The Matrix

Watched: 5th December 2015

Top 250 Position: 18 (17 when watched in December)
Rating: 8.7/10 from 1,146,646 users
Source imdb.com, correct at 19/01/2016

Who's in it:

Keanu Reeves

Laurence Fishburne

Carrie-Anne Moss

Hugo Weaving

Gloria Foster

Joe Pantoliano

Marcus Chong

Julian Arahanga

Matt Doran

Belinda McClory

Paul Goddard et.al.

Directed By: Andy Wachowski & Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)

Year: 1999

Duration: 2 Hours 16 minutes

Accolades: Won 4 Oscars, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Effects (Sound Effects Editing) and Best Effects (Visual Effects).
 

Plot:

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

Interesting fact about the film:

• budget they had submitted, which was over $80 million. Warner instead agreed to give them $10 million. The Wachowskis took the money and filmed the first ten minutes of the movie (the opening scene with Carrie-Anne Moss) using the entire $10 million. They then showed the executives at Warner the opening scene. They were impressed, and green-lit the original asking budget.
• In the combat training program before Keanu Reeves starts his furious attacks on Morpheus, he rubs his nose with his thumb and finger, a similar mannerism of Bruce Lee before he attacks on his opponents. The move was improvised by Reeves.
• All scenes that take place within the Matrix have a green tint, as if watching them through a computer monitor, while scenes in the real world have a blue tint, blue was also used at a minimum in the matrix scenes since the directors thought blue was more of a real world color. The fight scene between Morpheus and Neo, which is neither in the real world nor in the Matrix, is tinted yellow.
• In the first 45 minutes of the film, Neo (Keanu Reeves) has 80 lines. 44 of these lines are questions, just over half of his total dialogue, averaging at roughly one question per minute.
• In Greek Mythology Morpheus is the god of dreams. Somewhat ironic considering Morpheus' role here is to awaken people from their dream states to reality.
• By the middle of 2002, the famous "Bullet Time" sequence had been spoofed in over 20 different movies.
• Before his character's final speech at the end, Keanu Reeves never has more than five sentences in a row to speak.

Source imdb.com

Review:

As soon as I watch this movie I'm transported back to the early 2000s. At school we watched this film, I think in Religious Education, and I couldn't get enough of it. So I went out and bought it on VHS (remember those?) as soon as I could. Watching the whole movie back then did not disappoint me, and it still doesn't now (even though I have upgraded my copy to Blu-Ray!).  

The now famous special effects (slow mo bullet shots etc.) still look awesome today, 16 years after the movie was released.

The slight tints on the different worlds also helps to show the difference between the Matrix and non Matrix and help you keep a better track on what's going on. Well I think so anyway.

I've seen this movie so many times, I know it almost word for word, that I don't even need to pay 100% attention to it when it's on to know what's happening in it. But trust me if you do pay full attention it is worth it.

I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea but for me this is a brilliant movie and worthy of it's high position in the top 250.

There are bits in the middle of the movie that you could cut out and make it a bit shorter but apart from that it is pretty awesome. But then again I am a girl who likes her Sci-fi.

There are now three completed movies in this franchise, I'll be honest the other two aren't a patch on the first but if you want to get the 'full story' on the Matrix and it's characters you might want to book yourself a day off work, shut the curtains and curl up on the sofa to see them all. A bit like the Lord of the Rings movies they should be seen closer together to fully appreciate them.

Don't take my word for it on the original Matrix though, if you haven't seen it before give it a shot. (But I am very biased with this movie).

For more information about the film visit the imdb.com page; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/