Harry Potter with Guns 330
kauff writes "Slate has recently released a somewhat-inspired article
about what the Matrix was. You have to read it for yourself. Good way to
hype yourself up before Reloaded on May 15th."
A penny saved is a penny to squander. -- Ambrose Bierce
Harry potter reference explained (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Harry potter reference explained (Score:5, Funny)
I first read that as "The Matrix is a sci-fi John Holmes movie." That would be much more interesting. Can you imagine the money shot in bullet time? The asian girl who's obviously doing it for the money does the bullet dodging agent move to avoid getting it in the eye.
John: How did you do that? I've never seen anyone move that fast before.
Asian girl: It wasn't fast enough. (wipes eyes)
I think I better stop now.
Re:Harry potter reference explained (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Harry potter reference explained (Score:5, Funny)
He went to a club afterwards.
Surely that should be (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Harry potter reference explained (Score:2)
you think a programmer/cracker that lives a double life and doesn't see people fits in?
full text (Score:3, Informative)
It's Harry Potter with guns.
By Chris Suellentrop
Posted Thursday, May 1, 2003, at 2:23 PM PT
Illustration by Charlie Powell
Why is The Matrix? The "what" has already been answered: It's an R-rated Star Wars, a sci-fi movie with philosophical pretensions that did shockingly gangbuster business at the box office. The Matrix raked in more than $170 million in the United States, became the first DVD to sell more than 1 million copies, and set the stage for the two most-anticipated sequels of 2003 (at least until The Return of the King comes out). But while The Matrix's commercial success is impressive, it's not mind-boggling. In 1999, four movies--Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, The Sixth Sense, Toy Story 2, and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me--did better business than The Matrix, and Disney's Tarzan finished only a fistful of dollars behind. What makes The Matrix stand out from that pack is the way it combines mass appeal with a smaller, more intense cult following. No recent movie (other than films with a built-in fan base, like the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movies) inspires the same kind of slavish, fan-boy devotion. Type the name of a contemporary movie with a similar box-office gross, like Ocean's Eleven, into Google, and you're confronted with a list of official sites and e-commerce pages hawking the movie. Type "the matrix," and you get those sites but also a flood of fan pages--Matrix as Messiah Movie, Knowthematrix.com, the requisite LEGO site, and the sine qua non of movie-geek cult status: the fan-created role-playing game.
What explains the phenomenon? We know it's not the dialogue. Part of the explanation is simple: The mixing of the genres of science fiction and kung fu meant that the Wachowski brothers combined two great cult tastes that go great together. (On one of the featurettes on the Matrix DVD, Andy Wachowski sums up the movie by saying, "It's about robots vs. kung fu.") The movie's startling premise, atmospheric John Woo-style action, and "bullet time" effects go a long way toward explaining the movie's appeal, too. As does the fact that the movie is laden with references and allusions that reward repeated viewings, making fans who recognize them feel as if they and the filmmakers are part of an exclusive, in-the-know club. A by-no-means-complete list includes everything from Baudrillard to Christianity to Descartes to Buddhism to spaghetti westerns to Lewis Carroll to William Gibson's Neuromancer to Jackie Chan's Drunken Master.
But none of these explanations is sufficient. The real source of the fascination with The Matrix is that, despite all appearances, the movie is not a dystopia. Rather, it's a utopia, a geek paradise. The Matrix is a sci-fi John Hughes movie, in which a misfit learns that he's actually cool. (Think Harry Potter with guns.) At the software company where Keanu Reeves works, his boss might as well be the principal castigating Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club when he says: "You have a problem with authority, Mr. Anderson. You believe that you are special. That somehow the rules do not apply to you. Obviously, you are mistaken." Of course, we learn that the oppressive Figure of Authority is the one who is mistaken. But instead of going to the prom, Keanu gets to pack heat, learn kung fu, wear a black trench coat and sunglasses, and, to top it off, he gets a hot, ass-kicking girlfriend who sports fetish wear. What kind of dystopia is this? No one wants to be Winston Smith in 1984, but everyone wants to be Neo (or Trinity, or Morpheus) in The Matrix.
