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The Bargain Nexus - The Matrix
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List Price: $12.98
Our Price: $4.08
Your Save: $ 8.90 ( 69% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Gloria Foster
Directed By: Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780790742618
Format: AC-3
ISBN: 0790742616
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 1999-09-21
Running Time: 136
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1999-03-31
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: I am outraged...1999 disc in 2008 box-when a 2003 remaster exists!
Comment: I just purchased the newly-in-a- keepcase (not a snapper)edition which has ©2008 on the back cover fine print (Amazon says 2007)
I had held out because I had heard rave reviews of the remaster for the box set back in 2003-which you could only buy in the set at the time . I already had the 1999 disc-so I could wait
So, 5 years later a new package, with new package design work, current year copyright,-and WHV sitting on a nice RM for a few years I thought "Aha! Now is the time to get it it!"=thinking that after all the years they would ditch the 1999 transfer.
I watched the movie and thought, hmmmmmmmm nothing here that outstanding-almost looks like the old disc.
So I put my disc into my iMac, opened it on the desktop-nothing!
I use this trick to determine when a discs is remastered.
They can press the disc for 5 years but the transfer date is the constant on file creation.
WTF? I open to a blank page! no TS_AUDIO, no TS_VIDEO no .VOB files nothing-these would show dates of creation on them, so one can tell the last time a disc was remastered.
My long used trick didnt work.
Then I get the idea to do a 'right click' to 'get info' from the menu
Lets party like it was 1999! August 2-to be exact. Seems like they were hiding something?
an 8 year old transfer in a 2008 box......"File creation date-Aug 2, 1999" hmmmmmm is it just me?
I also notice on the inner ring, a different catalog number-and MADE IN CANADA printed on the plastic)
Curiously, nowhere on the label is a visible date or place of manufacture-which I thought to be law.
And the box has the ©2008 date only
Misspackaging? They should destroy back stock, or stop printinng them-not reship it at this late date as if 'new'
I dont think the marketseller will refund me-"Whaaaa! I got the 1999 pressing I want my money back"-he couldnt know
This has me pi**ed because they have been sitting on a remaster for several years-and it should have been made available as a single disc by now- I didnt want the whole box-back then, or now
After all, it would not be two far out of reason to expect it with new box/design change, that they would use the new transfer,no?
With an economic meltdown happening right before our eyes-$175 Trillion in bailouts (total so far), consumer spending dropping like a stone,- and the deficits-we sit in a trance and allow this
I would not offend the still very large S-DVD market which is still 90% of your revenue-BR can never quite keep a continual average of 10% in monthly sales (source: videoscan/endgadget-industry gerbils- for past 6 months ZD Net-a popular widely read IT i-zine' -say 5% 0f the market)-and now you can bet that will drop with the economy.
a 10% sales drop in DVD sales could be absorbed-a 10% in BR would finish it off
Sales of players are slow now and will be dead in Jan-you can see the writing on the wall-"BUY ANY 1 BR title AND GET 3 FREE!! Not exactly confidence building- which i s why Ive held off- and who knows how long I will have my job?
And YOU?
So Warner-dont pull tricks like you did to 'force' us from LD to DVD-namely-by either giving the BR the special features ONLY, and for SDVD, sloppy pressing and packaging-or not even manufacturing the disc at all.
BOTH SONY and WHV were guilty of this when DVD started. Some will chime in "Nobodies forcing you to go to BR..." Well, if I like watching moves or getting SEs-and they no longer press them on DVD-I AM forced-into BR-not a very good marketing idea when we may soon see 25% unemployment*-and people will only buy NECESSITIES (nobody in finance the fairy tale calculation models that BLS use seriuosly-which curiuosly make things look 'rosier' than they really are-they ONLY count you as UE if you are COLLECTING UC..the rest of you can get lost for all they care) They say 6.5%! ha!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Action movie disguised as science-fiction delivers the goods
Comment: Beginning this review I was writing the film's title and ended up with "The Mainstream" (100% accident) which pretty much sums up the premise of The Matrix franchise. The Matrix is good in the fact that it takes complex science-fiction from previous 1990s films that didn't quite meet mainstream audiences (Dark City, 12 Monkeys) and merges it with the spectacular CGI effects of an action film. As an action film The Matrix is incredibly successful and deserves great recognition as one of the best films of the 1990s, or the past two decades for that matter. However I do feel let down by the fact that I felt cheated by the story when they didn't try to further flesh out the world it took place in.
My main problem with the film falls on the fact that, as an avid sci-fi fan, I had already seen most of the concepts The Matrix presented in previous films (go back to the two I listed above). The religious spin on things however does really make it interesting, kind of like a science-fiction version of some religious document, but a human being having special abilities and saving a captive human population from a controlling force which had everyone living in a false reality had already been used in Dark City back in 1996. This, among other things, is one of the reasons I don't give The Matrix a perfect score of 10/10.
As a sci-fi film it was very good, regardless of how many of the elements that it was reusing from other films, but I often felt like the production team couldn't decide on whether or not they wanted an action picture, or a thought stimulating sci-fi epic. By the end however The Matrix does succeed in balancing these two things very nicely. The CGI deserved its Academy Award, because it really is amazing some of the things they were able to pull off.
