(Part of a 4-Movie 6 Disc Boxed Set)
 Also below are the extras that are on Disc 5 and 6 of the 6 Disc Boxed Set. User Comment: Shawn Watson (gator_macready@yahoo.com) from The Underverse, 7 May 2004 • 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. Summary: Now THIS is more like it! Disc 4 (this disc) Special Features: Perhaps the greatest extra of them all on this massive set is the inclusions of The Animatrix in full 1080p adn Dolby TrueHD sound. This series of animated stories relate directly to the final two films of the Matrix series. The Japanese animation houses used for these shorts have turned in some remarkable work. Frankly, I like The Animatrix better than the last two films of the series. • Here's what's included: • "Final Flight of the Osiris" • "The Second Renaissance Part 1" • "The Second Renaissance Part 2." • "Kid's Story" • "Program," • "World Record," • "Beyond," • "Detective Story," • "Matriculated," Also included with The Animatrix are a good number of extra features including several scene specific commentaries, the outstanding "Scrolls to Screen: The History and Culture of Anime" featurette and the "Execution" behind the scenes documentary. Disc 5 Special Features: The absolute overkill of this set continues with another complete disc of features. • "Return to Source: Philosophy & The Matrix" - An hour long documentary featuring opinion and commentary on the philosophy of The Matrix from scholars and philosophers. We are now entering the overkill zone. • "The Hard Problem: The Science Behind the Fiction" - This is very much a full-fledged documentary on the pitfalls of man's eventual and current reliance on technology. Interesting stuff! Disc 6 Special Features: • "The Burly Man Chronicles" - This extensive extra is a feature length documentary on the entire production process on Reloaded and Revolutions. If the previous thirty hours of extras didn't get it done for you, let's hope this feature does. • "Zion Archive" - Welcome to the gallery feature of this endless set. There are, literally, thousands of images here for your viewing pleasure. • "Rave Reel" - As though anyone was requesting more dancing and boogie time from these films - - here you go. For those intrepid souls that manage to make it thought all 35 hours of extras, I bid you congratulations. You are all champions in my book. IMDb Rating (02/06/10): 7.9/10 from 76,262 users
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