The Matrix - March 31, 1999 (1 Viewer)

[Chuck Mayer]

For what it is worth, you don't need to purchase ANYTHING to watch T2R. It is available free at the official Matrix website. Except for it is a little screwed up. The first part looks available.

Old link

You could also try:

T2R Part I Zip

T2R Part II Zip

You need quicktime, and I'm not sure if those'll work. But there they are. 10 minutes each

 

[Steve Christou]

Oh who cares when Bullet-Time first appeared? It made its greatest and most memorable impact in The Matrix. I'm a fan of all three movies and the Animatrix too. The first Matrix in particular really impressed me, I had to see it again the following week something I rarely do. I'd say it's probably in my top 10 favourite movies of the past 10 years, along with the LOTR trilogy.

 

[GuruAskew]

To look at this quote is amusing because of the inherent contradiction. You say "they didn't flood the market" then you literally detail a very aggressive merchandising onslaught point-by-point.

The reason why "The Matrix" merchandise doesn't have a "Star Wars", "Harry Potter" or "Lord of the Rings"-style presence today is because of the overall poor quality of what was released circa "Reloaded".

The video game was awful (I admire it for the high production value of the story tie-in elements and footage but it completely fails as a game) and all those tie-ins (including the game) came out in the span of a few weeks with the exception of a handful of "Revolutions"-related stuff. Much of the stuff simply didn't catch on because of poor quality. There are still Neo action figures unsold on store shelves because he was in that awkward handstand pose.

There was a "Matrix" Powerade, for Christ's sake. Furthermore, the Wachowskis got behind two massive video game failures ("Path of Neo" and "The Matrix Online") before they apparently conceded that they had pissed away an entire audience's love for the property.

Add to that the elaborate DVD box sets that sold poorly (I remember picking up the one with the bust for like $40 a couple years after it was released) and you have several attempts at milking "The Matrix" (books, action figures, video games, animation, food tie-ins, various home video incarnations, clothing) to the point where it would virtually be a how-to in regards to movie marketing if it wasn't so unsuccessful.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Bill, it *never* had that shelf presence. Ever. That was my point.

I am talking about summer 2003, where Reloaded was at least as anticipated as Revenge of the Sith was in 2005. I listed EVERYTHING it had except the Powerade. I couldn't begin to list the onslaught of Star Wars tie-ins in 2005. Or 2002. Or even Harry Potter in 2001 when it first premiered. My point was they never even tried to glut the market, unlike some other franchises.

I'd also like to see where the Brothers conceded they "pissed away an entire audience's love for the property".

If you consider the few Matrix items I listed to be an "onslaught", I'd love to see what you consider LFL doing for Indiana Jones last summer.

 

[Chris Atkins]

Chuck, I won't get dragged into this argument, but I will note that the Brothers didn't seem to hold back on marketing when it came to Speed Racer. So they aren't immune, they just didn't choose to do it for the Matrix.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Oh absolutely. Perhaps it has something to do with the relative ratings of the material. Star Wars and LOTR and HP are PG/PG-13 (as is Speed Racer), and The Matrix films are R. I'm not saying it competitively, but I think that restraint (and Bill isn't wrong...there WAS product, and if it sold better there probably would have been more) helped the series in terms of burnout.

I just think the film aged very well.

 

[TravisR]

I think that's the biggest issue.

I never really thought about it before but The Matrix products were fairly restrained and 'classy' compared to most blockbusters.

 

[mattCR]

Other franchises were PG and kid friendly. I'd find it kind of morbid to market toys of an R-rated film en masse to kids. Star Wars and Harry Potter were longtime merchandising monsters before hitting the theaters; Harry Potter sold books like a madman first, remember

But they were so kid friendly, that's why they were great marketing. Matrix didn't have that shelf space not because of some higher calling the directors had to not do it, but because Hasbro and others weren't going to pony up the money for an unsure property to market to little kids.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

matt, I am not just talking toys. I am talking tie-in books, models, shirts, etc. The Matrix wasn't a standard R-rated release. It was certainly a "franchise" (how I hate that word), so it was operating in a grey area. Or do people think they took all of the tie-in opportunities they had...and they only had a few? Maybe true in 2005. But in 2003?

 

[mattCR]

CTV.ca | Wachowskis load new marketing formula into The Matrix

According to the Washington Post, no R-rated film had ever had as many tie ins, ever, as the Matrix in 2003. That may have since changed, the the total revenue brought in through tie-ins was over $90M, which isn't small money.

Yes, it isn't Star Wars, but Star Wars had 25+ years and PG as a rating, which changes everything.

But back to the point: The Matrix was an awesome film achievement that far exceeded every expectation I had of the film, and I still enjoy it. I too, like some above, find that it doesn't age as well because too much of it is "close to current" pop culture, so the suspension of disbelief isn't as easy. But, it's still a great film with some unbelievable visuals. It's not that they did bullet time first (didn't) it's that they used it in such a different manner then I had seen it done before.

