a computer program) he hates the Matrix and he demands the codes to the Zion mainframe, so that Zion can be destroyed and he can leave. Neo decides to rescue Morpheus despite Tank's warnings. Trinity accompanies him. Entering the building, Neo and Trinity kill the dozens of soldiers guarding Morpheus. In the process Neo becomes more confident and familiar with manipulating the Matrix, allowing him to perform feats such as dodging bullets fired at him by an Agent by bending backwards at an impossible angle. Trinity remarks that she's never seen anyone move that fast. They finally succeed in rescuing their leader, and in an abandoned subway station Morpheus and Trinity exit the Matrix through a hard line. However, before Neo can follow, the phone being used is destroyed by Agent Smith, who takes control of a homeless man in the station. Instead of fleeing from him as Cypher advised, Neo duels with Smith. He manages to force Smith onto the tracks in front of a moving subway train. However, the train applies its emergency brakes and a new Smith exits the train. Neo then realizes he is overwhelmed and runs.

Neo is chased through the city by the three Agents while Sentinels (robots used by the machines to "search and destroy" human ships) locate the Nebuchadnezzar's position in the real world and close in fast. However, the ship's electromagnetic pulse device, the crew's only weapon against the Sentinels, cannot be activated until Neo has left the Matrix. As they prepare to use it, Tank guides Neo towards an "old exit". He opens the door to the room containing the exit telephone, but Smith is already waiting. He shoots Neo several times. Neo collapses to the floor in the Matrix as a flatline readout of his heartbeat occurs on a screen inside the Nebuchadnezzar. The crew is devastated. Trinity whispers to Neo that she refuses to accept his death, since the Oracle told her that the man she would fall in love with would be the One, she confesses that she is in love with him and kisses him. Neo's heart monitor begins to beat again, and within the Matrix he stands up. The Agents shoot at him, but he raises his palm and stops their bullets in mid-air. As they fall to the ground, Neo looks up and sees the artificial Matrix as lines of streaming green code: he finally becomes "The One." Agent Smith makes one last ditch attempt to physically attack him, but Neo effortlessly blocks his punches with a single hand. He then plunges directly into Smith's body, causing it to rupture and then explode, leaving Neo standing. The other two Agents flee, and Neo returns to the real world barely in time for the ship's electromagnetic pulse to short out the Sentinels. A short epilogue shows him back in the Matrix, making a telephone call promising:

"I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you... a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world... where anything is possible. Where we go from here is a choice I leave to you."

Neo hangs up the phone, looks up, and flies into the sky above the city. [2]

Visual effects

The film is known for popularizing and evolving the use of a visual effect known as bullet time, which allows the viewer to explore a moment progressing in slow-motion while the camera appears to orbit around the scene at normal speed.

Bullet time is effectively a technically expanded version of an old art photography technique known as time-slice photography, in which a large number of cameras are placed around an object and fired simultaneously. When the sequence of shots is viewed as a movie, the viewer sees what is in effect two-dimensional "slices" of a three-dimensional moment. Watching such a "time slice" movie is akin to the real-life experience of walking around a statue to see how it looks at different angles.

Some scenes in The Matrix feature the "time-slice" effect with completely frozen characters and objects. Interpolation techniques improved the fluidity of the apparent "camera motion". The effect was further expanded upon by the Wachowski brothers and visual effects supervisor John Gaeta to create bullet time, which incorporates temporal motion, so that rather than being totally frozen the scene progresses in slow and variable motion. Engineers at Manex Visual Effects pioneered 3D visualization planning methods to move beyond mechanically fixed views towards complex camera paths and flexibly moving interest points. There is also an improved fluidity through the use of non-linear interpolation, digital compositing and the introduction of computer generated "virtual" scenery.

File:Neo SmithPic.jpg
Neo's confrontation with Agent Smith features the bullet time effect

The objective of bullet time shots in The Matrix was to creatively illustrate "mind over matter" type events as captured by a "virtual camera". However, the original technical approach was physically bound to pre-determined perspectives, and the resulting effect only suggested the capabilities of a true virtual camera.

