The Matrix

The Matrix (1999)

Timing: 2:16 (136 min)

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8.499/10
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All about film

Video 40

Photo 277

Actors and characters

Release date

1999-03-31

Country

United States

Production

Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures, Groucho II Film Partnership

Genre

Action, Science Fiction

Budget

$63 000 000

Revenue

$463 517 383

Website

http://www.warnerbros.com/matrix

Director

Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

Actors

Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Gloria Foster, Joe Pantoliano, Marcus Chong, Julian Arahanga, Matt Doran, Belinda McClory
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

Producer

Joel Silver, Barrie M. Osborne, Bruce Berman, Erwin Stoff, Andrew Mason, Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

Operator

Bill Pope

Composer

Don Davis

Artist

Jules Cook, Fiona Scott, Tony Williams

Audition

Mali Finn, Shauna Wolifson

Editing

Zach Staenberg
All team (166)

• Ewan McGregor, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Tom Cruise auditioned for the role of Neo. Will Smith was also a strong contender, but he chose to star in the unsuccessful "Wild Wild West" (1999). Val Kilmer also vied for the role of Morpheus.
• The directors, Lana and Lilly Wachowski, originally intended for French actor Jean Reno to play Agent Smith. However, he preferred to work on another Hollywood blockbuster – "Godzilla".
• During filming, actress Carrie-Anne Moss broke her leg but decided not to inform the crew, fearing she would lose the iconic role in her career.
• Prior to filming, the lead actors studied the basics of martial arts. This training lasted from October 1997 to March 1998. The actors did not expect such a heavy workload and were fully confident that a few weeks would be enough to acquire practical skills.
• As soon as the film was released and amazed audiences with its bullet-time effect, many people claimed to have been the first to bring this invention to the big screen. French director Michel Gondry used the effect in a commercial for an insurance company, and shortly after, in a music video for pop star Björk. Architect Matthew Bannister described the problem in detail in his scientific work, suggesting that motion and time in a frame could run in parallel or separately. However, at that time, the equipment did not allow for this experiment to be conducted. Finally, artist Tim McMillan demonstrated the technique on a British television channel in 1993. Perhaps each of them invented the effect independently, or perhaps someone borrowed ideas from others. Either way, for most people, Lana and Lilly Wachowski will remain the revolutionaries.
• The film contains numerous allusions to Lewis Carroll's fairy tales, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass." The movie also features many references to Marx, Kafka, Zen Buddhism, and Homer's "Odyssey."
• Amusing anagrams (rearranging the letters in phrases yields a new phrase) can be found in the film's soundtrack. The compositions playing during the training duel between Neo and Morpheus, titled "Bow Whisk Orchestra" and "Switch or Break Show," are anagrams of "Wachowski Brothers" (the Wachowskis – formerly brothers – are the film's directors). The film also features the following compositions: "Exit Mr. Hat" and "Threat Mix." Both of these tracks are anagrams of the film's title – "The Matrix." Furthermore, after Neo begins to be called The One, an anagram can also be observed here – Neo ~ One.
• Trinity’s room number is 303, and the room number of "The One" is 101.
• For the second time in his acting career, Laurence Fishburne had the opportunity to play a ship's captain. In 1997, in the film "Event Horizon," he played Captain Miller.
• Shortly before filming began, Keanu Reeves seriously injured his cervical vertebrae. During 4 months of preparatory training, he was forced to wear a neck brace.
• By mid-2002 (3 years after the release of The Matrix), the “bullet time” effect had been used in 20 different films.
• Initially, the scene in which Neo dodges bullets fired by the Agents was intended to be filmed using traditional methods, with mannequins and various technical devices. However, after several kilometers of film were used and many mannequins were destroyed, the decision was made to use computer graphics. A new computer program was specially developed for this purpose, and after the film's release, it became the object of desire for many directors of high-budget films.
• A keen-eyed viewer will notice the date on one of the monitors at the very beginning of the film – February 18, 1998. Closer to the end of the film, a different date appears on the screen – September 18, 1999. Therefore, the events described in the film take place over 19 months.
