# The Matrix, was it really that groundbreaking?



## Swarmy (Sep 17, 2014)

Here I am sitting on my computer listening to The Matrix OST thinking about how almost 15 years ago this movie literally changed movie history. Being one of the last big movies to come out in one of the golden ages (arguably of course) of movies, the 90s, The Matrix was really well accepted and the sequels were no surprise.

Do you still think that it deserved it's praise, or do you think that The Matrix was an overrated garbage of special effects and nonsense?

Personally I refrain from even thinking about the sequels, for me The Animatrix was the perfect addition to the world of The Matrix, they should have stopped there.


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## Bathroom_Mop (Sep 18, 2014)

I think it was. It had amazing action sequences, excellent cgi, and genuine thought provoking philosophical themes. As you have already mentioned, the Animatrix was the perfect addition to the story and gave us a background of the world.

The sequels on the other hand were a load of crap. The action cgi scenes were good, but a bit too over the top. The philosophical themes were forced and they tried too hard with them. A lot of the dialogue did seem out of place. 

The first Matrix is a classic. It worked on many levels
The Matrix trilogy as a whole deserves to be in the discount bin in Wal-Mart. It's just another generic sci-fi flick


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## The World (Sep 18, 2014)

To me it was

and if you don't think so you can eat a dick


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## Butcher (Sep 18, 2014)

It had great action, great story, interesting characters.

I haven't re-watched it in a while, but I'd say it is still one of the greatest movies of all time....at the least.


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## Magnum Miracles (Sep 18, 2014)

The first movie is still my favorite movie ever. It managed to combine everything I love about movies all into one film.


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## Hunted by sister (Sep 18, 2014)

The first movie definitely had everything to be a legendry title. It's the sequels that ruined it, though I won't deny that I enjoyed Hammer and Zion battle scenes in the last one.

//HbS


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## Lucaniel (Sep 18, 2014)

it wasn't "groundbreaking", that is a very specific compliment which suggests originality, and it mostly popularised pre-existing sci-fi ideas 

but it was very good nevertheless


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## James Bond (Sep 18, 2014)

Was the Matrix a groundbreaking movie? Yes.


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## Banhammer (Sep 18, 2014)

Heh, every once in a while someone comes up with the same question.

It wasn't groundbreaking, but it did bring  many ideas to the mainstream audience


It brought them so hard they've become self parodies, really


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## Tranquil Fury (Sep 18, 2014)

Stuff like the famous bullet timing becoming so used in movies owes itself to the Matrix so yes. Hard some nice concepts too but basically another cool-flashy action movie.


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## Huey Freeman (Sep 18, 2014)

Pretty sure it was the first time that style of slow motion special effects were used.


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## Atlas (Sep 18, 2014)

Bathroom_Mop said:


> I think it was. It had amazing action sequences, excellent cgi, and genuine thought provoking philosophical themes. As you have already mentioned, the Animatrix was the perfect addition to the story and gave us a background of the world.
> 
> The sequels on the other hand were a load of crap. The action cgi scenes were good, but a bit too over the top. The philosophical themes were forced and they tried too hard with them. A lot of the dialogue did seem out of place.
> 
> ...



Lol, that's exactly where I bought my set. Only $10.


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## The World (Sep 18, 2014)

wasn't the Matrix the first ever to use bullet time?


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## Lucaniel (Sep 18, 2014)

The World said:


> wasn't the Matrix the first ever to use bullet time?



bullet time is just slo-mo applied to action sequences

even if it was, that's hardly a truly original idea


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## The World (Sep 18, 2014)




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## teddy (Sep 18, 2014)

Swarmy said:


> Personally I refrain from even thinking about the sequels, for me *The Animatrix was the perfect addition to the world of The Matrix*, they should have stopped there.



World Record is my favorite of the bunch


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## Deleted member 84471 (Sep 18, 2014)

Yes, it was groundbreaking - I can't think of an action movie that preceded it which combined gun fu and wire fu; (to such an excellent standard so as to make nearly every future pastiche, the millions that there were, look downright shoddy in comparison) and that signature bullet-time SFX innovation was the cherry on the cake. Gave me that 'T-1000' feeling.  A genuine action classic.


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## Hunted by sister (Sep 19, 2014)

Danger Doom said:


> Pretty sure it was the first time that style of slow motion special effects were used.





The World said:


> wasn't the Matrix the first ever to use bullet time?