As Alan Dean Foster puts it in Exploring the Matrix, an anthology of essays by science-fiction writers, Neo is "Everynerd": "His perceived world is a sham, a mistake, a carefully crafted fake, and you know, deep down, that yours is, too." But the movie has a special appeal to that subset of misfit, the computer geek. When we first see Neo, he's living alone in his cramped apartment, staying up all night on his computer. He's a programmer by day and a computer hac
Re:full text (Score:2, Insightful)
please, pull your heads out of your arses.
I disagree completely. (Score:3, Insightful)
This movie was good period. It had exceptional and ground breaking special effects. The story-line was great and contrary to the comment of the author the dialog was good.
Nope, it didn't have a ready made fan base but it does now.
I wish people would watch movies to watch movies instead of reading into them so much.
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:2, Insightful)
yup (was: I disagree completely) (Score:5, Interesting)
I have met Christians who saw the matrix as a metaphor for God, I personally think it was a modern version of a lot of the Tibetan Budhism teachings (an no I am not a Budhist, but interrested in the different perception of realities both in eastern and western culture).
In the movie, when the hero (Neo ?) is sitting in an armchair, and wonder if everything is fake, and the other hero asked him "what is reality ? Is it waht your senses tell it is to your brain ?" - this is a very "budhist question" (not only Tibettan, but accross the differnt form of budhism), and definitely a very valid question !!
Re:yup (was: I disagree completely) (Score:5, Insightful)
It probably was inspired by Plato or Descartes. It's the *Western* philosophy of rationalism.
See here [trinity.edu]
and
here [m-w.com] .
Re:yup (was: I disagree completely) (Score:2)
I think the quiestion is fairly universal to those who have enough capacity to sit down and think about it... No reason I can't be both Eastern and Western at the same time.
Re:yup (was: I disagree completely) (Score:2)
Re:yup (was: I disagree completely) (Score:2)
You didn't find the Matrix to be predictable?
"I agree. I personally do not care for for special effects, but I need a good story, and the Matrix was a very good story"
It had an okay derivitive story. Strip out the effects, and
Re:yup (was: I disagree completely) (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:yup (was: I disagree completely) (Score:2)
What, "We control everything you see and hear. Here, have some steak. You can't get that just anywghere..."
Sounds pretty consistent to me.
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm speechless. I really don't know what to say to this, and I wonder what you are trying to say. Are you saying that movies shouldn't have anything to say and that people shouldn't look for what the movie says? Do we just sit a watch a movie mindlessly, without thinking about what it is doing?
This is a very, very odd thing to say.
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:5, Funny)
I wish people would read comments to read comments without reading into them so much.
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:4, Interesting)
As well as movies, I've been told to stop analysing humour, and art in general. Apparently it should "just be funny" or "just be good art" without any reasons WHY it is. It's an idea mostly pushed by art students who like to think "i can make up any crap I want and call it art, because i want to".
Of course, years of working with computers and solving problems logically contribute to a mindset with a need for analysis... which probably means most of Slashdot thinks more like I do, right?
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:2, Interesting)
Even wo
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:4, Insightful)
The Matrix is a straight up Campbellian hero myth including the departure, wisdom from the old woman, descent into the underworld, return from the underworld, trial, success, bring an important power/artifact back to whoever. Good stuff and usually fun for most audiences (since the Campbellian hero myth is really the story of any successful human life, once enough of the unpleasant details are buffed out).
Blade Runner is a altogether different story. It's a cautionary tale about technology outstripping ethics and some of the real risks when we limit ourselves by what is possible instead of what is right.
The central conflict is an examination of the definition of humanity from an alien perspective (the replicants). At what point does the artificial become natural? Where is the line in the sand where we say, "This is human. That is not." What if they look the same but can't be mature enough to safely coexist because they didn't have a childhood? What if they look the same and remember a childhood? This exploration is set in a tragic context where the replicants could exist, a society in decay, struggling with the aftermath of environmental collapse, presumably from a history of tech/ethical decisions gone wrong (almost no natural animals, remember).
Then there are some closely related questions even more relevant to our lives today: do things have to be human to have rights? Is the ability to feel pain and fear enough to acquire legal protection? The tragedy of mortality, "All those memories lost; like tears in rain." Tyrell, as the technology wielder (creator), must face the pleadings of his imperfect creation and then faces destruction for those imperfections. The obvious issue of slavery, an assertion that is only credible once it is accepted that the replicants are in fact, human. Which ought to be an sobering reminder of the rule that a slave was counted as 3/5 of a person for apportioning representatives just 200 years ago here in the US...
