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The Matrix
DVD Review by Jack |
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Let me start by saying that I completely agree with Yanman in his review of this fine example of a movie and the DVD it rode in on. I would like to add my perspective on it though if I may. The first time I saw it neither my wife nor myself were very much impressed. We saw it while on vacation in a hotel room late one night (No jokes here about my manhood ). The movie had an interesting premise and was for the most part felt to be merely ok. I did want to view it on a system capable of much better resolution and sound but I was in no particular hurry due to my initial impression based upon seeing same on a small TV. Man were we wrong about this film. It works visually, sonically and as a wonderful thought provoking story in the best "What IF" sense. I read a book long ago called "Reality Forbidden" by Phillip High and it stuck with me all my life as a very scary premise. In the book, people live, vacation and do all their daily things via cables or some devices. They don't have to experience reality. This movie has some similarities to other Sci-Fi films such as "Total Recall", "Dark City" which I also loved, as well as 2001 and the better Nightmare on Elm Street movies. You know the kind…What if Dreams are reality and reality is merely a dream and/or what happens when computers run amok ? So if you have only seen it on a small screen and found it wanting for entertainment please rethink your position and see it again. Maybe it gets better as a result of multiple viewings as the Yanman suggests. I found it awesome the second time around. I would like to try to explain it a bit though and you can then judge for yourself if it seems interesting. And the Story goes….. Man has created computers as we all are very aware of and as time passes these man made devices get smarter, faster and better able to handle more and more tasks without the benefit of their creator. This is in part what is referred to as Artificial Intelligence. As time passes the computers naturally get smarter and smarter and develop a kind of self awareness which in turn tends to allow the computers to develop self preservation. Sounds almost human to me. As these qualities become more and more developed the computers tend to take over more and more of what needs to be done in the world and as we are not experiencing with the Y2K thing, this is not always good. In this story however, it would appear that the computers grow more and more powerful to where with the passing of a millennia the computers have completely taken over the planet and are more or less self sufficient. Man realizing this attempt to cut off the one thing that these machines cannot due without, namely man tries to withdraw the power from the machines in hopes that the reign of the computer will in fact end. The computers have become pretty smart in the 1000 years preceding this story and they have overcome the power situation by adapting to the power of solar energy. Theoretically the sun will not run dry in the immediate future and as such an endless supply of power will be forthcoming thus keeping the computers alive and prosperous for the future. Man will as it is presented, stop at nothing to wrestle back the power of the world from these computers and arrive at the conclusion that if the sun light is blocked from reaching the Earth, solar power will become a thing of the past and the computers will no longer be able to support themselves so great is their need for power. Man therefore burns up the atmosphere and in so doing lays waste to a great portion of this planet. The computers will not stop at this as they have devised a new way to get the incredible amounts of power they need to operate and proliferate. The answer is battery power, BUT, not just any batteries. By design, humans are great generators of power in way of heat and electrical energy. We are essentially thinking batteries. The computers then develop ways to breed or should I say grow humans in large pod like beakers filled with a dippity do like substance. The humans are attached to the machines by cables wherein they are fed sustenance in the form of food as well as thoughts. This way the people orchards will develop as much power as needed and because the computers are placing thoughts into the human brains, the people plants have no idea that what they are thinking or dreaming is not real. This is both where the movie begins and the premise on which it is based. There is a group of dissident humans that are not under the influence of the computers and they are in search of a savior that can defeat the computers and essentially regenerate humankind. Guess who this group of freedom fighters believe is their savior ?? Yep Keanu Reeves. We find our hero resting cozily in his pod goo when Laurence Fishburne and his motley crew free him and train him to fight the bad guys..er computers. The freedom fighters plug themselves into computer terminals and travel in and out of reality via a somewhat advanced modem. The theory that must be learned is that because all of the dreams or thoughts that are provided by the computers are nothing more than programs generated by the computers, rules as found in nature or the real world do not apply. The problem here is that the computers know the rules as they wrote the programs and can humans suspend belief in the laws of nature long enough to defeat the computers ?? I won't answer that you have to watch it for yourself. All in all I think this is a well made, thought provoking movie that will start of allow the continuation of many future discussions about artificial intelligence as well as what is reality. And what is the Matrix ? Watch it and see. As far as the disc is concerned, there are as Yanman suggests a plethora of magnificent scenes that will test your audio/video system and all its components. This movie is a aural and visual feast. I could be wrong but I detected a slight color change between the scenes purported to be reality and the scenes purported to be dreams. The reality scenes looked a bit more natural in color than the latter scenes. Let me know if I am right or only dreaming…… Video 4.5 Stars Audio 5 Stars ( Yanman is right about the dialog, your system best be able to resolve low level information) Extras 3 Stars
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The Matrix For another review of The Matrix visit Yanman's Review
Staring: Keanu Reeves Directed By: The Wachowski Brothers Running time:136
Min Bonus Materials
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