The Matrix (1999)

A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.

Directors:

Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers), Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)

Writers:

Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers), Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)

Stars:

Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss

Top Rated Movies #16 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 37 wins & 50 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Keanu Reeves	...	Neo
Laurence Fishburne	...	Morpheus
Carrie-Anne Moss	...	Trinity
Hugo Weaving	...	Agent Smith
Gloria Foster	...	Oracle
Joe Pantoliano	...	Cypher
Marcus Chong	...	Tank
Julian Arahanga	...	Apoc
Matt Doran	...	Mouse
Belinda McClory	...	Switch
Anthony Ray Parker	...	Dozer
Paul Goddard	...	Agent Brown
Robert Taylor	...	Agent Jones
David Aston	...	Rhineheart
Marc Aden Gray	...	Choi (as Marc Gray)

Storyline

Thomas A. Anderson is a man living two lives. By day he is an average computer programmer and by night a hacker known as Neo. Neo has always questioned his reality, but the truth is far beyond his imagination. Neo finds himself targeted by the police when he is contacted by Morpheus, a legendary computer hacker branded a terrorist by the government. Morpheus awakens Neo to the real world, a ravaged wasteland where most of humanity have been captured by a race of machines that live off of the humans' body heat and electrochemical energy and who imprison their minds within an artificial reality known as the Matrix. As a rebel against the machines, Neo must return to the Matrix and confront the agents: super-powerful computer programs devoted to snuffing out Neo and the entire human rebellion.

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Plot Keywords:

simulated reality | artificial reality | war with machines | computer hacker | post apocalypse | 

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Taglines:

What is The Matrix?

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sci-fi violence and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 March 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Matrix

Filming Locations:

AON Tower, Kent Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$63,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$27,788,331, 4 April 1999

Gross USA:

$171,479,930

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$465,343,787

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, Groucho Film Partnership

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

DTS (Digital DTS Sound) Dolby Digital SDDS Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There are many who might legitimately claim to have invented the time-freezing photographic technique used in the movie. It might have been Michel Gondry, who used it for the first time in a commercial (for an insurance company) and then in a video clip for Björk. It might have been architectural graphics artist Matthew Bannister, who, in his academic work, suggested that motion and time in video could be separated, and proposed an apparatus for doing it much like that used for the film (but who was unable to make it work with then-available technology), or even artist Tim MacMillan, who demonstrated the technique on British television in 1993. It may be that each of them, and others, invented it independently.

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Goofs

At the end of the movie when Neo recovers from his "death", he stands up only to have the three agents shoot at him. Neo raises his hand and stops the bullets in midair. These bullets are perfectly silver and shiny with no rifling marks from the barrel of the weapon.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[phone rings]
Cypher: Yeah.
Trinity: Is everything in place?
Cypher: You weren't supposed to relieve me.
Trinity: I know, but I felt like taking a shift.
Cypher: You like him, don't you? You like watching him.
Trinity: Don't be ridiculous.
Cypher: We're gonna kill him. You understand that?
Trinity: Morpheus believes he is the one.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits beyond the production logos and the title.

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Alternate Versions

Home video and television versions released after 2004, most notably The Ultimate Matrix Collection box set, and the 2010 Blu-Ray release, have a different color scheme from the 1999 theatrical and home video release. The real-world scenes are given a blue tint and scenes within the Matrix have a heavy green tint.

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Connections

References It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)

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Soundtracks

Wake Up
Written by Zack De La Rocha, Brad Wilk, Tim Commerford, and Tom Morello
Performed by Rage Against the Machine
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

The benchmark for all sci-fi films to come

The story of a reluctant Christ-like protagonist set against a baroque, MTV backdrop, The Matrix is the definitive hybrid of technical wizardry and contextual excellence that should be the benchmark for all sci-fi films to come.

Hollywood has had some problems combining form and matter in the sci-fi genre. There have been a lot of visually stunning works but nobody cared about the hero. (Or nobody simply cared about anything.) There a few, though, which aroused interest and intellect but nobody 'ooh'-ed or 'aah'-ed at the special effects. With The Matrix, both elements are perfectly en sync. Not only did we want to cheer on the heroes to victory, we wanted them to bludgeon the opposition. Not only did we sit in awe as Neo evaded those bullets in limbo-rock fashion, we salivated.

But what makes The Matrix several cuts above the rest of the films in its genre is that there are simply no loopholes. The script, written by the Wachowski brothers is intelligent but carefully not geeky. The kung-fu sequences were deftly shot -- something even Bruce Lee would've been proud of. The photography was breathtaking. (I bet if you had to cut every frame on the reel and had it developed and printed, every single frame would stand on its own.) And the acting? Maybe not the best Keanu Reeves but name me an actor who has box-office appeal but could portray the uneasy and vulnerable protagonist, Neo, to a T the way Reeves did. But, come to think of it, if you pit any actor beside Laurence Fishburne, you're bound to confuse that actor for bad acting. As Morpheus, Mr. Fishburne is simply wicked! Shades of his mentor-role in Higher Learning, nobody exudes that aura of quiet intensity than Mr. Fishburne. His character, battle-scarred but always composed Morpheus, is given an extra dose of mortality (He loves Neo to a fault.) only Mr. Fishburne can flesh out.

People will say what they want to say about how good The Matrix is but the bottomline is this: finally there's a philosophical film that has cut through this generation. My generation. The Wachowski brothers probably scribbled a little P.S. note when they finished the script saying: THINK FOR A MOMENT ABOUT YOUR EXISTENCE. What is the Matrix, you ask? Something that's closer to reality than you think.

Either that or it's my personal choice for best film of all-time.