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 | Best offer for Matrix Revolutions (Region 2 DVD)Best Price for Matrix Revolutions (Region 2 DVD) is at Amazon.co.uk - £1.96
Store: Amazon.co.uk - see offers at all stores | SummaryThe opening reels of Matrix Revolutions do nothing to dispel the feeling of exhausted disappointment that set in during the second half of The Matrix Reloaded. There's plenty more talky guff combined with the picking-up of hard-to-remember plot threads as Neo (Keanu Reeves) lies in a coma in the "real" world and is stranded on a tube station in a limbo "beyond the Matrix" while his allies do a reprise of the shooting-their-way-past-the-bodyguards bit from the last film (this time, the baddies can walk on the ceiling). A new Oracle (Mary Alice) makes some pronouncements about the end being near and more things happen--including the evil Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) manifesting in reality by possessing a minor character and perfidiously blinding our hero, who wears a becoming ribbon over his wounded eyes and perceives the world in an impressive "flaming truth vision". What about the action? The equivalent of the last film's freeway chase scene is a huge face-off as the Sentinels (robot squids) finally breach the caverns of Zion, "the last human city", and swarm against a battalion of pilot-manipulated giant robots: here, the effects are seamless and the images astonishing, though the fact that none of the major characters are involved and the whole thing goes on so long as if designed to top any previous robot-on-robot screen carnage means that it becomes monotonously amazing, like watching someone else play a great computer game. After a too-easily-managed major realignment of the enmities, the film--and the series--finally delivers a sign-off sequence that's everything you could want as Neo and Smith get into a kung fu one-on-one in a rain-drenched virtual city, flying as high as Superman and Brainiac in smart suits. It comes too late to save the day and the wrap-up is both banal and incoherent, but at least this single combat is a reward for hardy veterans who've sat through seven hours of build-up. --Kim Newman On the DVD: when the first Matrix DVD was released, with never-before-seen features such as the "Follow the White Rabbit" option, it set a benchmark against which subsequent discs were judged. But neither sequel has lived up to the original's high standards. The Matrix Revolutions two-disc set is an unexceptional package, with a routine "making of" featurette being the main bonus item. Amid all the usual backslapping guff about how great everyone is and what a great time they've all had, it's possible to glean some nuggets of useful information about the baffling plot--though cast and crew can't repress a note of weariness creeping in when discussing the horribly protracted shooting schedule. The feature on the CG Revolution is the most informative for people who like to know how everything was done, and, in the same vein, there's also a multi-angle breakdown of the Super Burly Brawl. A 3-D timeline gives a handy summary of the story so far, and there's a plug for The Matrix Online game. The anamorphic 2.40:1 picture is, of course, a real treat to look at, even if the movie is mostly shades of dark grey and dark green; soundwise the dynamic range of the Dolby Digital surround is extreme: all conversations are conducted in throaty whispers, while the action sequences will push your speakers to the limit. No DTS option, though. And as with Reloaded, there's no audio commentary either: the Wachowski's policy of not talking about their creation begins to seem like a ploy to avoid answering awkward questions. --Mark Walker |
| A Spectacular Finale to the Sci-Fi Trilogy with Excellent Extras | [I've added a photo to the item page showing the back of the Blu-ray box which details the disc specification and content. I have written Amazon reviews for the Blu-ray disc of each film in the trilogy...]
'The Matrix Revolutions' is the third film in a trilogy written, directed and produced by the Wachowski brothers and dates from the early 2000s.
The trilogy is arguably THE series of films which should be watched first on any new Hi-Definition video format to fully appreciate it and the film; Blu-ray is no exception to this 'rule' and I can confirm that it is an excellent way to watch (and listen to !) the film in this format. The previous films in the trilogy are 'The Matrix' and 'The Matrix Reloaded' and you can buy all 3 films in a Blu-ray boxset.
Whilst many people, including myself, consider the two previous films to be superior to this final instalment (with 'The Matrix Reloaded' being the best I think), it still stands as an excellent example of a heavily-laden special-effects film with a coherent and intelligent plot and lots of enthralling action scenes. It is, of course, also essential viewing to discover what happens at the end of the Matrix story.
This film again includes a lot of imagery produced using a special filming process to digitally enhance the simulation of variable speed. Although not the first films to use the technology, they did so in such a way that it essentially pushed the process into mainstream film-making; so much so that it was quickly given the registered trademark of 'Bullet Time' by Warner Bros (the film studio which financed the film).
