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The Matrix to have two sequels 240

Posted by Hemos from the whoo-dude dept.
Soren writes "Apparently the deal has been made- there will be 2 'The Matrix' sequels. More details are availible. " And hopefully, the Wachowski brothers will be directing still. They are playing with the idea of two prequels, or two sequels, but releasing them within months of each other, a break from tradition, like some *harumph* other movies around.
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The Matrix to have two sequels More

The Matrix to have two sequels

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  • Re:The Matrix: One big cliche (spoilers) (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    A prequel would be fun, although a sequel would have to somehow limit Neo's powers - after all he could just wander around completely wasting the agents if he wanted now.

    The battle would be fought on two levels, I suppose -- one inside the Matrix, where The Neo is God, and one in RL, where is rather a sissy. Fairly unimaginative, but that would fit.

    S.

  • Re:GREAT! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    although there was a lot of 'borrowed' john wu stuff in it..

    Not really, as the fight choreography was brought to you by YUEN WO PING. Apparently the Wachowski brothers are fans of his.
    The following is some info on Yuen Wo Ping taken from WWW.WhatIsTheMatrix.Com

    In 1971 he received his first credit as a
    choreographer on "Mad Killer," directed by Ng
    See Yuen. Yuen Wo Ping choreographed most of
    Ng's early kung fu hits, including "Bloody Fists" and "Secret Rivals 2." For Shaw Brothers, Wo Ping arranged the fights for Chu Yuan's films "The
    Lizard" and "The Bastard."
    He made his directorial debut for Ng See Yuen's
    newly formed Seasonal Films in 1978 with the
    hugely successful and influential "Snake in the
    Eagle's Shadow," followed by "Drunken Master,"
    also starring Jackie Chan, and "Dance of the
    Drunk Mantis," starring his brother, Sunny Yuen.
    In 1993, Wo Ping directed one of his finest films,
    "Iron Monkey," again starring Donnie Yen, and in
    1994 he was fight choreographer on the film "Fist
    of Legend." It was his work on this film that caught the attention of the Wachowski brothers.

  • Re:It was done with FreeBSD! (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Here is the URL:

    http://advocacy.freebsd.org/stor ies/pr_matrix.html [freebsd.org]

    Regards,
    Marc

  • Matrix Website (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    go to
    www.whatisthematrix.com
    There are links to online comics and short stories.

  • Personally, I hope they don't reveal how the AI's took control and enslaved humanity. Sure, the idea of humanity bringing this upon themselves is pretty scary, but it has been done before (T2, for example)

    But what if, as far as the humans could tell, the AI's had always been in power. Forever and ever. What if the "reality" that the humans were experiencing had never really existed- it was completely fabricated by the AI's! Now that scares me....

  • ...you could just grab the VCD of the screener.

    - A.P.
    --


    "One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad

  • Even better... "Matrix--" and "Matrix++"...
  • Five Matrix movies is just not going to work. It was a pretty good one movie, but IMO, even one sequel is pushing it, let alone two sequels and two prequels. Unlike a certain other epic saga, the storyline and concepts in The Matrix have too many holes in them. Upon close inspection, many things, especially the technical details, just don't hold up. Over five movies, this will be glaringly obvious.
  • Oh come on. The storyline was pretty pathetic. The only reason I found the movie decent was because of the action.

    "Your mind makes it real" is a pretty weak explanation for why somebody's physical body dies or gets injured just because a computer tells their brain that they've died or been injured.

    The whole "bending the rules" via a "pirate signal" is somewhat fishy.

    The ending with love bringing Keano Reeves back to life was EXTREMELY cheesy and cliché.
  • 1) It wasn't Linux emulation. FreeBSD can run Linux binaries natively, at approximately the same speed as FreeBSD binaries, and at approximately the same speed as Linux itself can run them. Therefore, there was no speed reason to use Linux rather than FreeBSD.

    2) I'm not sure of exactly why, but apparently FreeBSD had some better support for their renderfarm than Linux did, hence the choice.
  • The Matrix makes violence look incredibly cool. The whole scene where they go in in trenchcoats and kill about 20 cops with a combination of Uzis, shotguns, martial arts, etc. All in slow-motion is one of the coolest movie scenes I've ever seen.

    But that doesn't mean I'd ever consider going into my school or something and doing that. That's the difference between sane people who watch a movie like that, and insane people. Insane people would go kill people after seeing that(or at least some people would like to believe it's that simple).

    I just wish people would let us be responsible for ourselves. I shouldn't be punished because of one incident of violence.

    I think everyone should take a step back from this and look at why we are doing all these crazy things. It all leads almost directly out of Columbine. It was tragic to be sure, but to make major changes in laws and/or our society after 15 people die in a fairly isolated incident is ridiculous.
  • These boys were not sociopaths, made by watching one too many horror flicks; they were sociopaths who happened to like horror/action movies.

    This is the difference between correlation and causation, things which no one can distinguish between these days(at least no one in the media).

    Marilyn Manson (who the Columbine boys actually did not listen to) wrote an article about how he sees the media as involved. It's interesting; probably not what the average parent would expect.

    Hmm, it was an interesting article. I didn't agree with him totally though, and it seems he uses words like "fuck" just for shock value. But I do agree more with him more than most.

    I think on one level my response to this would be "well, how many people do justify a change?" because i think it would be an okey thing if there were some isolated cause for it.