I can completely understand why many people don't like Blade Runner. The questions it raises are intentionally unsettling dilemmas. It's much easier to skim over the depth and see it as a slow moving cop flick with a flaky soundtrack. But if you should choose to look below the surface, there's a world of philosophical exploration going on.
In my personal opinion, Blade Runner is the best movie I've ever seen. Though Fight Club just recently (two years ago) entered the running as a really strong second place... And who cares what Harrison Ford thinks. He's an actor and a damned good one but IMO acting skills rarely translate into anything else of value. Let's be serious here: Are you really expecting the man dating Calista Flockhart to be a shining exemplar of good taste and philosophical insight?
Regards,
Ross
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:3, Insightful)
If you really want
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't know anyone who didn't like the matrix. My mother, in 50s, rarely goes to the movies for anything, generally dislikes computers, and yet she is looking forward t
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:2)
Free thought (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I disagree completely. (Score:2)
1. With the advent of stars like Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat and Jet Li into popular American media, the Hong-Kong style martial arts movies are as popular as ever.
2. A story targeted towards computer geeks, sf fans, and people who appreciate state-of-the-art sfx (how fast that's changed) would have a certain proportion of the potential audience sewn up.
The movie was good, but... the dialog sucked. Keanu Reeve is a pretty awful actor,
Hehe (Score:5, Funny)
Oy Malfoy!
What is it, Potter?
BLAM.
No, but really, does anyone see the resembelance in the most recent matrix trailer [warnerbros.com] at the end where he flies past the castle and hogwarts/quiddich?
Neo: I don't need broomsticks.
Re:Hehe (Score:2)
So..... (Score:5, Funny)
Does this mean that MPAA boycatt ends on May 15th???
Re:So..... (Score:2)
I'm not sure whether the parent post is funny, insightful, or redundant. Hell, why not all three...
OR, the boycott just begins that day. All we have to wait to do is for someone to sneak a camera into the movie, then go to sharereactor.com and look at the recent releases. Wouldn't it be funny if opening weekend didn't turn a huge profit, and they blame pirates.
Re:So..... (Score:2)
Re:So..... (Score:3, Funny)
Heh. Don't worry, when the next cool scifi-movie is beaten by a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez, the Bocyott will be back on.
Huh (Score:5, Funny)
Have things gotten so bad that people have to be explicitly directed to read the article??
Re:Huh (Score:5, Funny)
Have things gotten so bad that people have to be explicitly directed to read the article??
Unfortunately, one cannot understand this article just by reading
Re:Huh (Score:4, Funny)
dystopic utopia (Score:5, Interesting)
all I want to know is, if there are hovering robots and a computer reality, is there no space capability? I mean, why don't the machines just purge the faulty human batteries and move into space? plenty of solar power, plenty of room. Besides, regardless of the number of humans you have powering your MMOR (Massive Multiplayer Online Reality) I cannot help but speculate that a nuclear reactor has a great deal more potential for raw power than small to mid-sized mammals...But what kind of a movie is that right?
Re:dystopic utopia (Score:4, Informative)
Now, if the robots have enough computer power to simulate reality for millions of humans, you might think they have enough computing power to control the power plant, but oh well, I thought it was a clever excuse for a pretty glaring hole in the movie.
Re:dystopic utopia (Score:3, Insightful)
Unless reality is simulated client-side in human brains, which would explain how Neo can create his own rules.
Re:dystopic utopia (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:dystopic utopia (Score:4, Insightful)
If you think too hard about what the agents can and cannot do, you will only get a headache. The only conclusion you can draw is that they have somewhat above normal control of "reality", which just got trumped by Neo. I guess the only solution will be to completely outnumber him....
