I watched The Matrix Reloaded HD DVD last night and and Revolutions tonight. I hadn't seen them in years and thought they were great, especially Revolutions.

Revolutions has the most enthusiastic audio track I have ever heard. It was insane! I have never heard a soundtrack with this much deep bass.

Am I alone in liking these movies? It seems that everyone posts how they liked the first but the other two are a disgrace. I guess I win. :D

I agree on the audio part but the over use of Green in these movies was very distracting, especially in the first movie. I personally think they were over rated, but to each his own.

I am not a big fan of the last 2. It is for this reaosn I did not buy the box set and will wait for it to be broken up so I can get part 1. I pedict that The Matrix will become a best seller once it is sold by itself just like MI:3.

OTOH, I am glad PAramount release MI:3 by itself since it was th eonlly one of the series I wanted.

I thought they were good movies, just nowhere near as good as the first. THAT was the big disappointment.

Although I think 2 and 3 lean a little on the cheesy side, I find them highly entertaining and fun to watch.

As for the mentioning of the green tint of the second and third, I think it's cool how it separates the feel of the Matrix and the "real world". The green tint disappears when they are out of the Matrix. It's a refreshing contrast.

From just the story perspective, I think Reloaded is the best of the three. Story started off good with the first movie, hit a high with the second, and fizzled out completely with a BS ending in the third. Bought the box set and ain't disappointed.

So, does everyone hate The Matrix 2 and 3?

no

Matrix two and three were unforgiveable CRAPola. I can't wait till I can buy Matrix one (by itself) and I'll just pretend there never were any sequels.

It was originally conceived and eventually sold as a trilogy. The success of the first helped WB to follow through with better production funding for the second and third. If you watch the extras (esp the philosophy ones) you understand how they all hang together. I liked the full set for the complete story by the W brothers. :)

I thought the first was great, 2 was okay with some incredible visual and audio feats, and the third was pure crap. IMHO I think they ended the third movie vaguely open ended the way they did to allow room for the matrix online video game, which was pointless, did ANYONE even buy that game / still playing it?

In almost all trilogy formats, the first episode seems the best even if it is not the best.
I enjoyed The Matrix and Reloaded equally although Reloaded has the superior PQ & AQ.
Revolutions was not quite as good imo, although overall I think it held up the storyline well.

I think you have to take into account the story as well when judging multi-part series.
The Matrix is a fairly complex storyline with plenty of opportunity to go south in a hurry.
Fortunately the cast is excellent which is huge.

Personally, I think the knocks on this trilogy are overstated and easy targets but that's just me.
There are far worse 3-parters out there, MI being notable.

I liked all 3 movies.

I watched The Matrix Reloaded HD DVD last night and and Revolutions tonight. I hadn't seen them in years and thought they were great, especially Revolutions.

Revolutions has the most enthusiastic audio track I have ever heard. It was insane! I have never heard a soundtrack with this much deep bass.

Am I alone in liking these movies? It seems that everyone posts how they liked the first but the other two are a disgrace. I guess I win. :D

Technically, I find them dazzling...

...But the screenplay on 2 and 3 are for the birds.

Stunts are great, chases are great, fights are great... but still they are bad movies.

I'll never forget the day I went to see Reloaded... in the beginning... when Morphius gives his speech about the upcoming war and you think they will start to prepare... what do they do? THEY TURN THE THING INTO A RAVE!!! THEY GO DISCO!!!!! :eek:

Usually, that's the sign of a bad movie. :D

My impressions of the Matrix films.

Matrix>>>>Animatrix>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Reloaded>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
some guy taking a dump>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Revolutions.

All three movies work for me. The thought of just having one of them unsettles me. I really don't understand the general dislike of the 2nd and 3rd movies. In fact, I tend to view all three as one big extremely satisfying movie.

HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation. One way or another, this war will end.

I don't have to tell you which one I think is "the one."

Despite some cheesy scenes and a bit of uneven pacing at times in the 2nd and 3rd movie, listening to the philosophy commentary (despite some disagreements with the commentators in real life about some social and political issues) helps explain some of the distaste for the last two movies. The two guys doing that commentary are way too big fans of the trilogy, and I don't hold it in the same esteem they do, but I agree with them in some aspects that as a whole the trilogy is underrated and that at least SOME of the hate of the last 2 films is a misunderstanding of the philosophical issues presented.

Personally, I think the Agent Smith fights are amazing and probably the highlight of the action sequences, with the only major weak part of the trilogy being the Battle of Zion, which was kind of standard and cheesy as you'd expect in an random sci-fi flick.

I really thought the second film was was quite good... It had a interesting plot that opened up a raft of questions at the end, Like the whole Zion Reality is actually another part of the Matrix within the Matrix for people rebbeling the 1st reality...

Unfortunately the 3rd film decided to forget all relevence of the second film, including the ending and concentrate on daft over hollywoodised stupid endings. That young kid saving the day was the icing on the poo that is Matrix Revolutions.

Liked the first one the best and the other two are good entertainment.

I haven't had a chance to see revolutions yet, but I thought Reloaded was pretty entertaining. The story wasn't that bad. I saw it twice, and I thought it was actually better the second time I saw it. Definitely not as crappy as a lot of people make it out to be.

I watched The Matrix Reloaded HD DVD last night and and Revolutions tonight. I hadn't seen them in years and thought they were great, especially Revolutions.

Revolutions has the most enthusiastic audio track I have ever heard. It was insane! I have never heard a soundtrack with this much deep bass.

Am I alone in liking these movies? It seems that everyone posts how they liked the first but the other two are a disgrace. I guess I win. :D

Your not alone.

The Matrix DVD release moved me from VHS to DVD.

The Matrix Ultimate HD DVD box set moved me to 5.1 surround system. Paradigm Monitor 11v5s, CC-290v5 (upgrading to CC-390v5) and Mini-Monitors.

Now I'm in heaven. :D

...Angelo

All three movies work for me. The thought of just having one of them unsettles me. I really don't understand the general dislike of the 2nd and 3rd movies. In fact, I tend to view all three as one big extremely satisfying movie.

HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation. One way or another, this war will end.

I don't have to tell you which one I think is "the one."
haha

Ya I definitely agree with you there. I just watched reloaded for the first time since I saw it in the theaters, and found it to be very enjoyable. The movie would be worth owning for the fight choreography alone, but the story works just fine for me as well. And when I compare it to other Hollywood action flix, well I think it's very enjoyable indeed.

I fell asleep when we watched Revolutions back then.

I even tried watching it before I sold it but couldn't keep my eyes open. LOL

they anre great..but in all honesty I would rather have 2 and 3 over 90% of the BD tittles. Honestly.

I didn't think they were great. I thought they were watchable.

However, I really disliked the CG Neo vs. a zillion CG Smiths fight scenes. Kinda lame.

Reloaded is my favourite action movie of all time. it obviously doesn't have the industry-changing originality of the original, but that would be a given. but Reloaded delivers on so many levels. it has amazing technical action sequences and a great story as well. i loved how they conitued the trilogy; taking a possibly minor character of Smith in the first movie and making him the anti-Neo; the irony that humans and machine created this entitiy together that threatened both their existences; and that they realized they had to work together (and halt their ongoing war) to solve the problem.
it's an amazing plot. and i loved how it was told in M2, but i thought the plot was lost translation in M3. too much focusing on other things in Revolutions.