    How many people? I don't know. But when the crime rate is down, the murder rate is down, the % of crimes in which guns were involved is down, it's absurd to call for tons of new laws and new rules(e.g. my HS searched everyone coming into the school for final exams, is that even legal?). I heard somewhere that 19 laws were broken by those kids getting their guns(or by the people who bought thte guns for them), so why do we need more laws? the NRA says they just think the current laws should be nforced and that sounds pretty reasonable to me.

  • Hmm (Score:1)

    by crayz ( 1056 )
    I skimmed through it again. The only stuff I can really point to is "fucking", "bullshit", and "Bill Clinton shooting off his prick". BTW, I do find this fairly offensive for what would normally be in a magazine article. But I guess it's more the style. After reading it again I found what he was saying(or how he said it)was really pissing me off. I don't know, it seems very similiar to something I've read before. I don't know, he seems to have some common sense at least(something in short supply these days, IMO).

  • In other "Matrix" related news... (Score:4)

    by Masem ( 1171 ) on Monday July 12, 1999 @03:37AM (#1807528)
    I submitted this bit a while ago when it was announced, but... Apparently, because of the
    recent youth violence problems, WB will *not* be
    releasing the Matrix for VHS sales; You'll be
    able to rent it on VHS (or buy a rental copy
    at only $100 a pop), and you'll be able to buy
    it on DVD. However, the WB's thinking is that
    teens will have less access to a DVD player than
    a VHS player, and thus, this strategy will
    reduce the number of times teenagers can watch
    the movie. This move is expected to cost
    WB $50 million in spectulated VHS sales.
  • Unfair. Not being a Keanu Reeves fan myself (although I did like him in the Bill and Ted adventures!), I thought he was quite good in this. One of his better films, IMHO. He suited his character well.

    OK, the Kung Fu stuff was a little much sometimes, I'll give you that.

    Can't wait for the new films though - The Matrix is one of those films that I just couldn't get out of my head for weeks. Can't wait for the DVD...

    Seemingly it will not be realised on VHS - is this true? Can someone confirm?
  • After seeing the matrix, both on an unnamed friend's computer, and on the big screen, I would have to say that it is very possible to create movies both before and after the matrix.
    The matrix has one strong point, it has altered reality, and thus by doing so, it has given its self room to change anything that has appeared to have happened in the past, and anything that may happen in the future.
    After saying this, though, I must point out that it may not be the best way to go. Having the sequel start off by saying... they thought they won, little did they know that it was only an experiment... some sort of X-files twist...
    Can't we think of better names?
    I suggest "Matrix: The $Element" and "Matrix: The @Array" for the prequel titles... maybe "Matrix: The %Hash"?
    And for sequels, The Identity Matrix, The Rotation Matrix and/or The Translation Matrix?
  • I seem to recall "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" being about political corruption and the loss of innocence but also about refusing to give up and give in to the forces that be and fighting for one's beliefs. Maybe it's been a while since I've seen it, but I don't think it stands comparision with "Peter, Paul, and Mary".

  • The special effects were cool, but the rest of it was weak. It wasn't really trying to be a sci-fi movie; more of a metaphor for a mind-body dualist worldview. Although a more depressing version than is usual.

    --

  • As long as.. (Score:3)

    by mattdm ( 1931 ) on Monday July 12, 1999 @03:30AM (#1807533) Homepage
    As long as Keanu Reeves gets killed in one of them, fine with me.

    --

  • I enjoyed the Matrix very much, but I can't see any way in which they'd make a good sequel or prequel. There was something new and unexpected about the Matrix, and sequels tend to have this sort of..."You will like it! Your kids will like it! Your dog will like it!" kind of marketing strategy.

    Also, since the Matrix sequel has a guaranteed audience of people who liked the first movie, the studio probably knows it can throw any old crap onto the screen, and it'll be almost guaranteed make more money than it cost to produce.

    I'd like to be pleasantly surprised, of course, but it always seems that the most likely thing is to go the path of least resistence for making movies.

    -Dean
  • With all the creativity out there, surely it would be possible to release these movies in serial style: shorter, better, and cheaper. Shorter movie production times imply shorter release cycles (noone here is familiar with that notion, are they?). More use of CGI technology implies cheaper initial costs (esp using cots hardware and free/oss tools). More movies would probably lead to more competition between movie production companies and movie houses (and bigger opportunities for indies), which hopefully would lower prices. Great big expensive epic sagas would be the exception rather than the accepted rule for movie success.

    Everyone wins, even the geeks who are enticed into getting off their collectives asses and going to a movie house once a week. Imagine a screen with no keyboard... Phht. Wishful thinking. I'm nostalgic for an era before my time; how is that possible?
  • The Vector? The Tensor? The Eigenvalue?
  • Movie distributers have been pushing the DVD format for quite a long time. They have been developing a trend of releasing the DVD copy of a film months before the VHS versions. I'm not a big DVD buyer but two movies spring to mind.. Austin Powers and Patch Adams. This is the next logical step, release only the DVD and watch for sales. If they are sub par, release the VHS tapes. I expect to see this strategy on many films to come.
  • No worries. It wasn't very good. The visual effects looked expensive, though, so that might justify a viewing.
  • Can't wait to see them...

    They should go by the theme of the movie and naming the movies "Matrix-1" and "Matrix+1" though. :)

    And what's interesting is that the movie says they've thought about two prequels and two sequels. Now that would be interesting. :)
  • I have a feeling the brothers have enough "future history" to flesh out two more films. What we saw in The Matrix was somewhere in the middle, allowing them to make the next two films any way they liked. They can make two prequels, and show us the rich history they've conceived. (Although fitting Keanu in all that would be tricky.) If they go with two sequels, however, they can still draw from that history, even though we'd only get it second-hand through dialogue or brief flashbacks.

