She jumped in the air and the camera swirled around her. At that one moment, everything about big-budget moviemaking changed. While many late-1990s science fiction films such as 'Dark City' and 'Strange Days' embraced a similar grim, urban aesthetic, 'The Matrix' absorbed it, internalized it, and expanded upon it. The original film would be seminal in stretching the boundaries of computer-generated imagery -- literally. Characters run along walls before delivering a kick. Bullets visibly ripple through the air, moving slowly enough for their intended targets to move out of the way. Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), wearing black trench coats and black sunglasses, shoot their way through an office lobby leaving heroic amounts of shattered concrete and dead bodies. By the time it was over, audiences had a new benchmark for what constituted cool.
It's been nearly a decade since 'The Matrix' first ripped through the pop culture consciousness, and two sequels and over a billion dollars in worldwide box office later, the dust has finally settled long enough that it's possible to look back and better assess the film's place in the sci-fi cinematic pantheon. It's clear now that the writing and directing team of Larry and Andy Wachowski were not content to just drape everyone in black and call it style. Nor did they simply rely on their extraordinary visual sense. 'The Matrix' depends on obvious religious parallels (Neo has been interpreted to be a spiritual stand-in for everyone from Jesus Christ to Buddha) to give it a familiar, universal feel and a philosophical bent.
But, like the outlet embedded in the back of Neo's head, the real power of 'The Matrix' is its ability to plug into the psyche of its target audience: young males. The idea that our world is an elaborate simulation meant to divert us from the knowledge that our bodies are being enslaved and harvested for energy by sentient computers is at once heady, ridiculous and supremely clever. As such, it played right into the hearts and minds of a generation. Much as 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' introduced mainstream American audiences to the Chinese martial arts films, 'The Matrix' introduced us to the kinetic visuals of Japanimation, John Woo-inspired violence and the Cyberpunk ethos pioneered in the novels of William Gibson.
Though the first 'Matrix' is undoubtedly a classic of its genre and a highly-influential blockbuster, its cross to bear is its two sequels. After the first film grossed over $500 million worldwide to become the sleeper sensation of 1999, it was inevitable that there would be follow-ups. And so the Wachowskis and Warner devised back-to-back sequels, shot over a period of year and to be released six months apart in the spring and fall of 2003. 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'The Matrix Revolutions' would form a trilogy with the original 'Matrix,' and gargantuan box office seemed inevitable. Indeed, 'Reloaded' opened huge, but the sequels seemed to quickly suffer from the law of diminishing returns. It is impossible now to look back on 'The Matrix' phenomenon and not see the kinks in the armor -- namely, that 'Reloaded' and particularly 'Revolutions' disappointed not just the mainstream but also the franchise's massive legion of devoted followers. Not since the 'Star Wars' prequels has a sure-fire sci-fi franchise suffered such a steep drop-off in cultural relevance.
Unfortunately, the passage of time has done nothing to improve 'The Matrix' series. While the first film can still be appreciated for its prescient vision and trail-blazing aesthetics, 'Reloaded' and 'Revolutions' both feel like a creative treading of water, or worse, parasitic cash-ins. All that black leather and Euro-tech interior design starts to feel awfully tired by the time we get to silly, maudlin climax of 'Revolutions.' The religious allusions also feel belabored and incredibly ham-fisted. Even the once-pioneering effects begin to veer toward the campy and self-referential -- neither 'Reloaded' or 'Revolutions' introduced any new concepts that could approach the first film's "bullet time" -- instead, they only regurgitated the same old tricks.
Yet we still have a lot to be thankful for in The Matrix trilogy. At its core, it embodies a delicious paradox: using state-of-the-art technology, it tells its story of mankind's near destruction brought about by our reliance on state-of-the-art technology. In the dark ages of the late 1990s, with society reaching a point of no return in its dependence upon the internet, cell phones and global positioning systems, 'The Matrix' asked moviegoers to think about the implications -- and to never underestimate the power of black leather.