I may be out of the majority, but I think Matrix Reloaded managed the same sort of shock and awe that Terminator 2 did years earlier. The Matrix was a great beginning, and Reloaded took that opening and made it fully alive.

Then Revolutions pooped all over them both. It was four short scenes away from being a great movie, but those bits were enough to stink up the works.

1 & 2 are perfectly fine with me.
I am yet to watch the 3rd part !!!

No...I love 2 and 3. I know that they lacked some substance but they both had a great flow to them and they both just managed to keep you intruiged. I liked 3 a little more than 2.

I love them also, as action showpieces. As superhero pictures go the Wachowski brothers have it down. Tell me that Neo and the gang don't demonstrate a lot more impressive behavior than does Superman in "Superman Returns"? What people miss is that all three are action flicks, the first one just happened to be 'new' enough to most people to be compelling. A modern rewatching of Matrix 1 shows it to be almost cheesey (mostly because everyone has ripped it off so that the effects are silly). I mean come on, you can't take anything with Keanu Reeves in it too seriously.

I like them, they arent as good as the first one, but the action scenes are excellent.

I just watched #3 the other night and thought it was great.

I really liked the first two.....but yes the 3rd.....I think I like it about as much as I liked sm3. Sometimes these movie makers just dont make sense to me. It seems when the first one is good....they just take that and expand it in the second movie, then as with sm3 and m3....they try to change everything and almost try to go against what worked in the first two movies. I dont understand why they try to change directions in the thrid part of a long story. I can understand if they want to go in the oppsite direction but WITH A DIFFERENT STORY, not with the one thats already been set for 2 movies.

Everyone hates part 2 and three because Neo turns into the savior. It gets to much like Sunday school.

I have similar feelings about the Matrix 2 and 3 as I do about the Star Wars prequels--that all the good ideas were used in the first installment, and the followup shouldn't have been bothered with.

"Hate" is a bit strong - but I admit, I only bought the set because of the CC price goof and it was an easy way to get what I wanted (the first Matrix) for 19.99 NOW and not have to wait for the individual release....in fact, as soon as a freind buys his first player, I'll probably throw him 2 & 3 as a gift to help get his collection started - he can always nab part 1 when its finally released alone. =)

The Matrix was such a ground braking movie that it's tough for the others to live up to it. Remember that The Matrix came out around the same time as Star Wars: Episode I and blew it out of the water.

Putting aside how good the first movie was, if you take in the history and back-stories of the Animatrix, the next two movies are even more enjoyable and work to form a decent quadrilogy. And just like the first movie, there are things to pick up in the other movies after additional viewings. That's usually the sign of a well written story.

Personally, I love the entire franchise including the Matrix game's parallel story-line. Was the final movie perfect? No, but I dare any of the nay-sayers to come up with anything even remotely close to this body of work.

Matrix is a masterpiece. You can't do better than that.

Reloaded and Revolutions have very bad screenplays, but they have the most amazing action scenes ever seen in history. A must have.

all i know is this.... matrix 2 and 3 are a helluva lot better than PoTC 2 and 3.

that isnt hd dvd fanboy talk either, im format neutral and i love own and love PoTC CoTBP as well.

I enjoyed all three. But I do think the third was the weakest of the three. They threw a lot of info at you in 1 & 2. Going into 3, I was expecting a lot of things to be explained and resolved. Instead, it was a 2 hour fight. Cool action, but lots of head-scratching. The only thing I really could've done without was the rave scene which seemed utterly pointless to me.

I watched The Matrix Reloaded HD DVD last night and and Revolutions tonight. I hadn't seen them in years and thought they were great, especially Revolutions.

Revolutions has the most enthusiastic audio track I have ever heard. It was insane! I have never heard a soundtrack with this much deep bass.

Am I alone in liking these movies? It seems that everyone posts how they liked the first but the other two are a disgrace. I guess I win. :D

I liked all three. But the sequels ARE inferior to the first as far as entertainment goes.

Philosophically though, they are definitely logical extensions to the first and anyone who says otherwise really doesn't understand the trilogy at all.

I think in the grand scheme of movies, both Reloaded and Revolutions are damn good movies. I thought they were both very entertaining...and what I hate more is the fanboys (just like the fanboys with any movie) that whine and cry because they felt the sequels didn't live up to their expectations of what the movies should have been.

Whatever. They were both excellent additions to my HD DVD collection.

I enjoyed all three. But I do think the third was the weakest of the three. They threw a lot of info at you in 1 & 2. Going into 3, I was expecting a lot of things to be explained and resolved. Instead, it was a 2 hour fight. Cool action, but lots of head-scratching. The only thing I really could've done without was the rave scene which seemed utterly pointless to me.

I thought Revolutions did an excellent job of bringing closure to the questions raised in the original and Reloaded. I don't see what was so confusing about it, at least thematically it does a great job of bringing closure to the themes presented in the original and Reloaded.

I didn't like them back when they were released, but I have to say that they had stood the test of time pretty well, and I found myself really enjoying them upon rewatching them again recently.

I just watched the trilogy over the past week,hadn't watched any of them in a few years.My opinion of them is the same as it always was; the two sequels are decent if you don't compare to the original.I think there's a bigger discrepency in quality between Reloaded and Revolutions then between the original and Reloaded.

There still remains too many inconsistencies in the plot spread across the trilogy.How is it that Neo,at the end of the original,displayed that super-quick fighting ability,yet it's never seen again.I think they made Neo look so invincible at the end of the first,that they had to 'tone' him down a bit in the sequels from that standpoint just to create some tension in his fights.The explanation for his ability to control the machines in the 'real-world' at the end of reloaded was messy,plus the half-ass explanation for how the oracle changed appearance(due to the death of the original Oracle during filming of the sequels).Her death was known when the movies came out,why try to give some ridiculous reason for the change? Audiences knew she passed away,and likely would have just accpeted the new oracle.I appreciate making a film open as to individual interpretation,but there's a difference between that and contrived,sloppy writing.

Everyone will like the first one the best because it brought something new to the table that no one has seen and a story that was cool.I agree as well as i like The Matrix the best followed by Reloaded than Revolutions.To be honest,i really enjoyed Reloaded but was somewhat disappoited with Revolutions,it seemed awfully rushed or something not good or bad,just ok.

They're all horrible. (Just pointing out that the first one isn't universally loved either).

That young kid saving the day was the icing on the poo that is Matrix Revolutions.

The part where he says: "Neo........ I beleive!" I almost choked on popcorn in the theaters the first time. One of the funniest, unintentional moments in film, IMO. :D

I liked 2 and 3. I never saw any of them untill they came out on HD DVD. Perhaps because its been 10 years since they came out, but I don't have any emotional baggage about them, nor did I think the first was the hgh point of my life. I liked them all. I will say that 2 and 3 had a better PQ the 1.
J

I think people are way too hard on Reloaded and Revolutions. I wonder how many people actually watch movies like these for the story alone? After I saw the first Matrix I knew the sequels would up the ante when it came to special effects, and they did. If I got upset everytime a movie had a convoluted story, or less than stellar explanations of events I'd never go to the movies. That's just my two cents......

