Matrix Collection: 4 Film Favorites [DVD] [2008] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

This is the Ultimate Collection of "The Matrix" trilogy. It consists of three films: 'The Matrix' (1999), 'The Matrix Reloaded' (2003) and 'The Matrix Revolutions' (2003), starring Keanu Reeves as Neo, Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, and Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith. This trilogy is a popular contemporary sci-fi film series, known for its 'bullet time' special effects and philosophically derived story elements. All three films were directed by the Wachowskis, and all three were financial successes. However, the first instalment in the saga is typically regarded as a far superior film - as compared to its sequels. Indeed, 'The Matrix' won four Academy awards (as well as two BAFTA's and two Saturn awards). The first film can be watched and enjoyed as a standalone movie ... while the sequels really only make sense as part of the overall saga. This Ultimate Collection in HD is a 7 disc set (note, the DVD edition consists of 10 discs). The 3 movies are all in HD, as is the 'Animatrix' (a collection of short animated films). And there are extra discs - featuring bonus features - in standard definition. This set is rather costly, and as such I recommend it to enthusiastic fans. A more reasonably priced edition (without the animated films and bonus features) is Complete Matrix Trilogy [Blu-ray] [1999] [Region Free ]. The Matrix saga is about a dystopian future, in which the bulk of humankind have been reduced to little more than fodder for a race of intelligent machines. These machines rule the Earth, and use humans as a power source. These humans are trapped in pods, and know nothing of their real existence. Each person is connected to a complex computer programme - a virtual reality - called the Matrix, and (nearly) everyone thinks that this is reality ... As such, people live out their whole lives inside this virtual world. Yet a few people, living deep underground, have made it their mission to free the enslaved humans. These freedom fighters enter the Matrix and try to persuade individuals that the world they know is fake. Of course, the machines don't like this - and so they use super-powered 'agents' to defend and maintain the Matrix. To greatly simplify, the main story of the films concerns one man who is born into the Matrix is destined to be able to manipulate the code of the programme and free others ... This is Neo. In the first movie, Neo is located by the freedom fighters and trained. He experiences an existential crisis of sorts, recognising that he is 'the One' - capable of doing virtually anything (and becoming akin to a super-hero). In the sequels, Neo uses his amazing powers to prevent the machines from destroying all of humankind. The first film is excellent. It's one of the defining sci-fi movies of all time. It's unfortunate that the sequels don't live up to the quality of the original. Yet all are packed full of amazing special effects and action sequences. If you haven't seen these films, I do recommend them. I suggest watching the first - and, only if you really enjoyed it, do I then suggest watching the sequels.

This is the 10 disc Ultimate collection of the Matrix films and it well deserves it title. I've never known a trilogy which began as promisingly as the Matrix to fall in quality as much as this trilogy - the first film is unforgettably good, but the last is actually painfully stupid in places. The difference in quality between the movies is even more striking when they are viewed back-to-back. However this collection really redeems the franchise with its well put together extras. It's not an exaggeration to say that some of the extras are better quality than the third Matrix film and some even compare favourably to the second film. Of the seven non-film discs all but two are very entertaining/thought provoking/insightful. I can't really rate the final disc which is under an hour, but all the other discs provide useful material. The sixth disc "The Matrix Revolutions Revisited" is also a disappointment but only because the film itself is also a disappointment. The real gem in the collectin was Disc Seven - a series of Anime episodes based around the Matrix theme. You definitely don't have to be an anime fan to enjoy this disc, but you may well become one after watching it. It's very entertaining and extremely well put together. Thoroughly enjoyable and more than makes up for the disappointment of the final film in the trilogy itself. The presentation of the DVD is first rate - the DVDs are actually separated into holders which mean that you can take out the sleeve for each film individually and you'll find the associated "Revisited" disc in the same sleeve. This collection would make an excellent gift for someone who is into the Matrix films.