'The Ultimate Matrix Collection' hit HD DVD in 2007 with mammoth expectations. For high-def enthusiasts hungry to feed their new machines with top-quality material, nothing less than a demo disc would do. Warner did not disappoint. The transfers for all three 'Matrix' films were terrific, and in my original review, I awarded the set five stars. I'm happy to report that the studio has not messed with perfection. 'The Matrix,' 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'The Matrix Revolutions' are each presented once again in 1080p/VC-1-encoded transfers (framed accurately in 2.40:1 widescreen) -- identical to the HD DVD.
Warner's work on the high-def masters minted for the original HD DVD release were a clear step up from the standard-def DVD, which received mixed notices from critics at the time of its release. A direct compare with the original DVDs makes the results immediately obvious. One of the many impressive aspects of the set as a whole is its consistency -- despite the four-year gap between 'The Matrix' and its two sequels, I could scarcely tell any difference between them. Cue up any sequence of any of the flicks, and prepare to be suitably wowed.
The most immediately noticeable upgrade is detail. Though I felt the previous DVDs certainly looked good, all the black-on-black of the 'Matrix's trend-setting visual aesthetic often faded into inky mush in standard-def. Not so in high-def, where fine texture is a revelation. For example, during the scene in the first 'Matrix' when Neo and Trinity blast their way into the bank, the supple details of the clothes and the shiny black leather is so good I wanted to freeze-frame and just revel in its ultra-realism. One other compare was particularly revealing -- there is a push-in shot through a grill that the cops are ensconced behind, and on the DVD, it looks pixilated and jagged -- but on the Blu-ray, I never saw a single moment where the image broke up or looked stair-stepped. This is the kind of three-dimensional, picture-perfect image high-def is all about.
The colors of 'The Matrix' films have always been controversial. The dominant hue is clearly green. Though there are many uses of deep purple and occasional splashes of incredibly vivid reds, the transfers have been obviously skewed. Yet I was impressed with the level of detail and "naturalism" (albeit highly stylized) that remained despite the tint shift. And all things considered, fleshtones are as accurate as possible. I was also relieved that Warner did not overpump or oversaturate the transfers -- there's no bleeding or chroma noise, and again, consistency is excellent.
Finally, compression artifacts are not an issue. There isn't a moment of macroblocking or any noise, even on the many flat surfaces and static shots, which often hold on a particular image for what seems like minutes. And the source itself is beautifully maintained -- there is a bit of grain here or there, but it is clearly part of the intended effect and there are no instances of dirt or blemishes. This is really fantastic stuff -- 'The Matrix' trilogy easily earns an exemplary five-star video rating.
As with the video, Warner isn't messing with a good thing, and the audio here again replicates the previous HD DVD release of 'The Ultimate Matrix Trilogy.' We receive identical Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround tracks (48kHz/16-bit) for each film, as well as optional 640kbps Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 surround mixes. I was just as impressed -- these soundtracks are superlative.
All three 'Matrix' are naturals for high-resolution audio. Sure, there are plenty of long, talky bits in each installment, but there's also a long list of top-flight action sequences to choose from when you want to drive your home theater rig into the ground. My favorites are the office break-in from the first film, both the humongous car chase and extended rave scenes about mid-way through 'Reloaded,' and the sheer aural delight of the climax in the otherwise-silly 'Revolutions.' The aggressiveness of the surrounds is phenomenal throughout -- imaging is seamless between channels, and the "wall of sound" the emanates from the rears is incredibly forceful. These are the kind of sequences you go back and rewind over and over again, just to revel in their effectiveness.
Dynamics are also top-notch. Just as "bullet time" revolutionized modern special effects, the sound design here is also pioneering. In hindsight, it shouldn't have been a surprise that the original 'Matrix' swept most of the 1999 Oscars given for tech categories over 'Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.' The use of extended low bass, and the way the mingling of natural and mechanical effects and tones to create a chilling, suspended-animation-like aural effect is fantastic.
