New Matrix trailer

[Mallus]

I think a case can be made that it was, when it came out, the best sci-fi film since Blade Runner. I don't agree, necessarily, but the case can be made.

I'd add Gattaca to that list. One of best traditional SF films made {emphasis on the "traditional SF" part}.

What surprised me about The Matrix was that is was a SF movie, not just an exersise in black-leather clad psuedo-cyberpunk wuxia {well, its that too}. The was a lot more backstory and well, umm, plot than I expected. Not that it wasn't silly {the whole "humans as batteries" still chafes}, but there was just more to the thing than I expected and that added immensely to my enjoyment of it.

 

[Assenpfeffer]

A case could be made if the ending had lived up the promise of the start of the film; without that it is incomplete, to me. As for best since Blade Runner - I thought T2, Dark City, 12 Monkeys, Star Trek 6, Back to the Future, Aliens and a bunch of others were better science fiction films.

I agree on T2 and Aliens. Possibly Total Recall as well - I thought that film did a great job at the kind of Sci-Fi/Action blend we're so used to seeing today. Also, I though Contact was a great film. (In fact, it's one of the five best Sci-fi films ever, in my book.) The Fifth Element is another personal favorite of mine that I'd put up there.

Back to the Future, while a good film, isn't the kind of movie I think of when I'm mentally comparing Sci-Fi films. I guess I consider it more of a teen comedy (even though it's indisputably sci-fi.) For similar reasons, while I love (and own) Trek 6, I have trouble directly comparing it to other Sci-Fi films - Trek is kind of its own thing, to me.

For obvious reasons, though, Dark City is the most interesting film to compare to The Matrix. In many ways, it's a movie which is thematically similar but opposite in approach to its theme. Where The Matrix has a really strong hook but cops out in the end, Dark City has less of a hook but builds much more strongly, to a remarkable and satisfying conclusion. Dark City has some failures in imagination in the first half that prevented me from admiring it as much as I might have. (The Strangers' presence, for example, seems too physical - they can reshape reailty at will, but they need to personally, manually rearrange people's clothes, poses and effects when doing the night's change? This didn't seem to fit with their stated abilities or with the visual representation of the city itself reshaping by their will. I also thought they looked too much like Pinhead - a serious distraction at first.)

Overall, I think the two films are about equal. I can argue in favor of either one.

 

[John Crichton]

DARK CITY SPOILER WARNING!!!!

I agree on T2 and Aliens. Possibly Total Recall as well - I thought that film did a great job at the kind of Sci-Fi/Action blend we're so used to seeing today. Also, I though Contact was a great film. (In fact, it's one of the five best Sci-fi films ever, in my book.) The Fifth Element is another personal favorite of mine that I'd put up there.

I knew I forgot a few! Contact and Total Recall were really good. And I agree about Contact, that movie was excellent.

Back to the Future, while a good film, isn't the kind of movie I think of when I'm mentally comparing Sci-Fi films. I guess I consider it more of a teen comedy (even though it's indisputably sci-fi.) For similar reasons, while I love (and own) Trek 6, I have trouble directly comparing it to other Sci-Fi films - Trek is kind of its own thing, to me.

Understandable on all points. It is tough to throw Trek into any sci-fi movie discussion because of what it is (TV + film).

For obvious reasons, though, Dark City is the most interesting film to compare to The Matrix. In many ways, it's a movie which is thematically similar but opposite in approach to its theme. Where The Matrix has a really strong hook but cops out in the end, Dark City has less of a hook but builds much more strongly, to a remarkable and satisfying conclusion. Dark City has some failures in imagination in the first half that prevented me from admiring it as much as I might have. (The Strangers' presence, for example, seems too physical - they can reshape reailty at will, but they need to personally, manually rearrange people's clothes, poses and effects when doing the night's change? This didn't seem to fit with their stated abilities or with the visual representation of the city itself reshaping by their will. I also thought they looked too much like Pinhead - a serious distraction at first.)

Overall, I think the two films are about equal. I can argue in favor of either one.

I can see your points about Dark City. I was actually hooked from the second I saw it. It kept building and building until the big twist, which felt completely natural to the film and not all at forced. And after that it ended with a finality that left me wanting more.

I guess the big difference for me was that The Matrix piled all their high concepts and big style elements into the first half of the film. We get the twist very early instead of later in the film, as compared to Dark City. I guess it's just hard for the rest of the movie (Matrix) to live up to that build-up. I will say that the love aspect, most likely due to superior acting, of Dark City was much more believable as a plot element. That was huge for me as it impacted the ending of The Matrix so much. Had that element been better portrayed, the finale would have had much more punch. Instead, it was cliche. *shrugs*

 

[Mythtify]

I enjoyed the matrix a lot, simply because it entertained me. I did not go into it expecting an great feat of motion picture art. The lead actor being Keanu reeves, I was happy it did not suck. The best move the directors did was have Keanu speak as little as possible.

I think there are a lot of deep ideas in the matrix, but those ideas weren't explored very much. I have talked with a lot of people that I go to church with that try and lay on me that the Matrix has a lot christian themes, so its a good movie. I think thats just silly. What makes the matrix good is it is good entertainment. I think that getting deeper meanings from the Matrix is as silly as the people that claim to be Jedi, and make the force into a religion.

As for the new trailer:

I liked it. There are a few points that bugged me. I thought the fight scene with the Smiths looked realy fake. Same thing with the agent crushing the car on the freeway. It looked very CG.
Maybe its okay for it to look fake though....after all, the entire thing is supposed to be a computer simulation in the first place.