Re:dystopic utopia (Score:2)
As long as we're in futuristic speculation mode, I suppose we can speculate that a fusion reactor would be difficult to control. Somehow I doubt it will be so tricky to regulate; the tricky part is initially figuring out how to build machinery to take advantage of some physical process. Once you get the basic
Re:dystopic utopia (Score:2)
I'll give you that a fusion reactor is going to be more difficult to control than a fission reactor, but that wasn't exactly what I meant. My point (probably badly stated) was that we don't currently know how to handle a sustained fusion reaction, but once we do, there will probably be a period of just a few decades during which reactor designs are modified to provide much greater stability and ease of control. No matter how revolutionary and complex something seems to be today, it will probably become a
Re:dystopic utopia (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:dystopic utopia (Score:2)
Re:dystopic utopia (Score:3, Funny)
Um, I'm pretty sure that 6 billions people sitting all day in wired pods produce a hell of a lot of waste... Probably doesn't smell too good, either.
Utter crap (Score:2, Interesting)
Yes, maybe to some people it was because Neo was cool and their dream person, or Trinity, or Morp
Re:Utter crap (Score:5, Insightful)
On an individual level, maybe not.
But the humans in the Matrix have no future. Extrapolating a little, it looks like the world is being held artificially to 1990's standards. In the real 1990's and beyond, technology is advance, society is moving along, and there's real hope that your kids will have a better life then you, which has driven more progress then you might think. In the Matrix, nothing; no progress, no future. No space colonization. Always at the mercy of your AI overlords.
On the individual level you might be able to live with that. Eventually, if the machines allowed mating to occur as it does within the Matrix (i.e., sex in the Matrix results in the machines moving the correct semen to the right womb, allowing natural selection forces to continue), humanity might have the spunk bred out of it. But on the racial level, the situation is intolerable.
In fact a lot of 1950's science fiction built on a very similar theme; if I had time I think I could pull three examples from my personal collection. I believe on of them was called "The Machine", which was a massive computing machine that had served several races into complete atrophy, then moved on to another star to do it again to another race. Finally, with humanity, it realizes it is doing more harm then good and packs up and leaves in the most disruptive way possible; a weakness not of The Machine's imagination, but of the author's, IMHO. Surely it would be better to at least re-educate the race to the level it had before The Machine came? But I digress.
Consider this: Suppose the humans lose, and the Matrix remains as is. What happens to humanity in 200 years? Two thousand? Two million? There's no easy answer to that question, there's no easy answer for us in the real world, either. But should it be in Humanity's control, not the AI's? Failure probably means the extinction of the human race, sooner or later.
A mixture of mass appeal and cult following? (Score:2, Interesting)
Great Page (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/c/t/ctm132/ma
was linked in the article... pretty funny stuff inside.
Re:Great Page (Score:5, Funny)
"Apparently, the machines found the two-digit binary system inefficient and instead opted for a dozens-of-alien-digits system."
Whats the article title got to do with anything... (Score:3, Insightful)
Is this really that supprising? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Is this really that supprising? (Score:2)
How many movies have there been where normal guys save the entire world??? A shitload! What is so different about them? Very often those guys are nerds in some way (usually not computer geeks).
It seems that this professor of yours has a serious anti-nerd slant, and just read his own bias into the movie.
Re:Is this really that supprising? (Score:5, Insightful)
Depends on your definition of "loser" and "nerd" I suppose.
For that matter, what makes the nerds so apart from the rest of the world? When the non-nerd male population watches Die Hard, of course they idolize Bruce Willis, seeing themselves in his shoes, thinking to themselves, "Yeah, I could do that! I am much man!". It's the same thing. Everyone loves fantasy, especially one in which one's self is made brave, important, powerful, etc. It's not just the "nerds" or the "them" as you put it, as though to distinguish yourself from those techno-untouchables. (Well, to be wholly fair, I guess I sort of think of myself as being above the furries [batcave.net], but I'm not sure that's quite the same.
Re:Is this really that supprising? (Score:2)
Bruce Willis didn't wear shoes throughout much of that movie, it was a plot point and had some significance to the entire story.
Re:Is this really that supprising? (Score:2)
For the record, I don't see what's so great about this movie myself. I also don't see "groundbreaking special effects" as something that adds a whole lot to a good movie.
How antitechnology was this prof? Against what sort of technology? Does this person ride a horse & buggy, crank up their Model T, do s/he accept self-adjusting carburation? What about electronic fuel injection? I suppose a modern diesel bus doesn't need to have that much technology yet.
