Matrix box set shaping up (1 Viewer)

[Paul.S]

So in Warner DVD history I guess there are both positive (the Kubrick Collection) and negative (the Oliver Stone box set) precedents of the constituent pics of a collection getting separate later release . . .? It took Par over a year to release The Godfather by itself . . .

-p

 

[Tony_Ramos]

My decision not to buy also stems from the Wachowski's unwillingness to illuminate their own vision and construction of the Matrix, unlike the lucid commentary offered by PJ and other authors.

What the Wachowski's fail to realize is that their fans can also think for themselves... I'm not going to necessarily change my opinions to mesh with the Wachowski's. Just like I appreciated PJ's view of LOTR, while at the same time, I recognize there is much more importance to the books than what is talked about in the documentary; i.e. the Catholicism that every LOTR theme is based on, which is only briefly mentioend in the LOTR docs. Does this mean I think PJ has the only right answers? of course not, but i appreciate hearing the thought process that informed his direction!!!

 

[Paul.S]

Daily Variety's Todd McCarthy is basically my fave print film critic. He's another reason I'll rent Deux and Tres to listen to the commentaries. Who are John Powers and David Thomson--what pubs do they write for?

-p

 

[Travis W.]

I can't see many places having this for rent...for obvious reasons. But, you never know.

 

[Paul.S]

The terrific Laser Blazer that Angelenos are lucky enough to have will rent it. I'm told Netflix makes individual discs of multi-disc boxed sets available for rent.

-p

 

[Mikah Woodward]

I doubt Netflix will carry it. They don't have the LotR EEs or the Black Hawk Down deluxe edition. Then again, they do have the Alien Quadrilogy. Hmm...

 

[Mikah Woodward]

I have no idea how the guys at matrixfans.net found it, but here's a trailer

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Thanks for the link. I just saw it. You see the art work of the discs in the trailer, cool!

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Thanks, Mikah. The trailer is pretty snazzy, the disc art is awesome (except for the last two which aren't shown), and the set looks wonderful.

December 7th is going to be extremely expensive, with both this set and ROTK:EE.

Very exciting.

Take care,
Chuck

 

[Mikah Woodward]

The last two are shown for a couple frames. Just pause the video and step (using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard)

 

[Bryan Ri]

Any word on whether or not the first film will be released on its own?

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Mikah,
All I see are white circles :frowning:

Maybe my QT sucks.

No word on individual release. I'd expect it, but not for a few weeks/months after the box set.

Can't wait,
Chuck

 

[Matt Czyz]

I agree with Chuck. There's absolutely no way WB is going to come out ahead of time and say that the first one will be released separately. That's going to be the only reason a good chunk of people are going to buy this whole set in the first place.

 

[Brent M]

I'm on the fence about this boxset now. Initially, I thought I would buy it for the new transfer of the orignal and all the bonus materials. After reading about all the extras in this set, though, I realized that I probably wouldn't watch any of them more than once(and some not at all most likely). I already have the 3 original releases and the only thing I REALLY want out of this set is the remastered Matrix so it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend $55-70 on this set. Maybe I'll cave in on 12/7 and pick it up when I see it on the shelf, but right now I think I'll pass and just wait for a single-disc release of The Matrix(unfortunately I might be waiting quite a while).

 

[ThomasC]

Nice preview. I've only got The Matrix on DVD right now, I held off on the sequels because I knew something like this was coming. I'm pretty sure I'll be getting it, but I would have definitely been sold if all three movies had an isolated score with commentary. From the looks of it, the music of the Matrix movies will be getting minimal coverage. :frowning:

 

[Kachi Khatri]

Looking at the collection featurettes, I'd say WHOA!!!

But I personally would have liked a scaled down version of this boxset with:

DISCS > 1 to 6

Hey Warner Bros! Are you listening?



DISC ONE – The Matrix

The Academy Award®-winning original movie in a new digital transfer supervised by the Wachowski Brothers and Director of Photography Bill Pope

Two all-new audio commentaries with written introduction by the Wachowski Brothers:
--The Critics: Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson
--The Scholars: Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber

Basics – Running Time: 136 mins; Rated R; Languages: English & French; Subtitles: English, French & Spanish; Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1; Widescreen Format

DISC TWO – The Matrix Revisited

Peel back a new layer of reality with a mind-expanding look at The Matrix from conception to phenomenon. Go behind The Matrix, take the Red Pill and follow the White Rabbit with 17 making-of featurettes, including:
What is Bullet Time?
What is the Concept?