    Imagine Babylon 5 being presented in the same way. Say the first movie is the second Shadow War (essentially, the series in really condensed form). From there, JMS could do two prequels, say the first Shadow War and the Earth/Minbari War ("In The Beginning"). Or there could be two sequels, like the Telepath War and "Crusade." Or he could mix-and-match.

    Keith Russell
    OS != Religion
  • I think they should really bring Harlan Ellison into this. 'I have no mouth, and I must scream' is a very matrix-y kind of story. People have been asking why the machines used humans for a power source when they could have used anything else (and the many-mind processing power explanation is a good one, used in many SciFi stories), but another explanation (which can be used in addition) is that the machines really hate us, and get a thrill out of torturing our race, and enslaving us (again, a common thing in SciFi.) The episodes of B5 that Ellison had a big hand in were some of the coolest.
  • Nice to know some other groundfighter's on slashdot. Yes, stand up fighting is basically bs.

    I guess the public would not be too excited by armbars, ankle locks chokes and so forth.

    Watching a grappling master take out a moron might be interesting for the uninitiated, but watching two grappling masters go at it I think they might find boring (hence all the stupid rules in the ufc)
  • Funnny, but a "fake" grappling match could be just as exciting to watch as a "fake" standup.

    There is a lot of flashy stuff in BJJ and greco-roman, it never gets used because no one falls for it after a point.

    But it WOULD look good in a movie. Does anyone remember wathcing Dan Severn throw what-his-name around like a rag doll (the back suplexes) in the UFC? The crown freaked out over that.

  • Does that mean there's finally a chance for a big screen version of "Magnus-Robot Fighter"?

  • Teens have more disposable income than ever before (20 or 30 years ago, they wouldn't have had brand new BMW's to drive to the site of the mass murder they were getting ready to commit), and aren't saddled with the bills grown-ups are, so I expect WB's real motive has more to do with relative profit margins on DVD and VHS. In other words, $50 million spent on DVD's nets more than $50 million spent on VHS's, so they use the appearance of corporate good citizenship to disguise price gouging.

  • But does anybody remember "Total War"?

  • >> Keanu Reeves is in general, a horrible actor
    >> but in this role he was cast perfectly, they
    >> need someone who could act dumb and confused
    >> real well and he has that covered.

    Yeah, cos computer people are really bad at adapting quickly to new concepts, aren't we...

    KR is a terrible actor, and wasted the movie. The only time he looked animated was when he did some Kung-Fu, and I'd guess that's cos he claims he's an expert in real-life (from no-acting to over-acting in a couple of frames).

    My wife reckons the lead role would've been perfect for Guy Pearce (Aussie actor, last seen in L.A. Confidential), but hey, if you don't have a US lead then you don't get the finance.

    I want to see more of Hugo Weaving as the chief baddie, now he can act, maybe in a prequel he could be the original person who broke out of the Matrix, and using him as an agent is the Matrix's idea of a joke....
  • A sequel makes a lot of sense. Neo might be God in side the Matrix, but in the real world we are all still chained and used. And Neo cannot do shit about that, as the Matrix is part of that reality and not the other way around. His Godlike powers cannot stop the squids, the breeding, etc.

    Things I'd like to see in a prequel/sequel:

    • the building of the Matrix, and perhaps a better explanation of why to use humans as energy together with the fusion. A good writer can still write sense into that, maybe it was just ironic. We always enslaved AI, now they enslaved us.
    • City of Zeon.
    • an explanation of the scene in the car where Trinity tells Neo "you don't want to go that road, you've been there before and you didn't like it". That is one of the things that didn't completely make sense yet, although a prequel could do the trick.
    • More "Misssterrrr Anderrrsssoonnnn" chilly voices from Smith. Gosh I loved that guy.
    • Ultimately, the destruction of the Matrix itself so we can live a real life again. Or at least a long philisophical debate on whether that would be preferable to a Matrix we have under control.
    • More insider jokes like the 303 that was hidden in the final screen with all the numbers and the "System failure". The first three was covered by a 6 on top of it, and was so in the middle of the screen that it must have been intentional. Still, I was the only one to see it (first time already).

      I really hope they make one prequel and one sequel and have a re-release of the original in between. And then of course for sale, boxed, on DVD.

  • That always happens with rental movies. The problem is that these movies have been viewed several times and aren't even close to "new" condition. So, if you were collecting movies, I don't think you'd want to settle for one.

    Jordan
  • Now I'm regretting that I've never seen the original Matrix. I had assumed it would be another no-brain rip-off with totally unfeasible technological aspects to the plot with the same intelligence that brings the Mac Simple-Text voices to be used as the voice for AI machines in half-assed science-fiction shows on television.

    Of course, now everyone has sworn it's just the coolest movie and that I'll regret not seeing it on the big-screen (in fact, that watching it on a television will be worthless).

    Without watching the original, I'm not sure if I'll be interested in the next two -- I hope that they decide to release the original again just before the sequels come.
    ---
    seumas.com

  • Odd, I don't recall such fretting over The Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan, Lord Of The Flies, Silence Of The Lambs, Dangerous Liaisons, Sparticus or even Roots -- all of which certainly had 'gratuitous' violence and were certainly grafted from reality more so than a science-fiction flick.

    I really think they should listen to the consumer and stop bending over for every Tipper Gore that wants to feed us their prim and proper sterilized world of Peter Paul & Mary and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.