• At the end of the film, Keanu Reeves' character delivers a final monologue. Notably, throughout his acting career, Keanu had never before delivered more than 5 consecutive sentences.
• The entire film was shot in Australia. However, it turned out during the filming process that Australia practically lacks locations resembling American ghettos. As a result, all the sets had to be built on location.
• Filming the fight scene between Neo and Agent Smith in the subway took longer than expected. No one on the crew anticipated that this episode would take so much time. Hundreds of failed takes, and ultimately, filming this battle took 10 days longer than planned.
• The charismatic sunglasses worn by the main characters were kindly provided by the Blinde brand. Three sunglasses manufacturers participated in the tender. Surprisingly, the tender was lost to such market giants as Ray-Ban and Arnette. Upon learning the results of the tender, the founder of Blinde, Richard Walker, immediately flew to Australia to select sunglasses for each actor with the costume designers.
• Keanu Reeves invested $38 million of his own money in the production of special effects for the two sequels.
• Lana and Lilly Wachowski insisted that their project was conceived as a trilogy back in 1993.
• In the hand-to-hand combat training program, before Neo begins to attack Morpheus, he rubs his nose with his thumb, which is a reproduction of a famous Bruce Lee movement. This element was not in the script and is an improvisation by Keanu Reeves.
• The pistols used by Neo in the lobby are an exact replica of the MP5K. However, unlike the real weapon, the replicas weighed only 150-200 grams.
• Nicolas Cage declined an offer to play Neo.
• The film used many sets from 'Dark City' (1998).
• The scene where Neo meets the gifted children in the Oracle's apartment is a homage to 'Akira' (1988).
• After meeting Trinity in the nightclub, Neo wakes up at 9:18.
• Neo stops the elevator on the 41st floor of the building where Morpheus is being held.
• Trinity pilots a B212 helicopter.
• The directors offered Hugo Weaving the role of Agent Smith after seeing his performance in 'Proof' (1991).
• According to Don Davis, Johnny Depp was the initial choice for the role of Neo, however the studio wanted Brad Pitt or Val Kilmer to play the lead role.
• Gary Oldman and Samuel L. Jackson were considered for the role of Morpheus.
• For the filming of the phone call scene between Neo and Morpheus in the «Meta Cortechs» building, Keanu Reeves actually climbed out of the window without a safety harness, without using stunt doubles.
• The script regarding Trinity's appearance states quite simply – a woman in black leather. However, Kim Barrett (costume designer) significantly expanded on such a narrow characterization.
• When Neo is in the elevator on his way to the Oracle, you can notice the letters «KYM» on the wall to his right, which is most likely a reference to Kim Barrett (costume designer).
• The symbols on the computer screens consist of inverted letters, numbers, and Japanese katakana characters.
• The film features numerous various signs and plaques with real streets in Chicago.
• Filming scenes with the helicopter nearly led to the project being shut down, as the film crew violated several laws by flying helicopters through airspace closed to flights. However, the laws were subsequently amended to allow filming to continue.
• The agents' pistols are Desert Eagle .50 AE.
• On the Oracle's television screen, white rabbits from "Night of the Lepus" (1972) can be noticed.
• During Neo's interrogation scene, some details from Thomas Anderson's personal file can be seen: date of birth – March 11, 1962; place of birth – Lower Downtown, Capitol City; mother’s maiden name – Michelle McCaughey; father’s name – John Anderson; Neo was educated at “Central West Junior High” and “Owen Paterson High”. In the same scene, some information from Neo's passport can also be noticed: place of birth – Capital City USA; date of birth – September 13, 1971; passport issued September 12, 1991; passport expires September 11, 2001.
• Trinity's motorcycle is a Triumph Speed Triple.
• The car used by the main characters inside the Matrix is a 1965 Lincoln Continental.
• Neo's room number is 101. The same number was assigned to the location in George Orwell's book '1984', where people were tortured and eventually began to believe what was not true.
• Filming lasted 118 days.
• The book in which Neo hides the computer discs is called 'Simulacra and Simulation'.
• For the 'The Woman in Red' scene, in which Morpheus guides Neo through the Matrix's computer simulation, many twins were used to create the illusion of a program constantly repeating.