Type up books on a mechanical
Re:Is this really that supprising? (Score:5, Interesting)
Linus. Torvalds.
In essence, Linus is a computer nerd that spent a whole bunch of time in front of his computer, and is now considered a very powerful person indeed. The software project he started is now turning whole economies upside-down. If that's not power, what is?
Now, it's important to note that Linus is a relatively unique story, but it does go to demonstrate that with enough effort and critical thinking (good timing helps, too), yes, one person can start to change the world - that's power for you.
Re:Is this really that supprising? (Score:2)
Re:Is this really that supprising? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Now OT: Re:Is this really that supprising? (Score:3, Interesting)
Dude, we're past the "laugh at us" part... we're on to the "attack us" part.
Next, of course, we, win.
Re:Now OT: Re:Is this really that supprising? (Score:3, Insightful)
I didn't realize that one needed to be famous to the general public in order to be powerful. I'm sure that most Americans don't know who the hell Hu Jintao is, but that doesn't detract from the fact that he's the leader of the most populated nation on the planet. (And a nuclear power at that!) No, Linus isn't particularly wel
Get a hold of yourself (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Is this really that supprising? (Score:2)
Re:Is this really that supprising? (Score:5, Funny)
Product Placement? Movie tie-ins? (Score:4, Insightful)
I wouldn't think Matrix would stoop that low, except for the current commercial tie-ins, that are making me suspicious.
I really think the MPAA should have a rating to indicate if there is product placement, and how extensive it is...
I would hate to see a good movie series ruined so the studio can make a little bit more money... *cough* *cough* *star wars*
Re:Product Placement? Movie tie-ins? (Score:2)
of course, the matrix is already so over-hyped it's amazing. any "philosophy" in that film was abandoned half-way through for a big blow 'em up, shoot out (that's not to say i di
Re:Product Placement? Movie tie-ins? (Score:2)
Doug
A Matrix Reloaded Review To Get You Hyped Up (Score:2, Informative)
"MATRIX: KINGDOM OF ASS-KICKING is like if all of Anthrax's albums formed into a hot chick who had to fuck you ten times a day or she gets pee-cancer." [aintitcoolnews.com]
You know what burns my butt? (Score:5, Funny)
Casting for The Matrix... (Score:4, Funny)
Ok, so obviously Harry would be Neo and Hermoine would be Trinity, but who would be Morpheus?
My vote's for Dumbledore. Just imagine him in a black trenchcoat with some slick shades.
Re:Casting for The Matrix... (Score:4, Interesting)
Harry Potter = Luke Skywalker
Hermione Granger = Princess Leia
Dumbledore = Obi-Wan Kenobi (duh)
Harry's owl = R2D2
Dobbie = C3PO (maybe)
Heck, there's even a big hairy guy who can be the mighty Chew-ba-cca.
You Know Who = Darth Vader (duh)
Hmmm...Harry Skywalker and the Jedi's Stone? (or Harry Skywalker and the Splinter of the Mind's Eye, if you prefer
EOL
Thanks from the motion picture industry (Score:5, Funny)
exec #2: You mean Slash Dat. Shall I have my well-paid contacts at the Slash post another pointless article on the Matrix to get them interested? Then they will flock to the movie and we will laugh uproariously as we use their own money against them.
exec #1: Actually, it's Slosh Dot, now that I think about it. Whatever the case, that's a great idea. They are all a bunch of hackers and pirates, so why not let them pay for the law that hangs them!
exec #2: BWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! MWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!
exec #1: Still have that bad cough?
exec #2: Yes, whenever I cough it sounds like an evil laugh or something.
exec #1: Weird.
Pencil-pusher Bull@$#% story... (Score:3, Insightful)
Man, do these types ever give up? It's like the business world is convinced that everything is about trends, ratings, etc.
Here's a thought... Did it ever cross anyone's minds that the Matrix might just be a dammed good movie? One that is unique and creative?