I think people are way too hard on Reloaded and Revolutions. I wonder how many people actually watch movies like these for the story alone? After I saw the first Matrix I knew the sequels would up the ante when it came to special effects, and they did. If I got upset everytime a movie had a convoluted story, or less than stellar explanations of events I'd never go to the movies. That's just my two cents......
I thought the special effects in 2 and 3 looked a lot worse than 1. Cheesy. I was thinking they'd go that direction too, but I was really hoping they wouldn't. I unfortunately was disappointed that my prediction (like yours) was correct.

nope. i love "reloaded" ... it's my favorite of the series. much deeper philosophical themes, almost academic, even. i understand that that turned most people off to it, but i loved it.

as for "revolutions," no, it didn't really deliver answers to a lot of the more intriguing questions, and it was really hurt by the unfortunate re-casting of the oracle. but, to its credit, after "reloaded," i didn't think "revolutions" could show me anything by way of action sequences that i hadn't seen before, but the battle between neo and smith is truly apocalyptic, unlike anything i'd ever seen in a movie before. definitely befitting the epic scale of the series.

the ending wasn't anything special, but did appropriately wrap up the series, and the movie didn't fail to entertain. and really, i wasn't really that disappointed by some of the unanswered questions -- i kind of expected it by that point, especially considering how ambitious the narrative was and how much of it was basically ripped from other stories.

but for the record, "reloaded" is my definite favorite, followed by the original, then "revolutions."

i understand knocking on the third -- i was kind of extraneous and pretty well flawed... but to be perfectly honest, when people rip on "reloaded," i usually assume they just didn't understand it. particularly in how it culminates with the twist at the end, it was nothing less than a legitimately brilliant script.

Hate them? No. Could they have been better? Definitely, yes. Though they kind of fall apart (not unlike the JP & BTTF sequels), I still enjoy them to this day.

Reloaded & Revolutions are much better than the original in terms of the depth of the story and philosophical themes presented.

The original was great, but basically just an action movie, with little to think about.

I think those that hated Reloaded and Revolutions probably didn't understand what they were trying to say, or weren't interested in thinking, and just wanted a plot spoon fed to them.

I bought the HD DVD box set, but have only watched the SD versions so far. I love the original and I'm not too thrilled with the reports of the green tint being much heavier in the new release -- I felt the more subtle effect in the original was perfect.

I felt the second film was just a vehicle for what struck me as somewhat dumb and repetitive action sequences (read dull and boring), plus some bridgework to link the first and third.

I felt the third genuinely had something to offer in the form of story, and although the action sequences included retreads from the original, they still worked -- with one exception. I felt the highly extended fight with Smith at the end was nothing but an exercise in bombastic excess and vie's with the never-ending Smith mob fight in the second film for being an almost complete waste of film and time.

It was originally conceived and eventually sold as a trilogy. The success of the first helped WB to follow through with better production funding for the second and third. If you watch the extras (esp the philosophy ones) you understand how they all hang together. I liked the full set for the complete story by the W brothers. :)

Of course, there's also the counter theory that the first was so darned successful, the brothers couldn't possibly pass milking the concept for all it's worth with two sequels :).

I like all three, with Reloaded being my least favorite.

Of course, I am a sucker for big budget special effects, so the whole dock battle in Revolutions won me over.

Yeah, I preferred Revolutions over Reloaded overall.
However, most of the critics preferred Reloaded over Revolutions.

The Matrix was such a ground braking movie that it's tough for the others to live up to it. Remember that The Matrix came out around the same time as Star Wars: Episode I and blew it out of the water.

About the only things Star Wars: Episode I had going for it was the franchise name and the pod-race -- practically everything else about it was (and is) highly ignorable. (IMO)

Everyone will like the first one the best because it brought something new to the table that no one has seen and a story that was cool.The first episode wasn't exactly original, but it blended together a number of concepts, and came up with something quite interesting. It certainly felt fresh, anyway. My only real gripe with the sequels was the return of Smith.

And for anyone who didn't like the original, I'd like to see them try and make a better movie.




Of course, there's also the counter theory that the first was so darned successful, the brothers couldn't possibly pass milking the concept for all it's worth with two sequels.Noooo......say it aint so.....!

I like them all, with Reloaded being my favorite. It was just more enjoyable to me. I loved the first one, but there weren't enough fight/action sequences to satisfy my taste. Reloaded delivered. Really I loved the first mostly because it finally brought the superior Hong Kong/Asian action cinema techniques to mainstream Hollywood (Blade did also, but not to the extent The Matrix did).

And Reeves (and the rest of the cast for that matter) looked a lot better doing Wushu in Reloaded than in the first, and it made a huge difference in the quality of the fight sequences to me.

I just watched the trilogy over the past week,hadn't watched any of them in a few years.My opinion of them is the same as it always was; the two sequels are decent if you don't compare to the original.I think there's a bigger discrepency in quality between Reloaded and Revolutions then between the original and Reloaded.

There still remains too many inconsistencies in the plot spread across the trilogy.How is it that Neo,at the end of the original,displayed that super-quick fighting ability,yet it's never seen again.I think they made Neo look so invincible at the end of the first,that they had to 'tone' him down a bit in the sequels from that standpoint just to create some tension in his fights.The explanation for his ability to control the machines in the 'real-world' at the end of reloaded was messy,plus the half-ass explanation for how the oracle changed appearance(due to the death of the original Oracle during filming of the sequels).Her death was known when the movies came out,why try to give some ridiculous reason for the change? Audiences knew she passed away,and likely would have just accpeted the new oracle.I appreciate making a film open as to individual interpretation,but there's a difference between that and contrived,sloppy writing.

Not trying to be contrary but I'm down for good dialogue. If we were to see Neo's super fast fighting ability throughout the sequels we would have seen two-hours of nothing but blur. Kinda boring don't ya think? Not to mention that at least for the agents...they were upgraded so...it looks like they were fighting a little quicker as well...or...slowing Neo down visually would have made just as much sense. By the way....you didn't think he looked invincible in the the last two parts?!?!?!?!? Wow...you have high expectations. :D
I think as far as the Oracle...well....if time constraints became an issue then i can totally understand why they did it. I think it was ok for the story to change her skin because she was trying to hide and buy some time to speak to certain members including Neo one last time. She knew it was only a matter time before Smith would be showing up. After all...she started it.

Now....my gripe was the whole Trainman deal. The movie did a terrible job of not explaining how that happened. In fact....I remember Merv was just about to explain it when Morpheus butts in with...."We want to make a deal." I feel like kicking my screen everytime I see that scene cause it makes me feel like they deliberately did that to avoid explaining.

The Matrix to me was a clever way of taking about 2 or 3 major ideologies along with the rules of computers and turning it into spaghetti. Kinda like Tron on steroids during Sunday School at the Temple. :eek:

Not trying to be contrary but I'm down for good dialogue. If we were to see Neo's super fast fighting ability throughout the sequels we would have seen two-hours of nothing but blur. Kinda boring don't ya think? Not to mention that at least for the agents...they were upgraded so...it looks like they were fighting a little quicker as well...or...slowing Neo down visually would have made just as much sense. By the way....you didn't think he looked invincible in the the last two parts?!?!?!?!?