This is an excellent box set. I find myself disagreeing with some of the other reviews here, in my opinion it's marginally better than the alien quadrilogy box (which happens to be the only other 'box set' I own) Oddly enough I wasn't hugely impressed with the original movies when I saw them in the theatre, not even the first. I remember thinking "yeah yeah, brain in a vat, an idea that sounded interesting when I was 12". Not only did it seem rather banal philosophy but plot-wise its only one step up from the 'then he woke up and it was all a dream' ending that we were told never to use in creative writing assignments school". Plus its also been done before by various dead philosophers and Dr Who! But some vague memories of some neat special effects combined with the sheer value of these sort of box sets (even if its not very good, there's so much of it!) persuaded me to buy this one. And I'm glad I did. The first film is in fact _much_ better than I remember (I must have been too busy being an intellectual snob to pay proper attention) and even the much-maligned sequels are improved by being watched back to back. The ridiculous damp-squib ending of 'Reloaded' and corresponding low-key opening of revolutions aren't really an issue when viewed together and when viewed on DVD its easier to follow the plot, despite some flaws in the story-telling. The strongest aspect of the first movie is probably, as the critics' commentary points out, the beautiful way the shots are composed (here in full anamorphic super-widescreen and in a new and greatly improved transfer, so I'm told). Even though the special effects have become almost commonplace over time (notably being heavily used in advertising) the sheer style with which they are deployed here means they are still exciting to watch even if the tricks themselves are no longer so startling. But the real strength of this box set is the wealth of additional material included (which is what this review seems to have ended up being about - after all, anyone buying this will have already seen the films themselves). Possibly I'm just a fan of the DVD 'commentary' in general - I often find even poor movies become more interesting after listening to the commentary track - but the two commentary tracks contained herein are excellent, and surely unique amongst DVD releases. The 'critics' commentary is interesting, and, particularly for the first film (the only one they like!) points out aspects of the movie that I missed on viewing at the cinema. Even when they spend pretty much the whole of the sequels slating everything they see its quite entertaining. Having a commentary track performed by people who don't like the movies they are commenting on is surely a first? Further enterainment is provided by the 'philosophers commentary', with Cornel West and Ken Wilbur. I admit I am not sure quite how seriously to take their 'reading' of the movies - Mr Wilbur seems to be one of those audo-didact grand philosophical system builders 'operating outside the academy'. A New Age Ayn Rand, perhaps, though I'm sure neither would like the comparison. Personally what I've seen of his work doesn't convince me, but nevertheless his take on the films is an intriguing one. Anyway, not only is the 'philosophers' track interesting in its own right, it contrasts nicely with the critics' take. Whereas the critics concentrate on what they see as the flaws of the second two movies in terms of movie story-telling, the 'philosophers' focus entirely on the 'ideas' of the films. Its interesting to see how both perspectives miss certain things. I have to say for the most part I agree with the critics with regard to the latter two films. Namely, the second lacks narrative drive, the world of Zion unfortunately resembles a 'Star Trek' movie, that world is too different from our own for the viewer to be able to fully identify with the characters, the big battle scene at the end of revolutions is overlong, there's a near disastrous absence of properly developed characters, and, as a critic at one point says, the dialogue is so unnatural it could be from an opera (though for the most part the actors make it work). One irritation is that they (the critics) show an annoying refusal to do anything as geeky as actually attempt to follow the plot. Despite the foregoing list of faults, and even if one takes the 'philosophers' commentary' with a hefty pinch of salt, it is clear that the critics do miss a number of elements that make certain decisions in the later films far more explicable (for example, the second film isn't as meandering in terms of plot development as it appears, and the trainman's station is not called Mobil Ave for reasons of 'product placement'!). Its noticeable though that both sets of commentators, even the positively disposed philosophers, do what I did when watching at the cinema and completely miss the scene involving the Bane character and Agent Smith. It seems to me that the failure to establish Bane as a recognisable character before that point, so people would realise who the heck he was when he becomes crucial to the plot, is typical of the way the Brothers seem to be so keen to get their ideas across that they occasionally forget about proper narrative and certainly about character development. There is depth here though, probably not as much as Dr West and Mr Wilbur read into it, but certainly much much more than the single 'brain in a vat' idea that I thought was the sum of it on first viewing. The box set also includes the 9 short Animatrix films, well worth watching, both for filling in details in the Matrix world and as beautiful pieces of Anime (in wildly varying styles) in their own right, as well as commentaries and documentaries about them and even a potted history of Anime in general. There is also a wealth of geeky documenatry material about the world of the Matrix and some less geeky (and somewhat shallow but still interesting) documentaries about the philosophy and science behind the films. In addition each movie has the usual second dvd of (quite lengthy) supporting documentaries about all the technical aspects of making the films. The Matrix Reloaded extras disk includes the extra scenes shot for the Matrix computer game. Which is nice as the game itself wasn't much cop but the scenes fill in a couple of gaps in the movies (it seems movie tie-in games are never much good, unless they come out 20 years after the movies they are based on). A few quibbles - given the emphasis on the the notion of a 'trinity' in the movies (mind/body/spirit, and matrix/zion/machines according to Mr Wilbur, not to mention the character name and the fact it's a trilogy), surely they missed a trick in not having a third commentary track? Given the Wachowskis' desire to maintain a Pynchon-type elusiveness they were never going to do one themselves, but a cast and crew one (present on the original Matrix DVD?), concentrating on the technical aspects of the movie might have been a nice addition and been consistent with the 'trinity' motif. Secondly I'm surprised Dr West, being something of a leftist, didn't have anything to say about the decidedly Nietzschean aspects of the movies - the awakened 'supermen' slaughtering the still sleeping sheep of the matrix (all those hapless security guards and cops, not to mention the innocent power station employees!) without a single moral qualm. (Its a topic that relates to the general lack of believably human characters in the film - don't any of the 'awakened' have any residual ties to people still in the Matrix? Would that not present some painfull emotional dilemmas for any real human being? Heck, maybe that angle would have been at least as interesting as the grand quasi-mystical ideas the Brothers seem so taken with?.) Also Dr West's emphasis on the racial 'inclusiveness' of the movies (and he makes a plausible case for that being an important part of the theme of the films) seems to rather miss the fact that almost everyone is young and attractive (apart from a few of the 'councillors')- are there no old or ugly people in the future? Wouldn't people's representations in the Matrix be more of an idealised version of their real world self? Instead everyone in the 'real world' of Zion is as buff and pretty as they are in the Matrix. Finally, in addition to the existing drinking game of downing a drink whenever Keanu Reeves says some variant of "I don't know" in the movie, one can now add a new one based on whenever Mr Wilbur uses the word 'exquisite' on the commentary track. Oh, and the packaging is very nice also, though there's the usual awkward irony about fetishising a beautiful consumer object that is at least in part, if the commentary is to be believed, intended to be a critique of materialism and consumerism. In short the movies, though not without faults have way more depth than the average Hollywood FX-fest and the sheer wealth of additional material makes this a worthwhile buy for anyone who at least _quite liked_ the films.

