Blu-Ray Review: The Matrix: 10th Anniversary Edition

I like steak so I chose the Blue pill

Just ten short years ago, two brothers created the 28th best film of all time (As rated by IMDB readers). the Wachowski brothers, Andy and Larry, had limited film experience, yet they teamed up and put out a movie like the world had never seen before. Utilizing stunning special effects, ground breaking freeze-motion, and tieing into the emerging computer world, this movie caused every person who saw it to pause and ponder. Yes, just ten years ago, The Matrix was born.



The Matrix tells the story of Neo (Keanu Reeves), a small-time employee in a tech firm by day and a hacker by night. During the first few scenes with Reeves, there is the feeling that something is wrong with the world. Neo can not tell you what it is, but something is amiss, and something just isn’t right. To explain the real world, Neo meets up with Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and sees the truth. That is, Neo sees that the world really isn’t a world, but it is merely a computer situation.

After being removed from the simulation and thrust into the real world, Neo is forced to come to terms with thousands of new things. He can learn Kung Fu, how to fly a helicopter, and get anything he wants all by being plugged into a machine. He must accept that food does not really taste good, that he will be living a limited life, and that everything he thought he knew was wrong. In short, Neo must restart his life, while at the same time finding out what his true destiny is.

I have always been a big Matrix fan and have loved the movie ever since it first came out. Though I abhor the sequels, the original movie is great, a classic, and a very good watch. The Matrix uses many literary metaphors and stories to tell a compelling tale. From Alice in Wonderland to several Sartre and Niche stories, you can follow the course of illusion and existentialism throughout the movie. The Matrix also nicely ties in various historical and biblical references, as the ship is a type Mark: 3:11 and called Nebuchadnezzar.

Another thing that I like about The Matrix is the symbolism that is inherent in the movie. From the references already mentioned, to the color hues in the film, this movie makes sure to use any and all symbols that it can. The Matrix talks about right v. wrong, the concept of what it is to be human, and even the technology struggle shown in Frankenstein. Even the names of the characters tie into the symboligy, as there are three main parts to the puzzle (Trinity), a new man (Neo), and a change to the world (Morpheus). The Wachowski brothers pulled all of the stops to make sure that The Matrix showed the world as it was and is.

Back in 1999, when The Matrix first came out, the movie was used by geeks, audiophiles, and rich people to show off exactly how impressive their surround sound system was. The movie had rich audio and booming bass, which set the standard for all DVDs to come. Though it is no longer the standard, the audio in The Matrix: 10th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray was still exceptionally good, clear, and perfect on my 5.1 sound system. I could hear all of the dialog, had no issues with volume, and even was able to hear the clattering of each shell casing as it hit the ground. Though the audio is no loner the standard, it still is up to par and a good mix.

Along the same lines, the visual quality of The Matrix: 10th AE is stunning and superb. The colors, which are hued greener or bluer, depending on if you are in the Matrix or not, are vibrant and bright. The black levels are deep and properly adjusted for HD viewing. Overall, the transfer was well done and the movie looks really good on my HDTV. That said, however, if you are looking for the modern HD look, where you can see pores and sweat, then the transfer will be disappointing. The only downside of the transfer was that the film retained a grainy look; this look, however, actually fits with the mood of the movie so it wasn’t that bad.

Did you know that Carrie-Anne Moss was an actress in a TV show called The Matrix, an unrelated show that was on Canadian television a few years before the movie? Well, I didn’t, but I do now thanks to a 30some page booklet that came with the movie. You can read biographies, filmographies, production information, trivia, and even an essay about the movie in this book. This is unusual and lacking in many other anniversary or special editions of movies, and it is something that I really enjoyed.

The Matrix: 10th AE comes jammed with tons of extras that are well worth your time. Besides the booklet, the Blu-ray itself has four commentaries, a documentary about the sequels, and the normal slew of deleted and extended scenes. Additionally, there are an amazing 19 featurettes comprising 3 general categories of the film. All of these extras are worth watching, as they all take you further and further down the rabbit hole. The only downside here is the fact that they are all the same as the DVD, HD-DVD, and Ultimate Collection versions.

