DVD Review HTF REVIEW: The Matrix Reloaded (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). (1 Viewer)

[Chris Atkins]

It helps to pay attention to the details, it helps in curtailing viewer confusion.

If I remember now (and thanks for helping me remember), this is basically a throwaway line while they are in the car, being pursued by the twins.

"Oh..take the freeway...there's an exit that way."

But is the exit on the freeway itself? Seems odd if it is.

Anyway, I always found it hard to pay attention to plot details in RELOADED, because the movie glosses over them very quickly. Too many flashy CG sequences to show off to linger over little details like plot...

 

[Jeff Adams]

Good explanation Patrick. I have now seen it 3 times including on dvd last night and last night was the first time I really caught on to that. After Morpheus and Trinity exit the building that Persephone and Merovingian were in I heard Morpheus say that they were in the core of the Matrix and that there were no other possible exits in that area. The closest exit was off of the freeway.

 

[Jeff Adams]

I noticed Monica Bellucci's, um, display as well... damn near had to stop the movie, I was so distracted...

 

[Jon_Liu]

someone get jeff some more pornos...

Anyway.. What is the Matrix series all about? Action. Does it deliver? Yes. Does it have a storyline? Yes. Is it a good storyline? Well, that's up to you. In My Opinion the story is good enough but it will never be nominated for an Oscar.

Also, can you honestly say in a movie like this, you are supposed to believe everything that happens? The idea of Neo fighting 100 Smiths seems over the top as it is, when you are watching it, you are going to have that same idea in your mind. So if you already have that mentality you are going to think it looks fake. How in the right mind would you have 100 Smiths running around. The only way to successfully make it possible is through CG. I agree there are some shots that look CG, but writing the whole entire fight sequence off as dumb or boring because it is CG? People flying through the air, people jumping incredibly high, people fighting like they do in the Matrix Series, people actually plugging into "the matrix," that's not really believable, but we are not here to watch The Matrix Trilogy and know or believe that all of it is real.

This is supposed to be an interesting movie. Whether you are in it for the whole deep story or if you are just in it for an action movie, or even a romance story, this movie delivers (maybe on different levels but it does).

 

[Jeff Adams]

someone get jeff some more pornos...

If they have Monica Bellucci in them, I am all for it.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Since the highway is limited access and has no hardwired phones, the agents can cut you off there and leave you with no good way to escape. That's why you aren't supposed to go there.

 

[Christopher_Ham]

I liked the visuals and the audio of the Matrix and this is the only reason I liked it. Same for Matrix Reloaded. Some parts you watch to show friends and others you only watch once! Still this is a good demo disc.!

 

[richardWI]

Anyway, I always found it hard to pay attention to plot details in RELOADED, because the movie glosses over them very quickly.

Well that highlights one the major problems in the movie: the dialogue was lopsided. They'd have these long, self indulgent pseduo-intellectual stretches of dialogue, but when it came to something important in the narrative that will set up the next 15 minutes of action, it's brushed off with a slapdash sentence. I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one who didn't understand why they had that chase.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Excellent transfer.

As for why the Burly Brawl goes on and on...the same reason song/dance sequences in musicals last 7 minutes, and not 1. That is how fights are shown in (non-American) kung-fu films. It designed to show an escalating threat to Neo, once he realizes he can't win (and can't gain any more information), he leaves. While the ending CGI of him leaping on top of the Smiths is poor, the remainder of the CGI in the scene is exemplary, so much so people don't even notice it to complain. I enjoy that scene for the incredible choreography and excellent camera work.

So few American directors can shoot a scene like that without cutting it into ribbons. It's just fun to watch.

Take care,
Chuck

 

[Shoaib Lateef]

someone please expand on this monica belluci thing...!

 

[Chris Atkins]

It designed to show an escalating threat to Neo, once he realizes he can't win (and can't gain any more information), he leaves.

I get that Chuck, but when is the viewer ever shown (or told) that he is fighting Smith to "gain...more information"? If the narrative supported such an intent or motive, it would be easier to understand why the fight "goes on and on."

And when you compared it to asian cinema, the fight between General Rokurota Makabe and General Heiei Tadokoro in HIDDEN FORTRESS immediately came to mind...and one that I felt flowed much better with the narrative than the Burly Brawl did.

My complaint about the CG in the Burly Brawl is mostly that it takes me out of the movie because it is blatantly obvious when Neo or Smith are replaced by their digital counterparts.

 

[richardWI]

someone please expand on this monica belluci thing...!

The lesbian kiss is in the videogame, playing to the stereotype that gamers are lonely perverts.

 

[Eric_AP]

She plays a character called Persephone and she looks really hot in her tight dress that reveals cleavage. Look here:

http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2...paper_007.html

 

[richardWI]

As for why the Burly Brawl goes on and on...the same reason song/dance sequences in musicals last 7 minutes, and not 1. That is how fights are shown in (non-American) kung-fu films. It designed to show an escalating threat to Neo,

I didn't get any sense of an escalating threat. Neo can fly anytime he feels like it, and seems impervious to pain. The agents seemed impervious to pain as well, so where is the threat? If everyone can get kicked and punch in the face over and over and nothing happens to them, which is how it appeared to me, then there's no conflict... or point.

