The Animatrix Reviews

Better than Reloaded or Revolutions

I found this DVD far more interesting and satisfying than the lame film sequels to the Matrix. I could watch it over and over again. The Japanese anime style is wonderful and the stories all add so much more in exploring and explaining the Matrix than the film sequels. Also watching the special features documentries with the animatiors and writers explaining the films really helps deepen the experiance. Don't listen to the other reviewer, expand your experiance and sample (probably) your first taste of real animation at its best. Its a must for all who caught the original Matrix vision.

Promising Start -> Dissappointing Finish

The DVD is made up of 9 short films (or visions as the DVD likes to call them) of varying styles. There is a very nice looking CG one in a similar style to final fantasy. The rest are cartoons of varying styles (and quality) with some very interesting themes.

The DVD starts off very well with the nice CG film and then a couple explaining the events that led up to the enslavement of humanity. From there (for me) it all went down hill, some of the stories seem to be pretty pointless and uninteresting.

I'm not entirely sure why this DVD was released; to be honest I think that the 'Visions' would have been better off as extras on a ?Special Edition? of the original matrix film or perhaps the second.

I loved the original matrix and the first three visions on this DVD are quite entertaining, but the rest seem to be fillers, it seems like they didn?t think they could justify putting three 10 minute films on and then charging ?15 for it. If you?re really interested in manga style animation or are studying animation then you might enjoy the purely technical area of this DVD as there's a nice range of styles on there but from an entertainment stand point it?s pretty shallow.

Worth a rent if you?re an absolutely die hard fan of the matrix but for the casual observer look elsewhere or you?ll be disappointed, definitely one to put in the 3 section of your selections (if you put it on there at all).

This is only for die hard Matrix or japanese cartoon fans. The first short film, Flight of the Osiris, is really excellent and worth watching simply for the graphics. The rest goes a bit down hill after that, but if you like the Matrix then this is worth a watch.

Haunting

I have just finished watching this film and, for someone who has immersed himself in the Matrix universe, the Animatrix is an essential view.

It answers many questions posed by the Trilogy – what was the start of the Matrix and what happened before. Some of the imagery is very haunting, one in particular being very reminiscent of Nazi occupation.

The graphics are stunning and varied – when I started watching the first clip, I couldn’t work out if it was cartoon or real! Others are flat and obvious examples of the Japanese anime, and still more look like British / American comic strips.

All in all, this is a must for any fans of Neo, Morpheus and Trinity.

Enjoy!

Better than 2 and 3 to be fair

Alright this dvd is worth the rent, it tells you how it all started and it make you understand the whole matrix if you didnt get it. the stories work aswell i find and wish there was more.

Good set pieces--shame the disc wasn't working properley

A good bunch of set pieces-- the first 3 definitley the best. but also the detective with Trinity featured in it was good too.

filled in a whole bunch of gaps that were missing from watching the films.

fantastic.

This collection of short animated films is actually much better than the tedious final installment of the Matrix trilogy. The styles of animation vary from the expensive CGI of 'Final Flight of the Osiris' to traditional japanese anime. (I particularly liked the black and white noir style of 'A Detective Story'.) The films fill out some of the background on the world of the Matrix and the two-part 'Second Renaissance' gives you the history of how the machines came to enslave humanity. As a whole this is certainly an entertaining collection....so long as you have at least a passing interest in the Matrix.

For the die-hard matrix fan only...

I thought the animation on the first story was stunning, but apart from that this title is little more than an expensive gap-filler to go inbetween the first and second film. Let's face it, the producers never intended to turn the matrix into a trilogy from the beginning but then no-one would have imagined the success of the first film.

Only get this if you love the matrix otherwise it's pointless to buy or rent if you're a casual fan.

wow

this is good. the problem is that some of the good stories were too short. The movie is made up of 9 short stories. you get a better understanding of the matrix. the graphics are great.

Treat for comics lovers and sf fans

These short films are jam-packed with the wit, imagery and imagination that made the original such a classic.

Of course they are a mixed bag ('World Record' in particular seems a bit pointless) but they are visually stunning and exquisitely stylish and taken as a whole are a brilliant appendix to the first film.

So good you can forget about 'Reloaded' and (especially) 'Revolutions'.