the-matrix-has-you-as-batteries

The Matrix Revolutions

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:11:37 +0100

The Matrix Revolutions

The Matrix Revolutions

Promotional film poster
Directed by Wachowski brothers
Produced by Joel Silver
Wachowski brothers
Written by Wachowski brothers
Starring Keanu Reeves
Laurence Fishburne
Carrie-Anne Moss
Hugo Weaving
Clayton Watson
Nathaniel Lees
Jada Pinkett Smith
Harry J. Lennix
Harold Perrineau
Music by Don Davis
Cinematography Bill Pope
Editing by Zach Staenberg
Studio Village Roadshow Pictures
Silver Pictures
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s) North America:
November 5, 2003
Running time 129 min.
Country United States
Australia
Language English
Budget US$150 million
Gross revenue US$427,343,298
Preceded by The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions is a 2003 American science fiction film and the third and final installment of The Matrix trilogy. The film is a sequel toThe Matrix Reloaded. The film was written and directed by the Wachowski brothers and released simultaneously in sixty countries on November 5, 2003. Despite the fact that it is the final film in the series, the Matrix storyline continued in The Matrix Online.
The film was the first live-action film to be released in both regular and IMAX movie theaters at the same time. The Wachowskis were present in Tokyo at the opening of the movie, as were stars Jada Pinkett Smith and Keanu Reeves.

The film begins where The Matrix Reloaded ended. Bane and Neo are both unconscious, but Neo shows neural patterns suggesting he is in the Matrix. Morpheus decides to start a search for Neo within the Matrix. Neo finds himself trapped in a subway station; a transition zone between the Matrix and the machine world. At this station, Neo meets a 'family' of programs, including a girl named Sati, whose father tells Neo that the station is controlled by a program called The Trainman, an exile loyal only to the Merovingian who exerts complete control over the subway. When Neo tries to board the train with the family, the Trainman refuses to let him aboard.[edit]Plot
Seraph contacts Morpheus on behalf of the Oracle. The Oracle, with a changed appearance, informs Morpheus and Trinity of Neo's confinement. Seraph, Morpheus, and Trinity pursue the Trainman to secure Neo's release. The trio enters Club Hel to confront the Merovingian to release Neo. The Merovingian demands "the eyes of the Oracle" in exchange for Neo's release. Trinity loses her patience and provokes aMexican standoff, forcing the Merovingian to release Neo.
Troubled by visions of the Machine City, Neo decides to visit the Oracle. She informs him that as the One, he has developed a wireless connection with the Source. All of Neo's abilities - inside and outside the Matrix - exist because of this connection. She characterizes Smithas Neo's exact "opposite" and "negative", who threatens to destroy the Matrix and eventually the Machine City. She states that "everything that has a beginning has an end", and that the war is about to end "one way or another." After Neo leaves the Oracle, a large group of "Smiths," after assimilating Sati and Seraph, arrive to assimilate the unresisting Oracle, gaining her powers of precognition.
In the real world, the remaining crew of the Nebuchadnezzar and the Hammer encounter Niobe's deactivated ship, the Logos, and its crew. They successfully reactivate the ship and begin to interrogate the now awakened Bane, who claims he has no memory of the events of the earlier battle. As the ship captains plan to return to defend Zion, Neo announces that he needs a ship to travel to the Machine City. The captain of the Hammer refuses to allow it, citing his rights as ship's captain. However, Niobe provides him the Logos, rebuking the captain of the Hammer when he attempts to prevent her from exercising the rights he just extolled.
Niobe pilots the Hammer through a series of service tunnels, which are nearly impossible to navigate in order to avoid the Sentinel army. Shortly after departure, they discover that Bane has murdered a crew member and has hidden aboard the Logos. They also come to realize that Bane fired the EMP that disabled the human fleet that had engaged the Sentinel army leading to their defeat. Despite this discovery, they are unable to warn Trinity and Neo. Before the Logos can depart, Bane ambushes Trinity and takes her hostage. Neo fights Bane, who reveals that he is Smith. During the struggle, Bane blinds Neo by cauterizing his eyes with a severed power cable. In spite of his blindness, Neo can see the glowing form of Smith and kills him. Trinity pilots them towards the Machine City.
In Zion, the defenders deploy infantry armed with rocket launchers and Armored Personnel Units. The docks are invaded by a massive horde ofSentinels and two giant drilling machines. Outnumbered and overwhelmed by the attackers, the APUs are unable to hold the Dock, and their leader Captain Mifune is fatally wounded. With his last breath, Mifune tells the Kid, who has been rearming his APU, to open the gate for theHammer. Encouraged by Mifune, Kid pilots the APU and opens the gate with the help of Link's wife Zee who kills a Sentinel and saves him. The Sentinels are on the verge of overwhelming the remaining humans when the Hammer, with more Sentinels in pursuit, arrives at Zion and sets off its EMP, disabling the Sentinels, but also the remaining defenses. Although they have bought a temporary reprieve, the humans are forced to retreat to the temple's entrance and wait for the next attack, preparing for what they believe will be their last stand.
Nearing the Machine City, Neo and Trinity are attacked by the city's huge defense machines. Neo uses his power to destroy the incoming bombs, but Sentinels overwhelm the ship. To evade them, Trinity flies the Logos into an electrical storm cloud. Her actions disable the Sentinels, but also disable the ship's engines. Above the cloud layer, Trinity sees a glimpse of sunlight and blue sky for the first time. The ship then free-falls directly toward the Machine City, and despite Trinity's attempts to ignite the engines in time, the ship crashes. The impact of the collision fatally wounds Trinity, and she dies in Neo's embrace.
Neo enters into the Machine City to strike a bargain with the Machines, personified by the Deus Ex Machina. Neo warns that Smith is beyond the Machines' control and will soon assault the Source. He offers to help stop Smith in exchange for a ceasefire with Zion: the Machines agree, causing all the Sentinels attacking Zion to stand down and await orders. The Machines provide a connection for Neo to enter the Matrix and confront Smith. In the Matrix, which is now wholly populated by Smith's copies, the clone with the Oracle's powers steps forth, claiming that he has already foreseen his own victory.
The Smith clones stand by and watch while Neo and the primary Smith fight on the streets, through buildings, and in the sky, until they finally brawl in a flooded crater. Neo is outmatched by Smith but refuses to give up. A frustrated Smith continues to attack, but when he suddenly repeats the Oracle's words, "Everything that has a beginning has an end," Neo baits Smith into assimilating him. As the Machines sense the assimilation, Neo's body spasms as a surge of energy enters his body. The Neo-Smith and the rest of the clones then explode, restoring The Matrix and its citizens to normal. In the crater full of water, we now see the Oracle lying on the ground. The waiting Sentinels withdraw from Zion. Neo, having sacrificed himself to save both the Machines and humans, is unplugged from the Matrix and his body is carried away by the Machines.
The Matrix "reboots", repairing the damage caused by Neo and Smith's battle, and without its usual green tint. The cat from the first movie is seen in the same fashion as in the first film and is picked up by Sati. The Architect and the Oracle meet, and agree to unplug all humans who want to be freed, and that peace will last "as long as it can." Sati, who has created a colorful dawn sky in memory of Neo, asks the Oracle if they will ever see him again to which she replies that she believes they will. Seraph asks the Oracle if she knew all along that this would happen, and she replies that she didn't know, but she did believe.
[edit]Cast
Keanu Reeves as Neo
Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus
Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
Hugo Weaving as Smith
Mary Alice as The Oracle
Helmut Bakaitis as The Architect
Lambert Wilson as The Merovingian
Monica Bellucci as Persephone
Collin Chou as Seraph
Harry Lennix as Commander Lock
Harold Perrineau Jr. as Link
Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe
Ian Bliss as Bane
Gina Torres as Cas
Cornel West as Councillor West
Bernard White as Rama-Kandra
Anthony Wong as Ghost
Anthony Zerbe as Councillor Hamann
Nathaniel Lees as Captain Mifune
Bruce Spence as Trainman
Maurice J. Morgan as Tower Soldier
Actress Gloria Foster, who played the Oracle in the first film, died before the completion of her filming for the third and was replaced by actress Mary Alice. Her changed appearance is addressed in the film's plot, and the directors state they had coincidentally explored such a change early in the script's development.
[edit]Production
The movie was filmed concurrently with its predecessor, The Matrix Reloaded, and live-action sequences for the video game Enter the Matrix. This took place primarily at Fox Studios inSydney, Australia.
[edit]Sound design
Sound editing on The Matrix trilogy was completed by Danetracks in West Hollywood, CA.
[edit]Soundtrack
Main article: The Matrix Revolutions: Music from the Motion Picture
In contrast to the movie's predecessors, very few "source" tracks are used in the movie. Aside from Don Davis' score, again collaborating with Juno Reactor, only one external track (byPale 3) is used.
Although Davis rarely focuses on strong melodies, familiar leitmotifs from earlier in the series reappear. For example, Neo and Trinity's love theme—which briefly surfaces in the two preceding movies—is finally fully expanded into "Trinity Definitely"; the theme from the Zion docks in Reloaded returns as "Men in Metal", and the energetic drumming from the Reloadedteahouse fight between Neo and Seraph opens "Tetsujin", as Seraph, Trinity and Morpheus fight off Club Hel's three doormen.
The climactic battle theme, named "Neodämmerung" (in reference to Wagner's Götterdämmerung), features a choir singing extracts (shlokas) from the Upanishads. The chorus can be roughly translated from Sanskrit as follows: "lead us from untruth to truth, lead us from darkness to light, lead us from death to immortality, peace peace peace" ^[1]. The extracts were brought to Davis by the Wachowski brothers when he informed them that it would be wasteful for such a large choir to be singing simple "ooh"s and "aah"s (according to the DVD commentary, Davis felt that the dramatic impact of the piece would be lost if the choir was to sing 'This is the one, see what he can do' in plain English). These extracts return