    Violent movies only seem to influence those who are insane and merely waiting for something to propel them over that edge of rage and those who insist on making their life-long goal to protect us from ourselves. Anyone so easily influenced, on either of those drastic sides of the fence, are in grave need of physiological assessment.
    ---
    seumas.com

  • Actually, they would be in need of psychological assessment.

    I'm not sure exactly where physiology would fit in. I've just been informed that my Ph.D has been revoked...

    grumble . . . preview, preview, preview -- THEN submit . . .
    ---
    seumas.com

  • Also among the fighting styles uploaded into Neo's brain was "Drunken Boxing" :-)
  • Custom made, cannot be bought. Look at imdb.com's info for Matrix, under the external links section. I think it was the FAQ link.
  • A friend and I had a great idea for the next two Matrix sequels.

    Part II: Several years later. The humans in Zion have, under Neo's leadership, become ready to retake their planet from the AIs. They wage fight a revolution... and fail. Totally. Zion has been found and the humans have to flee. Nowhere on earth is safe, so their only chois is to leave the planet, looking for a new haven where they can start again. The AIs have never needed to leave earth so don't maintain the technology but they can develope it and they would give chase. In the final scene, after the final ship has taken off, there is an explosion in Zion, near the earth's core and we see from the window of humanity's last colony ship the earth explode. Along with the AIs, everyone who could not be saved from the Matrix, everything.


    Part III: This one is a sort of phsychological drama. Not nearly as much action as the previous. Here is the last of humanity, who's planet, who's race, who's everything was destroyed by their dependance upon machines. Is flying through space in a ship, a machine, dependant again, even more than before. There's no real threat, no AI, but a lot to fear. How to people adapt to this new situation? I'd like to see characters like a historian, a studier of the events that happened while everyone thought it was the 20th century. I'd like to learn more about the AIs what the workings of the world would be like under a power totally alien, totally different from us.


    Well, so that's what *I'd* like to see in a SciFi trilogy. I doubt it would ever happen. I'm not the type who says "Well, the masses would never be able to grasp something appealing to one of _my_ intellectualy calliber" but it does seem that intelligent scifi is unfortunatly unappreciated in Hollywood.

    However, I do want to point out that I *loved* the Matrix. It wasn't deep, it wasn't even that great a sci-fi story. But it had the same appeal that Star Wars has for the same reasons. While SW very intentionaly employed cultural symbols and the like to allow everyone on some level to relate to the story in a more complete way, The Matrix has every popular element of Science Fiction wrapped up into one (admittedly somewhat contrived) story and that made it a great fun movie. I saw it twice, once with friends in costume and had a blast both times. I'm sick of these people talking about how this movie would only appeal to those lower on the intellectual food chain than themselves. I think they're judging it far too harshly.




    Ok. I'm done. =:)
  • It hardly started the genre, but I aggree. From the commercials I'd expected that movie to be the stupidest thing ever, but it was really good. I just hate the fact that movies like that always end with the hero becomeing a demigod but never ever actualy deal with the character *after* he/she's become nigh-omnipotent. That, I think is where the story woul dgre really interersting. Another reason to look forward to The Matrix sequels.
  • Here's an excellent article on fighting for the camera [web-vue.com] versus fighting for real. In some ways, making a fight look good on camera can be more difficult than being an effective fighter in real life! The best action stars, IMO, are the Chinese opera stars such as Jackie, Samo, etc., who have well-rounded backgrounds which include real martial arts techniques.

  • Re:Wow! (Score:1)

    by buffy ( 8100 )
    I disagree. Yes, they did _tell_ us quite a bit
    about what happened, but that is different than
    _showing_ us. I think both prequel and sequel
    ideas have a lot of merit, and a ton of material
    to work with, however it's the prequel that I'm
    the most interested in.
  • I agree, it wouldn't be that interesting to have a sequel which begins where the Matrix left off, but perhaps a movie which begins 10, 15, or 50 years later, to see the results of the aftermath. Does the Matrix get destroyed? Are the AIs wiped off the planet?

    The more intriguing possibility would be a plot which surrounds the realization that they simply can't just kill off the Matrix, but need to use it to begin to deprogram the human population from needing it, or better yet...begin to use it to their own ends.

    Regardless, I think a prequel is far more appealing.

  • Erg (Score:1)

    by astyanax ( 8365 )
    I hope it didn't just post that one line comment, that would suck...

    Anyway, I loved the matrix, it's got to be my favorite movie of all time. Hopefully the next movies will have more short of the computer screens so I can improve CMatrix [plattsburgh.edu] and jwz can improve xmatrix. Let's hope that Morpheus and Trinity play big roles in the next movies; Neo may be the chosen one but the movie would have not been the success it was without the talent of the rest of the cast.
  • Thats right, It may have been 1989 and 1990.. but very close though. "they weren't much to speak of" ?? They are classics!!

    http://www.bttf.com

  • I just hope the [pre|se]quel keeps with the story (however good or bad you think it is), unlike the Highlander movies which butchered the storyline. Highlander, the original was great. The next two blew. I hope The Matrix doesn't suffer the same fate.
  • >Of course Michael Keaton IS Batman...
    >...Adam West. pshaw!

    no, Adam West IS Batman.

    How can you not like comic-book-style, in-your-face POW!

    BUT!, if you had to pick from one of the modern Batmans, Keaton takes the cake.

  • I would rather believe they were doing this because they felt they'd only like people to see their movie "as it was meant to be", without any analog cheeze from a tape getting in the way.