The acting in this film was grade-A, and one of the strongest aspects of the film's production, and there was only ONE performance that failed to catch my attention...sadly this performance (my opinion) came from the star of the film: Keanu Reeves. Reeves has had his moments throughout his career, don't get me wrong, back in the late 1980s (most will remember the Bill & Ted films) he was a rather likable young actor, even in his lesser known performances; he seemed very honest and sincere in his performances. A change came about when he announced he was going to "take acting more seriously". The result, in my mind, was horrific! He comes across now as someone with very little emotion, and just doesn't seem really human.
I had the same problem with Keanu in the action movie, Speed, which followed the Die Hard franchise, but unlike Bruce Willis, I couldn't connect, or really care about Reeves in this film (similar feeling in Bram Stoker's Dracula, but he wasn't TOO bad in that film), which was certainly on par with the Die Hard films in production and story. Same problem is present in The Matrix. Reeves is trying way too hard to seem serious, and dramatic, and in the end comes across as being artificial, and dull. If that was the director's intention, I don't really care, because I felt this was a character the audience should have been able to relate to and care about, but that's just my opinion and you don't have to agree with me (just giving an honest view from my perspective).
Okay, I've given my criticisms, but now I have to say what was really good about The Matrix, and there are a lot of good aspects of this film which is why it deserves my high rating (and a spot in my DVD collection). The action is well-done, and truly is an eye opener, and as I previously stated the performances are mostly strong. Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus) and Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith) are very good in their respective roles, and both (as most people will say) are embraced as engaging characters in the mind of the audience, while Reeves was more of a vehicle to channel elaborate action sequences (the highlight, in most people's opinion, of the film). Also the Wachowski Brother's film is simply beautiful to look at, from the all CGI sequences to the live sets. The sequels, which go purely into action, prove that this film could have been a much worse (I don't hate the sequels, they just are not really sci-fi; just action films).
This film really does have all it needs to work as a successful film, especially in the mainstream Hollywood of this day and age. It would have been braver for the filmmakers to try and expand, and concentrate on the complex science-fiction aspects, instead of the action, but then it wouldn't have been the box-office success it was. I would defend them no matter what, but when you go against the powers if mainstream and the production companies and end up with a good film you'll always have me backing up your film...of course I will be critical if the plot and direction is bad, but at least I'll give you a positive word for daring to be different.
I can only hope that The Matrix can help get moviegoers into the lesser known art-house science-fiction stories that inspired it, because it's a shame that our modern audiences can't seem to appreciate things that don't fuse with action or comedy, because I don't feel science-fiction was ever really intended to be a genre simply designed to create exciting action sequences.
The Matrix was a great film, deserving its mainstream applause: Solid 9/10 stars
Customer Rating:
Summary: What a price!!
Comment: Excellent price on this DVD. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Amazon.
Customer Rating:
Summary: ACTION MEETS INTELLIGENCE
Comment: It's a rare thing to see a film with as much originality as the Matrix and its uniqueness is matched only by its over the top action and superb cast.The story follows a computer hacker known as NEO played by Keanu Reeves as he is shown the "real world" and discovers what the Matrix is.To truly understand what this film is about you must experience it for yourself, ironically like the Matrix itself.Along with a unique sci-fi story, the Matrix features some of the most talented actors of today giving what could be the strongest performances of their careers.With martial arts action that far surpasses anything seen before,a rich story with tons of character depth and a technology pioneering title that includes 360 photography and bullet time, to miss this film would be a tragedy.So jack in and see for yourself what the Matrix truly is.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The ORACLE was in the Matrix!
Comment: as soon as I saw him eat that cookie I figured out how many script errors were made and since I can't read all 3000 reviews just had to add my 2c...why would u bother with a matrix concept if u just wanted to milk babes for AC/DC??? They grow up? Kill em... and that screen depicting the vertical scans of random numbers, and only one quick shot to show how it is really interpreted, as a GD camera!!! and what is with the high tech gear that is available in sposedly '99 (i.e. learn to fly, UFC, etc.) and they use KEYBOARDS!!!! not even ONE voice command??? and that phone booth interface was soooo ingenious, beam me up Scooby Doo...YIKES!!! really luved the scene going thru security post 9/11 with all that commando gear, major yuk of the film...and why on God's good earth would they have one source for the codes to Zion, no super s/w dewey decimal system to encrypt the lat/long??? ack, have lots more but hated to discuss this film with my roomtemp IQ friends, they claim they all "got" it, but don't ask them any of these questions, they change the subject...SCREAM!!!!@@#%%@%! Positives were the high wire acts, the cute outfits in black, the traitor enjoying his fake moo meat, the music, and of course, that babe in RED!!!
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Editorial Reviews:
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Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells of a computer hacker (Reeves) who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth. The computers are powered by human beings... DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by C. Moss, J. Gaeta, & Z. Staenberg
Featurette:"Bullet Time" Featurette (6:01) "What is the Concept" Featurette (10:50)
Music Clips:2.0 Music only with commentary
Other:HBO 1st Look Special: Making the Matrix (25:48) "White Rabbit" Clips (22:22) [4x3]
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