The evolution of photogrametric and image based CGI background approaches in The Matrix's bullet time shots set the stage for later innovations unveiled in the sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Virtual Cinematography (CGI-rendered characters, locations and events) and the high-definition Universal Capture process completely replaced the use of still camera arrays, thus realising the virtual camera.

This film upset the juggernaut release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace by winning the Academy Award for an Achievement in Visual Effects.

Influences and interpretations

Main article: [[:The Matrix series and The Matrix character names]]

The Matrix makes numerous references to recent films and literature, and to historical myths and philosophy including Messianism, Buddhism and Gnosticism. The film's premise resembles Plato's Allegory of the Cave, while Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation is featured in the film. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is frequently referenced, and there are similarities to cyberpunk works such as Neuromancer by William Gibson.[3]

Japanese director Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell was a strong influence. Producer Joel Silver has stated that the Wachowski brothers first described their intentions for The Matrix by showing him this anime and saying, "we want to do that for real".[citation needed]

Grant Morrison's comic series The Invisibles had a clear influence on the Matrix trilogy, visible from thematic and aesthetic similarities between the two. Morrison believes that the Wachowski brothers essentially plagiarized his work to create the first film. [2]

Trace program

In the first scene we see a green cursor blinking on a black screen. In this first metaphor is hidden the most profound meaning of the entire film, a living machine, the duality of human and Artificial Intelligence. In a 1996 version of the film's screenplay, the Wachowski brothers described the cursor as pulsating like a heart (A common effect with greenscreen terminals due to the phosphorous' persistance):

A blinking cursor pulses in the electric darkness like a heart coursing with phosphorous light, burning beneath the derma of black-neon glass

Mirrors and music

Mirrors appear frequently in the movie: reflections of the blue and red pills are seen in Morpheus's glasses; Neo's capture by Agents is viewed through the rear-view mirror of Trinity's motorcycle; the broken mirror that mends itself as Neo is looking at it; reflections warp as a spoon is bent; the reflection of a helicopter is visible as it approaches a skyscraper. The film also frequently references the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which has a sequel entitled Through the Looking-Glass.

Composer Don Davis focused on the film's theme of reflections when creating his score, alternating between sections of the orchestra and attempting to incorporate contrapuntal ideas. [4]

Colors and patterns

Grid-patterns were incorporated into the sets for scenes inside the Matrix, intended to convey the cold, logical, artificial nature of that environment. The production design of the film placed an emphasis on the color blue during the scenes set in the real world, whereas in the Matrix there is a bias towards green, the color of the downward-flowing Matrix source code. [5] This code includes mirror images of half-width katakana characters and Western letters and numbers, and is strongly reminiscent of similar computer code in the film Ghost in the Shell, an acknowledged influence on the Matrix series. The linking of the color green to computers may also have been intended to evoke the green tint of old monochrome computer monitors.

Also, the Chroma key screens used for shooting special effects scenes were bluescreen for Matrix scenes and greenscreen for real world scenes. This was done to ensure that the predominant colors of the sets did not interfere with the CGI editing processes.[citation needed]

The pattern of rain can be seen in several scenes set within the Matrix to represent the pattern of falling "Matrix Code". Two notable scenes are in the first movie, after Neo is bugged and taking a ride in a car with Trinity, Switch and Apoc. The second, more major, scene is the final showdown between Neo and Smith. In the former scene, rain can be seen dripping down windows, and falling off of ledges. In the latter scene, the rain was more significant and played a larger aesthetic role.

Names

Main article: The Matrix character names

In the Matrix series, the name of a character often refers to their role in the story.