 

[Diallo B]

well i believe that chuck addressed what i was planning to address so there is no need to beat a dead horse.

however, i do have something to add to this discussion.

while i do believe that the movies will age well regarding their subject matter and style the trilogy has aged horribly in terms of the quality of effects and the physical fighting scenes. by far my favorite action scene of all three movies is the fighting scene in the foyer of the castle/mansion in the "mountains" on reloaded. i think that is some of the best hand to hand action in the trilogy.

but even that after looking at contemporary action scenes and even asian action from that time period makes those scenes look dated. it is not the fight scenes themselves but the fact that they are not fluid. it is like a poor dance scene where someone is counting in their head, "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight..."

i often watch these movies as i enjoy all three very much with reloaded being my favorite. but the special effects and fighting style have aged horribly.

 

[Diallo B]

and while on the subject of Blade....

i truly feel that blade is one of those movies where true credit is not given. imo, blade is what kick started the new rash of comic book movies and similar genres. often this credit is given to Spiderman.

 

[GuruAskew]

While it is true that there was more merchandise for "Star Wars", "Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" you can literally look at any piece of merchandise made for those and NOT for "The Matrix" and attribute that to the R rating.

There's a reason why the PG-13 is so coveted among studios. Joel Silver was always very critical of the fact that the "Matrix" films were given "R" ratings and I'd have to agree. The violence is very tame and very little blood is shed in any "Matrix" movie but the MPAA has very weird issues with certain things in martial arts-style violence. Often times a PG-13 film can show a character being shot but not kicked in the face. I personally wouldn't hesitate to show the "Matrix" movies to a 13-year-old.

In any case, they weren't given the PG-13 so that right there rules out the fruit roll-ups and the underoos and the breakfast cereal. In their places were the cell phones and the Heineken.

As someone who is quite a sucker for movie tie-in merchandise I can't think of a single type of merchandise available for any R-rated movie that wasn't done for "The Matrix". "Watchmen" hit my wallet pretty hard and I can't think of a single piece of "Watchmen" merchandise that doesn't have a comparable "Matrix" counterpart.

I'm literally at a loss when it comes to the whole denial-ridden concept that "The Matrix" (particularly "Reloaded") wasn't absolutely put through the wringer of the merchandising machine.

 

[Pete-D]

If The Matrix feels more dated than The Phantom Menace it's probably more because The Matrix actually become a defining pop culture moment of the late 90s/early 2000s. It was subsequently spoofed and copied all over the place and set the bar for a lot of Hollywood action movies afterwards.

TPM, aside from having the Star Wars brand behind it, really did not. Not to mention The Matrix is actually set in the late 90s, so it's sort of hard not to look at it as a work of its time (jeez has it really been that long?).

When I think of 1999 in terms of films, I think of The Matrix more, whereas for The Phantom Menace, I think more about that film's pre-hype in relation to 1999 (but not the actual film itself).

As for the marketing ... wait, so is it a bad thing we didn't get Matrix Fruit Roll-Ups? I think the marketing behind the Matrix sequels was more akin to a Bond film -- more adult types of tie-ins (cars, sunglasses, cell phones, etc.). There probably was also some sensitivity to the Columbine incident ... having things like Matrix Cereal or Fruit-Roll-Ups I don't think would've gone over so great with parents groups.

The problem wasn't the marketing or merchandise (overkill or not) in the end though. The Matrix trilogy is what would've happened to the Star Wars trilogy if "Empire Strikes Back" was seen as a very large step back from the original, and ROTJ even more so -- the Star Wars franchise probably would've fizzled out too.

Empire elevated Star Wars into a "saga", I don't think the Matrix sequels succeeded in doing that for the Matrix franchise.

 

[DaveB]

I've never seen the 2 sequels, but the first Matrix film is special -- one of the pillars of scifi cinema IMHO.

 

[Sean Laughter]

I'm one of those that likes the first film but can take or leave the two sequels. While I don't really hate them with a burning passion or anything, when I'm watching them, depending on my mood, I feel anywhere from fatiguing boredom to downright mocking cynicism towards what I feel to be their straying into overindulgent self aggrandizing self-importance. Ergo and contrary wise I must conclude that while not completely without merit purely on an aesthetic level, the scripts leave themselves open to mockery and ridicule, and rest assured, I have rolled my eyes at aspects of the sequels numerous times and I have become exceedingly efficient at it.

 

[Holadem]

There was a Matrix-themed Heineken? How the hell did I miss that one?

I don't recall the specifics of this story, but that's how real life works anyway: short of total victory of one side over the other, peace is often reached through tenuous, imperfect agreements that require difficult, sometimes once unimaginable compromises on both sides (made relatively palatable by the experience of a worse alternative: more war.)

--
H

 

[Chris Atkins]

bravo!

 

[GuruAskew]

is absolutely 100% dead-wrong. The Wachowskis marketed their property to the full extent possible. The smaller amount of merchandise compared to other properties is due to things like MPAA rating and poor reception to what WAS released, not any sort of integrety on the part of the powers that be. If the Wachowskis could get you buy a 4th crappy video game they would make one.

 

[Pete-D]

I don't think there's anything wrong with movie merchandising as long as the movie itself is good. Provided we're talking about an action-adventure "event" movie.

If the trade off for Reloaded/Revolutions being better films was say a Taco Bell tie-in -- I'll take one Morpheus Gordita with a side of Zesty Zion Fries, please.