Overall, The Matrix: 10th Anniversary Edition is a great movie to add to your shelf. This represents the first time that The Matrix has been put out on its own on the Blu-ray format so you don’t need to waste precious space with the sequels. That said, however, if you already own the Ultimate Collection then you don’t need to get the movie as there is nothing new in this release. The Matrix is perfect for geeks, nerds, and any action junkie, as well as all teens.

Movie:this movie is one of the best ever made
Video: the transfer is well done and the colors are good, but it isn’t what you have come to expect from Blu-ray
Audio:the sound is amazing and well done, but not nearly as grand as it used to be
Extras: You truly can find out how deep the rabbit hole is by watching these extras
Overall: There is no excuse for sci-fi lovers not upgrading to the Blu-ray version

The Matrix is rated R for sci-fi violence and language.
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Rule 34

EDIT, i can tell you about rule 34 too, YAYS (this means you should stay and read other parts of my site):

Rule 34 is a specific layout for the game of Life, a computer simulation.

It was considered a stable alternative, until it was discovered that the larger the simulation, the less stable it would be. This version creates several alternating squares (osilators) and shoots out the fliers

Also, as for the "i will call rule 34 on" part, rule 34 means "If it exists, there is porn of it."
Think of wet riffs



For those here looking up Rule 34 from XKCD you are here due to the rss feed on my side bar.

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Macs

Post 2:

So I am sitting here in English 571.02 thinking about life, the ballads along the Scottish and English border that crossed into America (what the lecture was about), and what I was going to be writing for the Wednesdays update. Then, I look around. I am sitting there with my little Acer and everybody else in class has out a Mac of some sort. That is write, an OSX running, white background, glowing apple orb Mac. I realized that Macs are something that REALLY GRINDS MY GIGANTIC NOTCHED WHEELS.

So lets start talking about Macs. I mean, what is the appeal in these systems; they are underpowered, not unupgradable, cost way more, and have the most restrictive end-user agreement of any OS (and most Mac users claim Microsoft is evil and the devil). Really, it boils down to the three following things:
1) Macs are not worth how much they cost
2) Any benefits that OSX had over Microsoft are now no longer applicable
3) There are no benefits in having a Mac over a PC

So, let us start by discussing how much Macs cost compared to a similar PC. I will be using the Macbook Pro (standard) vs a PC (comparable) that I made on Cyberpower. The stats are listed here:
Item Mac PC
Size 15.4 inches 15.4 inches
CPU 2.4GHz with 3Mb Catch 2.4GHz with 3Mb Catch
RAM 2gig 2gig
Video Card 256Mb 8600GT 256Mb 8600GT
HD 200gig 250gig (no 200)
Optical Disc 8X, DVDRW, CDRW 8X, DVDRW, CDRW
Cost $1999.00 (plus shipping and tax) $1115.00 (plus shipping and tax)

Now, it is clear that the Mac is way more expensive then an equal PC. Clearly, there is no argument that you can not get more bang for your buck with a Mac, so there must be something else at play here. So, we must examine if there are any benefits in having OSX over Vista. While one could have made the argument about XP, and especially, ME, there are no real glaring differences in Vista to OSX. In fact, Vista runs better and is very secure. There is a reason that OSX is usually the first system hacked in trials. While Windows does have more viruses written for it (due to the market share) it is more secure. Furthermore, Windows immediately attempts to fix all found flaws, while Mac takes there time. Clearly, there are no benefits on OSX there.

So, what are the benefits of OSX that make it work the 800$? Is it usability? Now with Vista, which took all of OSXs best features and added them. Is it security, well, yes, but not by much, and definitely not 800$ worth. Is it programs? Get real, what is there that is on a Mac that is not on a PC? I can name much better programs that are PC only. According to crave vista wins against OSX in a trial and error. With that knowledge, is there any reason to pony up the extra 800$? This Vista and Ubuntu user says NO.

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