What Is The Matrix?
When asked to write about what I thought to be the top Sci-fi movie of the 90's the choice is simple. It's the Matrix.
Critics lauded the work of the directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski, and there is little point to me regurgitating what other critics have already written about this film so I'll just speak about why it was special for me and stood out far beyond other films of that genre both before and since.
Firstly was the slick advertising campaign. The internet was in it's infancy, smart phones didn't exist, social media was not a thing and basically unless you bought the newspaper every day, or some kind of film lovers magazine, the only way you knew what new film was dropping was to actually go to the cinema and see what was on. I was living in Sydney, Australia when the Matrix was released - ironically many of the scenes were filmed in Sydney unbeknown to me at the time.
Suddenly large billboards started appearing in random places around the city. The were plain black, massive and had one simple line of text in the center - small enough that you had to make an effort to read it, it said simply "WHAT IS THE MATRIX?"
This went on for several weeks with no hint as to what exactly it meant. It was intriguing. Ultimately I learned it was for a new film - and I thought well, thats a cool enough advert to make me go and see it.
Frankly the film blew my mind. There are so many scenes that stay in my mind even after more than two decades - the squeaking of the window cleaner as Neo was admonished by his boss for tardiness, the careful unwinding of the string that held Neo's file together at his initial interrogation, peering down the dark alley in the heavy rain and ultimately deciding to let trinity convince him to stay with them. And of course the moment Neo's mouth suddenly melts into his face - thats when the collective gasp from the entire audience is heard and you start to wonder WTF is this film!
I loved that although it was a sci-fi film it flicked between the very reality that I was living at the time - 90's western civilisation, and then a terrifying post apocalyptic vision of our future. I loved that the hero was kind of an anti-hero, not some cool muscle-bound, space-cowboy, I loved the colour grading of the film - I'm not sure if it was some groundbreaking new style but for me it was something I hadn't seen before - everything was kind of a dreary green.
Everyone of course knows the fight scenes of The Matrix and its my understanding that this was some new kind of tech applied - the part where Trinity is frozen motionless in midair as the camera circled her - how they do that I have no idea but it was and still is cool AF!
Funny that now as I write this the newest Matrix has just dropped in the cinema - it's the 4th one. Naturally the 2nd and 3rd Matrix films I thought sucked and I doubt I will bother seeing the 4th. But The original Matrix will always be for me the greatest sci-fi film of the 90's and to be honest, potentially my favourite film that I have ever seen in a cinema.
Nice flashback to 1999, love it!
I used to have the original DVD combo of all the Matrix franchise + Animatrix. In there were interviews with crew and filmmakers. I remember someone was telling the story behind how those scenes were shot where people sort of look like they'd been frozen a couple of meters or so above the ground - they used a revolutionary capture technique at the time: about 40 cameras that were all placed next to each other around the actor, forming a shape that would remind you a bit of a roller coaster turn in amusement park.
They did like Australia as a place for filming for some reason. I think they built 3 miles of highway there specifically for Matrix Reloaded shoot, but it got dismantled after the production finished.
Btw, what a lot of people don't realize nowadays is that the concept of people being able to connect to some sort of matrix via a cable connected to the back of the head comes from a cyberpunk novel, a classic of 1980s science fiction called Neuromancer.
Great to see someone else loves that film like I do.
Great to read this review and although I missed the contest Matrix would probably be my vote too!
I agree The Matrix is a good movie. I always have fun every time I watch it, especially for its special effects and slow motion, and for the possibility of the existence of a digital world.