  • Neo comes from the Greek word meaning "new", and is an anagram of "One", Neo's title in the story. Neo's last name and hacker alias combined, Neo Anderson, might be read as "New Son of Man" (Greek "andros" meaning man, human), another reference to religion. His first name, Thomas, refers to the disciple Thomas, who, after his resurrection, wanted proof that Jesus died on the cross, which mirrors Neo's doubt in himself throughout the movie.
  • Morpheus ("he who forms, shapes, molds", from the Greek morphe) is the principal Greek god of dreams and sleep. He is the one who awakens Neo from his dormant state, giving him a new life.
  • Trinity commonly refers to the equal union of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost in one Godhead. It also is the cardinal number "that is the sum of one and one and one." Just as Christianity maintains that life comes from the Trinity, so is Neo brought back to life through his Trinity.
  • Cypher differs from the rest of the crew from various aspects. He is the only one with facial hair, and during Neo's introduction to his new comrades, Cypher is the only one to speak. "Cypher" undoubtedly comes from the word cipher, meaning the set of rules used to encrypt a set of data. It also literally means "zero", a reference to Cypher's faithlessness. "Cypher" may also be a play-on-words as short for "Lucifer". Cypher betrays his crew in return for re-immersion into the Matrix.
  • Smith, Jones and Brown are common surnames in Western English speaking countries. It indicates the seriality and the lack of identity of the Agents, who are programs.
  • Tank and his brother, Dozer, are the only two main characters naturally born. This reflects in their names being earthy in nature.
  • Switch and Mouse, in the same routine, are computer-like.

Critical reception

At the time of its release, relatively unknown and with the highly anticipated Star Wars: Episode I as competition in the sci-fi genre, The Matrix was a revelation for many critics [3][4][5]. The combination of special-effects-laden action and philosophical meandering was considered fresh and exciting[6][7]. Roger Ebert praised the film's visuals and premise, but disliked the third act's focus on action.[8] Other reviewers criticised the comparative humourlessness[9] and self-indulgence[10] of the movie.

Awards and nominations

The Matrix received Oscars for film editing, sound effects editing, visual effects, and sound. Furthermore, the film won these awards in the year that Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace was released, making it the first film to win the special effects Oscars when competing with an entry in the Star Wars series.

It also received BAFTA awards for Best Sound and Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects.

Impact

The Matrix has a strong effect on action film-making in Hollywood. It upped the ante for cinematic fight scenes by hiring acclaimed choreographers (such as Yuen Woo-ping) from the Hong Kong action cinema scene, well-known for its production of martial arts films. The success of The Matrix put those choreographers in high demand by other filmmakers who wanted fights of similar sophistication: for example, Yuen Woo-ping's brother Cheung-Yan Yuen was choreographer on Daredevil (2003). There was a surge in movies, commercials and pop videos copying "the Matrix look", usually without the training and attention to detail that made it successful in the first place.

Following The Matrix, films made abundant use of slow-motion, spinning cameras, and, often, the famed bullet time effect of a character freezing in mid-air and the camera panning around them. The effect has been parodied in many comedy films such as Scary Movie (in which a character hurts his back while leaning backwards like Neo), Shrek, and Kung Pow: Enter the Fist; and in TV series such as The Simpsons and Family Guy.

The Matrix source code has been adopted in logos, advertisements and used in various media (e.g., computer screensavers) to denote the 'digital era.'

The success of The Matrix, particularly on the DVD format[citation needed], led to two sequels. The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions were filmed simultaneously during one shoot, and released in two parts in 2003. They see an evolution in many concepts laid down by the original film: philosophical parallels, religious allegories, and an expanded scope to talk about issues pertaining to consciousness. The first movie's relatively plot-lite introductory tale is replaced by a more involved story centred on the impending attack of the human enclave of Zion by a vast machine army. Neo also learns more about the history of the Matrix, his role as the One and the prophecy that he will end the war. The sequels also incorporate longer and more ambitious action scenes, as well as improvements in bullet time and other visual effects. Although the sequels provided closure for the characters and the storyline while still incorporating the themes of the original movie, they were less well-received than the first.

On October 4, 2004, a California court granted Sophia Stewart leave to continue her case against Warner Brothers and The Wachowski brothers [11] [12]. The case was filed by Stewart on April 24, 2003 [13]. Stewart claims that the story of The Matrix was based on a manuscript she wrote titled "The Third Eye" which she allegedly submitted to the Wachowskis in response to an advertisement. One account misreported the October 4th decision as Stewart winning her lawsuit, rather than simply winning permission to continue with the case. The case has since been dismissed.[14]