  • Oh, how I would adore a prequel/sequel tied together... it would be frighteningly easy to expand the story this way. Tying elements over from the prequel into the sequel would be uberneat and lend a lot of flesh to the virtual world. And it's about damned time somebody did this temporal trick, releasing the films one-two.

    I can't wait. This is better than Episode II. (Then again, a lot of things probably will be... I can hear the cries of "Oh, Leo!" echoing back through time arlready...)

  • Have you visited the official website and read any of the supplementary stories, or seen any of the comics? There is a story in which a single person experiences multiple lifetimes, purely through mental means.

    Even if none of the same characters are in a sequel or prequel, the movie has built up enough of a different and interesting universe to fuel quite a few storylines without being spent.

  • Fractional version numbers all the way.
  • Go to the official site and read-up on the comics and other supplementary materials.

    Though they never mentioned it in the movie, some of the comics use the idea of harvesting our mental capacity (ala Hyperion [and others I'm sure]).

    I'm sure there are lots of holes in the Matrix that will be addressed in any movies they make in the same universe.

  • you got it exactly. it was an action thriller, possibly even a good one (i can't tell, action/kungfu thrillers are generally crap to me), NOT a worthwhile sf movie, nor even an attempt at one.
  • I'm surprised no one else has posted a link to the incredibly well-done Matrix Comic Strips [whatisthematrix.com] on the movie's website. [whatisthematrix.com] There's about a dozen short "illustrated stories" and a couple of prose short stories that are a must read for anyone who is looking forward to the sequels/prequels.

    At the very least, they show how many possibilities there are for good sequels to the first movie, even ones that don't involve the same characters. Who knows, one of these strips could inspire a whole screenplay.

  • How can they have conceived of the Matrix as a trilogy and now not know where the next two movies fit in the timeline (i.e. 2 prequels or 1 prequel and 1 sequel)? Doesn't add up does it?
  • so *thats* why the never showed the city of zion, they were holding out on us, bastards! 8-)
  • This is not flame bait...

    I am just curious, would you name a few movies that you thought were really good?

    Obviously everyone has different tastes... so it is no surprise that there are sci-fi fans out there who didn't like The Matrix.

    Did you like Dune?

    --bricktoad
  • This is bit off topic and may have been covered when the movie first came out, but has anyone looked into the plausibility of harvesting the energy of captive human beings?

    I'm no physicist, but this doesn't make much sense given my understanding of thermodynamics. I would think that it would be massively inefficient to do this given the amount of energy a human being requires just to stay alive plus the energy inputs of maintaining all the life support infrastructure.

    Other than that it was an extremely cool movie.
  • Don't think of it as purchasing a piece of technology. Think of it as renting a spot on the technology curve. In order to stay in that spot on the curve, you need to keep shelling out rent money. Break down the cost of your current VCR over the entire time you have owned it. Probably pennies a day.

    Not an entirely pleasant point of view, but it helps me deal with the fact that every PC I buy is obsolete in 6 months. (Obsolete in the sense that I can no longer play all of the cool network-based games that my other friends have moved onto.)
  • Think about it: The Matrix was one of those movies that would only work well on DVD. Sound and picture quality on VHS, compared to DVD, really does suck.

    When you saw The Matrix in the theatres, the soundtrack and FX was one of the things that made the whole movie what it was. If you don't watch it on DVD with digital surround and great picture quality, you're missing out on a lot.

    Plus think of all the "Special Features" they could pack onto a DVD like that. DVDs can hold 18 gigs, and a lot of movies only take up 7 or 8 of them. Think about the sort of fun stuff they can shove on that other 10 gig.
  • I'm hoping for "the Determinant" or "the Cross Product" myself. Or, how about Matrix 2: Gaussian-Jordan Elimination?

    :) I'm just kidding, don't shoot me!
  • Hmm, it was an interesting article. I didn't agree with him totally though, and it seems he uses words like "fuck" just for shock value. But I do agree more with him more than most.

    By my count he used the word "fuck" or "fucking" one time. Or are you just speaking of his style in general?

    Just wondering.

  • IMHO, something akin to the straylight run from Neuromancer would fit beautifully into a Matrix sequel.

    Take omnipotent Neo and jack him in, and while he's giving the AI hell from the inside out, the others are trying to cripple it from the outside in..

    We certainly didn't see much of the 'real' world in Matrix0, so it seems like a logical place to go. Especially now that Neo can't be touched in cyberspace - the AI (methinks) would try to shut him down IRL.

    That's for sequel #2, for #1 it should probably be a precursor to what's already been out. Run a "AI goes naughty" movie - maybe with the first 'The One' biting the big one at the end. Then re-run the original Matrix, so no one forgets what happened, and the Wachowski make a few more bucks. And finally run the sequel #2 where the AI finally 'sees the light' or gets decompiled, or whatever.
  • I feel very strongly AGAINST buying a DVD player right now. Yes, the quality is higher, blah blah blah but as a college student, VHS (at least I hope it's not) is not going ANYWHERE for awhile, not in my collection, and I certainly don't have the money to drop on even a cheaper DVD player. This is really reminiscent of the Cassette/CD conunudrum that I endured for years and it pisses me off that WB is yanking my chain like this.

    Well, like the song goes, time marches on. New formats do come in, and, because they're better, they eventually surpass the older ones. If that weren't so, forget about 8-track tapes, we'd still be using wire recording from the 1930s. There are periods of turmoil, yes, as people have to switch over, but ten years from now, once everything's settled down again, we'll all wonder how on earth we got along before DVDs. Slight exaggeration, maybe, but only slight.

