grey Posted November 4, 2003 Report Posted November 4, 2003 I am really looking forward to Matrix: Revolutions when it opens this Wednesday. I've seen Matrix, Matrix: Reloaded and The Animatrix. This final installment in the series is opening on 4 screens here. They have already sold out the advance tickets for the first screening on all 4 screens. Has anyone else been following this series? Quote
Jazzmoose Posted November 4, 2003 Report Posted November 4, 2003 Well...sort of, but I wait for the DVDs to come out, so I just caught Reloaded. Weird, huh? But at last, a chase scene that I could appreciate! Quote
wesbed Posted November 5, 2003 Report Posted November 5, 2003 I watched the original Matrix when it was new. The original is still all I've seen and probably all I will see. The Matrix series just doesn't seem to grab me like it does most folks. Quote
BruceH Posted November 5, 2003 Report Posted November 5, 2003 WTF?? Didn't they just come out with a Matrix sequel? How many of these damn things are they gonna make, anyway? Quote
Parkertown Posted November 5, 2003 Report Posted November 5, 2003 Haven't seen the second one yet. My buddy has the DVD and keeps promising to bring it to me, but keeps forgetting... We saw the first one on the big screen and have since committed the entire film to memory after many screenings of our DVD copy of it. We will probably try to go see the third one on the big screen if it gets good reviews from fans of the series. Same with the last Lord Of The Rings when it opens. Are you going to the first or second screening grey? B) Quote
neveronfriday Posted November 5, 2003 Report Posted November 5, 2003 From the review of the newest Matrix film on cnn.com: "When Moss and Reeves lock lips, it looks like two wire coat hangers trying to get it on." The rest doesn't fare any better. Cheers. Quote
Free For All Posted November 5, 2003 Report Posted November 5, 2003 WTF?? Didn't they just come out with a Matrix sequel? How many of these damn things are they gonna make, anyway? This trend seemed to start with the Back To The Future sequels. Remember? They came out in quick succession. Now Matrix and LOTR are doing the same thing. I think fads are coming and going at such a fast rate these days they're trying to cash in while the iron is hottest. It seems our whole culture is creating/catering to an increasingly short attention span. I see this in students all the time- the time required to practice and learn an instrument is definitely more of a turn-off to many kids than it used to be. This age of instant gratification is both a blessing and a curse. Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted November 5, 2003 Report Posted November 5, 2003 This trend seemed to start with the Back To The Future sequels. Remember? They came out in quick succession. Now Matrix and LOTR are doing the same thing. I think fads are coming and going at such a fast rate these days they're trying to cash in while the iron is hottest. I think your point may be vaild but your examples aren't too hot! For instance, the original Back To The Future came out in 1985. The sequel didn't hit until 1989. The third one did in fact come out a year later in 1990 but if you recall the original movie ended with "To Be Continued..." so it's obvious they intended to do a sequel from the git go. As far as LOTR is concerned, is there anyway to do a movie version of this literary trilogy without having "sequels"? I don't think they are really sequels in that context. It's all really one movie/book divided into three sections. Matrix is the same way. The original story was conceived as a trilogy. They always intended on making three movies but I think the smartly pulled a "Peter Jackson" and filmed the second and third movies at the same time to save costs since once the first one became a big hit the studio wanted the rest. I think your point applies better to movies that never should've had sequels such as "Never Ending Story II" or the Rocky movies or "Look Who's Talking Too" or "The Blair Witch 2". The originals made big money for the studios so they wanted more of the same. Quote
Aggie87 Posted November 5, 2003 Report Posted November 5, 2003 The thing that's interesting to me is when they film sequels concurrently. There appears to be an assumption that the first sequel will do well enough at the box office to warrant putting out the next one. This is what happened with the two Matrix sequels, as well as the two Back to the Future sequels. Can't think of any others that were filmed this way. The LOTR films were all filmed at the same time - which is kind of an amazing risk to take on something which MIGHT have never made money. Luckily, the films have been uniformly excellent so far, and have appealed to more than just the hardcore Tolkien/fantasy crowd. Kill Bill is an interesting one also. Apparently originally conceived (and filmed) as one movie, but Tarantino or the studio decided to split it into two films due to length. Not sure I really understand that decision, but I haven't seen part one yet either. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted November 5, 2003 Report Posted November 5, 2003 For instance, the original Back To The Future came out in 1985. The sequel didn't hit until 1989. The third one did in fact come out a year later in 1990 but if you recall the original movie ended with "To Be Continued..." so it's obvious they intended to do a sequel from the git go. Are you sure? I remember that "to be continued" tag being on the second one, not the first...I'll have to dig out the DVDs and check it out. Of course, they could have changed them there, so that's no proof... Quote
.:.impossible Posted November 5, 2003 Report Posted November 5, 2003 When did BACK TO THE FUTURE become a cult film? Quote
Adam Posted November 5, 2003 Report Posted November 5, 2003 On Back to the Future, "To Be Continued: was on #2, and I remember the collective groan that went up. I think people got frustrated with the 3 year gaps between the Star Wars films. I think B-3er got it pretty right. After they saw that one was big, they decided to make #2 & 3 simultaneously to save costs. And once they know #1 is big, studios know they are pretty much assured of decent returns on # 2 & 3. Quote
ghost of miles Posted November 5, 2003 Report Posted November 5, 2003 Isn't Tarantino's KILL BILL PT. 2 coming out in just a few months as well? Although I don't think the film was originally intended to be broken into two parts. Quote