The Matrix Reloaded

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:09:25 +0100

The Matrix Reloaded

The Matrix Reloaded

Promotional film poster
Directed by Wachowski brothers
Produced by Joel Silver
Wachowski brothers
Written by Wachowski brothers
Starring Keanu Reeves
Laurence Fishburne
Carrie-Anne Moss
Hugo Weaving
Harold Perrineau
Randall Duk Kim
Jada Pinkett Smith
Helmut Bakaitis
Music by Don Davis
Cinematography Bill Pope
Editing by Zach Staenberg
Studio Village Roadshow Pictures
Silver Pictures
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s) May 15, 2003
Running time 138 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $150 million
Gross revenue $742,128,461^[1]
Preceded by The Matrix
Followed by The Matrix Revolutions
The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by theWachowski brothers. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. inNorth American theatres on May 15, 2003, and around the world during the latter half of that month. It was also screened out of competition at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.^[2] The video game Enter the Matrix, which was released May 15, and a collection of nine animated shorts, theAnimatrix, which was released on June 3, supported and expanded the storyline of the movie. The Matrix Revolutions, which completes the story, was released six months after Reloaded in November 2003.

Neo wakes from a nightmare in which Trinity is shot by an Agent of the Matrix while falling from a building. Morpheus receives a message from Captain Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) of the Logos calling an emergency meeting of all Zion's hovercraft. Zion has confirmed the last transmission of the Osiris: an army of Sentinels are tunneling towards Zion and will reach it in 72 hours. Commander Lock, the ranking military officer of Zion, orders all ships to return to Zion to prepare for the onslaught. Morpheus asks a ship to remain to contact the Oracle, in defiance of Commander Lock's orders. The Caduceus receives a message from the Oracle, and the Nebuchadnezzar ventures out so Neo can contact her. One of the Caduceus crew, Bane, encounters Agent Smith, who takes over Bane's avatar. Smith leaves the Matrix, taking over Bane's real body.[edit]Plot
In Zion's temple, Morpheus announces the news of the advancing machines to the people. Neo receives a message from the Oracle and returns to the Matrix, meeting her. Realizing the Oracle is part of the Matrix, Neo asks how he can trust her; she replies that it is his decision. The Oracle explains that she is an exiled program and instructs Neo to reach the Source of the Matrix by finding the Keymaker, a prisoner in the home of the Merovingian. The Keymaker makes keys that can open portals hidden within the Matrix. As the Oracle departs, Smith appears, telling Neo that after being defeated he knew he was supposed to return to the Source to be deleted, but refused and now is not bound to remove threats from the Matrix. He demonstrates his ability to clone himself using other people in the Matrix as hosts, prompting a fight between Neo and Smith's clones. Outnumbered, Neo flees.
Neo, Morpheus and Trinity visit the Merovingian and ask for the Keymaker, but the Merovingian refuses. His wife Persephone, tired of her husband's attitude, betrays him and leads the trio to the Keymaker, sending one of the Merovingian's henchmen to notify him of it. The Merovingian soon shows up and, while Morpheus, Trinity, and the Keymaker escape, Neo fights the Merovingian's men and ends up in an unknown mountain range. He then heads for town, where Morpheus and Trinity are trying to escape with the Keymaker on the highway, facing several Agents and The Twins. Ultimately, the Twins are destroyed, and Neo saves Morpheus and the Keymaker.
Zion's remaining ships prepare to battle the machines. Within the Matrix, the crews of the Nebuchadnezzar, Vigilant and Logos help the Keymaker and Neo reach the door to the Source. The crew of the Logos must destroy a power plant in order to prevent a security system from being triggered by the Keymaker's keys, and the crew of the Vigilant must destroy a back-up power station. The Vigilant is bombed by a Sentinel, killing everyone aboard. Though Neo requested that Trinity remain on the Nebuchadnezzar, she destroys the back-up station. Her escape is compromised by an Agent and they fight. As Neo, Morpheus and the Keymaker reach the Source through a hallway of shortcuts to other doors in the Matrix, the 'Smiths' appear and try to kill them. The Keymaker unlocks the door to the Source, allowing Neo and Morpheus to escape the 'Smiths', but the Keymaker is killed.
Neo meets an anthropomorphic program called the Architect, the Matrix's creator. The Architect tells Neo that there have been multiple versions of the Matrix and multiple versions of the One, a computer anomaly used as a means of control. Because humanity rejected the "perfect" Matrix as well as the dystopian Matrix, the machines realized that humanity needed to be offered the power of choice in order for them to accept it. The current Matrix is flawed and remains an unbalanced equation. The One is the sum of the remainder of that flaw. The One's purpose is to return to the Source, resetting the Matrix to its prime program. Afterwards, he will choose 16 females and 7 males to repopulate Zion and provide another round of humans for the "rebellion". Otherwise the unresolved error will spiral out of control, destroying the humans connected to the Matrix, which coupled with the battle at Zion will result in the extinction of the human race . Neo retorts that the machines need humans to survive and will not allow this; the Architect replies that, "there are levels of survival we are prepared to accept."
The Architect gives Neo a choice of two exits from the room: one door leads to the Source and the resetting of the Matrix, the other will lead to the Matrix's failure and humanity's destruction. Neo notices Trinity's battle with the Agent on the viewscreens and returns to the Matrix to save her. Neo's love for Trinity is revealed as a new variable in the repetition of the Matrix — while the previous Ones had no reason to choose humanity's destruction over accepting their function, Neo chooses to save Trinity at the cost of mankind's survival, despite the near certainty that she will die anyway after Zion's destruction.
Neo races to save Trinity, who is shot by an Agent as they fall from a building but caught by Neo before hitting the ground. Refusing to accept her death, Neo removes the bullet and revives her. On board the Nebuchadnezzar, Neo reveals that the prophecy is false and Zion will be destroyed in twenty-four hours. Sentinels destroy the ship, whereupon Neo saves his friends by using a previously unknown power to disable the Sentinels with an EMP-like shockwave, then falls unconscious. The crew is rescued by the hovercraft Mjolnir (also known as the Hammer), whose crew explains that they were leading a pre-emptive attack on the Sentinels advancing on Zion. The strategy was to use the ships' EMPs and stay out of each others' range; but an EMP was detonated by the Caduceus before the ships were in position. Multiple ships were left without power, with only a handful of survivors escaping, the Sentinels having destroyed any ship that could not escape. Once the machines returned to digging, the Mjolnir looked for survivors and found only one: the Smith-controlled Bane.
[edit]Cast
Keanu Reeves as Neo
Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus
Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
Hugo Weaving as Smith
Gloria Foster as The Oracle
Helmut Bakaitis as The Architect
Lambert Wilson as The Merovingian
Monica Bellucci as Persephone
Neil Rayment as Twin #1
Adrian Rayment as Twin #2
Daniel Bernhardt as Agent Johnson
Collin Chou as Seraph
Nona Gaye as Zee (Aaliyah was originally cast.)
Gina Torres as Cas
Anthony Zerbe as Councillor Hamann
Roy Jones, Jr. as Captain Ballard
David A. Kilde as Agent Jackson
Randall Duk Kim as The Keymaker
Harry J. Lennix as Commander Lock
Matt McColm as Agent Thompson
Harold Perrineau Jr. as Link
Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe
Cornel West as Councillor West
Steve Bastoni as Captain Soren
Bernard White as Rama-Kandra
Anthony Wong as Ghost
Ian Bliss as Bane
Zee was originally to be played by Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash on August 25, 2001, before filming was complete.
[edit]Production
The Matrix Reloaded was largely filmed at Fox Studios Australia in Australia, concurrently with filming of the sequel Revolutions. The freeway chase scene was filmed at the decommissioned Naval Air Station Alameda in Alameda, California. Producers constructed a 1.5-mile freeway on the old runways just for the movie. Portions of the chase were also filmed in Oakland, California, and the tunnel shown briefly is the Webster Tube connecting Oakland and Alameda. Some post-production editing was done in old aircraft hangars on the base as well.
The city of Akron was willing to give full access to Route 59, the stretch of freeway known as the "Innerbelt", for filming of the freeway chase when it was under consideration. However, producers decided against this as "the time to reset all the cars in their start position would take too long".^[3] MythBusters would later reuse the Alameda location in order to explore the effects of a head-on collision between two semi trucks, and to perform various other experiments.
97% of the materials from the sets of the movie were recycled after the production ended. For example, tons of wood were sent to Mexico to build low-income housing.