Now....my gripe was the whole Trainman deal. The movie did a terrible job of not explaining how that happened. In fact....I remember Merv was just about to explain it when Morpheus butts in with...."We want to make a deal." I feel like kicking my screen everytime I see that scene cause it makes me feel like they deliberately did that to avoid explaining.



Yes that's exactly what we would have seen,nothing but blur.That's precisely my point,they had to tone him down because I think they made him essentially untouchable at the end of the first Matrix. Had they kept him like that,there would be no sequels.He was like Jesus by that point.He was mostly invincible in the sequels but he took his share of lumps and scraps.

As for the trainman,you're right.That's what I mean by non-explanation.The oracle said the one had no power in that train station,of course she never explained why that was the case.Just as the reason for the oracle's change of appearance.Had the original one not died,that 'oracle appearance change' would never have happened in the plot.It was a contrived plot point,terribly explained, only thrown in due to the death of the original oracle.I believe her explanation was something to the effect of 'I made a choice,and that choice cost me more than I wanted it to.' Whatever the hell that means.I think the W brothers figured if they put enough convoluted and vague dialogue in there,it would blind enough people to the obvious truth:Many of the questions posed over the course of the trilogy were never answered,just danced around.

Not me. 2 (Reloaded) is my favorite of the three movies. The 1st and 3rd ones are about tied as far as I'm concerned.

Does everyone hate The Matrix 2 and 3?

I don't know about everyone. Me, I despise them.

I love Reloaded and like Revolutions a lot. I think the second one got a little too complicated for most people, but consuming all the media related to the movies has given me a deeper understanding of them. I really like the action sequences in Reloaded as well.

For me Revolutions was the best of the three. It hit all the right marks for me, and left things open for you to fill in the rest. I think the thing that bothered a lot of people were the answers they were looking for were in the Animatrix, and not in the sequels. The Matrix really is not a triology it is a four movie series, and most people have not seen the fourth movie.

Reloaded and Revolutions weren't as bad as people say, just not nearly as good as the first. Still, as groundbreaking as the first movie was, it was virtually impossible for Warner to make sequels that were just as good.

For me Revolutions was the best of the three. It hit all the right marks for me, and left things open for you to fill in the rest. I think the thing that bothered a lot of people were the answers they were looking for were in the Animatrix, and not in the sequels. The Matrix really is not a triology it is a four movie series, and most people have not seen the fourth movie.


You can even say 4.5 movies as well. The Matrix Video Game also fills in a lot holes people alluded too. You can check the VG Movie Scenes as extras on the Matrix Revolutions disc. The story in the game explains the importance Naiobi played in the story. It also explains the Oracle's change further in how she had to do it because she helped the Indian Programmer and his family be freed from the Merovingian. The little girl is supposed to be an important character to the future of the world and probably bring further unity between machines and humans.

...i didn't think "revolutions" could show me anything by way of action sequences that i hadn't seen before, but the battle between neo and smith is truly apocalyptic, unlike anything i'd ever seen in a movie before. definitely befitting the epic scale of the series.

Agreed. I think Wizard Magazine gave it the award for "The Best Superman scene not in a Superman movie."

I didn't "hate" 2 & 3, but I can't say I really liked them either.

I can say that I was disappointed with both.

Agreed. I think Wizard Magazine gave it the award for "The Best Superman scene not in a Superman movie."

I would've given it "Best Live Action Dragonball Z Battle"

The original has all the original ideas, fresh thinking, and the story of a common person becoming "uncommon" and special. I think we all love these kinds of stories. This is akin to the first Spider-Man where a dorky kid becomes a super-hero. We (especially men) attach to this kind of story - thus I think we attach ourselves to Neo in the first movie the most. Reloaded was ruined (for me) by the cave rave scene - the rest I thoroughly enjoyed. Everyone smacks the "burly brawl" scene as looking fake, but IMHO, outside of the few slow-motion pan shots, the rest is very convincing and well done. Of course, the majority of Reloaded's action sequences are awesome. Revolutions has some crap in it as well, but becomes more of a pedestrian battle movie where you have humanity fighting against unstoppable odds. With that said, the work done on the battle sequences is awesome.

In HD-DVD, 2&3 are in a visual tier beyond the first movie. The fight in the dock with the mechs is an absolutely stunning visual and audio treat in HD. It's a scene I could watch over and over. The CG work in Revolutions deserves all kinds of praise. I also thoroughly enjoyed the detail when NEO is in "machine city" - the big mother-robot looks stunningly detailed in HD as well. All-in-all all 3 are visual treats in HD, those are just the sequences that have stuck with me.

I like all 3 for different reasons (2 being the weakest).

I watched The Matrix Reloaded HD DVD last night and and Revolutions tonight. I hadn't seen them in years and thought they were great, especially Revolutions.

Revolutions has the most enthusiastic audio track I have ever heard. It was insane! I have never heard a soundtrack with this much deep bass.

Am I alone in liking these movies? It seems that everyone posts how they liked the first but the other two are a disgrace. I guess I win. :D

The more and more I watch them, the more and more part 1 just bores me. I've always liked part 2 the most, but something odd has happened: I am starting to like part 3 WAY more than part 1 now(I used to hate 3).

I loved all 3 personally. Yeah, the 1st one was BY FAR the best, and original, but the other two were not horrible. Great action/eye candy, and a decent story line. I think the problem was the first one just set the bar way to high for the next two, and people had unrealistic expectations.

I bought the HD DVD box set, but have only watched the SD versions so far. I love the original and I'm not too thrilled with the reports of the green tint being much heavier in the new release -- I felt the more subtle effect in the original was perfect.

I've done the HD-DVE calibration on my 65" RPCRT and it isn't heavy on the green. The green tint are shots in the Matrix. I have run into problems in the past trying to calibrated "newer" technology screens like LCDs with DVE and in short it doesn't match up to CRT. CRT is the standard for color reproduction. The "newer" technologies are only catching up to the correct CRT gamma curves. When it comes to Color Reproduction, CRT is king. In resolution performance the newer techs are the best bang for the buck, no doubt. PQ is more than just resolution.

Also, using the HD-DVE your calibrating to the correct 709 color space for HD.

...Angelo

I love the first movie - it was pretty mind blowing when it was released. I had high hopes that they could follow it up with more of the same - as the ending was clearly meant to be a teaser for sequels.

When they were released I was very disappointed in the direction they took it. The matrix sequels disappointed me more than The Phantom Menace did... and that's saying something lol...

I wanted the Matrix on HD, but didn't want to pay for 2 & 3. So when the CC mistake happened I put in an order, as I figured it was the same price as waiting for The Matrix as a single release - which will probably take a long time. Look how long it took to be able to buy the Godfather series as individuals - you had to pay for 3 to get 1 & 2.

I've now watched all three again, and this time (it's been years since I saw 2 & 3) I didn't mind them so much. Being so far past the disappointment of their release, and accepting that I can sit back and munch popcorn to 2 & 3 and just watch the eye candy.

It's still a shame I think, but they are only movies and they do look good I must admit.

I don't hate part 2 or 3, more like incredibly disappointed. After part one came out, I remember people talking about The Matrix as the next classic sci-fi franchise. Well, part 2 made sure that wasn't happening. :p

IMO, part 2 was such a let down because of the high that was part 1. I liked part 3 better than 2, but I'm not sure if that's because I kept my expectations very low.