The Music Revisited – 41-Track audio-only selection of nearly three hours of music Basics - Running Time: 180 mins; Not Rated; Subtitles: French; Full screen Format

DISC THREE – The Matrix Reloaded

The powerful second chapter of the groundbreaking film trilogy

Two all-new audio commentaries with written introduction by the Wachowski Brothers:
--The Critics: Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson
--The Scholars: Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber
Basics – Running Time: 138 mins; Rated R; Languages: English & French; Subtitles: English, French & Spanish; Audio: Dolby Surround 5.1; Widescreen Format

DISC FOUR – The Matrix Reloaded Revisited

Go to the middle movie’s furthest reaches via five documentary paths revealing 21 featurettes. Plus 23 extra scenes shot for the Enter the Matrix consol videogame
Basics – Running Time: 176 mins; Not Rated; Subtitles: French; Full screen Format

DISC FIVE – The Matrix Revolutions

The epic war between man and machines reaches an explosive conclusion with the action-packed final chapter in The Matrix Trilogy:

Two all-new audio commentaries with written introduction by the Wachowski Brothers:
--The Critics: Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson
--The Scholars: Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber

Basics – Running Time: 129 mins; Rated R; Languages: English & French; Subtitles: English, French & Spanish; Audio: Dolby Surround 5.1; Widescreen Format

DISC SIX – The Matrix Revolutions Revisited

The cataclysmic final confrontation chronicled through six documentary pods revealing 28 featurettes.
Basics – Running Time: 189 mins; Not Rated; Subtitles: French; Full screen Format

DISC SEVEN – The Animatrix

A visionary fusion of CG-animation and Japanese anime with nine short films exploring the world of The Matrix including Final Flight of the Osiris, The Second Renaissance Part I, The Second Renaissance Part II, Kid’s Story, Program, World Record, Beyond, A Detective Story and Matriculated
Four Audio Commentaries on The Second Renaissance Parts I and II, Program and World Record
Making-of documentaries on each film, profiling the evolution of each one’s unique style through design and animatics
Biographical profiles of the directors and animation producers
Scrolls to Screen: The History and Culture of Anime – explores the phenomenon of this exploding worldwide art form through glimpses of the genre’s greatest achievements and the observations of creators, historians and other leaders in the field
Basics – Running Time: 158 mins; Not Rated; Languages: English & Japanese; Subtitles: English, French & Spanish; Audio: Dolby Surround 5.1; Widescreen Format

DISC EIGHT – The Roots of the Matrix

Probe the philosophical and technological inspirations of The Matrix Trilogy through two insightful documentaries:
Return to Source: Philosophy & The Matrix documentary – Scholars, philosophers and theorists deconstruct the intellectual underpinnings of the trilogy
The Hard Problem: The Science Behind the Fiction documentary – Is the notion of a real Matrix plausible? An investigation of the technologies that inspire the metaphor of the Matrix.
Basics – Running Time: 190 mins.; Not Rated; Subtitles: English, French & Spanish; Widescreen Format

DISC NINE – The Burly Man Chronicles

Profiles the "society" of craftspeople, actors and filmmakers who shaped the movie trilogy and the Enter the Matrix consol game in a full-length documentary. Follow the White Rabbit to 21 additional featurettes.
Basics – Running Time: 177 mins.; Not Rated; Language: English; Full screen Format

DISC TEN – The Zion Archive

Showcases production assets developed for the universe of The Matrix, including concept artwork, storyboards, drawings, music videos, TV spots and trailers, plus a special preview of The Matrix Online, a new multi-player online gaming experience.
Basics – Running Time: 45 mins.; Not Rated; Language: English; Full screen Format

 

[Paul.S]

Answering my own question from my post #123, John Powers writes for Metacritic and David Thomson writes for The Guardian. I either know from reading or sense that each of the three guys on the film critic commentary tracks is pithy and cheeky. Put the three together? This is gonna be very interesting.

-p

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

what the hell is all this crap?

what ever happened to a basic commentary track and some decent behind the scenes footage, interviews & featurettes/documentary on the making of the film, trailers and tv spots, etc?

this is a massive dissapointment... all I want is a remastered version of the original film with a couple of extra features!

why the hell couldnt Warners have just offered a 2-disc special edition instead of forcing us to chose between a techincally dated transfer of the old cheap snapper copy, or this useless box set that will cost triple the ammount and is unnecessary since most people hated the sequels?

so now, in order to own a proper remastered version of the film, we have to buy 9 other discs...

as if watching those sequels once for most people wasn't one time too many, now we get another 3-4 discs worth of excessive pretentious philosophical crap about "the mythos" of a bunch of overrated overhyped movies and one barebones, (save for 2 commentary tracks which don't even offer any insight from the directors, cast or crew), disc for the only installment in the series that people actually enjoyed and care to revisit.

to top it off, the movies in the megaset are not even offered in individual keepcases so if one were so inclined to purchase the set for the original film and sell off the rest... you'd be stuck with a single floating disc, no keepcase to house, nor cover art, insert, etc.

i sold my first release issue over a year ago and have not revisited the movie since... i hope nobody buys this stupid overblown set.

 

[Artur Meinild]

Well Marco, you are of course entitled to your own opinion about the sequels, as long as you accept other people's opinion as well. For the people who actually liked the sequels, this is a mind-blowing DVD set, and for those who didn't like them I just hope they release a remaster of the 1st matrix later.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I respect everyone's opinion, and I really wouldn't have one myself if the DVD was offered on it's own as so many have criticized... but even at that, should we now expect a lousy barebones version if this does come to pass, considering the specs list nothing more than 2 commentary tracks on the disc and not even so much as a trailer??