• In one scene of the film, a phone number can be seen with an almost fully visible area code (3?2) 555-0690. There are three cities in the US with similar area codes: Chicago (312), Delaware (302), and the northwest peninsula of Florida (352). The screenplay lists this phone number as 312-555-0690.
• Carrie-Anne Moss starred in the television series “The Matrix” (1993).
• All city maps shown in the film are maps of Chicago.
• The subway system in the Matrix is called “CityRail”. The Sydney suburban rail network has the exact same name.
• According to costume designer Gloria Bava, Neo’s coat was originally supposed to be silver-gray in color.
• According to Lana and Lilly Wachowski, all animals in The Matrix are images created using a computer.
• Originally, the scene of Trinity's chase by the Agents was intended to be filmed on real rooftops, not in studio pavilions.
• Initially, they aimed to secure $80 million for the film's production, but the studio only allocated ten million. Upon receiving the funds, Lana and Lilly Wachowski decided to invest it entirely in the first ten minutes of the film (the scene with Carrie-Anne Moss). The final result so impressed the studio that they received the remaining funds without any issues.
• The role of Morpheus was offered to Sean Connery, but he declined because he didn't understand the script at all.
• The directors wrote the screenplay for five and a half years. Fourteen versions of the script were written.
• Before filming began, all actors in the lead roles and key members of the film crew were required to read Jean Baudrillard's book 'Simulacra and Simulation'.
• The studio insisted that the film include dialogues explaining the concept of the Matrix, as studio executives believed the script fell into the category of 'a script that no one will understand'.
• Blue color was deliberately removed from the film to demonstrate how bleak the world of the Matrix is.
• Six months of training and only four days of filming were required to shoot the opening scene of the film.
• ‘The Matrix’ was the first film to be shot at the new 'Fox Studios' in Sydney.
• When Lana and Lilly Wachowski sold the script for "Assassins" (1995) to producer Joel Silver, they also told him about the plot of "The Matrix." Silver liked the overall idea, but he would never have entrusted the direction of such a complex project to novice directors who hadn't filmed a single movie before. Therefore, he advised them to film something simpler technically first. The Wachowskis made "Bound" (1996), which received enthusiastic reviews from both audiences and critics. The success of their debut film, which proved that the sisters could not only come up with exciting stories but also create a memorable visual style, convinced the studio to give the green light to "The Matrix."
• 120 special cameras were used to film the "Bullet Time" scene in order to create a panoramic view of the bullet fired by an agent and the movements of Neo dodging it.
• At the beginning of the film, Neo retrieves a computer disk from a book by Jean Baudrillard, "Simulacra and Simulation." This book is a popular critical theory attempting to explain where "reality" lies and where, strictly speaking, "Simulacra and Simulation" does. When Neo takes the hidden disc from the book, he opens it to the chapter "On Nihilism." In an interview with Le Nouvel Observateur on June 19, 2003, Baudrillard claimed that "The Matrix" misunderstood and distorted his work "Simulacra and Simulation."
• On the first day of filming, the scene in the office was shot, in which Neo tries to escape from the pursuing agents.
• In the episode where Trinity and Neo are searching for Morpheus on a rooftop, one of the helicopter pilots transforms into Agent Jones. In this case, Jones's left temple corresponds to the back of the pilot's head. However, after Trinity shoots precisely at that temple, the bullet hole on the pilot, abandoned by the agent's "program," inexplicably appears on his forehead.
• In the scene where Neo first meets Morpheus, Laurence Fishburne's character greets the One. Morpheus extends his right hand, while his left hand is behind his back. Immediately following is a shot from a different angle, where the left hand is inexplicably lowered to the floor. In the next frame, Morpheus's left hand is behind his back again.
• When Agent Smith and Morpheus fight, the latter hits the agent in the head and breaks his glasses. In the following shot, the camera shows Morpheus, and it can be seen that the glasses are still on Agent Smith.