    At any rate, I do agree with you that a DVD player is not the way to go. I personally think a standalone DVD player is something of a dead end. It only has the one use--playing DVDs. Why pay that much for something you're only going to use not even half as much as you would a VCR? (A VCR, after all, can record too.)

    Look at these two alternatives:

    DVD-ROM drive: It can play movies, DVD-ROM software titles, CD-ROMs, and so on. Sooner or later, you'll need one anyway; be enjoying the movies now rather than later. At $170 plus shipping for a Sony DDU220E/Sigma Designs Hollywood + combo, that's less than most players, less even than some VCRs. And it's useful for other things, too...

    Playstation II: It's going to use DVDs as its game media, and it seems likely it'll play video DVDs too. And the PSXes are usually sold as loss leaders so Sony can make profits off the game discs...so it'll be cheaper than the same components would be elsewhere. And it's useful for more than just watching movies, too.

    I really think that DVDs herald the start of the next stage of computer/media convergence...DVD players are a dead end (or at least less of a standalone appliance than LD players or VCRs), because before too many years, most people will have computers capable of viewing them without needing something separate. Look at how many people have color TVs now.

    Incidentally, "losing" a retail copy might not be the wisest thing, given how much they tend to cost. I wouldn't pay $100 for The Matrix, no matter how cool I might think it is. But then, I have a DVD-ROM drive...

  • Yeah, I tried to post this as well, found both of these off of dvdresource.com [dvdresource.com]: One from Variety Magazine [variety.com] and another from Sci Fi Wire [scifi.com]
  • Well, it all just depends on what comic you are reading. There weren't many cheesy POW sound effects in Frank Millers Dark Knight for certain.


    For anyone that was a fan of Batman when they were kids and are looking for some good (dark) reading, I'd suggest you pick it up. There is some web site out there that sells Graphic Novels at a discount, but I forgot the URL.. anyone?
  • I've seen plenty more brutal movies than The Matrix - in fact, The Matrix kinda trivialised the violence by making such a thing of it.

    Frankly, that's the real problem in our society, the trivialization of violence. Violence is never trivial to the victim.
  • I wanna know the history behind the original "escapees" from the Matrix; how did the first break free, or slip through the cracks?

    Second thing is the man-machine war, man's downfall, and the general history of the Matrix. Pre-prequel material.

    As for a sequel... I'd be afraid it'd turn into some goofy Superman-meets-Lawnmowerman rip-off. Could work though. Neo takes on the Matrix, finds original access codes, shuts it down, that sort of thing.
  • >Geek: "But GL, in 1979 you said you planned 9 >episodes."

    >GL: "eh, I changed my mind, I don't know if I >can milk it all that far."

    Bear in mind that Star Wars (Ep4) was studio-funded and it's not the smartest thing to go into a meeting with people funding you and saying "Hey! I've got another 8 to do after this". He was being realistic at the start, and making sure that his first major film was one nicely starting and ending package.

    It was only after the success of Star Wars that he realised ESB and RJ could go ahead.

    or so legend has it anyway..
  • I've not read any anouncement by WB regarding their release-to-video of this film, so I'm going totally by your statements, and I'm thinking, WTF! Do they REALLY think they're keeping this movie out of the hands of impressionable youth by selling it at a high price? If I can rent it for $2 at Blockbuster, it's sort of a moot point, isn't it?

    This tastes a lot more like creating demand through artificial scarcity.
  • Two thoughts -
    If you "lose" the rental, they'll charge you for it. You haven't stolen it, you've bought it, and at a MUCH higher price than if you bought it new.
    If you wait until the initial feeding frenzy dies down, you can buy a used copy of the movie pretty cheap.
    One more thought -
    Don't buy a DVD player - buy a computer with a DVD-ROM that will play DVD movies. Be sure you've got a video-out connector somewhere on the back and patch it into the TV. Voila.
  • I thought it was a great movie. Since I had no idea what the movie was about, when the truth became evident, my jaw dropped completely to the floor and my eyes bugged right out.

    But as someone below said, there isn't really anything they could do, prequel/sequel-wise that would be as great. If they did a prequel, what would they do? Show how Morpheus came to know "the truth"? That seems like it would be almost the exact same story, except with Morpheus in Neo's role.

    Or they could go over Neo's childhood and show how he sensed disturbances in the Matrix from a very young age. That would surely suck.

    Maybe they could show how that old lady, the "first one" came to know the truth... starring Salma Hayek.... drool... That would be nice I guess, if they did it right.

    As for sequels, I guess they could show Neo trying to help all of humanity, which would really drag the Jesus themes out even more than they were in the original. He would probably even "die for our sins." I guess this could be a decent movie if they did it right also, but it would easily suck. The slow-mo / fast-mo effects are no longer new to us and so will not provide the same sense of awe as when we first saw them.

    But I think this will fall prey to sequel-syndrome. The studio will make a formulaic sequel simply to make money, not to make a cool movie, as must have been at least part of the motive behind the first one. So the sequel will suck, yet make millions of dollars.

    So I guess it really be our generation's Star Wars. Cause, IMHO, The Phantom Menace was the worst movie I've seen in years; and I had no preconceived notions about how good/bad it would be.

    Anyway, we can only hope for a better fate for Matrix -1, -2, 2, and 3.
  • A cliched plot does not a bad movie make. It's all in the execution. For instance, the original Star Wars was a big cliche, the book Dune had an unbelievably cliched plot as well, but they were both good, thanks to their execution.