The overall plot for the trilogy is novel and extremely complicated, requiring 'mere-mortals' to watch the films several times to start appreciating everything that occurs and all the reasoning behind it; quite a lot of the dialogue is involved and needs to be properly understood for everything to make sense....The initial synopsis is that 'Reality is a world run by artificially intelligent machines who control the human slaves in a simulated 20th Century', with 'The Matrix' referring to the simulation and that the lead characters being either human 'rebels' who are free from the simulation and fighting for 'true reality' or computer program villains, known as 'Agents', tasked with defeating the rebellion.
As before, things get moving very quickly in this film and there continue to be periods of 'explanation' and a number of massive action and battle sequences. There is not so much violence in this final instalment and it is far more plot-driven. The story continues directly from 'The Matrix Reloaded', with the sanctuary home for the remaining human population being under attack and certain characters on a separate mission to thwart that attack in a different way but also achieve a more permanent solution to their predicament by undermining the integrity of the Matrix .
There continues to be an overall heavy-reliance on spectacular digital special-effects (which blend seamlessly with the imagery and look completely authentic) and in this film there are a number of huge battle scenes involving a multitude of superb 'machinery' creations. The one blemish in this instalment is that, unfortunately, there is a collection of new Zion-based characters who are given too much prominence to distract the viewer from the main theme and the way they act is not in-keeping with what has already passed; one of them, a young man who idolises Neo and wants to prove himself in battle, I found rather irritating. Thankfully they are not too prominent to overly spoil things but their presence definitely could be done without...
The Blu-ray image on this issue is flawless/superbly detailed and the sound quality is excellent - a clear improvement over the DVD format. An overwhelming proportion of the film occurs in very dark surroundings which really allows this video format to prove itself, with solid black colouring and sharp detailing of the mass of ironmongery amongst the 'murk'.
The extras on the disc are again copious, including a 'Picture-in-Picture' narrative inserted into the film, 2 feature-length commentaries and a load of very interesting 'featurettes' covering such things as the battle scenes; see the photo I've added to the item page showing the back of the Blu-ray box which details the disc specification and content.
Anyone who either already knows about, or wants to experience for the first time, this finale to the two previous films in the trilogy really should see it in Blu-ray format. Despite the shortcomings I mentioned earlier it is still an impressive piece of work and only stands as a less satisfying watch because of the excellence of the earlier films. | Written on 06 December 2009 |   |
| The Matrix Reviled | You can imagine the creative process that started out the whole Matrix phenomenon:
"Hey, how about a film where Keanu travels through time and space in a telephone box, and has to save humanity?
"Nah, been done."
"Okay, how about one with an actor called Reeve who flies about with superpowers?
"Been done."
"Okay, how about BOTH."
"Geeeeeee...."
Matrix Revolutions is a real curates egg of a film; visually remarkable and at times plain jawdropping, but with such a hokey, bloated script it is difficult to believe that the authors of the original taut sci-fi thriller wrote this as well. I suppose the problem is that every second film I see these days is a jawdropping technical achievement, and so I've got jaded to the fact that we can now create anything on screen. The thing that filmmakers now have to do is concentrate on the story and the dialogue because, darling, the script for the Matrix Revolutions sucks.
Surrounded by the SFX on offer, the risible dialogue (I can only assume they cut the sequence between the grizzled general and the 16-year-old recruit with a cheese knife) just shows that whilst you can raise the technical bar with a computer, you still need talented writers who know that they want to achieve, and my feeling is that the Warshawski brothers are no wiser about what the Matrix is than we are at the end of all of this. Frankly, I think they were winging it. Scenes that added nothing (the subway platform sequence) with characters who didn't know what they were talking about (but trying to sound portentous) tried and failed to distract me from the hamfisted religious subtext. As a bit of a Godbotherer on the quiet myself I've no problem with the occasional religious subtext, but start to object when the writers feel the need to knock it home with a mallet. Couple that with scenes lifted wholesale from better films ('Let's fly the ship down this narrow passageway!' "What, you mean like the Millennium Falcon inside the Death Star in Return of the Jedi, but with more budget?" "Hush!") and poorly paced plotting and you've got a film that I really wanted to like and get excited by, but ultimately spent my time watching it thinking of snide put-downs for the review.