Ghost in the Shell

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:07:14 +0100

Ghost in the Shell (film)

Ghost in the Shell

Promotional film poster
Directed by Mamoru Oshii
Produced by Yoshimasa Mizuo
Ken Matsumoto
Ken Iyadomi
Mitsuhisa Ishikawa
Written by Screenplay:
Kazunori Itō
Original Story:
Masamune Shirow
Starring Atsuko Tanaka
Akio Ōtsuka
Iemasa Kayumi
Music by Kenji Kawai
Cinematography Hisao Shirai
Editing by Shūichi Kakesu
Shigeyuki Yamamori
Distributed by Shochiku (Japan)
Manga Entertainment (North America, Australia and UK)
Release date(s) Japan:
November 18, 1995
United Kingdom:
December 8, 1995
United States:
March 29, 1996
Running time 82 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese
Budget US$ 10 million
Followed by Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Ghost in the Shell (GHOST IN THE SHELL／攻殻機動隊 Gōsuto In Za Sheru/Kōkaku Kidōtai^?, lit. Ghost in the Shell/Mobile Armoured Riot Police) is a 1995 anime film directed by Mamoru Oshii; an adaptation of the manga Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow, produced byProduction I.G, and written by Kazunori Itō. A sequel, Innocence, was released in 2004.

[edit]Plot
The movie begins with Major Motoko Kusanagi spying on a meeting taking place in New Port City. The meeting is interrupted by a Section 6 enforcement team, at which point Motoko kills a foreign diplomat in the meeting who is attempting to transport an important programmer out of the country.
In the next scene, Section 9 chief Daisuke Aramaki is introduced conversing with an official about programmers who are attempting to gain political asylum. The story then moves into the main plotline when Aramaki describes one of the minister's interpreters having had her brain hacked into by the mysterious "Puppet Master".
The hacker turns out to be a garbageman who is going through a divorce and attempts to ghost-hack his wife using a program provided to him by an individual who met him in a bar. Batou and Ishikawa arrive at the latest access terminal moments after the hacking attempt from it ends, failing to catch any suspect but also realizing that the locations from which the hack is performed correlate to the garbage truck route. When the garbageman finds out that the police are looking for him, he attempts to warn the person who provided him with the ghosthacking software. Batou and Kusanagi catch up to the man, who attempts to flee using therm-optic camouflage. Eventually, the fugitive is incapacitated by Kusanagi.
It turns out that the man is not the actual Puppet Master but only a ghosthacked "puppet" of the criminal. The garbageman whom he aided in ghosthacking has also been ghosthacked - in reality he did not have a wife or daughter, and all memories of them he possesses are false.
One night, a female cybernetic body is suddenly assembled at Megatech without approval, and the cyborg escapes into the city where it is run over. Section 9 gets the body to try and determine why it was built. Batou relates a strange fact: the body has not even one brain cell as it is completely robotic, yet there are indications that there is a ghost within it. Kusanagi expresses a wish to 'dive in' to the body and contact the ghost.
As they are talking to the body, Togusa realizes that someone with therm-optic camouflage entered the building along with the officials. He alerts Kusanagi, and they realise that Section 6 is up to something. The persons who entered with therm-optic camouflage assaults the lab and snatches the ruined cyborg containing the Puppet Master. As they escape in their getaway car, Togusa shoots a tracking device from his revolver into its licence plate. Batou begins to follow them by car while Kusanagi follows by helicopter.
Ishikawa speaks with Aramaki after investigating further into Project 2501 - it turns out that the project was initiated before the Puppet Master showed up, even though it was claimed by some officials that the project was created in order to capture the Puppet Master. He hints that the Puppet Master was a tool of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do its dirty work. The escape of the Puppet Master would be a threat to Section 6 and the ministry would risk having secrets leaked out to the public.
Soon, the getaway car carrying the Puppet Master meets up with another and they split off in different directions. Batou follows the original car and Kusanagi chooses to follow the second one. With the help of a road block and additional police, Batou stops the car and discovers it is a decoy. He then rushes to support Kusanagi.
Kusanagi follows the car to an abandoned building. There, she runs into a spider tank guarding the Puppet Master. With her assault rifle useless, she spends most of the fight running. When the tank runs out of ammo, she tries to break its hatch open. However, she is unsuccessful and severely damages her cyborg body. The tank attempts to deliver the coup de grâce, but Batou shows up in the nick of time with heavy weaponry and puts the tank out of commission.
It turns out that the Puppet Master's body has survived the firefight, and Kusanagi decides to "dive in" and contact its ghost immediately, as she believes that Aramaki would just use it as a bargaining chip. As they connect, the Puppet Master and Kusanagi's ghosts contact each other and the Puppet Master introduces himself once again. It confirms that it is Project 2501, a Section 6 project that has hacked ghosts to serve various interests.
During its time collecting data and installing programs into various ghosts, it had become self-aware. It tells them that it had been looking for Kusanagi for a long time, knowing of her through the many networks that it had hacked into. It is a sentient being because it can recognize its own existence but lacks two experiences that are granted to all living organisms: reproduction and death. As a solution the Puppet Master finally expresses its wish to merge its ghost with Kusanagi's in order to give birth to a new single entity. Batou attempts to disconnect the dive, but The Puppet Master has also hacked him and prevents the disconnection.
Meanwhile, helicopters from Section 6 approach the abandoned building with orders to destroy the Puppet Master and Kusanagi to cover up the project. Batou sees red dots on both bodies, but the snipers are unable to shoot because their targeting systems have also been hacked by the Puppet Master.
Kusanagi and the Puppet Master continue to talk about the merge, with Kusanagi expressing concern over the fact that both of them will change and no longer retain their current identities. She wants a guarantee that she will retain her identity, but the Puppet Master argues that there is no reason to keep with it, because her desire to stay unchanging within a dynamic environment is ultimately what limits her. Kusanagi finally agrees to merge, and the Puppet Master releases Batou and the snipers' targeting systems from its control. The snipers fire and the Puppet Master's braincase is destroyed, but Batou manages to shield Kusanagi's with his arm. Their primary objective eliminated and Section 9 support on its way, Section 6 beats a hasty retreat.
Kusanagi wakes at Batou's safehouse - in a child-sized cyborg body. Batou enters and informs her of what transpired since her original body was destroyed (approximately twenty hours earlier): the Foreign Minister resigned as a result of the conspiracy, and Nakamura (Section 6 leader) is being questioned. Batou put her mind into a new child-sized body as it was the best he could get on short notice on the black market. Motoko decides to leave, and reveals that she is no longer Kusanagi nor is she the Puppet Master, but rather some combination of the two. The film concludes with the new Motoko/2501 entity gazing at the city and musing on what it should do next — "The net is vast and infinite."
[edit]Adaptation
The film adaptation presents the story's themes in a more serious, atmospheric and slow-paced manner than the manga. In addition, in order to condense the manga into 82 minutes of screen time, the movie excludes the subplots in order to focus exclusively on the "Puppet Master" plot.
Unlike the manga and the TV series, the producers have stated that the movie is set in Hong Kong, in the making-of Ghost in the Shell featurette. The writing depicted on the scenery is Chinese Hànzì characters, which are also used in written Japanese (kanji), but omits hiragana and katakana which are both exclusively used in written Japanese.
[edit]Reception