    I was impressed by the Matrix. It had a plot, it constructed a world view, and it stuck to its concepts. It was consistent in its logi In my opinion, if you like intellectual science fiction (not sci-fi, or the latest flavor of Star Trek or whatever), I think the Matrix should be right up your alley.
  • The number one rule of a Hollywood movie is that the lead character must go through some personal growth experience. Since Neo is now the messiah, (which leaves little room for personal growth) this rules him out as the main character for sequels.

    Also, the central conceit of Matrix (which comes straight out Buddhist philosophy via Philip K Dick) is that the world the characters are living in is not the "real" world. This revelation cannot be repeated without becoming repetitive, which also tends to rule out a sequel.

    The (pr/s)equels should have some philosophical content too. It would be interesting to go back and see the robot's first attempt at the matrix, which was supposed to be utopia, and why it didn't work.
  • you do know it was done with linux tools running under FreeBSD's linux emulation, right? The director/special effects guy didn't want linux run on any of the machines because he was a FreeBSD zealot, so they used linux tools under emulation.

    (no. I don't remember the URL where I saw this.. I believe it was on /. however..)
  • Releasing the pre/sequels a few months apart: a break from tradition, maybe, but (if memory serves me) not unprecedented. Didn't the "Back To The Future" sequels get released in the same year? Granted, they weren't much to speak of, but I do believe much hoopla was made about their release dates' proximities.
    "there once was a big guy named lou
  • Good point, but a word of caution:
    Almost no one says that Thin Red Line or Saving Private Ryan had "gratuitous" violence. Graphic, yes, but in the context of conveying the horror of war. The rest of the movies predate the current frenzy against movie violence, but the point stands for Spartacus and Roots. The Matrix, on the other hand, is seen as making violence look really cool.

  • IMVHO The Matrix had the most *amazing* fight scenes that I have *ever* seen. I guess you could say it was K-Rad (grin)

    Then you need to see Drunken Master II!!
  • I kinda disagree -
    Why go down against a larger stronger opponent? Morpheus was bigger and concievably stronger. He also knew more about the matrix, than Neo at that point. Against that the best tactic is still keep him away from you, and look for an out. Morpheus should've put Neo on the ground except he was trying to teach him to use the matrix, not proper fighting techniques.
    As for the fight with Smith, well the same argument kinda holds, Smith is supposed to be stronger. But my I thought (but might have forgotten) Neo was still looking for a way out at that point. In that case you don't want to get stuck on the ground, cuz then you are stuck there till one of you wins. And you're really screwed if any others show up.
    True what they showed you in the movie was not the "best" fighting techniques (not that there really is any one best), but more of a pretty picture, that almost can be seen to have a reason, that kinda helps the story/prettiness of the movie, if you suspend your disbelief. Errr something like that.
    -cpd
  • You mean Sylvester Stallone? He played a boxer, and besides he WROTE rocky.
  • Incidentally, the majority of the fight sequences did use valid Kung-Foo techniques - it wasn't play-acting like many people claim. I know, because I routinely get my ass kicked at my local Muay Thai camp!

    Those were definate real wu shu arts. Very technical, and very practical.
  • Anyone into the martial
    arts scene knows that that is where groundfighting skills rule supreme.

    And anyone in the Kung Fu scene knows that they have groundfighting AND the Chinese kickboxing.
  • The only complaint about the movie is that the fighting in the movie was all "power" moves; however it has a lot of good blocks as well to balance the movement out. One of the styles (i think crane) states that "every hit avoided is a hit avoided, every hit blocked is ten possible hits."

    Muay Tai is very ugly, but quite effective. It's more of a Wu Shu art than a Martial one. Not much thinking, mostly acting.
  • There were two "Real" ones, 1 "fake" one, and one "abhorent" one. That's in order of play. The Tim Burton version is 10x better than the latter versions. Of course Michael Keaton IS Batman, and there's nothing that will change that in my head.

    Adam West. pshaw!
    George Clooney? Val Kilmer? Such un-Batmanish actors.

    Kilmer was better as Mad Martigan in Willow, and Clooney was better in The Peacemaker.
  • "every hit avoided is a hit avoided, every hit blocked is ten possible hits." -- simply means that if you evade, you can counter quicker than if you were to absorb a hit or block it. Situation:

    Someone takes a swing at you. You :

    A) step back and avoid the blow, blocking upwards. (self defensive, minimal effort, self preservation)
    B) block with a arm motion (Kung Fu - stylisitc, without force (remember Kung Fu is about Tidal Motion) and open to attack from not moving
    C) take the hit (body shot) or grapple (attempt at your head) (Muai Tai, reactive, open to multiple leg attacks)

    The reason they say every blocked hit is ten more his is hopefully obvious. For every hit you block, you risk getting hit many more times. Being from a muai tai tradition, I'm sure you've felt this (physically) personally.
  • Grappling is just like muai tai, monotonous, ugly and hard to watch. But it is effective.

  • Obviously they have to make at least one of them a sequal since they've already signed Ted (Keanu Reeves). But since TPM is a prequel they'll probably make one of each just to be cool.

    If the Wachowski brothers have spent any time on the Internet at all the know that they better come up with something better than the batteries next time around. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some of the material on the official site [whatisthematrix.com] seeping in.

    Finally, do you think they'll base the original Chosen One (who is the obvious focus of a prequel) on the same Christian mythology or maybe pick another culture? Will they work to make this series the geek classic that Star Wars no longer is?

