Review of Matrix, The

Video

Woah, this film is visually stunning, and features some groundbreaking special effects and camera work. How to discuss it all without giving too much of the plot away could prove very difficult but I`ll try me best.

The main eye candy here is based around a concept called Bullet Time, which is the seemless splicing of live footage and computer generated sequences which range from panning of freeze framed action to ultra slow motion sequences. It is nothing short of breathtaking, and its great to see how it is all put together by watching the documentary sections that litter themselves amongst the extras. Even those who haven`t seen the film are probably already familiar with a few clips of bullets flying past Keanu Reeves

I`d dread to think how complicated directing The Matrix must have been, but clearly the enthusiasm of the Wachowski brothers for bringing their screenplay to life helped pull it off. The editing is superb, there is often so much going on you just have to admire the continuity between shots and the pace of every scene is perfect.

Quality of the transfer is amazingly good, dealing with the dark sections and blindingly white pieces with equal ease. Its also anamorphic, something I have grown to appreciate more than ever this last weekend. I`ve watched a number of different discs on a 32" widescreen telly in the past and noticed that anamorphic video does indeed look much better, but when your viewing a 6ft wide image on a 16x9 capable projector the word blocky takes on a whole new meaning.

All the scenes within The Matrix have a green cast, whilst colours in the real world do not. Don`t ask me to explain that, because nobody can tell you what The Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself. ;-)

Audio

Oooh, is this going to give your Dolby Digital amp a workout! There seem to be three main types of 5.1 soundtracks, the first ignores the rears completely for most of the film, the second uses them as a gimmick. The Matrix sits happily in the third category, the soundtrack that places you inside the film. I really don`t think I`ve heard a better balanced and mixed 5.1 track ever, bullets flying over your head in all directions, explosions, sound effects, its all there beautifully blended together.

The music is just as wonderous, it plays for large parts of the movie both subtley in quieter sections and to dramatic effect in action sequences, always complimenting the onscreen action perfectly. I can see myself enjoying the isolated music score quite a bit in the near future, religating my Star Wars CD to the shelf.

Features

On first sight this looks like the most feature laden extravaganza ever, but actually it isn`t. Don`t get me wrong, there is plenty to see here once the final credits have rolled and certainly help to make this a must have disc to show of to your friends. But don`t believe there aren`t discs around with more. The animated menus are fab, a great example of how to do it, and help to set the atmosphere before you click play.

The now infamous player-tripper-upper The White Rabbit feature is pretty cool, basically you turn it on and watch The Matrix as normal and at key moments a white rabbit appears on the bottom right of your screen. By pressing a button on your remote when this happens, you are presented with a couple of minutes covering the making-of the sequence in the movie, after which it returns you to the beginning of that section where you can carry on enjoying the film. Very cool indeed.

There is also a commentary track, a behind the scenes featurette which discusses Bullet Time in more detail, quite a bit of DVD-ROM content and the obligatory trailer. Here is the big mistake in an otherwise flawless DVD, the trailer is only watchable if you own a DVD-ROM drive and even then the quality is just s***e. I`ve downloaded trailers of the internet with a bigger resolution and higher image standard than this. A minor niggle when compared to what you do get, but annoying none the less.

The one must have extra however is the isolated score, this is the best music I`ve heard in a film for years, shame there is commentary splattered around here and there, although its only in the quiet bits.

Conclusion

As previously noted, the sound is amazing, the visual are stunning, both combined will take your breath away. Now add to that the class brought by actors Laurence Fishburne and Joe Pantoliano, the latter from the Wachowski brothers earlier film Bound, and you are already some way to a great experience. But there is more...

The plot is as good as any SciFi out there, it is explained in pieces throughout the movie and has very few holes. The only snag is we aren`t talking a no-brainer experience here, although you will certainly enjoy The Matrix even if you don`t exactly get it on the first run. This is a storyline of clever analogies and metaphors, very cleverly written.

I suppose a quick mention of Keanu Reeves is in order, no he isn`t irritating at all, his character and the action were made for the man. And Carrie-Anne Moss in PVC just has to be seen to be believed, mainly by putting her on A-B repeat.

The Matrix for me was the best film I saw in 1999, everything from the special effects to the plot blew me away, and this disc is exactly what we want to see when something so big comes to DVD. There have been a few players which suffered incompatibility problems with this title, but most of those have been or will soon be resolved. We owe some sort of a debt to Warner for pushing the limits of the technology a bit further, for forcing manufacturers to think twice before they release substandard machines, but above all for giving the punter their moneys worth.

If you only ever buy one DVD in your lifetime, this has got to be the best candidate so far.