When I got this set back in 2008 (around my birthday), it was all I wanted. This really does contain everything the body needs, Matrix-wise, at least. It contains all the movies in special editions and tons of extra material. All of it is worth watching at least once, and much of it is worth watching several times. There is nothing that seems like it is out of place in this ultimate collection. I personally loved the new transfer of the first Matrix movie as well as the "Matrix: Revisited" documentaries for each movie. This is the ten-disc out-of-print version containing "The Animatrix". A nine-disc version without this disc is available. If you do buy the nine-disc version, make sure you buy "The Animatrix" seperately - it is the exactly same disc. If you already own all three Matrix movies, maybe even in the two disc special editions, does this warrant a double dip? Yes, it certainly does! Very few extras are carried over from the previous editions and the extras for "Reloaded" and "Revolutions" are brand new. The new transfer of "The Matrix" is almost worth the price of admittance in itself, it is really that good. This is the ultimate collection for the ultimate fan. If you are new to the Matrix this is also the best way to go, as it offers the best transfers available (on DVD anyway), and the Ultimate Matrix Experience!

I bought this item recently, it came from "Little Music Shop" in Italy. At first I confess I didn't realize when I bought this that the seller was Italian =) so the writings on the outer cover are written in Italian (obviously) but that all was forgotten when I checked the Audio and Subtitles from the movies. It has subtitles in Portuguese in all movies, I think it has audio in Portuguese also =) LOL!! I was afraid to try it =) What I also find fantastic is that it has HD Audio in English and it has 5.1 Dolby Digital in 3 or 4 other languages also, that is rare to see in bluray I think. Not everybody has full HD systems (like me) but I'm starting to buy bluray movies that I like most and because of lower prices so... for now 5.1 Dolby Digital is fantastic!! The movie is "The Matrix" and that's about it... not much to say other than IT'S A GREAT MOVIE!! If you are looking for this with Portuguese subtitles or other, I recommend the seller also! If you contact them before, I did because of a lost package and they answered very quickly. I think they have all interest in confirming the subtitles. I think French audio and subs, English, Spanish and Italian also included. This pack is done like I think blurays should, with "everything", I mean, all audios and subtitles as they could fit in there =) I'll try to post a photo of it so you can check the full features. Excellent Pack!! Thinking on buying it? Go for it! Best Regards, Pedro.

In short: This edition is food for thought. If you want a bunch of classic action movies go buy Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and True Lies but if you want to think about a movie like you've never thought about one before this is essential. The detail: Time for honesty. I didn't like Reloaded. I despised Revolutions. Not for the reason that they were sprawling and overcomplicated but more for the fact that because they were sprawling and overcomplicated they lost so much of the solid audience base they'd built up with the original Matrix. By the time I'd taken in all three movies, the Animatrix, Enter The Matrix and The Matrix Revisited I felt I'd pretty much got a feel for the series, its spirit and its intentions. Then I saw the roll call of features on this edition and, well, realised I might have some more work to do to get my head around what The Matrix experience was all about. Finally someone has produced a DVD not with the director telling stories about how lovely it was to work with everybody and how the whole thing was neat-o but with two philosophers discussing the 'Manichean overtones' of the original Matrix. To then couple this with a commentary of movie critics ripping the film to pieces is a brave move and the most public admission that a film might not be everyone's cup of tea a film's director(s) are ever likely to make. The fact is this is a risky box set. It does not massage its own ego and where the hyperbole threatens to be vomit inducing the Wachowskis have been very careful to deflate their own egos by giving voice to the many people who were unhappy with the conclusion of the trilogy. As such for an interested party such as myself it has forced a re-evaluation of my previous opinion. Not merely because a bunch of intellectual heavyweights are saying that there is more to the Matrix than meets the eye but because upon listening to their discourse it is possible to see that the Matrix rather than being disjointed and ultimately incoherent is, in fact, an incredibly complex piece of work with a deep message. How successful the Wachowski's were at putting extremely subtle philosophical and spritual arguments into a Keanu Reeves vehicle is another matter. But I find myself now in the position of being unable to write the latter parts of the trilogy off as I previously had.

Little bit confused at the discs the 3 main films are there but finding them in the discs are difficult, lots of how they made the films etc in about 4 of the discs.

Tiny hole in packaging, packaging not as clean as shown - fitting for price compared with others