The Dolby TrueHD easily handles such a complex presentation, with airtight low bass extension all the way down to the lowest frequencies. Mid- and high-range is also wonderfully clear and free from irritating harshness. As loud as this soundtrack gets, I never felt bombarded with treble, which is can be a problem with high-impact soundtracks, where it often seems like the sound mixers simply crank everything up to eleven. Dialogue also is accurately balanced in the mix -- Keanu Reeves' now-famous utterance of "Whoa!" is (for better or for worse) perfectly intelligible. For that reason alone, 'The Ultimate Matrix Collection' earns yet another five-stars for audio.
When Warner first released the gargantuan 'The Matrix' trilogy box set on DVD a few years back, it set the bar for sheer volume of supplemental material. It's simply information overload, with so many audio commentaries, documentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes and short films that it's possible to imagine even the most diehard 'Matrix' fan feeling a little overwhelmed.
This embarrassment of riches continued with last year's HD DVD release, which ported over all of the same materials, plus threw in a few exclusive picture-in-picture commentaries. Warner has not given Blu-ray short thrift, for now we have 'The Ultimate Matrix Collection' which again compiles over 35 hours of material in one mammoth seven disc set. A bit more compact than the seven discs found in the HD DVD edition, for Blu-ray Warner spreads out the extras across three BD-50 dual-layer movie discs, another BD-50 for 'The Animatrix,' and two more standard DVD platters with additional extras (one double-sided).
Unfortunately, like the HD DVD, the Blu-ray finds much of this bonus material presented in 480p/i/MPEG-2 only. To the studio's credit, they have headed high-def fan outcry, and this time we get upgraded 1080p/VC-1 video and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround audio (48kHz/16-bit) on 'The Animatrix,' which on the HD DVD was standard-def only. No, this entire box is still not in full HD, but it's still a jump up from the HD DVD.
Discs 1-3: Shared Extras
Note that there are a couple of shared features across the first three 'Matrix' movie discs. Each film gets:
Disc 1: 'The Matrix'
Disc 2: 'Matrix Reloaded'
Disc 3: 'Matrix Revolutions'
Disc 4: 'The Animatrix'
Spurred by the success of the original 'Matrix,' the Wachowski Brothers and Warner enlisted seven top Japanimation artists to create a series of nine short films, with the intention of utilizing different animation forms and styles to expand and deepen the 'Matrix' mythology as preparation began on the two sequels.
The nine shorts are: "Final Flight of the Osiris," "Kid's Story," "Program," "World Record," "Beyond," "Detective Story," "Matriculated," "The Second Renaissance Part 1" and "The Second Renaissance Part 2."
The result is largely a success. The nine shorts, collectively, are all over the place, but are often wildly exciting and visually stimulating. 'The Animatrix' was first released as a stand-alone disc in 2001, and that set is repurposed here, though with the shorts themselves at last upgraded to full 1080p/VC-1 video and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround audio (48kHz/16-bit).
But wait, 'The Animatrix' gets its own set of extras:
Disc 5
But wait (again!), there's more. 'The Ultimate Matrix Collection' also includes 'The Matrix Experience," two more discs with a ton of additional content. Quite frankly, at this point it was overkill for me. But hey, it's my job to review this stuff, so here goes...
Disc 6
'The Ultimate Matrix Collection' came to HD DVD with huge expectations, and managed to live up to the hype. It does it again on Blu-ray. Granted, the trilogy as a whole suffers from the law of diminishing returns, but it's impossible to argue with the series' lasting impact and influence on pop moviemaking. And in sheer technical terms, Warner has certainly done this landmark sci-fi franchise proud on Blu-ray. The video and audio are five-star stunners, and the long list of supplemental materials simply boggles the mind, even if much of it is in standard-def.
So, should you fork over yet more 'Matrix' money for this Blu-ray? If you already own the HD DVD, I'd say not (unless getting 'The Animatrix' in full HD is important to you). But if you didn't take the plunge the last time around -- and can stand the two, inferior sequels -- then by all means, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better high-def deal for the money than 'The Ultimate Matrix Collection.'
Portions of this review also appear in our coverage of Dunkirk on Blu-ray. This post features unique Vital Disc Stats, Video, and Final Thoughts sections.
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