The movie was applauded as one of the first anime films to seamlessly blend computer and cell animation (after Macross Plus Movie Edition). It was one of the first anime features to cross over to non-anime fans in North America.[edit]North America
Ghost in the Shell made an impression on a number of filmmakers. Larry and Andy Wachowski, the creators of The Matrix and its sequels, showed it to producer Joel Silver, saying "we wanna do that for real."^[1] Director James Cameron has called it "the first truly adult animation film to reach a level of literary and visual excellence."
The film gained a little notoriety after The Tonight Show had host Conan O'Brien and sidekick Andy Richter visited Bang Zoom, a dubbing studio in Burbank, CA. The scene they have dubbed was the pre-shootout sequence, which O'Brien and Richter are ad-libbing nonsense about fishes and breasts, as they were depicted on the scene. However, the nudity and gore have been censored due to being shown to a network audience.
[edit]Soundtrack
Ghost in the Shell
Soundtrack by Kenji Kawai
Released 1995
Genre New Age, Ambient
Length 45:25
Producer Kenji Kawai
[edit]Track listing
"M01 Chant I - Making of Cyborg" – 4:31
"M02 Ghosthack" – 5:16
"EXM Puppetmaster" – 4:23
"M04 Virtual Crime" – 2:44
"M05 Chant II - Ghost City" – 3:37
"M06 Access" – 3:18
"M07 Nightstalker" – 1:47
"M08 Floating Museum" – 5:07
"M09 Ghostdive" – 5:55
"M10 Chant III - Reincarnation" – 5:47
"See You Everyday" (Bonus track) – 3:26
"See You Everyday" is different from the rest of the soundtrack, being a pop song sung in Cantonese by Fang Ka Wing. It can be faintly heard playing in the marketplace scene, when Batou is hunting the ghost-hacked puppet.
The song played at the end credits is "One Minute Warning" off the album "Original Soundtracks 1" by Passengers, a collaborative effort between Brian Eno and U2.
[edit]Choral song
According to the soundtrack's liner notes, the haunting choral song that plays throughout the film is a wedding song, sung to get rid of all evil influences that are about to follow. The lyrics of the song itself seems to reflect the union between Kusanagi and Project 2501 which takes place towards the end of the movie. Kenji Kawai originally wanted to use Bulgarian folk singers, but was unable to find any, so he relied on the Japanese folk song choir he used earlier in the Ranma 1/2 anime. The song uses an ancient form of the Japanese language mixed with Bulgarian harmony and traditional Japanese notes.
[edit]Ghost in the Shell 2.0
Not to be confused with Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Ghost in the Shell 2.0
Release date(s) July 12, 2008
October 2, 2009
Running time 85 minutes
Country Japan
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (GHOST IN THE SHELL／攻殻機動隊 2.0 Gōsuto In Za Sheru/Kōkaku Kidōtai 2.0^?) is a reproduced version of its original 1995 counterpart. It was produced in celebration for the release of The Sky Crawlers in 2008.^[2]^[3] For the films Version 2.0 release, all the original animations were re-produced with latest digital film and animation technologies, such as 3D-CGI. The original soundtrack was also re-organized and re-recorded.
Japanese music composer Kenji Kawai, who orchestrated the score for the original 1995 production, remixed the Version 2.0 soundtrack in6.1 Channel Surround. Academy Award Winner Randy Thom of Skywalker Sound reprised his role as Sound Designer, after previously working on Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, and whose credits also include work on Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.^[2]
To complement the new soundtrack, Japanese voice dialogue was also re-recorded, with some variation from the original script to make use of more recent colloquial phrases in modern speech. Notably, the original male voice actor for the character of the "Puppet Master", Iemasa Kayumi, has been replaced by the female voice actor Yoshiko Sakakibara (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence 's Harraway, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 's Prime Minister Yoko Kayabuki).^[2]
The North American release for the film was scheduled to be distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on the DVD and Blu-ray format. The Special Editio

The Matrix Online

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:05:24 +0100

The Matrix Online

The Matrix Online

Developer(s) Monolith Productions, Sony Online Entertainment (Final Developer)
Publisher(s) Warner Brothers, SEGA, Sony Online Entertainment (Final Publisher)
Engine Lithtech: Discovery
Platform(s) Windows
Release date(s) ^NA March 22, 2005
^PAL April 15, 2005
Genre(s) MMORPG
Mode(s) Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: Teen (T)
Media CD
download
The Matrix Online (also known as Matrix Online) was a massively multiplayer online game developed by Monolith Productions. It was the official continuation of the storyline of the Matrix series of films. The game began closed beta-testing in June 2004 which was then opened for people who pre-ordered the game in November 2004. Warner Bros. and Sega officially released MxO on March 22nd, 2005 in the United States. It was released in Europe on April 15th, 2005. The game ran continuously from then until it was ultimately shut down on July 31st, 2009 by Sony Online Entertainment.^[1]
Ubisoft backed out of an agreement to co-publish the game, not long after cancelling plans for another MMORPG. Ubisoft and Warner Bros. stated that this did not have a negative impact on their relationship. At the time, doubts about the game circled within the industry, based on the lacklustre reception of the later two Matrix films and an overcrowded MMORPG market.^[2]

