The Matrix |
Roadshow Entertainment/Roadshow Entertainment .
R4 . COLOR . 136 mins .
MA15+ . PAL |
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"Unfortunately, no-one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself" - It is with these words that you realise no matter how good the plot synopsis, you truly have to see the movie for yourself to enjoy it. Bursting onto the screen in early 1999, the Matrix took the movie world into a new realm that has taken the special effects picture to a new evolutionary level of entertainment. All the latest effects are there, they're just done in new and exciting ways and they all come together with a carefully crafted plot to produce a movie that was just ripe for this new digital age we live in. Thomas A. Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is your average software programmer by day and your elite computer hacker Neo by night. When his day job takes a back seat to his night job, it is a mysterious man named Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) who comes to his aid; to show Neo what the 'real' world is and what the 'Matrix' is. Aided by his team, Morpheus, Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and cypher (Joe Pantoliano) take Neo on journey into a world that is not at all what it seems. It's only when the agents show their true nature, led by Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), does the real mission begin and the entertainment moves up to a mindblowing level. It is up to Neo to realise his true potential and to free his mind to the endless possibilities that await him in this new world.
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It's times like these that you truly appreciate what the PAL resolution has to offer. The Matrix, with it's sweet eye candy, comes up pretty much perfect on screen. The nature of the film lends to an eerie greenish hue whilst in the Matrix and a perfectly cooler image when not. The image is rendered perfectly througout the entire movie and really does show off during the darker sections of the movie. As mentioned above, the Wachowski directors alter the look of the film so as to distinguish the different worlds our heros are in. Color saturation is perfect so don't adjust your set if you feel things look a little off color, that is the intent of the film. Upon viewing this movie you'll start to appreciate just how cool green can look. Black level is exemplary with the inherent shadow detail benefitting from the increased anamorphic PAL resolution. Detail in general is exceptional throughout the movie. The sharpness levels exhibit a true representation of the film and there is no reason to induce any aritificial edge enhancement which would have been a detriment to the excellent quality we see. Film noise is surprisingly non-existent bar a minute amount sprinkled like salt throughout the movie. MPEG artifacts are on vacation and will return on the lower quality titles. :)
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Crank up the sound, ignore the neighbours banging on your front door and revel in the mastery that is a superb soundtrack. This film has a soundtrack that does it true justice. Of the discs I have reviewed of late, this one takes the gold medal for articulate aural perfection. Anything on the screen that moves, makes a sound ranging from a deep rumble to a high pitched travel down a digital wire. You have to pay attention to what is being said so that you can understand what the Matrix is and the dialogue on this disc is as clear as day. The real star of the soundtrack are all the speakers bar your center speaker. Disconnect your rear speakers and you've halved the enjoyment of the soundtrack. There is so much going on around and behind you that you may not realise just how involving the soundtrack is. In the scene where Neo is being lectured by his boss, you are treated to the window cleaners outside squeegeing behind you and to a certain extent it invokes minor laughter out of you as you appreciate the subtlety of it all. The you move onto the foyer shoot-out sequence and there is nary a bullet or piece of flying debris that doesn't travel around, behind, along side or through you. If you've got a subwoofer, prepare for an 'all you can feel' buffet. In a world where things are not what they seem, it's good to over emphasise the bass to accompany these super-human feats. Who cares what things naturally sound like. This is the Matrix afterall. If you haven't got a subwoofer and are just waiting for the right moment, well that moment has now been and gone and you're still not enjoying this movie as you should. Get shopping.
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Overall |
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The Matrix is a phenomenal leap forward in its genre and it might only be surpassed by it's proposed sequels. Keanu puts in a decent performance as Neo whilst Hugo Weaving is the perfect Agent Smith with that eerie paced tone of his voice and a terminator like indestructability. I really enjoyed this movie, even more so on dvd. Every dvd collection needs to have a copy of this disc in there somewhere and if sales figures in the US are anything to go by, this disc will fast become THE premier disc in region 4. Now you tell me that Village Roadshow are not producing some of the best discs in Australia.
LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=179
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