The Matrix
Warner Bros. / 1999 / 131 Mins / Rated M15+


MOVIE
This is one movie I have not been looking forward to reviewing, not because I didn't like it, far from it. But because it's a hard movie to describe without ruining it. Oh stuff it.

Basically the world we know of does not exist and the world we live in is a lie.

Neo (Keanu Reeves) is the chosen one and it is up to him to stop whatever or whoever is behind the The Matrix. He is recruited by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) to stop the bad guys. Along the way he meets some pretty nasty anal retentive type dudes called agents who won't seem to die.

The main agent is played by Hugo Weaving in one of his coolest roles yet. That voice he uses goes off. The movie is filled with pretty solid performances all round and really helps pull off the wonder of it all.

This is a movie you have to see to believe. It's scope amazing and execution is perfect. Bring on the sequels please.

VIDEO
Wonderful. Reference quality and a disc that every other disc should look to for guidance. The movie has a strange green hue to it but does not yell I'm green throughout and is not as annoying as you would think. Colors are well rendered and not over saturated. This movie has a lot of darkened areas and the black levels are perfect throughout. There are no MPEG artifacts present.

The Matrix is framed at 2:35:1 and is 16:9 enhanced.

This is a single-sided, dual-layer disc.

The layer change is well placed. It occurs at 59:12 during a fade to black and is well placed.

AUDIO

Like the video, this disc has reference quality audio. There are several audio formats on this disc. The movie is encoded in full Dolby Digital 5.1 and is as aggressive as all hell. The surrounds and .1 channel are forever receiving a pounding. The sound steering in this disc is also amazing, just checkout the scene where Neo is being shot at by an agent on the top of the building. Wonderful stuff.

Also on this disc are 2 audio commentaries in Dolby Digital 2.0. More on that later.

EXTRAS

The extras on this disc could sink a battleship. Lets start shall we. First are the wonderful menus. They are all full motion video with clips from the movie and look wonderful. 

Cast & Crew Notes: Like it says.

Audio Commentary 1: The first audio commentary features Carrie Anne-Moss (Trinity), John Gaeta (VFX) & Zach Staenberg (Editor). This track is encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0. I have to admit that it is not the best commentary but has some good technical details. Carrie Anne-Moss is pretty silent throughout.

Audio Commentary 2: Music Only Score with commentary by Don Davies (Composer). He is very informative also. He speaks in sections without music.

Making Of Feature: This is a 30 minute HBO making of about The Matrix and is quite entertaining and a damn sight better than those short 5 minutes crap fest you can get on other discs.

2 Hidden Featurette's: There are 2 hidden featurette's on this disc. You need to find them by looking for the red pills in the menus. They are entitled "What is the Concept" & "What is Bullet Time"

"Follow The White Rabbit" Featurette: This has to be the coolest feature. When you enable this feature you watch the movie as normal and then at various points throughout the movie a little white rabbit pops up and you press you enter key on your remote. Once you press the enter key a little featurette pops up and you can see how that scene was made. After the featurette ends the movie continues from the point you left it at. All up around 20 minutes of footage.

DVD ROM Content: There are several features on the DVD ROM content. The biggest feature is the website on the disc as well as other little games and trivia.

Dolby Digital 5.1 Trailer: The City Trailer in all it's glory.

Subtitles Include:
Closed Caption

FINAL THOUGHTS
It doesn't get any better than this. Clearly the best Region 4 disc out there. It even surpasses it's Region 1 cousin!

16:9 ENHANCEMENT DISC RATING

VIDEO:
AUDIO:
EXTRAS:

PLOT:
OVERALL:

REVIEW EQUIPMENT

Display: 48" Sony RPTV.
DVD Player:
Panasonic A350 Player using S-Video Cables.
Receiver:
Pioneer VSX-D508 Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.
Speakers:
Accusound speaker system.

Copyright © 2000 by [Roger Ward].
Revised: 25 May 2000 22:41:24 +1100 .

DVD INFORMATION
Region Coding: Region 4
No of Discs: 1
OFLC Rating M15+
Running Time: 131 Mins
Case Type: Keep Case
Release Date: 23/11/1999
Catalog Number:
List Price: $34.95
Distributor: Village Roadshow
DISC SPECIFICATIONS
Disc Format: PAL
Disc Type: Picture Disc
Disc Format: SS-RSDL
Chapters: 38
Macrovision: Yes
Manufacturer: DVM
VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS
Aspect Ratio: 2:35:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Film Format: 35mm
SOUND SPECIFICATIONS
Dolby Digital:

5.1 Surround

DTS: None
PCM Stereo: None
Other: 5.1 Music Score
Languages: English
Subtitles: Yes
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary: Yes
Theatrical Trailer: None
Teaser Trailer: None
TV Spots: None
Dolby Trailer: Yes
Documentary: Yes
Cast & Crew Bios: Yes
Deleted Scenes: None
Music Videos: None
DVD Rom Content: Yes
Collectable Booklet: None
Scene Access: Yes
Animated Menus: Yes
Production Notes: Yes
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INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE INFO
OFFICIAL WEB SITE
VIEW TRAILER
NONE