Overall, all three were entertaining, but the series never quite lived up to its potential.

I think the question should be: Who didn't hate Matrix 2 and 3?

My biggest problem is also the direction they took them. At the end of 1 Neo was a savior and a badass. 2 should have started with him freeing people left and right and raising an army to go kick machine ass. But no. He's wandering around not knowing what to do. He's the One, but he wanders around like a kid in a mall. Morpheus ends up being duped and used like a tool, making everything he spouted and believed in in part 1 BS.

My biggest complaint (spoiler alert) is the making of a truce with the machines at the end of 3. F&*k THAT!!! At the end of # 1 I felt like the humans rose above and conqured. At the end of 3 they compromised.

I haven't had a chance to see revolutions yet, but I thought Reloaded was pretty entertaining. The story wasn't that bad. I saw it twice, and I thought it was actually better the second time I saw it. Definitely not as crappy as a lot of people make it out to be.

I too liked Reloaded, but didn't like Revolutions at all....

The original Matrix movie was mind blowing, to me at least. It was original and unlike anything I had ever seen before.

I liked Reloaded. It was a very good follow up. The meeting with the Architect took a few viewings to absorb, but you felt like there was some higher meaning in that whole speech and you couldn't wait for Revolutions to find out what it all meant. And when Neo showed powers in the real world, the mind wandered in all kinds of directions to come up with an explanation. Was Neo in another level of the Matrix? Was Neo and everyone else really an android living in a simulated world in which the humans actually won the war? All kinds of juicy prospects.

Then Revolutions came out. What a dissappointment. It had so much potential, but it never amounted to much. To this day, I don't get how Neo had powers in the "real" world? How could he see after having been blinded? Instead of seeing green code, he was seeing yellow firey stuff. WTF? How could machines go through his ship and his body? That isn't physically possible. It was possible in the computer simulated world of the Matrix. But we are to believe that because he was at the source, his powers extended into the real world? That might make sense when viewing the movie with a couple of pills of demerol, but I don't have that luxury every day. And the whole train station thing, ... it was created by a program. The rules of the Matrix didn't apply to the train station. Again, WTF?

I watched it on HD DVD this past weekend. I'm starting to think Commander(?) Lock was the only sane person in Zion. He only wanted to prepare for the slaughter that was about to be administered by the machines. Everyone else? They wanted to party and rest their hopes on the prophecy of the one. That's like us putting down our weapons and dancing, hoping for the second coming of Christ, as some alien lifeform approaches the earth to destroy it. Sure, that makes sense :rolleyes:

blech

I love HD-DVD, don't own Blu but honesty HATE the Matrix movies 2&3

Terrible.

They weren't bad, story wise I just didn't feel they lived up to the first. The Animatrix sort of made up for it though, which they would have included it in HD in the Ultimate Collection rather than just SD, oh well.

Finally watched Revolutions last night again for the first time in years, and it actually kept me interested much more than Reloaded.

The action scenes in Revolutions look/sound great - the fight on the dock was great.

I think my issue was the 1st movie was all about discovery and you were kind of following Neo and identifying with a guy who was discovering this horrible truth; the same truth you were discovering by watching events unfold. Everything seemed very deliberate and well thought out. For instance I watched the movie several thousand times and would occasionally discover a new layer to the story like that Neo gets shot in the same room in the end that trinity escaped from in the beginning. It had the big action of a summer popcorn flick, but didnt feel like one.

Now we get to Reloaded. That felt like a popcorn flick. It felt like they were trying to imitate the elements of the first film, but didnt remember what they had done. They tried to have thier deep Zion moments but those just came off as kinda shallow to me. Neo and Trinity had no chemistry (I could not imagine them having a conversation or doing anything together besides sexing). I don't care about Zion at all and thought the focus should have been on the Matrix itself. The zion scenes in the beginning bored me to tears. Once the action strated I was very intertained and I did appreciate it as a popcorn flick. I really enjoyed the action (except the overuse of CG and the too long 1000 Smith fight) and think the highway chase is one of the best action sequences ever filmed. Now I should say that I really do like popcorn flicks. I love the Transporter 1 and 2 in all their super-silly glory. But when you are coming after the first Martix film, a film that had everything, and the second one is decidedly less sophisticated it's a little disappointing. But that wasn't my big problem with Reloaded.

My biggest problem with Reloaded is that it ties in directly to Revolutions. I hated Revolutions to the point that I can only appreciate it for the incredible CGI. I have nothing more to say about that horrible movie other than it brings down the dumb fun (but fun none the less) of Reloaded.

In a nutshell: I will wait for the individual releases and ignore Reloaded and Revolutions.

I remember the excitement leading up to the release of "Reloaded". I even watched the stinker "Dreamcatcher" just for an Animatrix episode that Warner added to all the prints. Finally sitting in the theater me and a friend were bored and embarrassed beyond belief. I was never a huge fan of the original but it broke new ground visually and seemed intelligent enough for a blockbuster.

But this POS revealed an immaturity (the lovely Monica Belucci in a scene right out of Porky's) and over-indulgence (Zion, whished I'd never seen the place or the machines would've blasted it right at the beginning) on the part of Wachowski Bros. that ended the series right there for me. Watched "Revolutions" years later on cable on a 20' portable TV just out of curiosity. Guess what, never want to see it again. I would buy the original as a single HD DVD though.

Matrix is like Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. People see those movies on my rack, watch them, and then ask the inevitable...."aren't there sequels to those?"

The answer, unfortunately, is "No, not so much."

The more and more I watch them, the more and more part 1 just bores me. I've always liked part 2 the most, but something odd has happened: I am starting to like part 3 WAY more than part 1 now(I used to hate 3).
I wouldn't say my initial reaction to the original was boredom, but I don't think I saw in it what everyone else did. I think I must have thought it was a cool amalgam of various genres -- sci-fi, kung fu, secret agent and whatever subset of films might fall under the classification of "mental/perceptual constructs of reality" -- that type of film that sets a tableau which it is revealed is taking place in someone's consciousness -- THE WIZARD OF OZ, TRON, TOTAL RECALL -- all are examples (and the list is almost endless).

But MATRIX was a natural outgrowth and progression from such explorations of alienation and dehumanization as 1984 and THX 1138 too. I didn't see much of anything particularly original about it, but a fairly engaging, perhaps even brilliant, confluence of traditions and genres, whose allure and appeal still mystifies me, particularly since the sequels spawned are generally held in such contempt.

I liken this to ones personal discovery of a decidedly non-commercial indie band -- they are rough around the edges and offend most sensibilities, but the best part is that only those in the know are familiar with them. Down the road a piece, their momentum grows, they start pulling in the kind of money that allows them to polish and refine their vision, but all of a sudden it starts looking too sophisticated and professional to be a personal favorite anymore -- in fact, eventually to cite them as a favorite band seems positively MAINSTREAM! OMAGOSH! -- I must hate them now!

