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Specs |
- Full Frame
- Dual Layer (RSDL )
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Languages |
- English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
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Subtitles |
English - Hearing Impaired |
Extras |
- Additional footage
- Animated menus
- Interviews
- Web access
- Film highlights
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The Matrix Revisited |
Roadshow Entertainment/Roadshow Entertainment .
R4 . COLOR . 123 mins .
PG . PAL |
Feature |
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When The Matrix exploded onto our screens back in 1999, to many it represented a cinematic revelation. Combining some of the best elements from existing cult genres, The Matrix fused traditional sci-fi with stylised, wire-based kung-fu and John Woo-style bullet-ballet to create a film that was both visually breathtaking, and a philosophical treatise for the digital age. With its gothic, leather-clad anti-heroes sporting dual 45s, to its breathless kung-fu battles and the duality of its nightmarish future grounded in the present day, The Matrix represented the zenith of pulp-cinema cool. And now Roadshow give us the chance to relive it all again with The Matrix Revisited. Beginning life as a concept for a comic book, The Matrix creators Andy and Larry Wachowski soon recognised that their futuristic tale of reality as illusion was perfect for a trilogy of feature films, and soon the screenplay for The Matrix - the first instalment and the first screenplay they had ever written - was in the hands of Warner Bros. executives. Of course the executives saw potential in the screenplay, but were unwilling to take a $50 million gamble on a couple of first time directors in baseball caps. Consequently the project was shelved indefinitely. But with the critical acclaim of the brothers' low-budget, darkly romantic heist film Bound that was soon to follow, (and helped by a stunning set of storyboards), Warner Bros. was finally convinced to take a chance. "I just can’t believe a film this smart got made at all." – Laurence Fishburne |
That we should be eternally grateful to Warner Bros. for taking that chance is a monumental understatement. Though consistently appearing in B-grade Hollywood films since Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon, it was only with the success of The Matrix that stylised Hong Kong action found its way into the Hollywood mainstream. This timely breath of fresh air has since seen stylised action permeate all manner of big-budget Hollywood films from MI:2 to Charlie's Angels and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. That The Matrix combined both style and substance seems to have been unfortunately lost in the process – such is the Hollywood mill, but there is no doubt that The Matrix raised the bar for the films that would follow. Coming more than two years years after the release of the original film on DVD, The Matrix Revisited is a two-hour documentary that recounts the history of this ground-breaking film from conception, through pre-production to completion, and provides a sneak peak into the two sequel films now in development. Featuring behind-the-scenes footage (the majority of which never appeared in the original DVD release) and retrospective interviews from all major cast members, producers, the Wachowski brothers, and all others involved in the development of the first film, this is as comprehensive a look at the creation of the film as you could ever hope to see. All aspects of the film’s production are covered, including the origins of the screenplay, Owen Wilson’s fantastic production design from original drawings by conceptual artist Jeff Darrow, the costumes of Kym Barrett, the actors' gruelling training regime under action choreographer Yuen Wo Ping, the groundbreaking "bullet-time" visual effects developed by John Gaeta, and aspects of the principle shoot in Sydney. In addition, the development and implementation of all the film's major action scenes are discussed, including the government lobby shootout, the rooftop and helicopter scenes, the interrogation room, as well as the subway and dojo battles. The behind-the-scenes footage is fantastic, particularly the lobby shootout, and all the while retrospective interviews with the cast put the footage in perspective. With a duration that rivals that of the original film, you are never going to see a behind-the-scenes documentary like this one. Forget featurettes – The Matrix Revisited is a feature in and of itself, presenting a comprehensive examination of the film, and representing the definitive companion to your DVD copy of The Matrix.
Video |
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Contract |
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Presented in full-frame on a dual-layer disc, The Matrix Revisited is not going to win any awards for its video quality. The documentary is constructed from multiple video sources – interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, technology test footage – as well as CGI test renders and so on, all inter-cut with snippets from the film. All video footage has been captured with a handicam and hasn’t been “professionally” produced – even the interviews are staged on location, either in people’s offices, the parking lot or on set. As you can imagine, the resulting footage is of variable quality. The image is nice and sharp, and when the locations are well lit, the video footage is bright and detailed. However, when the locations are darker, the image is grainy and noisy, and detail is markedly reduced. It's all to be expected given the nature of the content. In general, the transfer does the best it can with the source material. As noted the image is generally sharp, and the colours are bright with deep blacks. Scenes taken from the film retain their fantastic original transfer (except they are non-anamorphic) and look great. There are no MPEG artefacts to be seen throughout the presentation, and film artefacts are an irrelevancy. The layer change must have been well placed, as it was undetectable on my player – possibly it does not occur at all during the feature. All in all, in terms of video The Matrix Revisited is no show-pony, but the limitations in the image are minor and definitely won’t hinder your enjoyment of the material.
Audio |
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Contract |
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In terms of audio, The Matrix Revisited has been furnished with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The audio from the original video footage is retained in the centre speaker and the sound stage is filled out with a pumping techno score. This score, which disappears from time to time but appears fairly constantly throughout the feature, is mixed to the sides and rear to provide an enveloping sound experience.
The reason for producing a 5.1 soundtrack for a mere documentary becomes obvious when scenes from the film appear. Each snippet from the film retains its original Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and the integration of the cinema soundtrack within the documentary becomes seamless. In terms of the score, channel separation is minimal and there are one or two instances where the pumping soundtrack does make the dialogue a little hard to understand, but all in all the 5.1 mix is a great addition to the documentary and serves to greatly increase the production values of the entire package.
Extras |
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Overall |
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There's no disputing that The Matrix remains one of the most successful DVD releases of all time. In The Matrix Revisited, we finally have the ultimate companion disc to The Matrix, and one that gives The Matrix the best treatment on DVD to date, hands down. Ok, so you have to purchase the discs separately, but The Matrix Revisited represents an excellent ‘extras’ disc in a two-disc The Matrix box set, and if you're a fan of this fantastic film, this supplemental disc is certain to keep you happy until the release of Animatix sometime (hopefully) towards the end of this year, and the second instalment due in cinemas 2003.
LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=1340
Send to a friend.
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And I quote... |
"...the ultimate companion disc to The Matrix that no fan of this fantastic film should be without." - Gavin Turner |
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Review Equipment |
- DVD Player:
Toshiba SD-2108
- TV:
Panasonic TC-68P90A TAU (80cm)
- Receiver:
Yamaha RX-V795
- Amplifier:
Yamaha RX-V795
- Speakers:
B&W 602
- Centre Speaker:
B&W CC6 S2
- Surrounds:
JM Lab Cobalt SR20
- Subwoofer:
B&W ASW-500
- Audio Cables:
Standard Optical
- Video Cables:
Standard Component RCA
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