The player assumes the role of a redpill, a human who was formerly trapped inside the Matrix. When creating a new character, the player is given the choice of taking a blue pill that will return them to their former life (quit the game) or a red pill, which will free their minds from the Matrix. Characters who are unaware of the fact that they are in the simulation are often referred to as "bluepills" because they have either taken the blue pill or have not been given the choice yet. People who are aware of the simulation (players) are referred to as "redpills" because they have taken the red pill (or, in very rare cases, when a character has self-substantiated out of the Matrix on their own). Following the choice between the two pills, the player is then taken through a basic tutorial of the game's mechanics, including mission interaction and the combat system. After the tutorial, they are then free to roam the Mega City (the large metropolis that the entire Matrix story is set in).[edit]Gameplay
[edit]Combat
Combat is divided into two separate parts: Free-fire and Interlock. Free-fire mode allows for large gun battles to take place, while Interlock is often broken down into bullet-time-affected martial arts moves and close-quarters gunfire.
There are three main classes in the Matrix Online: Coder, Hacker, and Operative. Coders create a special "simulacrum" that fights for them. Hackers manipulate the code of the Matrix to affect friends and enemies from a distance, either damaging them, downgrading their combat abilities, or healing them and upgrading their powers. Operatives are the common soldiers seen from the movies - Martial Artists, Gunmen, and the new Spy class, which revolves around stealth fighting and knife throwing. Clips never seem to run out of bullets and knife throwers also have an unlimited supply.
In free-fire mode, operatives exchange damage with each other. Gunmen and Hackers are well-equipped for this, with their ranged attacks and abilities. Martial Artists must get close to their targets to be effective, and although a Spy's most dangerous abilities are initiated out of Interlock, they also pull their opponents into Interlock. Each attack or ability is used at timed intervals, based on the system of damage per second (D.P.S.). For example, the strongest rifle in the Matrix does 15 damage points per second, and has a fire rate of 3.5 seconds, which, in free-fire, causes the rifle to have a base damage of 52.5, to be altered by the player's own stats. Opposed to such, a Hacker's stronger attack ability such as Logic Barrage 4.0 does 63 D.P.S., but with a short casting timer, does a base damage of only 120-180 damage.
In Interlock, or Close Combat, two players exchange damage in rounds. Each round lasts exactly four seconds. For each round, the two players' accuracies are pitted against each others' defenses, which are slightly affected by a random "luck" roll. There are three different outcomes to a round: hit-hit, hit-miss, or miss-miss. In hit-miss, one of the players will hit the other while dodging or blocking their attack. In miss-miss, both players will parry each other without doing damage. In hit-hit, one player will damage the other, only to be damaged themselves in a counter attack. When special abilities are used, however, there can be no hit-hit round, although the miss-miss round can still apply.
When taking or dealing damage, one player's damage influences are pitted against another player's resistance influences of the same damage type (i.e. a gunman's ballistic damage versus an opponent's ballistic resistance). Higher resistance versus lower damage means that the defending player will not take as much damage.
When attacking or defending against attacks, one player's accuracy influences are pitted against another's defense influences of the same attack type.
There is no turn-based combat in the Matrix Online. All combat takes place in "real time", and large scale battles are often decided by the sheer numbers of forces of one side versus others. Amassing a large number of players to control the battlefield is affectionately dubbed "zerging".
Currently, there is no way to effectively use player versus player combat scores as content, although content designed for PvP has been recently added, such as items that drop in the game world and can be picked up that grant powers to the player that lugs them around, hence they are called "luggables".
[edit]Classes
The Matrix Online has a unique class system. Players can load abilities they have either purchased or produced (by the Coder class, known ingame as coding) at Hardlines, provided they have enough memory and the abilities that precede the loading one. These abilities can then be switched out at a Hardline at a moment's notice. This leads to a very flexible class system, without players being stuck in one class.
The three main archetypes are Hacker, Coder, and Operative. They are similar to the classes Mage, Crafter, and Fighter in other MMORPGs. These classes then each branch out into sub-classes, with Coder, for example being divided into Programmer (out of battle item and ability maker) and Code Shaper (creates simulacrums to fight with, similarities to a necromancer/summoner in other MMOs).
To elaborate, the game currently has a total of 21 end-game classes with an additional two stubs.
[edit]Missions and organizations
After an initial set of introductory missions, players can join one of three organizations working in the Matrix, each with a different set of goals, beliefs and methods: Zion, the Machines, and the Merovingian.
In order to receive increasingly critical and sensitive missions, players are expected to run missions for their chosen organization, which will increase their standing with their chosen organization but will also lower it with the other two.
Zion:
Zion is the last remaining human city on Earth, hidden deep underground and is concerned chiefly with protecting its citizens from the Machines who see those who have "awakened" as a threat to those still connected to the Matrix. Those who choose to work for Zion usually enlist in the Zion Military and see this as the best way to protect the ideals of freedom.
Machines:
The main motivation for choosing to side with the Machines is that this organization is seen as the most conducive towards maintaining the status-quo of the Matrix and protecting the lives of those still connected to it, i.e., bluepills. However, there are also those who feel that the only way to improve relations between man and machine is to work with them as closely as possible and see joining this organization as the best way to do so.
Merovingian:
Those who work for the Merovingian are in a unique position in that they need not concern themselves with the traditional hostilities between Zion and the Machines, preferring instead to act only when the situation would prove advantageous for themselves or the organization as a whole. However, this organization has also been chosen by some players as it is the only one out of the three that fights to protect the Exiles who reside within the Matrix.
Sub-organizations:
Players cannot run missions for these organizations although in storyline terms they are now quite separate from their original "parent" organization, even receiving their own Live Events:
EPN - E Pluribus Neo (Zion as parent organization):
Members of EPN are devoted to what they deem "Neo's legacy". This mostly involves giving all human beings the opportunity to question the true nature of their "reality", the Matrix and to have the choice of the red or blue pill. Very much against the Machines, and Cypherites in particular, there are some more fundamentalist schools of thought within this organization who believe that the only solution to humanity's problems is to free the entire human population from the Matrix. They are led by The Kid with his old friend, Shimada - who also acts as their mission controller.
Cypherites (Machines as parent organization):
Usually seen as the more extreme element of the Machine organization, Cypherites follow in the footsteps of Cypher, wanting to be reinserted into the Matrix as bluepills so that they may be blissfully unaware of the true nature of the Matrix as a computer program. The name of their hovercraft, Blue Dreamer, reflects this philosophy. They are currently led by Cryptos and his second-in-command, the Zion traitor, Veil. During the time that Cryptos was revealed to be a Machine Program inhabiting a redpill's body, Veil assumed control of the organization.
It should be noted that as of Chapter 11.3, the Cypherites and EPN have effectively been withdrawn as a playable organization within the game. Existing factions that have been granted their respective "EPN/CYPH" tags in their faction name will continue to hold said tags, unless they disband or reform, but no new splinter org tags will be granted. In addition, no Live Events will occur for these organizations in the future.
[edit]The continuing story
Another of The Matrix Online's defining and differentiating aspects was its inclusion and emphasis on what was called "The Continuing Story". This is to say the game itself is the official continuation of the universe, story and characters established in The Matrix series of fictional works including the Movie Trilogy, the Animatrix short films, the "Enter The Matrix" video game and a series of officially written and produced Matrix comic books.
This continuation was written by the award winning comic book writer Paul Chadwick and later collaboratively with MxO lead game designer, Ben "Rarebit" Chamberlain. It was also confirmed as having seen verification and input from "Matrix" creators, The Wachowski Brothers, through the end of Chapter 9.
[edit]Progression of the storyline
The story progressed in real time, with a planned schedule in effect that included the following:
- Nine new critical missions (three for each of the game's three main organizations) every six weeks, released weekly as part of the game's patch cycle.
- A new hand-drawn cinematic every six weeks to coincide with the start of a new sub-chapter.
- Daily live events.
- Large-scale organizational meetings (one each month).
Chapter organization
The Matrix Online used a system of organization akin to that of software versioning to keep track of its chronological progression. Each "Critical" mission and development is given its own unique tag within this system.
For example: Chapter 1, sub-chapter 2, week 3 would be represented as 1.2.3
It has been stated by MxO developer Rarebit, that this numbering system was meant purely for chronological measuring and game design (for the various rewards associated with completing past critical missions in a system called The Mission Archive). The chapters and sub-chapters are not intended as self-contained units. Rather, they are each equally relevant to the unfolding of the story as a whole.
[edit]LESIG program
The LESIG (Live Event Special Interest Group) was originally devised under Monolith's operation of the game and was intended to function as nothing more than a feedback group, giving the developers a clearer understanding of how players were reacting to the large scale Live Events the team were producing.^[3]
However, when The Matrix Online transitioned to Sony Online Entertainment the program underwent a radical change in direction as part of similar changes to the other story telling devices, most importantly, the scale and frequency of live events following the departure of a dedicated Live Events Team.
The group were given the new task of playing minor supporting roles (known as organization liaison officers) during future live events^[4] or even more permanent characters to enhance interaction between players,^[5] essentially replacing the paid staff of the LET with volunteer players.
[edit]The story so far
Given the fact the storyline of the game continued in real time and the continuation had been in operation for a number of years, there was a vast amount of happenings for new players and fans of the franchise alike to catch up on. Despite there being an active gameplay mechanic for experiencing past story arcs (The Mission Archive System), a desire to read condensed written summaries was requested by multiple players.^[6] In response to this, Ben Chamberlain, then lead designer of The Matrix Online, made a post in August 2008 on the official forums quickly outlining and summarizing the game's storyline to date, both by chapter and sub-chapter. ^[7]
[edit]Server list
During the transition of the game from Monolith Productions to Sony Online Entertainment in August 2005, 9 of the existing servers were merged into 3.
Syntax; was a non hostile server, composed of players from the original Linenoise, Proxy, and Output servers. Unofficial RP server.
Recursion; was a non hostile server, composed of players from the original Method, Regression, and Iterator servers.
Vector; was the only Hostile server. Unlike the other servers where PVP is optional, players were permanently flagged for PVP (player vs player) from the level of 16 and upwards. Vector was composed of players from the original Enumerator, Heuristic, and Input servers.
[edit]Closing
Sony unexpectedly decided to discontinue service to the Matrix Online due to low sales in June 2009. Sony shut down the servers on July 31st.
Since SOE's decision to shut down the Matrix Online, a group of people have banded together to recreate the MxO, with the new name MxOEMU (meaning Matrix Online Emulator). As of now, there is no release date.
[edit]Final Event
A grand finale was planned where all online players were to be crushed, but due to a server glitch, most players were disconnected before the final blow came. What had been envisioned as a last hurrah transpired as a gruesome slide show. High pings and low framerates caused by the developers giving out advanced powers (with graphically demanding effects) and abilities to all players, coupled with the flooded chat interface, meant many players were unable to experience the final event as intended. Because developer level powers had been given to all remaining players, the situation on PvP servers (Vector in particular) meant that players could kill each other with a single hit.^[8]

Bullet Time

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:02:46 +0100

Bullet Time

Bullet Time refers to a digitally enhanced simulation of variable speed (i.e. slow motion, time-lapse…) photography used in films, broadcast advertisements and video games. It is characterized both by its extreme transformation of time (slow enough to show normally imperceptible and un-filmable events, such as flying bullets) and space (by way of the ability of thecamera angle—the audience's point-of-view—to move around the scene at a normal speed while events are slowed). The first movie to use the Bullet Time technique was Blade in 1998, where bullets were computer-generated and digitally implemented. However, the actual term Bullet Time is a registered trademark of Warner Bros., the distributor of The Matrix.^[1] It was formerly a trademark of 3D Realms, producer of the Max Payne games.^{[citation needed]}
This is almost impossible with conventional slow-motion, as the physical camera would have to move impossibly fast; the concept implies that only a "virtual camera," often illustrated within the confines of a computer-generated environment such as a game or virtual reality, would be capable of "filming" bullet-time types of moments. Technical and historical variations of this effect have been referred to as time slicing, view morphing, slow-mo, temps mort and virtual cinematography.

