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The Matrix

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The Matrix (1999)

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Reviews Counted:123

Fresh:106

Rotten:17

Average Rating:7.4/10

Consensus: An ingenious combination of Hong Kong action, ground-breaking Hollywood FX, and an imaginative vision.

Runtime: 6 hrs 43 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: There are two realities: one that consists of the life we live every day - and one that lies behind it. One is a dream. The other is The Matrix. "Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you... There are two realities: one that consists of the life we live every day - and one that lies behind it.

One is a dream. The other is The Matrix.

"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream, Neo? How would you know the difterence between the dream world and the real world?"

Neo (KEANU REEVES) is desperately seeking the truth about The Matrix - something he's heard of only in whispers - something mysterious and unknown - something, Neo is certain, that has unimaginable and sinister control over his life.

What is The Matnx?

Neo believes that Morpheus (LAURENCE FISHBURNE), a person he knows only through legend, an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can give him the answer.

All I am offering is the Truth.

One night, Neo is contacted by Trinity (CARRIE-ANNE MOSS), a beautiful stranger who leads him into another world, an underworld where at last he meets Morpheus and learns for himself the truth about The Matrix.

No one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.

There, Neo faces another question, as startling as the first:

Is he The One?

Before he even understands what that means, Neo is certain the answer is "no." Some, like Morpheus' colleague Cypher (JOE PANTOLIANO), agree. Others are not so sure.

There are also those who protect The Matrix. Led by the relentless and literally indomitable Agent Smith (HUGO WEAVING), they have methods of gathering information that astound and terrify.

What good is a phone call if you are unable to speak?

Neo, Morpheus and Trinity must battle brutally for their lives against this viciously powerful cadre to find the answers they seek, to understand their own roles in the epic drama unfolding around them, to learn their true power and to recognize their destinies.

Guns. Lots of guns.

Every move, every second, every thought is crucial if they are to free themselves from The Matrix and the existence it represents.

Free your mind.

Every move, every second, every thought is crucial once Neo learns the truth about The Matrix.

It is a truth that could cost Neo something more precious than his life. [More]

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano, Gloria Foster, Marcus Chong, Anthony Ray Parker, Belinda McClory, Julian Arahanga, Matt Doran

Director: Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski

Director: Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski
Screenwriter: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
Producer: Joel Silver
Composer: Don Davis

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Sep 21, 1999

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Matrix

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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I must be in The Matrix because "the brotha" rule was broken!

Full Review Source: 3BlackChicks Review | comment Comment
02/14/01
Kamal  'The Diva' Larsuel
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel
3BlackChicks Review

A reminder of how exhilirating it is when Hollywood hits a home run

Full Review Source: AboutFilm.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

The Matrix is packed full of cutting-edge special effects and stunts.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

As Morpheus says, "The Matrix is everywhere."

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
12/02/05
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

The Matrix flings around enough imaginative ideas and digitized bodies to make it a definite check-out-this-one for all science-fiction fans.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Fenster
Bob Fenster
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Rarely have so many startlingly original images been thrown into a single storyline.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

Almost untenably cool, but beneath the sheen there's substance.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
03/04/03
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC

There is no denying that fact that the Wachowski Brothers have amazing imagination and vision. They direct the film with non-stop style and imbue each scene with enough eye-candy to make you stop noticing the gaping plot holes and lapses in logic.

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

Go see this and soon.

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
01/01/00
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

Silly and dense!

comment 1 Comment
01/01/00
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
03/24/02
Boston Phoenix

Hollywood has finally successfully captured the Asian city's action-filmmaking style in a star named Keanu Reeves and writer-directors called the brothers Wachowski!

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Annlee Ellingson
Annlee Ellingson
Boxoffice Magazine

With a better cast and a tighter script, this could have been a knockout.

Full Review Source: Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

There's not much humor to keep it all life-size, and by the final stretch it's become bloated, mechanical, and tiresome.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 13 Comments
06/05/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Matrix did not bore me. It interested me so much, indeed, that I wanted to be challenged even more.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 2 Comments
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What makes the film weirdly compelling is the sheer audacity of its screenplay.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

The surprise sleeper success of 1999, this ingenious science fiction thriller easily surpassed The Phantom Menace.

Full Review Source: Cinefantastique | comment Comment
07/15/08
Steve Biodrowski
Steve Biodrowski
Cinefantastique
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

A movie so visually enthralling, so exciting and so elaborate that it deserves nothing short of universal acclaim. It's lavish, fascinating, beautiful, magnificently written, well directed, and effectively executed in every way.

Full Review Source: Cinemaphile.org | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Keyes
David Keyes
Cinemaphile.org

Writer-directors Larry and Andy Wachowski have crafted a stunning fusion of a Hong Kong action film and a cyberpunk graphic novel.

Full Review Source: Cinematter | comment Comment
01/01/00
Madeleine Williams
Madeleine Williams
Cinematter
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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