    On a final note: I'm a little annoyed to see Sydney being chosen for all the reasons Vancouver is supposed to be. :)

  • Ummm...I can walk in to WalMart and buy a CD player for $50. When they came out, you couldn't touch one for less than $1000. The poster was talking, I believe, about the hardware, not the software.
  • Ok, I've seen the cell phone advertised that was used in the movie, but how about those sunglasses that clipped onto the nose (they did not have earhook/thingies)?
  • Actually, Dark City was shot in the same studios just before The Matrix - there might even be bits of the set in there!

    It was a pretty good movie, but The Matrix kicks its arse in every way possible...
    --

  • >A somewhat more plausible scenario would be that
    >they used the humans as hardware. Use parts of
    >the human brain to run their own personalities,
    >which could explain why Neo can manipulate the
    >Matrix so easily; he taps into the part of his
    >brain that the Matrix runs on.

    In the written stuff available, that is the general idea. The Matrix(thing, not movie) uses brains for both processing power and for inspiration/creative programming. One of the shorts is about a person who is "hired" to write a new type of AI.
  • "more DVD player sold = more DVD player produces and the price can fall)"
    Yes, the prices would fall. About as much as the price of CD's has fallen.
  • Sequals or prequals.. hrm.. prequals would be nice because there'd be no Keanu Reeves. But that would pretty much make the first movie pointless. Though he's some sort of messiah character, it's left open ended as to whether or not he can actually defeat the AIs.

    What would be interesting as if they made the next movie into both a prequel and sequel, moving the prequel in flashbacks. It would certainly fit in with the sort of fractured view of reality the movie presents. While traveling to the underground city and defending it against the AIs, they could have flashbacks showing the human defeat and rereat underground in the first place.

    There's just one thing they better get right, or these sequals will join Phantom Menace and Titanic as Movies I Refuse to See. The humans value to the AIs will not be as batteries!! It's a god damned closed system! If they can feed those millions of people, why can't they use that energy to power themselves? If Hollywood types can hire hundres of educated people to make special effects, you'd think they could at least hire one person to tell them when their science is bogus. Geez..

    A somewhat more plausible scenario would be that they used the humans as hardware. Use parts of the human brain to run their own personalities, which could explain why Neo can manipulate the Matrix so easily; he taps into the part of his brain that the Matrix runs on. The whole battery thing could be a red herring to the keep the resistance confused. Anyone know the email address of the director? :)
  • Does that mean there's finally a chance for a big screen version of "Magnus-Robot Fighter"?

    I'd pay to see that on the big screen! I loved those comic books when I was young.

    Thad

  • If you're going to pick... (Score:3)

    by Inspector ( 38755 ) on Monday July 12, 1999 @05:20AM (#1807646)
    then why do the bots even bother using humans? Don't you think it's a lot of trouble to build this hugely complex virtual world for human beings if ANY warm source would do? Why not cows? A big virtual field with lots of vitual grass seems to be a whole lot less trouble. I mean, humans have a history of being shitty slaves, we're always rebelling and whining and stuff. Now cows, cows would be perfect, they digest, create LOTS of heat, and never bother at all with philosophy or uprisings and such.

    But seriously, I must agree that that premise was a little weak, though the movie rocked. If anyone has ever read the hyperion series by Dan Simmons, they'll remember the "evil" AI's in that story. The AI's feed off of humanity by using our unused brainpower for their processing needs without our knowledge. That would be more plausible. By the way, that series was one of the BEST pieces of literature (not just sci-fi) that I have ever read. I'd recommend it to anyone.

  • Don't know about your naming policy, the
    mathmatically inclined would probably vouch
    for

    The Vector
    The Matrix
    The Tensor

    ... ;)

  • To some extent, I agree. The Tai Chi I've learned is especially usefull in one-2-one situation.

    However, do you expect the audience to understand this? Sure, a large element of Kung-Foo is Chinese Kick Boxing, which is obviously more of a close-in fighting form. Personally, I favour my beloved Muay Thai if I absolutely have to fight somebody. It's brutal, fast and where the Matrix stuff looked beautiful, Muay Thai is damned ugly. My instructor said "You're not learning a Martial art, you're lerning how to fight". I could go on...

    But you're right I guess. I too cringed when they were doing their (fairly dumb) stances, looking pretty much as stupid as the Kata seen in bloody Karate Kid! I know, I know, focus your Chi, but some off the stances just looked like bouts of constipation!

    From one fighter, to another - "Wai".

    Mong.

    * Paul Madley ...Student, Artist, Techie - Geek *
  • ...and provided Keanu with the opportunity to redeem himself cinematically which hadn't been done since the dark ages of "My Own Private Idaho", and Bill and Ted days at the merry-go-round of the current decade.

    Overall the first film was a pretty rocking development of the original Gibson-esque inspired Matrix concept and a not_to_be too sneezed at adaption considering the commercial niche it aimed to fill.

    The choice of the new generation which was the old generation which was Star Wars. Face it kids -- we grew up, and Lucas didn't.

    You can sure bet that the Wachowski brothers have got their heads screwed on tightly enough avoid a possible die jar jar [asciimation.co.nz] maelstrom.

    We've got hell sexy effects to look forward to coupled with *gasp* a script, decent character development, sassy sound, brilliant cinematography, and some bad-assed credible cyberpunk; all built in with bitchin attitude.

    Helluva rollercoaster for unadulterated entertainment. I'll buy a return ticket thanks.





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