The Bullet Time effect was originally achieved photographically by a set of still cameras surrounding the subject. These arrays are usually triggered at once or sequentially. Singular frames taken from each of the still cameras are then arranged and displayed consecutively to produce an orbiting viewpoint of an action frozen in time or as hyper-slow-motion. This technique suggests the limitless perspectives and variable frame rates possible with a virtual camera. However, if the still array process is done with real cameras, it is often limited to assigned paths.[edit]Technology
For many years, it has been possible to use computer vision techniques to capture scenes and render images of novel viewpoints sufficient for Bullet Time type effects. More recently, these have been formalized into what is becoming known as free viewpoint television (FTV). At the time of The Matrix, FTV was not a fully mature technology. FTV is effectively the live action version of Bullet Time, without the slow motion.
In The Matrix, the camera path was pre-designed using computer-generated visualizations as a guide. Cameras were arranged, behind a green or blue screen, on a track and aligned through a laser targeting system, forming a complex curve through space. The cameras were then triggered at extremely close intervals, so the action continued to unfold, in extreme slow-motion, while the viewpoint moved. Additionally, the individual frames were scanned for computer processing. Using sophisticated interpolation software, extra frames could be inserted to slow down the action further and improve the fluidity of the movement (especially the frame rate of the images); frames could also be dropped to speed up the action. This approach provides greater flexibility than a purely photographic one. The same effect can also be produced using pure CGI, motion capture and universal capture. It is thought that the opening sequence from the late 1960s Speed Racer cartoons partially inspired the Wachowski Brothers to incorporate the Bullet Time effect into The Matrix.
[edit]History
Muybridge horse photos
Antecedents to Bullet Time occurred before the invention of cinema itself. Eadweard Muybridge used still cameras placed along a racetrack to take pictures of a galloping horse. Each camera was actuated by a taut string stretched across the track; as the horse galloped past, the camera shutters snapped, taking one frame at a time. (The original intent was to settle a debate the governor of California had engaged in, as to whether all four of the animal's legs would leave the ground when galloping.) Muybridge later assembled the pictures into a rudimentaryanimation, by placing them on a glass disk which he spun in front of a light source. His zoopraxiscope may have been an inspiration for Thomas Edison to explore the idea of motion pictures. (Hendricks 1961)
Muybridge also took photos of actions from many angles at the same instant in time, to study how the human body went up stairs, for example. This is the effect used in The Matrix, and other movies, and is achieved roughly the same way as Muybridge set up his shots. In effect, however, Muybridge had achieved the aesthetic opposite to The Matrix's bullet-time sequences, since his studies lacked the dimensionality of the later developments. A debt may also be owed to MIT professor Doc Edgerton, who, in the 1940s, captured now-iconic photos of bullets using xenon strobe lights to "freeze" motion.^[2]
Long before the emergence of a technology permitting a live-action application, bullet-time as a concept was frequently developed in cel animation. One of the earliest examples is the shot at the end of the title sequence for the late-sixties Japanese anime series Speed Racer: as Speed leaps from the Mach Five, he freezes in mid-jump, and then the camera does an arc shot from front to sideways.
In 1980 Tim Macmillan started producing pioneering video work^[3] in this field while studying for a BA at the (then named) Bath Academy of Artusing 16mm film arranged in a progressing sequence of pinhole cameras.
The first music video to use bullet-time was "Midnight Mover", a 1985 Accept video ^[4] Bullet time became popularized when John Gaeta and team expanded it temporally and into the digital arena through the incorporation of frame interpolation and image based CGI within the film The Matrix (1999) and through view-morphing techniques pioneered by BUF Compagnie in music videos by Michel Gondry and commercials for, among others, The Gap. Gaeta said of The Matrix's use of the effect:
"For artistic inspiration for bullet time, I would credit Otomo Katsuhiro, who co-wrote and directed Akira, which definitely blew me away, along with director Michel Gondry. His music videos experimented with a different type of technique called view-morphing and it was just part of the beginning of uncovering the creative approaches toward using still cameras for special effects. Our technique was significantly different because we built it to move around objects that were themselves in motion, and we were also able to create slow-motion events that 'virtual cameras' could move around – rather than the static action in Gondry's music videos with limited camera moves."^[5]
In popular film culture, Blade was the first film to illustrate super human reflexes dodging bullets in a scene in a park when the character of Blade fires at Stephen Dorf's character, Deacon Frost. Computer generated bullets are also used to illustrate the concept and slow motion camera work.
John Woo is also famous for incorporating slow motion shoot outs in his movies, such as A Better Tomorrow and Hard Boiled. These films would later influence media such as Max Payneand The Matrix series.
In 2003, Bullet Time evolved further through The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions with the introduction of high-definition computer-generated approaches like virtual cinematography and universal capture. Virtual elements within the Matrix Trilogy utilized state-of-the-art image-based computer rendering techniques pioneered in Paul Debevec's 1997 film^[6] and custom evolved for the Matrix by George Borshukov, an early collaborator of Debevec.
[edit]Other applications of the concept
Other early applications of the concept:
Requiem: Avenging Angel (Video Game), 1999. "Warp Time" power.
Zotz, 1962. Rooftop fight including "slow-motion" dodging of a pistol bullet.^[7]
Speed Racer, 1967-1968. Opening sequence.
The Return of the Pink Panther, 1975. Inspector Clouseau practices kung-fu with Cato in slow motion.
Trancers, also known as Future Cop, 1984. This film features two slow motion scenes involving Jack Deth's actions. One of them involves him saving Helen Hunt's character from being shot.
Videoclip for Accept "Midnight Mover", 1985.
Videoclip for Suede "The Wild Ones", 1994. Dir. Howard Greenhalgh.^[8]^[9]
Videoclip for Bjork "Army of Me", 1995. Dir. Michel Gondry.
^[10]
Videoclip for The Rolling Stones "Like a Rolling Stone", 1995. Dir. Michel Gondry.^[11]
Videoclip for Sting "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot", 1996. Dir. Emmanual Carlier.^[12]
Videoclip for Smoke City "Underwater Love", 1996. Dir. Tim MacMillan ^[13]
"Little Bitty" Alan Jackson video 1996.
Videoclip for Coolio "C U When U Get There", 1996.
Video for Meat Beat Manifesto's "Helter Skelter '97", 1997, directed by Ben Stokes
"Landscape", 1997. This short computer animation by Tamás Waliczky won a prize at the 1998 Prix Ars Electronica cyberarts competition.
Videoclip for Van Halen "Without You", 1998
Videoclip for Garbage "Push it", 1998
The movie Buffalo '66 (1998).
The movie Lost in Space (1998) features a scene similar to bullet-time: When ship enters hyperspace, all the action freezes, but the point of view moves slightly in an arc.
The episode "Wink of an Eye" of the original Star Trek television series is entirely based on bullet-time: The villains exist exclusively in hyperspeed and attempt to utilize it to take over the starship USS Enterprise and her crew.
The music video for the song "Guilty Conscience" (from The Slim Shady LP) features Dr. Dre and
Keanu Charles Reeves (pronounced /keɪˈɑːnuː/ [kay-AH-noo, often mispronounced as kee-AH-noo]; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian-American actor, best known for his portrayals of a spaced-out metalhead in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (which went on to become a cult classic) and in two action movie projects that were both financial and critical successes: the "ticking time bomb" thriller Speed and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix. He has worked under major directors, such as with Stephen Frears (in the 1988 period dramaDangerous Liaisons); Gus Van Sant (in the gritty 1991 independent film My Own Private Idaho (also written by Van Sant)); and Bernardo Bertolucci (in the 1993 film Little Buddha). His role as a rookie FBI agent in the 1991 surf drama Point Break (opposite Patrick Swayze) was praised by The New York Times critic Janet Maslin, who stated that Reeves "...displays considerable discipline and range."^[1]
In addition to his film roles, Reeves has also performed in theater. His performance in the title role in a Manitoba Theatre Centre production ofHamlet was praised by Roger Lewis, the Sunday Times, who called Reeves "...one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he is Hamlet." On January 31, 2005, Reeves received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In an ET online survey in 2006, he was included in the "Top Ten of America's Favorite Stars".

Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of Patricia Bond (née Taylor), a costume designer/performer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Jr., ageologist.^[2] Reeves's mother is English, and his father is an American of Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese and English descent.^[3] Reeves's mother was working in Beirut when she met his father. Reeves' father worked as an unskilled laborer and earned his GED while imprisoned in Hawaii for selling heroin at Hilo International Airport.^[4] He abandoned his wife and family when Reeves was three years old, and Reeves does not currently have any relationship with him.^[4] Reeves is named after his uncle, Henry Keanu Reeves. "Keanu" in Hawaiian means the coldness. When Reeves first arrived in Hollywood, his agent thought his first name was too exotic, so during the early days of his film career he was sometimes credited as K.C. Reeves. Reeves has one biological sister named Kim (born 1966 in Australia) who was diagnosed with leukemia in the early 1990s. Additionally, through his mother he has a half-sister named Karina Miller (born 1976 in Toronto) and through his father another half-sister named Emma Rose Reeves (born 1980 in Hawaii).Early life
Reeves moved around the world frequently as a child and he lived with various stepfathers. After his parents divorced in 1966, his mother became a costume designer and moved the family to Australia and then to New York City. There she met and married Paul Aaron, a Broadway and Hollywood director. The couple moved to Toronto but divorced in 1971. Reeves's mother married Robert Miller, a rock promoter, in 1976, but the couple divorced in 1980. She subsequently married her fourth husband, Jack Bond, a hairdresser, a marriage that broke up in 1994. Grandparents and nannies babysat Reeves and his sisters, and Reeves grew up primarily in Toronto. Within a span of five years, he attended four different high schools, including theEtobicoke School of the Arts, from which he was later expelled. Reeves has stated that he was expelled "...because I was greasy and running around a lot. I was just a little too rambunctious and shot my mouth off once too often. I was not generally the most well-oiled machine in the school. I was just getting in their way, I guess."
Reeves excelled more in hockey than in academics, as his educational development was challenged by dyslexia. He was a successful goalie at one of his high schools (De La Salle College "Oaklands"). His team nicknamed him "The Wall," and voted him MVP. While Reeves dreamed of becoming an Olympic hockey player for Canada , an injury ended his hopes for a hockey career. After leaving De La Salle College, he attended a free school (Avondale Alternative), which allowed him to obtain an education while working as an actor; he later dropped out, never obtaining his high school diploma.
Career
1980s
Reeves began his acting career at the age of nine, appearing in a theater production of Damn Yankees. At 15, he played Mercutio in a stage production of Romeo and Juliet at the Leah Posluns Theatre. Reeves made his screen acting debut in a CBC Television comedy series entitled Hangin' In. Throughout the early 1980s, he appeared in commercials (including one forCoca-Cola), short films including the NFB drama One Step Away^[5] and stage work such as Brad Fraser's cult hit Wolf Boy in Toronto. In 1984, he was a correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation TV youth program Going Great.^[6]
Reeves' first studio movie appearance was in the Rob Lowe ice hockey film Youngblood, in which he played a Québécois goalie. Shortly after the movie's release, Reeves drove to Los Angeles in his 1969 Volvo. His ex-stepfather Paul Aaron, a stage and television director, had convinced Erwin Stoff to be Reeves' manager and agent before he even arrived in Los Angeles. Stoff has remained Reeves' manager, and has coproduced many of his films. After a few minor roles, Reeves received a more sizable role in the 1986 drama film River's Edge, which depicted how a murder affected a group of teens. Following this film's critical success, he spent the late 1980s appearing in a number of movies aimed at teenage audiences, includingPermanent Record, and the unexpectedly successful 1989 comedy, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, which, along with its 1991 sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, typecast Reeves as a space-out teen. Much of his portrayal in the press and much of the response to his acting in the early 1990s has still referenced his portrayal of the airheaded Ted.
1990s
During the early 1990s, Reeves started to break out of his teen-film period. He appeared in high-budget action films like Point Break, for which he won MTV's "Most Desirable Male" award in 1992. He was also involved in various lower-budget independent films, including the well-received 1991 film, My Own Private Idaho with his close friend, the late River Phoenix. In 1994, Reeves' career reached a new high as a result of his starring role in the action film Speed. His casting in the film was controversial since, except for Point Break, he was primarily known for comedies and indie dramas. He had never been the sole headliner on a film. The summer action film had a fairly large budget and was helmed by novice cinematographer-turned-directorJan de Bont. The unexpected international success of the film made Reeves and co-star Sandra Bullock into A-List stars.
Reeves' career choices after Speed were eclectic: despite his successes, Reeves continued to accept supporting roles and appear in experimental films. He scored a hit with a romantic lead role in A Walk in the Clouds. He made news by refusing to take part in Speed 2: Cruise Control and choosing to play the title role in a 1995 Manitoba Theatre Centre production ofHamlet in Winnipeg, Manitoba.^[7] Reeves got surprisingly good reviews for his interpretation of one of Shakespeare's most famous characters. Roger Lewis, the Sunday Times critic, wrote, "He quite embodied the innocence, the splendid fury, the animal grace of the leaps and bounds, the emotional violence, that form the Prince of Denmark...He is one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he * is* Hamlet." ^[8]
Reeves promoting The Day the Earth Stood Still in Mexico in 2008.
Reeves' other choices after A Walk in the Clouds, however, failed with critics and audiences. Big-budget films such as the sci-fi action film Johnny Mnemonicand the action-thriller Chain Reaction were critically panned and failed at the box office, while indie films like Feeling Minnesota were also critical failures. Reeves started to climb out of his career low after starring in the horror/drama The Devil's Advocate alongside Al Pacino and Charlize Theron. Reeves deferred his salary for The Devil's Advocate so that Pacino would be cast, as he would do later for the less successful The Replacements, guaranteeing the casting ofGene Hackman. The Devil's Advocate did well at the box office, received good reviews, and proved that Reeves could play a grown-up with a career, although many critics felt that his poor performance detracted from an otherwise enjoyable movie.^{[citation needed]} The 1999 science fiction-action hit The Matrix, a film in which Reeves had a starring role, was a box office success and attracted positive reviews.
2000s
In between the first Matrix film and its sequels, Reeves received positive reviews for his portrayal of an abusive husband in The Gift. Aside from The Gift, Reeves appeared in several films that received mostly negative reviews and unimpressive box office grosses, including The Watcher, Sweet November andThe Replacements. However, the two Matrix sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, Something's Gotta Give, and the 2005 horror-action film, Constantine, proved to be box office successes and brought Reeves back into the public spotlight. His appearance in the 2006 film, A Scanner Darkly, based on the dystopian science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick, received favorable reviews, and The Lake House, his romantic outing with Sandra Bullock, did not do well at the box office.^{[citation needed]}
Reeves played the main character in two 2008 films, Street Kings and The Day the Earth Stood Still. In February 2009 The Private Life of Pippa Lee -where Reeves starred alongside Robin Wright Penn, Julianne Moore, Alan Arkin, Winona Ryder, Maria Bello, Monica Bellucci, Zoe Kazan, Ryan McDonald, Blake Lively, Robin Weigert-, was presented at Berlinale.
2010s
Reeves started filming the surrealist romantic comedy Henry's Crime in December 2009, with filming set to wrap in early 2010. After this he will be starting work as producer and star on the science-fiction space drama Passengers, written by Jon Spaihts.^[9]
In January 2009, it was revealed that Reeves will star in the live-action film adaptation of the anime series Cowboy Bebop,^[10]^[11] slated for release in 2011. Other upcoming projects include the samurai film
The Matrix

The Matrix is a 1999 American science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski; starring Keanu Reeves,Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving. It was first released in the U.S. on March 31, 1999, and is the first installment in The Matrix series of films, comic books, video games, and animation.
The film describes a future in which reality as perceived by humans is actually the Matrix: a simulated reality created by sentient machines to pacify and subdue the human population, while their bodies' heat and electrical activity are used as an energy source. Upon learning this, computer programmer "Neo" is drawn into a rebellion against the machines, involving other people who have been freed from the "dream world" and into reality. The film contains many references to the cyberpunk and hacker subcultures; philosophical and religious ideas; and homages to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Hong Kong action cinema, Spaghetti Westerns, dystopian fiction, and Japanese animation.