It's a shame; the Matrix series started out so well, but the authors seem to have got so caught up in the possibilities of CGI and wire-fu that they haven't bothered to think through many of the ramifications of their ideas and the script suffers for it. When a Psychologist (me) and a Physicist (the friend I was watching it with) between them are left going 'that bit made no sense at all', then the author really has to concede that either their script perhaps is a little too highbrow for mainstream multiplex entertainment, or alternatively that it does, indeed, make no sense at all.
In the light of that, I'd like to suggest how the Matrix should have ended.
NEO arrives in his telephone box and steps out into the rain. Thousands of Agent Smiths line the streets. One steps forward.
SMITH: Welcome back, Mr. Anderson! Mr. Ted 'Theodore' Anderson!
NEO: Whoa. Strange things are afoot in the Matrix.
Stepping from another phone box comes Alex Winter.
BILL: Dude!
NEO: Dude!
BILL: We've got to totally save the world. Again.
NEO: But dude - we don't even know how to play our instruments!
NEO shakes and goes glassy-eyed for a moment before returning to normal. He looks at his fingers.
NEO: Whoa. I know guitar.
The film closes with Bill & Neo playing 'God Gave Rock & Roll to You', whilst millions of Agent Smiths wave cigarette lighters in the air. It stops raining and the sun comes out.
That's how it should have ended - it would have made just as much sense, and pleased the geek audience much more than the Jesus allegory that we got. | Written on 01 June 2009 | |
| Gah | This rates alongside Phantom menace and the latest Indy film Crystal Skull and one of the worst sequels ever made ever, in the history of the universe. The first Matrix was brilliant, and was based on a simple but interesting premise, then they made the two sequles and HAD to turn it into a pretentious load of pseudo religious psycho babble. Its like listening to a stoned student pontificating on the meaning of life.
What would have been wrong with keeping it as a nice simple man vs machine trilogy, with perhaps some kind of plot, a script that didnt make you want to slap people, and maybe one or two scenes that didnt rely on crappy film destroying CGI? Not much to ask. And please film people, for the love of god. stop hiring Keanu Reeves, he cant act! Have you not noticed yet?! | Written on 16 January 2009 | |
| Effects driven final part | Neo (Reeves) finds himself trapped in a place between the machine world and the Matrix as the people of Zion prepare for battle against the machines.
The Matrix sparked debates about reality, Reloaded questioned the importance of choice and Revolutions with all its fancy effects and sharp direction fails to deliver on a misguided narrative that tries to pinpoint the issue of destiny.
After a stunning ending to the rubbish Reloaded, the final part of the trilogy was set up to hopefully amend the mistakes from its predecessor and deliver an intriguing story that would decide the fate of both worlds. But like the previous instalment this falls flat on its face and delivers pointless continuous waves of visual effects. Stunning visuals again, but if there is no story to juxtapose them with, then they simply are a fact of the film, with no special significance.
The narrative dives into the ridiculous of the prophecy and continues with the inaccurate concept of choice in an attempt to reach its conclusion and bizarre open ending.
The man versus machine battle took long enough to arrive and after the built up anticipation it is a huge disappointment with too much screen time, conventional hero moments, predictable just in time scenarios and unorganised direction. The difference and surprise from the first film has been replaced by action convention and is the saddest thing to see.
Though the visuals and direction do not appear for the battle between man and machine, they are present and beautiful in a fine climatic showdown between Smith and Neo.
This narrative is complex like the previous two releases but it is hard to interpret. Unlike the first, Revolutions doesn't give enough information to even guess what happens at the end, not to mention how elements from the Matrix appeared in the machine world. Open endings are a fantastic device to create a sense of mystery to leave the viewer guessing, but here there is a quick conversation and that is that and the viewer will be left wondering what happened. Re-watching the film doesn't help either, but you wouldn't really want to as it is simply boring, pointless and doesn't have a point.
Sci-Fi films have always been about difference from reality and stunning visuals. Star Wars, Predator and Alien had visuals and question generating narratives. So why must all sequels ruin these original storylines by driving down the road of effects and action.
Like many other sequels this final part of the trilogy focuses on its computer to score hits with its viewer but fails miserably thanks to an action packed and pointless narrative
5/10 | Written on 01 January 2009 | |
| better | | a much better flick after the rubbish reloaded this is much more entertaining.the first hour is forgettable but after the hour mark thier is some decent action set pices that are actually quite exciting. | Written on 07 June 2008 | |
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