Matrix box set shaping up (1 Viewer)

[Matt Thompson]

I found it interesting that, even though the Smith/Neo interrogation has been color-corrected in the original film, it still appears with the "puke-green" pallette on the Architect's screens in Reloaded.

 

[ThomasC]

It was an easy oversight to make.

 

[Michael Reuben]

A separate glitch thread has now been created for this box set. Please refer to it for discussion of specific player problems, incompatibilities, disc defects, etc. Thanks!

M.

 

[Sebastien S]

Anybody find that the "Audio" for the "NEW" Matrix (first movie) was lower... Especially the "center chanel"? I sometimes had problems hearing what they were saying at my usual volume level.

I never had this problem with the original disc...

As for the new transfer and "greenish look"... I think they over did "the greens" just a little but despite that still prefer this new look.

 

[Citizen87645]

From my post above:

 

[Ben_@]

I know this thread is big enough already. First off it is a great set, and well worth the wait and cost in my opinion.

My only question is, does anyone know who did the music for the featurettes? Specifically the music featured in the Burly Man Chronicles as well as the Roots of the Matrix featurettes?
I know this is probably just library music that you can't find, but I thought it was worth checking if anyone knew.

 

[Nick T Robot]

Threads on HTF get much bigger than this.

I just finished watching both set of commentaries (With a Family, Work and other DVDs like LOTR:ROTK:EE, Simpson's 5th, and 24 Day 3 released within a few weeks of The Matrix Set it's hard to find time to enjoy everything) And found them to be disapointing.

The Critics just didn't seem to get it (Which is fine, but they missed very basic things, During Reloaded one of them forgot why the machines needed humans in the first place, Which was a major plot point of the first movie. I think they can't get past looking at each film as a seperate story)

The Philosphers didn't get deep enough. They wasted a lot of time just watching action scenes and saying that they it "looked cool" or literally saying "WOW". The action scenes were a perfect time to go into things said before hand by the characters if they didn't seem to find any meaning to the action.They did have many very intresting things to say overall, but didn't seem to be able to keep going with it.

The documentaries I've looked at so far (Mostly on Disc 8: The Roots of the Matrix) are really well done and I have to say the music is cool. I'd love to know what song they used.

I will be checking out Disc 9: The Burly Man Chronicles soon.

 

[Artur Meinild]

I think some of the music used in the featurettes can be found on the Matrix Revisited (disc 2) under Music from the Matrix. At least I think so...

 

[Nick T Robot]

Did anyone catch the fake refection in Morpheus' glasses during the The Burly Man Chronicles documentary?

Around 39 mins into it, The W brothers are talking to Laurence Fishbourne during the filming of the "Captains Meeting" scene early on in Reloaded. Both appear reflected in his sunglasses much like Neo did in the first film.

 

[Grant H]

Well, I finally rented disc 1 of the Ultimate Collection, and I will happily stick with the original Matrix DVD.

Here's my take for all those interested:

The video. As expected, I prefer the Matrix's original coloring. Something about the new minty-green version made me a little ill. Was it because it reminded me more of the sequels than the original film? Or, just because I tend to get uncomforatable when the look of a film I've seen so many times is changed? It took me a while to get used to the look of the Star Wars DVD.

I noticed not only is the film very green now, sometimes making many colors the same green, that were more noticeably differen from each other on the original, but reds were pumped way up too. This is while in the Matrix anyway. Lips that once looked normal now look like they're practically bleeding this is especially true for Keanu.

The "real-world" looked okay, but before, there was sort of a soft white light look that almost gave it a heavenly kind of atmosphere. Which seemed sort of appropriate.

The contrast really is boosted, whites are super-white in the Matrix just as the screenshots indicated. Papers laying on a desk jump out at you. I preferred the muted look everything had before. The new greens were a bit overwhelming, hard to take after a while. Got me disinterested in the film.

And whether it's the contrast or something else the edge enhancement is MUCH more apparent on the new transfer. Maybe the old one wasn't perfect, but it LOOKS worse on this one. No way is this reference quality or the best transfer anyone's seen. There's a lot of detail and sharpness, but I found the original to be a much more film-like presentation.

I saw compression issues too, possibly due to nearly everything being that green that doesn't compress well.

I didn't find it as overly black as I thought I would, but really found black levels on the original issue to be pretty decent. Some things were a little harder to see on the new disc, even moments of action scenes. Seemed to be more levels between gray and black on the old disc.

Now, for what surprised me: the sound.

To my ears, this seemed to be a new mix, and not a good one. That or new compression played some games with it.

I did NOT however find dialogue to be lower (or center channel informationpossibly), as some have. To me, it seemed that, rather, music and sound effects were quite a bit lower in the mix, except for a few instances. Seemed to me the new disc may have less dynamic range. If it does actually have more dynamic range, it must not apply to the dialogue. The dialogue would have been hellish loud, if I'd cranked it up to make the music and sound effects as loud as the old disc.

Music in the club scene, during shootouts, end credits all seemed lower when compared to dialogue. Weapons tossed to the ground seemed to make less noise on the new disc.

You would hardly know that Trinity was talking in a normal tone in a loud club when she speaks into Neo's ear. You used to have to kind of hang on her words. Not so anymore. Artistic choice? Maybe. I never had trouble hearing her at home listening to the 5.1 mix though. I found realistic bass to be lacking on the new disc too. Thunderclaps are less impressive, as is the musical bass. The big reveal of the "human battery field" was still big, loud, and impressive, but other moments of the film seemed rather muted compared to the old disc.

Yet, the screech of the squeejees seemed louder to me when Neo was getting chewed out by his boss. More distracting. Neo seems quite distracted by them too (more obviusly than before thanks to the sound effects), so again this might have been intentional.

I don't remember offhand if the original disc has a 2.0 mix or not, but this mix seemed to me to be a "dumbed-down" 5.1 mix meant to mix-down to 2.0 better.

That or they just arbitrarily grabbed a different mix than was used on the first disc.

Anyway, I definitely prefer the old one. I popped it in after I was finished viewing the new disc and found the big action scenes all had more impact. Maybe they just boosted the dialogue a lot compared to everything else, but since others think the opposite, I'm guessing it's more than that.

I'll always cherish the original disc, and maybe even pick-up a backup copy some day in the bargain bin since the original presentation will likely never see the light of day again.

 

[Paul.S]

Thx for your comments, Grant.

Exactly. I'd surmise that the HD DVD supposedly streeting in October will be derived from the newer transfer.

As of this typing, luckily there are used/new copies starting at $5.99 of the original DVD and Revisited 2-fer on Amazon.

-p

 

[Dave H]

Grant,

Interesting to hear. Since I only wanted the first movie, I refused to buy the boxset and will just hold onto the original disc. I would like to give this new transfer a rental, but no one has it around me.

 

[Tarkin The Ewok]

Is the DVD-ROM commentary operational at this point, or are they still working on it?

 

[Grant H]

Dave,

I rented it through Blockbuster Online. Not even Netflix was carrying it. Based on the displayed wait time, I'm guessing not even that many online outlets have it.

 

[Peter Svensson]

Swedish sites are now selling out the boxset for $50. I guess it´s not selling very well at all.

 

[Bill Williams]

Still haven't picked up the Ultimate Matrix 10-disc set, though I know the local BB has it for less than $60, which is not bad. Planning to get it eventually, once the tax refund comes in, and I can get it at the same time I finally get the DVD recorder I've had my eye on.

In the meantime, my family and I were at the mall this past weekend, and I happened to stop by the local GameStop store and found a good used copy of Matrix Reloaded for only $4.99 - now that's a bargain!