Our TV picks this week include a rebellious historical drama, a fresh voice in comedy, and an ideal teen romance.
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Title: The Animatrix (Video 2003)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Kevin Michael Richardson | ... | Thadeus (segment "Final Flight of the Osiris") / Cop (segment "Kid's Story") / Agent #2 (segment "World Record") (voice) | |
| Pamela Adlon | ... | Jue (segment "Final Flight of the Osiris") / Manabu (segment "Beyond") (voice) | |
| John DiMaggio | ... | Crew Man (segment "Final Flight of the Osiris") / Kaiser (segment "Program") (voice) | |
| Tom Kenny | ... | Operator (segment "Final Flight of the Osiris") (voice) | |
| Rick Gomez | ... | Pilot (segment "Final Flight of the Osiris") (voice) | |
| Tara Strong | ... | Crew Woman (segment "Final Flight of the Osiris") / Nurse (segment "World Record") / Misha (segment "Beyond") (voice) | |
| Bette Ford | ... | Old Woman (segment "Final Flight of the Osiris") (voice) | |
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Julia Fletcher | ... | The Instructor (segments "The Second Renaissance, Parts I&II") / Narrator (segment "World Record") / Townsperson (segment "Beyond") (voice) |
| Dane A. Davis | ... | 01 Versatran Spokesman (segment "The Second Renaissance, Part II") (voice) (as Dane Davis) | |
| Debi Derryberry | ... | Kid (segment "The Second Renaissance, Part II") (voice) | |
| Jill Talley | ... | Mother (segments "The Second Renaissance, Parts I&II") / Townsperson (segment "Beyond") (voice) | |
| Dwight Schultz | ... | Townspeople / Policeman / Exterminators (segment "Beyond") / Nonaka (segment "Matriculated") (segments "The Second Renaissance, Part I & II") (voice) | |
| James Arnold Taylor | ... | Ash (segment "A Detective Story") / Raul (segment "Matriculated") / Miscellaneous Voices (segments "The Second Renaissance, Parts I&II" - "Kid's Story") (voice) | |
| Clayton Watson | ... | Michael Karl 'The Kid' Popper (segment "Kid's Story") (voice) | |
| Keanu Reeves | ... | Neo (segment "Kid's Story") (voice) | |
Anthology of nine short anime (Japanese animation) films tied in to the 1999 blockbuster "The Matrix" and its sequels. "Final Flight of the Osiris": The crew of the hovercraft Osiris attempt to warn their city of an imminent attack. "The Second Renaissance, Parts 1 & 2": The story behind the war between man and the machines, how mankind scorched the sky, and the creation of the Matrix. "Kid's Story": A teenager is contacted by Neo, and manages to escape the Matrix. "Program": Two warriors battle in a samurai training simulation when one decides to betray his crewmates and re-enter the Matrix. "World Record": A champion sprinter manages to break free of the Matrix by sheer physical effort during a record attempt. "Beyond": A young girl searching for her cat discovers a haunted house caused by a glitch in the system. "A Detective Story": Private investigator Ash tracks a hacker named Trinity through the looking glass. "Matriculated": A group of humans capture a machine scout and insert ... Written by Alexander Lum
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The idea of the Matrix is so full of potential and could be taken in so many, many directions. The movies decided to go in the direction of pretension but the Animatrix goes EVERYWHERE the movies don't. It is so far superior and well worth the time. It's a shame that most audiences don't consider Anime or any form of animation to be 'real' or something that they should take seriously (sadly even Matrix fans feel this way and won't watch it simply because it's animation) because they're missing out on something very special here.
It's not original to review this DVD by going thru all the shorts so I'll just stick to what I like best (which is most of it). First of all, 'The Second Renaissance Parts 1 and 2' is absolutely VITAL as backstory to the first Matrix film. And it's a zillion times more interesting than the sequels in terms of drama, irony and subtext. 'The Final Flight of the Osiris' takes place before Reloaded and leads us into story of the machines beginning to drill down to Zion. And it's very cool. 'Detective' is a story of a private eye trying to find Trinity and discover what exactly the Matrix is. But Agent Smith comes after him to put a stop to that. It's in black and white and has a wonderful atmosphere of 1950's dime novel pulp fiction. 'Matriculated' is the story of a captured machine who is taught/hypnotized into feeling what it's like to be human. It's a very clever story that manages to provoke feeling for the characters (and even the captured machine), something the movies never did. 'Kid' is about the kid from Revolutions who takes over the Mech at the end and manages to open the doors to Zion. Apparently, before being freed, he was a schoolkid who met Neo online and wanted to 'wake up'.
But the best one is 'Beyond'. A magical tale with an atmosphere so solid that it's almost tangible. It's about a girl who goes looking for her cat in an old abandoned factory with some other kids. But in this factory the Matrix is having problems and 'reality' for the characters doesn't quite work properly. It's a very interesting tale that really makes you think.
There are numerous extras on this DVD, all of them more interesting that the other Matrix DVDs. All 9 of the shorts are presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound. It's truly for all fans and non-fans of the Matrix universe.