If you listen to these guys, you could take the same elements, and make movie that would be just as successful. If that were true, Star Wars 1 & 2 would have been just as good as 4, 5 & 6... If that were true, the last two seasons of the Simpsons would have been just as good as the rest, but they certainly aren't (it's like they fired the writing staff and hired guys that have only heard about the show 2nd hand).
haha (Score:5, Informative)
Re:haha (Score:2)
Re:haha (Score:2, Funny)
Re:haha (Score:2)
Every rose has its thorn...
Mr. Anderson. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Mr. Anderson. (Score:3, Funny)
And what is that karma?
Karma Excellent! (Mostly due to WYLD STALLYNS!)
Expert interviewee (Score:2)
And for this they interviewed Captain Cyborg [theregister.co.uk]?
Everybody duck, someone's credibility is going flying overhead and out the window...
The psychology of mythology - what makes a story? (Score:4, Insightful)
George Lucas sought to harness these concepts and taylor a mythology for the modern era, and with the help of Joseph Campbell, he succeeded. I recall hearing comments from many of my colligues that Harry Potter is a lot like Star Wars (back when the first one came out) and my imediate reaction was to examine the common threads where I found an almost identical human struggle. A lost chile finds his way in the world with the guidance of an elder who then (eventually) leaves the student to his own devices, to overcome a great evil, not only to save the world but to save some one or something far more personal to him. This is only a cursory summary of the similarities which were outlined in the article but can be examined more closely after a careful reading of some of Campbell's works on mythology. I recommend the Masks of God or the Mythic Dimention.
IN the case of the Matrix, I believe the brothers who's name I won't attemt to spell, simply stumbled upon this formula. Certainly there are similarities and this is what makes it such a compelling story, but as far as I know, they didn't approach the writing of the story as methodically, or in such a calculating way as did George Lucas or the author of the Harry Potter books.
--CTH
Re:The psychology of mythology - what makes a stor (Score:4, Interesting)
You know, I used to think George was greatness itself because of the first three SW movies, but now, after seeing the previous two, I think he just got lucky. I don't think he _really_ understands why the first three movies were so good, because if he did, I don't see how in the world the previous two could have been as bad as they were.
And he's certainly not much of an director. Hayden Christiansen _can_ act, but he's one of those iffy actors who requires a good director to get a good performance. Kinda like George Clooney. Put someone like Soderbergh at the helm, and even George Clooney can be a good actor.
Unfortunately, the latest SW films have mediocre writing AND mediocre directing. Great special effects, sure, but the original SW films weren't great because of special effects. The only saving grace out of either of the last two has been the fight scenes! That's pathetic.
*sigh*
The Matrix = Classic Hero Journey (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. I think Neo takes the classic hero journey. Just off the top of my head:
First, he gets the "ca
Another pop culture expert... (Score:5, Insightful)
The matrix is a great movie beacuse it is the first and only movie to really focus on the use of illusion as a tool of social control. From Plato and the allegory of the cave to Nietzsche and is exploration of slave morality, this has been a dominant theme amongst the greatest philosophers.
This movie did well because the people know in their hearts they are not free. They are enslaved by school, learning nothing but conformity and submission, then they work at a company contributing nothing of substance, wasting their lives away until its time to retire.
People know that their lives are impotent, that their hopes and dreams are completely disconnected from the reality in which they live.
This is the story of the 20th century, of people lost without the fiction of religion imposed on their minds, with governments scrambling to impose all sorts of substitutes to give life meaning to a nihilistic population, as well as find new ways to raise a worker class now that physical slavery no longer exists.
The entire social structure of the modern world is a fiction, just as the matrix is a fiction. Both serve the same purpose: to enslave the mind of free men.
Sadly, pop culture experts never read philosophy they look at everything as a fashion, a fad. "The Matrix is a mixture of kung-fu and sci-fi". The Matrix is no more "about" those things than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is about sex or Plato's Republic is about unemployed Greek guys dressed in Togas. There is a difference between the medium and the message, and this review gets it all wrong.
The Matrix simply uses pop culture theatrical tools as a means to an end, to open the eyes of a people doomed to a life of slavery. It is a noble effort, and one that should be applauded.
Nothing will blow your mind like reading Nietzsche however especially Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy for the Future [amazon.com].
There is also a whole book out discussing the philosophy of the matrix, but IMHO it is weak.
Re:Another pop culture expert... (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh, come off it. It's a great movie because the fight scenes are bitchin' and Carrie-Anne Moss in her tight black jumpsuit is HOT.