Computer programmer Thomas A. Anderson leads a secret life as a hacker under the alias "Neo" and wishes to learn the answer to the "What is the Matrix?" cryptic messages appearing on his computer monitor. His encounters with three sinister agents lead him to a group led by the mysterious underground hacker Morpheus (named after the Greek god of dreams), a man who offers him the chance to learn the truth about the Matrix: swallow a red pill and learn the truth or swallow a blue pill and return to the world as he knows it. Neo accepts by swallowing the offered red pill, and he subsequently finds himself in a liquid-filled pod, his body connected by wires and tubes to a vast mechanical tower covered with identical pods. The connections are severed, and he is rescued by Morpheus and taken aboard his hovercraft, theNebuchadnezzar. Neo's neglected physical body is restored, and Morpheus explains the situation.[edit]Plot
Morpheus informs Neo that the year is not 1999, but estimated to be closer to 2199, and that humanity is fighting a war against artificial intelligence. created in the early 21st century. The sky is covered by thick black clouds created by the humans in an attempt to cut off the machines' supply of solar power. The machines responded by using human beings as their energy source in conjunction with nuclear fusion, later growing countless people in pods and harvesting their bioelectrical energy and body heat. The world which Neo has inhabited since birth is the Matrix, an illusory simulated reality construct of the world as it was in 1999 developed by the machines to keep the human population docile in their captivity. Morpheus and his crew are a group of free humans who "unplug" others from the Matrix and recruit them to their resistance against the machines. Within the Matrix, they are able to use their understanding of its nature to bend the laws of physics within the simulation, giving them superhuman abilities. Morpheus believes that Neo is "the One", a man prophesied to end the war through his limitless control over the Matrix.
Neo is trained to become a member of the group. A socket in the back of Neo's skull, formerly used to connect him to the Matrix, allows knowledge to be uploaded directly into his mind. In this way, he learns numerous martial arts disciplines, and demonstrates his kung fu skills by sparring with Morpheus in a virtual reality "construct" environment similar to the Matrix, impressing the crew with his speed. Further training introduces Neo to the key dangers in the Matrix itself. Injuries suffered there are reflected in the real world; if he is killed in the Matrix, his physical body will also die. He is warned of the presence of Agents, fast and powerful sentient computer programs with the ability to take over the virtual body of anyone still directly connected to the Matrix, whose purpose is to seek out and eliminate any threats to the simulation. Morpheus is confident that once Neo fully understands his own abilities as "the One", they will be no match for him.
The group enters the Matrix and takes Neo to meet the Oracle, the woman who has predicted the eventual emergence of the One. She tells Neo that he has "the gift" of manipulating the Matrix, but that he is waiting for something, possibly his next life. From her comments, Neo deduces that he is not the One. She adds that Morpheus believes in Neo so blindly that he will sacrifice his life to save him.
Returning to the hacked telephone line which serves as a safe "exit" from the Matrix, the group is ambushed by Agents and SWAT teams. Morpheus allows himself to be captured so that Neo and the others can escape. They later learn that they were betrayed by the crew-member Cypher, who preferred his old life of ignorance over the real world's hardships and therefore made a deal with the Agents to give them Morpheus in exchange for a permanent return to the Matrix. Cypher is defeated but not before his betrayal leads to the deaths of all crew-members except Neo, Trinity, Tank, and Morpheus, who is imprisoned in a government building within the Matrix. The Agents attempt to gain information from him regarding access codes to the mainframe of Zion, the unplugged humans’ subterranean refuge in the real world. Neo and Trinity return to the Matrix and storm the building to rescue their leader. Neo becomes more confident and familiar with manipulating the Matrix, ultimately dodging bullets fired at him by an Agent. Morpheus and Trinity use a subway station telephone to exit the Matrix, but before Neo can leave, he is ambushed by Agent Smith. He stands his ground and circumstantially defeats Smith (despite the Agent having the upper hand), when he causes Smith to be run over by a train, but flees when the Agent possesses another body.
As Neo runs through the city toward another telephone exit, he is pursued by the Agents while "Sentinel" machines converge on the Nebuchadnezzar's position in the real world. Neo reaches an exit, but he is ambushed by Agent Smith and shot dead. In the real world, Trinity whispers to Neo that she was told by the Oracle that she would fall in love with "the One", implying that this is Neo. She refuses to accept his death and kisses him. Neo's heart beats again, and within the Matrix, Neo revives; the Agents shoot at him, but he raises his palm and stops their bullets in mid-air. Neo is able to perceive the Matrix as the streaming lines of green code it really is. Agent Smith makes a final attempt to kill him, but his punches are effortlessly blocked, and Neo destroys him. The other two Agents flee, and Neo returns to the real world in time for the ship's EMP weapon to destroy the Sentinels that had already breached the craft's hull. A short epilogue shows Neo back in the Matrix, making a telephone call promising that he will demonstrate to the people imprisoned in the Matrix that "anything is possible". He hangs up the phone and flies into the sky.
[edit]Cast and characters
Keanu Reeves as Thomas A. Anderson/Neo: A computer programmer who moonlights as the hacker Neo, later to realize he is the One when trying to rescue Morpheus from the Agents.
Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus: A human freed from the Matrix, captain of the Nebuchadnezzar. He finds Neo and teaches him the truth.
Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity: Freed by Morpheus, crewman of the Nebuchadnezzar and Neo's romantic interest.
Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith: A sentient "Agent" program of the Matrix whose purpose is to destroy Zion and stop humans from getting out of the Matrix. Unlike other agents, he has ambitions to free himself from his duties.
Joe Pantoliano as Cypher: Another human freed by Morpheus, who betrays Morpheus to the Agents to ensure his return to the Matrix.
Julian Arahanga as Apoc: A freed human and crew member on the Nebuchadnezzar.
Anthony Ray Parker as Dozer: A "natural" human born outside of the Matrix, and pilot of the Nebuchadnezzar.
Marcus Chong as Tank: the "operator" of the Nebuchadnezzar, he is Dozer's brother, and like him was born outside of the Matrix.
Matt Doran as Mouse: A freed human and programmer on the Nebuchadnezzar.
Gloria Foster as the Oracle: Exiled sentient computer program who still resides in the Matrix, helping the freed humans with her foresight and wisdom.
Belinda McClory as Switch: A human freed by Morpheus and crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar.
Paul Goddard as Agent Brown: One of two sentient "Agent" programs in the Matrix who work with Agent Smith to destroy Zion and stop humans escaping the system.
Robert Taylor as Agent Jones: Second sentient "Agent" program working with Agent Smith.
[edit]Production
The Matrix was a co-production of Warner Brothers and Australian Village Roadshow Pictures, and all but a few scenes were filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, and in the city itself. Recognizable landmarks were not included in order to maintain the setting of a generic American city. ^[1] Nevertheless, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, ANZAC Bridge, AWA Tower,Martin Place and a Commonwealth Bank branch are visible in some shots, as is signage on buildings for the Sydney offices of Telstra and IBM Corporation among others. Other clues to the filming location include left-hand traffic flow and signs featuring Australian English terminology and spellings such as "lift" and "authorised" (rather than the American English "elevator" and "authorized").
Subtle nods were included to Chicago, Illinois, the home city of the directors, through a subtly placed picture of the Chicago skyline, city maps, the destination of the subway train during the subway station fight between Neo and Agent Smith saying "Loop" and place names like the Adams Street Bridge, Wells and Lake, Franklin and Erie, State and Balbo, and Wabash and Lake.
The rooftop set that Trinity uses to escape from Agent Jones early in the film was leftover from the production of Dark City, which has been remarked upon due to the thematic similarities of the films.^[2] According to The Art of the Matrix, at least one filmed scene and a variety of short pieces of action were omitted from the final cut, and have (to date) not been published.
The Wachowski Brothers were keen that all involved understood the thematic background of the movie.^{[citation needed]} For example, the book used to conceal disks early in the movie,Simulacra and Simulation, a 1981 work by the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard, was required reading for most of the principal cast and crew.
Comic book artists Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce worked on The Matrix as concept and storyboard artists respectively.
[edit]Casting
Actor Will Smith turned down the role of Neo to make Wild Wild West, due to skepticism over the film's ambitious bullet time special effects.^[3] He later stated that he was "not mature enough as an actor" at that time,^[3] and that if given the role, he "would have messed it up".^[4]^[5] Nicolas Cage also turned down the role because of "family obligations".^[6] Prior to the casting of Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock turned down the role of Trinity because she didn't see herself working with the actor then being considered to play Neo.^[7] Sean Connery also respectfully declined the role of Morpheus.^{[citation needed]}
[edit]Production design
See also: Matrix digital rain
In the film, the code that comprises the Matrix itself is frequently represented as downward-flowing green characters. This code includes mirror images of half-width kana characters and Western Latin letters and numerals. In one scene, the pattern of trickling rain on a window being cleaned resembles this code. Generally, the