 

[Patrick Sun]

The Burly Brawl is there to show the "viral" threat that Smith has become.

We've covered a lot of these issues in the Official Matrix Reloaded Discussion thread, and that's where these issues should be discussed.

This thread should be more about the software/DVD side of the film.

 

[Jeff Adams]

Oh, I also wanted to comment on the audio of Reloaded. The clarity was great. Good clean dialogue and very accurate reproduction of mids and highs. However compared to most of my other dvd's I had to turn up the volume to get it loud. I usually listen to dvd's on a -10 to -9 setting on my receiver, for Reloaded I had my receiver set at -1 to a 0. I even had it a a +1 and +2 sometimes, which I never have my receivers volume that high but with this dvd I could. Also, I felt that the LFE were missing, there are a few scenes that definitely rumbled my house but for the amount of action in this movie, I was pretty dissapointed with the low frequency.

 

[Chris Atkins]

However compared to most of my other dvd's I had to turn up the volume to get it loud.

Me too...a bit like TPM in that regard.

 

[Jeff Adams]

However compared to most of my other dvd's I had to turn up the volume to get it loud.

Thats what I just said. Does anybody know the reason behind this?

 

[Eric_AP]

Oh, I also wanted to comment on the audio of Reloaded. The clarity was great. Good clean dialogue and very accurate reproduction of mids and highs. However compared to most of my other dvd's I had to turn up the volume to get it loud. . . .

Also, I felt that the LFE were missing, there are a few scenes that definitely rumbled my house but for the amount of action in this movie, I was pretty dissapointed with the low frequency.

I have a different perspective on the audio on the DVD -- as I said in another post in this forum:

Many scenes in Reloaded have alot going on in the surrounds and a good amount of LFE. What I think the problem is with the soundtrack -- if you can call it a problem -- is that the sound as presented is not always consistent.

For example, sometimes gunshots have lots of oomph and power, and sound as if they are flying past you or around you as discrete effects in the surround speakers. However, other times (more often than not), they don't.

Also, some things you think would have serious deep LFE don't, while other things do. For example, when the ships (Nebachanezzer and other human ships) land and fly over, it creates lots of deep bass -- LFE is extremely active. However, when the power plant blows towards the end, you don't feel nearly as much sub/LFE action. It is there - but to a lesser extent than the ship flyover/landings. When a plant as depicted in that movie blows, you think that would be close to the ultimate in sub/lfe. Same thing with the explosion when Trinity's motorcycle hits that place at midnight. Nice explosion, but where is the LFE to match? Same thing with the big huge gate and machinary in Zion when the ship comes in.

When the fight scenes happen, there is lots of bass/lfe in the slow motion/floating in the air parts. But then a guy is thrown into a solid wall, and you hardly get any power from the obvious impact.

The surround use is also inconsistent. Sometimes you hear the bullets in the surrounds, sometimes it is all upfront. It seems like the sound designer didn't have a clear plan, but is rather schizophrenic in what sounds deserved discrete sound use and what sounds should have serious lfe/sub.

It was almost like, lets throw in some surround use here and deep sub there -- as we haven't had it in a while. But then it cools down and comes back. However, the use of discrete surround and/or bass effects is not always consistent with the screen action.

Likewise, check out the freeway chase. Why do some cars create serious lfe/sub noise on crashing, while others barely make a peep? Again, lack of consistency.

It is the inconsistency of the sound design (I think rather poorly implemented in this regard) that is, in my opinion, a valid complaint regarding this soundtrack. I get the feeling that surround use and sub use were done more for show and for timing purposes (oh, haven't had a discrete effect in a while, lets throw one in here; oh, haven't heard some deep lfe in a while, here we go), than what it should be done for -- which is to match what you are viewing.

However, overall, the sound is very good and I have no problems with the dynamic range (as others have implied). I did have the overall volume up a few notches though compared to other DVDs. It is just that there are alot of inconsistencies and the sound design doesn't seem to flow as naturally as in other such sci-fi films. It is the sound inconsistency, not dynamic range, that seems to be troubling people (in my opinion).

By the way, my speakers (a 5.1 system) are calibrated properly using a calibration DVD and an SPL meter, and my sub is in fact calibrated 5 to 6 db hot. The speakers are all Paradgim brand and the receiver is an Onkyo tx-sr701. So I don't think it is my system.

 

[Kevin. W]

However compared to most of my other dvd's I had to turn up the volume to get it loud

Hell if I cranked mine to -1 to 0, my ears would start bleeding. For me it was the usual -15 to -10 and even that was at times too loud. Now my system consists of Paradigm Studio(v3) 40/20/470/PW2100 powered by a Rotel RMB-1095.

Kevin