A blog devoted to the discussion of the greatest movies ever made, or The Essential Films. From the beginning of cinema history to present day, these films are crucial to the education of anyone who loves the art of film making.
Friday, January 13, 2012
The Matrix (1999)
The Matrix
You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind.
The Stats
The Director: The Wachowski Brothers
The Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano
The Release Date: 1999
The Runtime: 136 Minutes
The Plot
A computer hacker learns that his reality isn’t real, it’s just a computer program designed to keep him docile while machines feed on his energy. He “wakes up” and the revolution begins…
The Lowdown
OK, if you’ve never seen The Matrix, please hand in your Man Card. It’s been officially revoked.
Seriously, though… we have all seen this movie. If it wasn’t for the putridly terrible Phantom Menace, it would have been the biggest movie of 1999. The thing is, it’s been years since I sat down and watched it. Why? Well, we have those crappy sequels to blame for that. Those movies left such a bad taste in my mouth that I didn’t want to pick up and watch the original again.
But recently, I re-watched it. And I’ll be damned if it isn’t just as good as when I first saw it in theatres 11 years ago. It definitely holds up.
Seriously, everything about this movie works. It takes the man VS machine aspect of sci-fi and improves it. Its special effects and CGI STILL hold up all these years later. In fact, I dare say most current CG doesn’t even hold a candle to The Matrix. If that wasn’t enough, the Wachowski brothers were so revolutionary in their filmmaking, that when they realized they couldn’t get some of the shots they wanted with the technology of the time: THEY FUCKING INVENTED NEW TECHNOLOGY. I don’t care what anyone says, that’s awesome.
On top of the that, you have probably the greatest fight scenes ever recorded on film. Go out of your way to re-watch this sci-fi action classic. Just pretend the story ends here and never watch those sequels again.