Anyway, I always vastly preferred the second and third ones -- these are just classic films -- some of the sequences are perfection -- the meeting with the architect stands out as brilliant writing -- sounds like he is saying something, but is he saying nothing? What could it mean? It all seems to make peculiar sense, but I just need to see it from a different angle...to me that is the genius of this series -- it invites your engagement but does not tip its hand and can be appreciated on many levels, but thank God some of those levels are pure popcorn-munching, audio/visual, eye/ear candy appeals.

Anyway, I always vastly preferred the second and third ones -- these are just classic films -- some of the sequences are perfection -- the meeting with the architect stands out as brilliant writing -- sounds like he is saying something, but is he saying nothing? What could it mean? It all seems to make peculiar sense, but I just need to see it from a different angle...to me that is the genius of this series -- it invites your engagement but does not tip its hand and can be appreciated on many levels, but thank God some of those levels are pure popcorn-munching, audio/visual, eye/ear candy appeals.Nahh....he wasn't saying anything. Just fast-talkin' like most snake-oil salesmen do. Fed Neo a shovel of bull-manure, he did. At least he sounds smart.

I loved the first Matrix movie. It's a great movie. It still is to this day. It will be forgotten now because of the two sequels that came after it, but that's unfortunate. The first movie really is good.

The second two are trickier. I like them for what they are. Action movies with a brain. I may not entirely agree with the logic or the talk of the soul that the movie espouses, but I can certainly appreciate their attempt to put it in there. I do not, however, like the speeches. Merv gives us a speech. The Architect gives us a speech. Hell, Morpheus gives us a speech while combat is happening and actually reduces the thrill of the entire sequence for it. Too many words, too little action for action movies. And the last speech by trinity is way too long. By the end of it, I'm wishing for her to die. Actively.

There are excellent set pieces. Neo vs the three agents. Neo the One vs Smith the Many. The Freeway. Neo vs Merv's Henchmen. Yeah, the Lobby Scene Redux But Upside-Down was boring and the second Merv scene was too close to word for word from Merv compared to the last one for my comfort, but hey. I loved the truly extended resistance vs Machine battle for Zion/ship tries to get back to Zion scene. And the Neo/Smith Superbattle. Good stuff.

It's just that they got too philosophical. They tipped over into the preachy, way too far. The first movie, the preachy was used to elevate Neo into some sort of messianic figure that would save them all. But when it came time to make the second two movies, they went, "Whoops. We can't save them all." So instead, they're ...not saving everyone now. They're saving Zion only.

The first movie was Neo would come, Neo would take control, and Neo would lead them to rescue the entire human race. But the second two movies are all about how the Matrix is the least of their problems. They just want to save the people that were already fine before Neo showed up. Then Neo isn't a saviour. He's chosen alright, but chosen to reset Zion and keep the old system going. He's special, but he's not blessed. He's designed. A safeguard.

A lot of people can't take this. Neo is the chosen, he is blessed, he is divine and a hero. That he might be just another machine toy put into the system to ensure they always had control at every possible twist, well it's too much for people who expect villains to be wearing black, twisting mustaches, and have screaming blonde or brunette damsels on train tracks tied up. Heroes must be good, must be outstandingly so, and must never ever be tricked so completely as Neo was. As everyone in Zion was.

In the end, the Machines so completely outnumbered the humans it would have strained credibility to see the Machines lose and humankind once again stand triumphantly on Earth as the dominant power. Indeed, in that way, W Bro's had painted themselves into a corner. They couldn't have Neo be invincible as he was in the end of the Matrix and they couldn't have him save humanity so completely as it appeared he would at the end of the first movie.

And in the end, their philosophical beliefs led them inextricably to tear down the mythos they had created in the first movie. They tore it down bravely (and perhaps foolishly) so much that people realized they had been duped in the first Matrix movie. Listen to the Philosophers track sometime, one of the few extras I've ever listened to, and you'll hear it explained by philosophers who know them. They tore down what people expected and the stark realization that what you believed to be true in the first Matrix was all a lie, that everything, even his ascension was all planned and designed for, well it makes the second two movies feel like a buzzkill on the first.

And that's not even taking into account what I said earlier about too many speeches, too much sermonizing, and then what I didn't say before... too many new periphery characters.

Naomi, Ghost, all the other captains, Locke, the Kid (never fully explained in the movies to really explain why we should care about him), even the odd and unmentioned death of Tank (over salary disputes), Link and his lovetoy, etc, etc. Even Merv. I loved Merv the first time I saw him because his scene was so perfect. It really fit that this machine, this exile, was sitting high and mighty in his little zoo of a city, all-powerful and yet as prisoner as everyone else.

Then we see him again in Hell (the club) and ...he's saying the exact same thing again. Sometimes, the same phrases. Cause... and effect. Cause... and effect. Do you want... some cause and effect with that martini? Cause... and effect with that olive? Cause... and effect with that gun? Eeeezn't it amazeeng how like zee patteeern o' eeen-saaaan-eh-teee eeez zee luv? Ridiciulous. Here, we have a chance to see how the civilized, powerful Merv is like the devil. Trapped in hell, trapped and so powerful, but only so powerful in his little hell zoo he's been trapped in...

And there is no development. Persephone is the same, by his side, no change. No sign of change. She's saying the same things, he's saying the same. I keep repeating this just to show you how annoying it is.

But when Smith is busy taking over the Matrix, do we see him take over Merv or Persophenie? At least that would have been amusing.

No.

So ultimately, there's so much extra added that amounts to nothing. No purpose, no point. So much sermonizing from the first one that proved patently false and so much preaching even in the second one that proves false, so that by the time we get to the third movie, Morpheus is reduced to, "MORPHEUS, TAKE HIS PLACE (BITCH)!" Morpheus is Naomi's second string chair. Her bitch. She tells him what to do, he has nothing to preach. He's broken, sad, depressed because his ship's gone, his crew's gone, he was wrong about everything, and now he's playing second fiddle to Will Smith's wife from the second Scream who's barking orders at him to keep up with her suicidal run down a mechanical line.

Yeah. Neo turns it around with a Christ-like sacrifice to the evil Sin-like spread of Smith throughout the Matrix and yeah, they beat us with a sledgehammer to show him splayed with a glowing cross-like light flowing out of him.

Here he is, here's your messiah, dufus-public! You wanted him, here he is! By then, it's too late. Everyone's unconscious. The quiet at the end between the Architect and the Oracle is more a much needed lull to help people sleep and the bright sunshine at the end is to wake everybody up.

Yep, it's over, everybody. It's finally over. So yeah, I like the last two movies. I even like the last one better than the second. But I like them because of some of the components, certainly not the whole. And yeah, I get "the meaning" of the movies, but here's a kicker... I don't agree with it nor do I even agree with how it was delivered in these two movies.

It was like that Christ metaphor in the glowing cross on Neo's splayed form:

I was hit by it over and over and over like with a sledgehammer until I'm a bloody pulp of understanding. To put this in terms of another philosophical movie that actually did it right:

I'm Jack's Bloodied Skull of Understanding. And I'm Jack's Complete Lack of Concern.

Finally watched Revolutions last night again for the first time in years, and it actually kept me interested much more than Reloaded.

The action scenes in Revolutions look/sound great - the fight on the dock was great.

That's how I feel - neither sequel is a cinematic masterpiece but the dock fight in Revolutions was very well done and by itself made the movie worthwhile.

NO I don't hate either flicks L.O.VUUUUU all three movies.......