Re:Another pop culture expert... (Score:2)
That's why The Tick sucked so much.
Re:Another pop culture expert... (Score:2)
Though cats (especially black ones) are much cooler.
Ya know, they never did name the cat - I say we call him 'Felix'. Either that or 'Ditto'.
Re:Another pop culture expert... (Score:2)
All Robots (Score:3, Insightful)
The Matrix is no exception. The notion of humans as "power sources" makes perfect sense, then: the corporations still need votes to maintain their hold, in the US and Europe. Now that they own all the major news source
Best thing about the matrix (Score:5, Funny)
Poster A : See, Neo is forced to question the very fabric of existance. He questions everything that we take for granted and reveals that the truth is vastly different to what we perceive to be true. Its an existential quandry, are we just figments of someone's imagination? How do we know that what we perceive to be "real" is what is actually reality?
Poster B : I like the bit where he fights an agent.
Philosophy and Mythology are always appealing (Score:4, Interesting)
I would dare to angry anybody and say Star Wars is Lord of the Rings a couple of millennia into the future. Same for The Matrix being Harry Potter. But in terms of movies, I think the reverse is equally true. I think LOTR has to be thankful to Star Wars for part of its success, the same way Harry Potter has to be thankful to The Matrix opening the gates to the Magic Hero trail.
However, ancient and future heroes, battle of good and evil, greek, roman, chinese mythology have been part of a zillion good movies. I mean, good vs evil is THE subject of all modern movies. So why doesn't Sixth Sense, Toy Story and Austin Powers generate such an impressive fandom?
Let me wobble over a couple of reasons I think stand behind such a tremendous success as these four movies have inspired:
Low Expectations (Score:3, Insightful)
I've read a handful of awesome sci-fi books in my my life (out of thousands read) and I can truthfully say it would be sad to see them turned into a movies. Ender's Game with a happy ending? Could liberal Hollywood really get the point of "Atlas Shrugged" across? Expectations are already so low that even I compliment the latest rendition of LOTR. At least they didn't completerly bungle it. Battlefield Earth anyone?
How come no one remembers Dark City (Score:3, Insightful)
The emphasis on guns was way too heavy. While I don't believe in the direct connection of gun heavy movies to gun play in real life, this movie does put an interesting spin in the whole argument. Here's these people that can do so much with their mind, just because they believe... Yet they still use guns guns guns. Dark City showed one man take on aliens that enslaved humans for so long and he won, becoming god-like in the aftermath. I totally see this as the path the Matrix series goes. If the gun play goes down in the next two movies, it may redeem itself in my eyes.
Re:How come no one remembers Dark City (Score:3, Funny)
Matrix just has a guy imitating a block of wood.
No comparison!
Isn't the Matrix about Christianity? (Score:5, Interesting)
Anderson (which means "Son of Man") is the messiah/Christ who is going to save humanity from the illusion that life on earth is all there is.
In the Matrix (just as in Chrsitianity's teachings) there are good angels and bad angels in our world who are in a constant battle for our everlasting lives.
Some guy came to Keanu's apartment early on and said something like "you're my savior, man"; and later Neo was resurrected by "Trinity" (Father/Son/HolySpirit), reinforcing Neo as the Christ character.
There are plenty of other references like the name of the ship Nebecanezzer (sp) who was the king in the book of Daniel who wanted his dreams interpreted. The traiter's name was "Cipher" (ie. Lucifer). And there's probably a lot more that I have since forgotten.
The most poignent moment in the film for me was when Fishbourne was tied to the chair and the "bad angel" was saying something about how he hates people, that he hates their smell -- and he equates them to a virus. To me, this sounded like something a "fallen angel" or Satan would say to a real person in the same situation.
Anyway, just one guy's opinion. I spotted references to some web sites in the article, "Messiah in Matrix" and knowthematrix.com -- maybe I'll check them out.
Stephen Legge
despite, not because (Score:4, Insightful)
Seriously, I don't think his appeal is that in the Matrix he was a geek who broke into systems, it's more that he's an everyman who learns there's more behind the scenes, and he learns to master that.
Re:Matrix Reloaded? (Score:3, Funny)