.:.impossible Posted November 6, 2003 Report Posted November 6, 2003 David, re: Kill Bill I heard Quentin say February if all goes as planned (on Conan the other night). re: Matrix Revolutions Saw it today. Weak. I like the second one best. I understand that it is a trilogy and should be viewed as one piece, but... re: Back To the Future ??? What is up with you people??? Quote
Free For All Posted November 6, 2003 Report Posted November 6, 2003 (edited) re: Back To the Future ??? What is up with you people???  Good lord, people. My original reference to BTTF was not to laud it as a "cult classic" or anything like that. I just mentioned it as an early example of two sequels coming out in quick succession. Jim, I meant that the time between #2 and #3 ( that's why I said sequels)was shorter than between other series of the time, like the Star Wars and Star Trek sequels. Didn't mean to start a debate about BTTF's place in film history. Edit: BTW, everything I've heard and read about M:R so far is not very encouraging, although I've disagreed w/the critics before. But this buzz is also word-of-mouth, so it might be worth something. Edited November 6, 2003 by Free For All Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted November 6, 2003 Report Posted November 6, 2003 Guys, don't you remember how the first Back To The Future ends?! It ends with Marty finally getting home, noticing everything is different, his dad is a stud, he has a new black truck that Biff just finished waxing out in the garage and he kisses his girlfriend and then all of sudden BOOM the Delorean comes back and Doc comes out and starts putting trash into the "Mr. Fusion" on the back of the Delorean and starts talking about having to take Marty back to the future to save his kids so he and his girl hop in, Marty says, "Doc, we don't have enough road to get up to 88!" and Doc says "Road? Where we're going we don't need any roads." and the Delorean rises up into the air and flies off into time... And then it says, "To Be Continued..." Quote
Jazzmoose Posted November 6, 2003 Report Posted November 6, 2003 Aw, screw you "film snobs"; I loved the Back to the Future movies; particularly the second one... Quote
grey Posted November 8, 2003 Author Report Posted November 8, 2003 We went last evening to see Matrix: Revolutions. The cineplex has 17 screens and it was playing on 4 screens. To our surprise EVERY screen was sold out for every showing last night. The best that we could do was the matinee this afternoon at 1 PM. I hope that all those little kids at a Saturday matinee aren't too noisy! I'll post a review. Quote
Christiern Posted November 8, 2003 Report Posted November 8, 2003 Watched the second one on DVD last night--impressive special effects, somewhat confusing storyline. Also watched the bonus material on the DVD, including Making the Game. It is interesting that they made the video game using the same actors--even more interesting (telling?) is the fact that the game contains scenes that--according to a crew member--will clarify some of the confusion. I think another interviewed crew member was right when he said that it is a story that one could not really relate to someone who hasn't seen the film. I don't mind that..confusing, yes, but the confusion becomes an integral part of the story, I think. The DVD also contains a great "How They Did It," on the freeway chase--having looked far and wide for a freeway that they could take over for an extended period, they concluded that they would be best off building their own--so that's what they did. And clips from that chase show that stunt people were not always needed where one might expect them to be used. The M-TV Movie Awards spoof of the Oracle court yard meeting in the second film is extremely well done and rather funny. Joel Siegel gave Revolutions a bad review, so it might be good. Quote
Alexander Posted November 8, 2003 Report Posted November 8, 2003 I was not terribly impressed the first time I saw "The Matrix." I saw it again, shortly before "Matrix Reloaded" came out on DVD, and it clicked. I realized that it is live action Anime! I mean, Keanu Reeves is a horrible actor, but he makes a great Anime hero (he even looks like an Anime character. Kind of asian, but with western eyes). Once I had that realization, I really enjoyed it, and liked "Reloaded" even better. So I'm looking foward to seeing "Revolutions." I was supposed to go see it tonight, but my wife and daughter both have colds. It's a pity, since my daughter was supposed to go visit my mom for the weekend! We were gonna have a weekend to ourselves! Whaaaaaah! Even though my daughter feels better today, my mom still won't watch her because she doesn't want to catch anything. Quote
.:.impossible Posted November 8, 2003 Report Posted November 8, 2003 I think you are exactly right Alexander. Unfortunately, the third installment does not take place very much inside the Matrix. The Matrix was my favorite part of the story. The outside isn't quite so spectacular. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted November 8, 2003 Report Posted November 8, 2003 I think of The Matrix series as sort of a more complex (and much better!) execution of the ideas used in Tron. Quote
grey Posted November 9, 2003 Author Report Posted November 9, 2003 We finally got to see Matrix: Revolutions yesterday. The matinee tickets were the first that were still available since the movie opened last Wednesday. I was surprised that the theatre was full and no one seemed under 18. Where were all the kids under 18? I won't give the plot away. If you haven't seen Reloaded the movie won't make any sense. It is like there has been a 6 month intermission. There is no introduction to the movie. It just starts off right where it left off last May. The first hour is plodding and slow. Then hold on to your seat for the best special effects that I have ever seen in any movie. It is spectacular. The battle for the citadel will knock you socks off. The second hour is suberb. It is the special effects which carry the film. Neo's journey to the City of the Machines can only be seen on the big screen. The final scene with the Oracle and the maker of the Matrix is a real plot twist. Excellent finale to the trilogy. Quote
grey Posted November 10, 2003 Author Report Posted November 10, 2003 According to MSNBC this morning, 'Matrix: Revolutions ' grossed nearly $86 M for its opening weekend (Wed. - Sun.). Quote
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