Loved all 3. I think of them more as one big movie so I could not pick a favorite similar to LOTR.

I think that the Matrix was the best sci fi film since Alien.

First time I watched it I was mesmorized. Then I had to watch it each day for a week.

Loved the original.

Didn't like the last 2.... at all. Thought they were throw-away crap.

The First Matrix film is a classic. The second one I found wanting and the third totally ruined whatever suspension of disbelief I had remaining after Reloaded. I can easily suspend my disbelief in the actual Matrix, but the entire Armored Personnel Units versus Sentinel crescendo was unbelievable for me. Why do hundreds of thousands of sentinels fly straight into the line of fire? Look at the sequence in the movie and you will see that the sentinel swarm is way past the opening to Zion when they are engaged. After the first few thousand sentinels were destroyed wouldn’t the rest of the swarm learn to scatter upon entering Zion? It sure seems like they should and that sequence killed the movie for me.

I loved the first Matrix movie. It's a great movie. It still is to this day. It will be forgotten now because of the two sequels that came after it, but that's unfortunate. The first movie really is good.

The second two are trickier. I like them for what they are. Action movies with a brain. I may not entirely agree with the logic or the talk of the soul that the movie espouses, but I can certainly appreciate their attempt to put it in there. I do not, however, like the speeches. Merv gives us a speech. The Architect gives us a speech. Hell, Morpheus gives us a speech while combat is happening and actually reduces the thrill of the entire sequence for it. Too many words, too little action for action movies. And the last speech by trinity is way too long. By the end of it, I'm wishing for her to die. Actively.

There are excellent set pieces. Neo vs the three agents. Neo the One vs Smith the Many. The Freeway. Neo vs Merv's Henchmen. Yeah, the Lobby Scene Redux But Upside-Down was boring and the second Merv scene was too close to word for word from Merv compared to the last one for my comfort, but hey. I loved the truly extended resistance vs Machine battle for Zion/ship tries to get back to Zion scene. And the Neo/Smith Superbattle. Good stuff.

It's just that they got too philosophical. They tipped over into the preachy, way too far. The first movie, the preachy was used to elevate Neo into some sort of messianic figure that would save them all. But when it came time to make the second two movies, they went, "Whoops. We can't save them all." So instead, they're ...not saving everyone now. They're saving Zion only.

The first movie was Neo would come, Neo would take control, and Neo would lead them to rescue the entire human race. But the second two movies are all about how the Matrix is the least of their problems. They just want to save the people that were already fine before Neo showed up. Then Neo isn't a saviour. He's chosen alright, but chosen to reset Zion and keep the old system going. He's special, but he's not blessed. He's designed. A safeguard.

A lot of people can't take this. Neo is the chosen, he is blessed, he is divine and a hero. That he might be just another machine toy put into the system to ensure they always had control at every possible twist, well it's too much for people who expect villains to be wearing black, twisting mustaches, and have screaming blonde or brunette damsels on train tracks tied up. Heroes must be good, must be outstandingly so, and must never ever be tricked so completely as Neo was. As everyone in Zion was.

In the end, the Machines so completely outnumbered the humans it would have strained credibility to see the Machines lose and humankind once again stand triumphantly on Earth as the dominant power. Indeed, in that way, W Bro's had painted themselves into a corner. They couldn't have Neo be invincible as he was in the end of the Matrix and they couldn't have him save humanity so completely as it appeared he would at the end of the first movie.

And in the end, their philosophical beliefs led them inextricably to tear down the mythos they had created in the first movie. They tore it down bravely (and perhaps foolishly) so much that people realized they had been duped in the first Matrix movie. Listen to the Philosophers track sometime, one of the few extras I've ever listened to, and you'll hear it explained by philosophers who know them. They tore down what people expected and the stark realization that what you believed to be true in the first Matrix was all a lie, that everything, even his ascension was all planned and designed for, well it makes the second two movies feel like a buzzkill on the first.

And that's not even taking into account what I said earlier about too many speeches, too much sermonizing, and then what I didn't say before... too many new periphery characters.

Naomi, Ghost, all the other captains, Locke, the Kid (never fully explained in the movies to really explain why we should care about him), even the odd and unmentioned death of Tank (over salary disputes), Link and his lovetoy, etc, etc. Even Merv. I loved Merv the first time I saw him because his scene was so perfect. It really fit that this machine, this exile, was sitting high and mighty in his little zoo of a city, all-powerful and yet as prisoner as everyone else.

Then we see him again in Hell (the club) and ...he's saying the exact same thing again. Sometimes, the same phrases. Cause... and effect. Cause... and effect. Do you want... some cause and effect with that martini? Cause... and effect with that olive? Cause... and effect with that gun? Eeeezn't it amazeeng how like zee patteeern o' eeen-saaaan-eh-teee eeez zee luv? Ridiciulous. Here, we have a chance to see how the civilized, powerful Merv is like the devil. Trapped in hell, trapped and so powerful, but only so powerful in his little hell zoo he's been trapped in...

And there is no development. Persephone is the same, by his side, no change. No sign of change. She's saying the same things, he's saying the same. I keep repeating this just to show you how annoying it is.

But when Smith is busy taking over the Matrix, do we see him take over Merv or Persophenie? At least that would have been amusing.

No.

So ultimately, there's so much extra added that amounts to nothing. No purpose, no point. So much sermonizing from the first one that proved patently false and so much preaching even in the second one that proves false, so that by the time we get to the third movie, Morpheus is reduced to, "MORPHEUS, TAKE HIS PLACE (BITCH)!" Morpheus is Naomi's second string chair. Her bitch. She tells him what to do, he has nothing to preach. He's broken, sad, depressed because his ship's gone, his crew's gone, he was wrong about everything, and now he's playing second fiddle to Will Smith's wife from the second Scream who's barking orders at him to keep up with her suicidal run down a mechanical line.

Yeah. Neo turns it around with a Christ-like sacrifice to the evil Sin-like spread of Smith throughout the Matrix and yeah, they beat us with a sledgehammer to show him splayed with a glowing cross-like light flowing out of him.

Here he is, here's your messiah, dufus-public! You wanted him, here he is! By then, it's too late. Everyone's unconscious. The quiet at the end between the Architect and the Oracle is more a much needed lull to help people sleep and the bright sunshine at the end is to wake everybody up.

Yep, it's over, everybody. It's finally over. So yeah, I like the last two movies. I even like the last one better than the second. But I like them because of some of the components, certainly not the whole. And yeah, I get "the meaning" of the movies, but here's a kicker... I don't agree with it nor do I even agree with how it was delivered in these two movies.

It was like that Christ metaphor in the glowing cross on Neo's splayed form:

I was hit by it over and over and over like with a sledgehammer until I'm a bloody pulp of understanding. To put this in terms of another philosophical movie that actually did it right:

I'm Jack's Bloodied Skull of Understanding. And I'm Jack's Complete Lack of Concern.
Excellent post. I liked the speechmaking. Liked the possibly pseudo-profound portent of the proceedings. Liked the obfuscation, lack of clarity, openness of interpretation available, all while presenting the most over-the-top blockbuster action imaginable.