Trivia

  • Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in favor of Wild Wild West, then after watching Keanu Reeves' performance, didn't think he would've been smart enough as an actor to have played the role at the time.[citation needed]
  • The mobile phone used throughout this film is the modified Nokia 8110 with the spring loaded mechanism from the Nokia 7110. It is not available in the U.S.
  • The Matrix source code is a combination of numbers and reversed Japanese katakana characters.
  • The Matrix script had been written with late actor Brandon Lee in mind for the character of Neo.[citation needed]
  • The locations mentioned in the film are all named after places in Chicago, Illinois. Maps of the city shown in the film also resemble Chicago, although most filming was done in Sydney, Australia. Landmarks were purposely not included in order to maintain the setting of a generic American city. However, at the beginning of the scene where Neo is talking with his boss, the Sears Tower is visible in a picture on the wall.
  • A Sydney Commonwealth Bank branch can be seen as Neo and Morpheus walk through the streets, and in the final scene, some of the Sydney Harbour Bridge can be seen. The 'girl in the red dress' scene is filmed in Martin Place, Sydney.
  • Some of the rooms shown early in the film are featured again later. Room 303 in the Heart O' the City Hotel, where the police officers find Trinity, is the same room where Neo is killed by Agent Smith and resurrected as the One; the building in which Neo meets Morpheus for the first time is the place in which the group later appears before meeting the Oracle; and the room in which Neo takes the pill is the same room in which Mouse dies.
  • The rooftop set that Trinity uses to escape from Agent Jones is one left over from the production of Dark City.
  • Alternative techniques discussed for creating the movie's bullet-time effects (as discussed in the various Making Of... documentaries for the movie) involved accelerating a high-frame-rate motion picture camera along a fixed track at a high enough speed to capture the action as it occurred. These were discarded as unfeasable, as the destruction of the camera in the attempt was all but inevitable.
  • One of the very last wide releases of a film on laserdisc. It sold out and was never re-issued.[citation needed]
  • According to The Art of the Matrix, only one filmed scene was omitted from the final cut. In the scene, Cypher explains to Neo that he is not the first person Morpheus has singled out as the One.
  • In 1993, Carrie-Anne Moss appeared in a short-lived science fiction television series called Matrix [15]
  • Warner Home Video announced that the film is to be released on HD DVD on April 25, 2006.[6]
  • In the beginning of the movie Neo's room number is 101, a clear reference to George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which room 101 is where people are taken to be tortured with whatever their greatest fear is, and effectively brainwashed.
  • In an elevator scene with Neo and Morpheus, costume designer Kym Barrett's first name can be seen etched into the wall of the elevator car as graffitti.
  • While running from the three Agents and contacting Tank, Neo says "Mr. Wizard! Get me the hell out of here!" a reference to the popular catchphrase of Tooter Turtle from the cartoon series King Leonardo and his Short Subjects.
  • Scenes depicting giant rabbits, briefly visible on the television in the Oracle's apartment the first time Neo goes to visit her, are from Night of the Lepus.
  • The first phone call from the Matrix between Cypher and Trinity is shown as: Call trans opt: received. 2-19-98 13:24:18 REC:Log >, and Neo's final call from The Matrix at the end of the movie is: Call trans opt: received 9-18-99 14:32:21 REC:Log >, which is approximately 626 days of Matrix time.
  • Towards the beginning of the film, Neo hears the knock at the door in his apartment in the Matrix he goes to get a disk for the person at the door. The disk is hidden in a book with a hole cut into it. The book is Simulacra and Simulation by the French Philosopher Jean Baudrillard. This book was required reading for most of the principle cast and crew involved in the film.

Notes and references

  1. ^ Box Office Mojo: The Matrix. URL retrieved 8 March 2006.
  2. ^ The film's screenplay describes this final moment with the words "faster than a speeding bullet", a reference to Superman.
  3. ^ "The Matrix: Fair Cop". URL retrieved 7 July 2006.
  4. ^ Don Davis, interviewed in The Matrix Revisited (Chapter 28). A transcript of his comments may be found online: [1]
  5. ^ Costume designer Kym Barret, production designer Owen Paterson and cinematographer Bill Pope, interviewed in The Matrix Revisited (Chapter 7).
  6. ^ Business Wire. Warner Home Video Announces Titles and Release Dates for HD DVD. January 5, 2006.

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Matrix.

Articles and books

Religion/philosophy/theory of The Matrix

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