Nah, many movies used bullet time before Matrix. Blade, I think? And pretty much anything by John Woo. Then there was also a movie "Kill and Kill <something>". 

Matrix definitely brought the thing to mainstream movies, though.

//HbS


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## The World (Sep 20, 2014)

you sure it was bullet time and not just slomo effects?


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## Hunted by sister (Sep 20, 2014)

1981, "Kill and Kill Again", definitely bullet time.

//HbS


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## Jon Snow (Sep 20, 2014)

This is why it was groundbreaking, despite "They Live" conveying the same type of message. Too bad this gets easily overlooked and it's all about the action and bullet time. smh

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3j_lyTrtG0[/youtube]


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## Tony Lou (Sep 20, 2014)

There may have been movies with a similar idea in the past, but how many people remember them?

That's the point.

The Matrix left a greater impression, and thus was able to have the impact of something ground breaking.


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## WraithX959 (Sep 20, 2014)

Luiz said:


> There may have been movies with a similar idea in the past, but how many people remember them?
> 
> That's the point.
> 
> The Matrix left a greater impression, and thus was able to have the impact of something ground breaking.



I remember plenty of them, hell I remember commercials with the same impact. While I do believe The Matrix was groundbreaking(in a sense), it wasn't that original. Dark City, which came out around the same time could be argued to be a much better film. It's all relative, people are generally more affected by the media of their own generation, rather than that of previous generations.

The thing that made The Matrix special was that it was a smart sci-fi/action film that prefectly balanced both aspects. People were initially sucked in by the amazing action, but later began to contemplate the films philosophy questions. I, unlike most, enjoy the entire trilogy. Of course there are major problems with the sequels, mainly that they lost the balance of the first film. At times the sequels were too focused on trying to outdo the action & special effects of the the first film and at other times it was trying too hard to be intellectual. People who liked the action were turned off by the philosophical discussions and people who liked meaningful story development were turned off by the over the top, often meaningless action scenes. Not to mention the unrealistic CGI, poor writing, and cliched themes of the later two films.


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## Jake CENA (Sep 22, 2014)

People saying The Matrix wasnt ground breaking and never brought anything special to the film industry? 

What kind of shit are these people smoking? ck


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## James Bond (Sep 22, 2014)

TerminaTHOR said:


> People saying The Matrix wasnt ground breaking and never brought anything special to the film industry?
> 
> What kind of shit are these people smoking? ck



Everyone wants to be that guy


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## Swarmy (Sep 22, 2014)

TerminaTHOR said:


> People saying The Matrix wasnt ground breaking and never brought anything special to the film industry?
> 
> What kind of shit are these people smoking? ck



The problem is that The Matrix became so popular that it was a matter of time before people start hating some aspect of it or become too critical. It's always like this for popular franchises and the sequels didn't really help either, as I said The Animatrix was the perfect sequel for the movie and they should have stopped there.


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## masamune1 (Sep 22, 2014)

You _do_ realise that Animatrix and the two sequels were all made at the same time, right?

"They should have stopped there" doesn't make sense. Animatrix wasn't even released until _after_ Reloaded.


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## Swarmy (Sep 22, 2014)

masamune1 said:


> You _do_ realise that Animatrix and the two sequels were all made at the same time, right?
> 
> "They should have stopped there" doesn't make sense. Animatrix wasn't even released until _after_ Reloaded.



Oh never realised that, I saw the sequels a bit late actually so I was left with the impression that The Animatrix came out shortly after the first movie


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## Hunted by sister (Sep 22, 2014)

Animatrix was more of an addon rather than anything else.

//HbS


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## MartialHorror (Sep 23, 2014)

Doesn't 'ground breaking' refer to its influence on advancements in special effects and maybe its effect on popular culture? If so, then it's not overrated. 

If you're just referring to quality, I'm not sure as I haven't seen it in years. lol.

Edit: The sequels foreshadowed that the Wachowski's really had gotten lucky with the first film. They're better than the M. Night's of the word and maybe even the Zack Snyders of the world, but they've yet to make a universally 'liked' film since "The Matrix".

If anyone mentions "V for Vendetta", I will drop my pants and have sex with you. Why everyone wants to give them credit for that film and not the actual director, but then turn it around and blame the director for "Ninja Assassin" and not the Wachowski's, I will never understand.


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## Shiba D. Inu (Sep 23, 2014)

the first film was ground-breaking, yeah


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