In fact, it might well be argued that the "message" of it all is exactly what you seemingly ended up with, that there are no saviours, the world is a bewildering mix of emotional upheavals, trials, even boredom, which will remain essentially unchanged after our departure from it -- we won't know what it all meant until after we leave the theater...maybe not even then -- but it sure was one helluva ride.

Oh, BTW, would agree that there was plenty of sermonizing going on, but that is not necessarily "preachy" unless you can identify what the message is supposed to be. I prefer not to settle on any particular meaning, but just the fact that these movies provoke any kind of deeper thought at all is testament to their greatness, in my way of thinking.

I love all three movies, and watch them all over and over again.

I loved the 2nd and was let down by the third. After I gave the third one another chance it was more enjoyable.

It would be hard to top the original Matrix. As stand alone movies they are as good as any sequels that hollywood produces which isn't saying much but i enjoyed both of them.

I love all three movies, Stunning Audio thru'out!

Last song is from Sanskrit sloka, recited in a westernised style: "Asatoma Sat Gamaya, Tamasoma Jyotir Gamaya, Mrityorma Anritam Gamaya" [Lead me from the unreal to the Real, Lead me from the darkness to the Light, Lead me from the temporary to the Eternal]

I liked Reloaded and Revolutions for what they were; they both had some spectacular action and some interesting character turns -- Neo going "blind" toward the beginning of Revolutions especially. I do get why a lot of folks were turned off, though. I personally didn't like the phoney-baloney philosophical discussions about the dependence on machines, causality, sum of a remainder, and so forth. And in Revolutions: "Okay, Trinity... die already." A bit more time in the editing room, and these would've been masterpieces.

Still in all, this whole trilogy makes for some great high-definition entertainment. I would've purchased all three had they been sold separately.

EDIT: Well, I posted this before reading Sisko's excellent summation of the movies. I'll just go with "What he said" and leave it at that.

I got the trilogy in HD and was watching #2 and #3 for the first time since they came out in the theater. I never owned 2 and 3 on dvd, but have seen #1 dozens of times.

In #2 I was watching Neo fight against the legion of Smith's, when all of a sudden Neo leaps in the air, turns into a cartoon character, and I then see this cartoon/video game spin around and hit all the smith's with a metal pole. Then he lands and turns back into a real person! I couldn't believe how horrible this looked, so I turn on the little pip feature that includes commentary, and they have the CGI artist who did the scene.

He is explaining how this scene was done, and how CGI is now indistinguishable from real life. He says that when you watch the scene you will not see what is "real life" and what is CGI! I laughed. Is he kidding himself or does he really believe this stuff? Maybe I am the only person in the world who can see that Neo was clearly a cartoon/video game character? It looks atrocious to me.

There is another similar scene on the highway when an agent jumps onto the hood of a car in slow motion and the hood dents and the windshield explodes. It's clearly another CGI person and it looked horrible to me. Personally these scenes really take me out of the action, make me feel like I am watching someone play a game on an XBox. There was never a scene in the original Matrix that did that to me. It's funny because the original was several years older, therefore you would think the special effects would be less impressive.

Reloaded is my favorite actually, but I found all three enjoyable.

In #2 I was watching Neo fight against the legion of Smith's, when all of a sudden Neo leaps in the air, turns into a cartoon character, and I then see this cartoon/video game spin around and hit all the smith's with a metal pole. Then he lands and turns back into a real person! I couldn't believe how horrible this looked, so I turn on the little pip feature that includes commentary, and they have the CGI artist who did the scene.

He is explaining how this scene was done, and how CGI is now indistinguishable from real life. He says that when you watch the scene you will not see what is "real life" and what is CGI! I laughed. Is he kidding himself or does he really believe this stuff? Maybe I am the only person in the world who can see that Neo was clearly a cartoon/video game character? It looks atrocious to me.

Nope, you're not the only one.

[To my eyes] CG still does an extremely poor job when it's used to recreate humans in motion (and sometimes other organic stuff.) It looks way too soft, "rubbery" looking, and cartoonish. I went to Spiderman 3 when it first hit theaters and the CG was so laughably bad 90% of the time it reached the point of distraction; like you said, I felt like I was watching a series of over-the-top video game cutscenes.

CG is great when (or at its worst passable, at least) it's used to render inanimate objects (buildings and cityscapes, spaceships, etc.) but when it's applied to the human form it's clear it still has a long, long way to go before it even approaches the point of being seamless.

I have a feeling that in a decade or so the people that are so impressed by today's CG tech showcases are going to realize how laughably bad they are upon rewatching 'em.

Yup, first is awesome. 2 and 3 were awful.

But, that freeway chase in part 2 is incredible. :)

In the first one, you could sense the W's giving you a wink and smile behind all the philosophy and such; with the later films, it felt like they began believing the hype of how high-brow their ideas were, and they simply took themselves far too seriously.

The series thus devolved into psuedo-intelligentsia claptrap dressed up with intentionally overwrought/complex dialogue to make it appear "deeper". The Architect speech is a perfect example, though in that case I actually found it enjoyable, like an over-written graduate paper.

I agree with those above who point out what to me as well is the biggest disconnect: the "Nerfing of Neo". That one line at the beginning of Reloaded "Oh, upgrades" was one of the biggest cop-outs I can think of.

The answer would not have been "blurry fight scenes" (in theory, if you re-watch the first, all the fight scenes are already going faster than you can watch), and Neo certainly was not necessarily invincible -- he was just beyond the standard programs written to monitor and control the population (i.e., the agents) and, critically, the standard *methods* (physicality within the virtual reality).

His pals, Morpheus et. al., could "read" the Matrix from the outside, but once plugged in could do nothing more than push the limits within the illusion by maintaning their conscious understanding that it was a program; Neo could actually see it as program even from within it; *that* was the difference, and what made him the "one."

But to take the next logical step in a sequel, it would no longer be a chop-socky flick. It would have meant re-imagining a visual representation for Neo's interaction with machine entities, because his ability to enter and "deconstruct" programs (killing Smith) clearly showed he had gone beyond the need to fight within the constraints of the virtual reality and could interact on a code level.

I wouldn't even know how to do it in a way that would be equally as visually engaging, but then, I'm not a filmmaker. Clearly, however, it would have required a level of creativity that was beyond them.

Which is why #1 was a very cool film that worked on many levels, including humorous, and showed a lot of creativity and promise, and 2 and 3, while quite enjoyable, were big-budget sci-fi action flicks dressed up with a bit of silly philosophy. Nothing more, but nothing less.

Which is also why I buy into the "they never expected to make a sequel" argument, because they are clearly smart enough to not have boxed themselves into that corner.

Which is also why I buy into the "they never expected to make a sequel" argument, because they are clearly smart enough to not have boxed themselves into that corner.

I still think the Wachowski brothers always intended to make a trilogy:
http://www.filmbug.com/db/341821
The brothers admit to a love for telling multipart stories. "Because we grew up on comic books and the Tolkien trilogy, one of the things we're interested in is bringing serial fiction to cinema," Larry explains. "If you could have a film where you don't get to the hour-and-a-half mark and know, 'Okay, here it comes, the big wrap-up,' but instead you have no idea how the movie's going to end, I think that would be very exciting." Andy puts his desire to shake up viewers a bit more bluntly. "We think movies are fairly boring and predictable. We want to screw with audiences' expectations."