• Amusing anagrams (rearranging the letters in phrases yields a new phrase) have been noticed in the film's soundtrack. The compositions playing during the training fight between Neo and Morpheus, titled "Bow Whisk Orchestra" and "Switch or Break Show," are anagrams of "Wachowski Brothers" (the Wachowskis – formerly brothers – are the film's directors). Also featured in the film are the following compositions: "Exit Mr. Hat" and "Threat Mix." Both of these tracks are anagrams of the film's title – "The Matrix." Furthermore, after Neo begins to be called The One, an anagram can also be seen here – Neo ~ One.
• When, at the 2-minute mark of the film, the police break into the hotel room to arrest Trinity, she is sitting in an unlit room. When she manages to disarm all the police in the next scene, it is clearly visible that working lights appear on the walls.
• When Trinity jumps from a run into the window at the 6-minute mark of the film, the lampshade under the ceiling is stationary. After a change of shot, when Trinity aims towards the broken window, and the camera zooms in on the window, the lampshade begins to sway. The lamp is stationary again when Trinity is about to get up.
• When Trinity runs into the phone booth at the 6-minute mark of the film, a bloody cut is visible on her face, although there was no cut in the previous scene, after the jump from the window.
• At the 13th minute of the film, when the boss reprimands Neo for being late, Thomas's hand position changes with each cut.
• At the 14th minute of the film, Neo reaches for the edge of the envelope to open it. In the next shot, as the courier leaves, Neo does this again.
• At the 15th minute of the film, the name of the company, Meta Cortech, can be seen on an interior sign, although earlier, when Neo was late for work, the facade of the building displayed the name Metacortex.
• At the 18th minute of the film, Agent Smith reviews Neo's file without turning the pages. In the next shot, several pages are flipped over on the cover of the personal file.
• At the 19th minute of the film, Agent Smith takes off his glasses and places them on the table next to his right hand. When, at the 20th minute, the agent pushes the file aside, the glasses disappear from the table.
• At the 21st minute of the film, Neo's mouth clamps shut, and he jumps up in horror and shrinks into a corner. In the next shot, in the reflection of Agent Smith's smirking sunglasses, it can be seen that Neo is still sitting in the chair.
• At the 23rd minute of the film, as the car approaches Neo, the passenger door begins to open even before it stops. In the next shot, Trinity opens the door again.
• At the 40th minute of the film, when Neo enters the simulation, Morpheus is wearing glasses with matte lenses. After a change of shot, the lenses become mirrored.
• At the 45th minute of the film, Neo exits the simulation and immediately stands up from the chair, although previously, before connecting to the simulation program, his legs were secured with restraints.
• At the 54th minute of the film, when Neo and Morpheus move to the roof of the skyscraper, a superstructure is located several meters away from them. In the next shot, when they are already standing on the roof, the superstructure is much closer.
• At the 55th minute of the film, when Neo jumps from the skyscraper, you can glimpse safety harnesses under his t-shirt.
• At the 83rd minute of the film, when Smith breaks through the wall and grabs Neo, he reaches in up to his elbows. In the next scene, when Morpheus attacks Smith, the agent’s arms are only up to his wrists in the wall.
• At the 84th minute of the film, when Apoc is shooting back at the special forces, he isn't wearing glasses. In the next scene, when he jumps into the hatch in the floor, he is already wearing dark glasses.
• At the 85th minute of the film, Agent Smith breaks a hole in a brick wall during the fight with Morpheus. When Smith grabs Morpheus by the leg and throws him, you can notice that the brick wall is whole again.
• At the 91st minute of the film, when Tank shoots Cypher, you can see that actor Joe Pantoliano is replaced by a stunt double before the plasma hits.
• At the 105th minute of the film, as Neo and Trinity enter the elevator, numerous bodies of previously killed special forces operatives lie in the lobby. When Neo shoots the elevator cable, causing it to explode as it falls, there are no bodies left in the lobby.
• At the 102nd minute of the film, when Neo passes through the metal detector and stands before the guard, it can be noticed that he does not have holsters or weapons on his belt, which appear in the next scene.
• At the 107th minute of the film, Agent Jones steps aside from the staircase leading to the helipad. However, when Neo starts shooting at the dodging agent, he is significantly closer. In the next scene, when Jones begins to fire back, it can be observed that the agent is further away this time—where he should have been standing initially.
• At the 107th minute of the film, as Neo dodges Agent Jones's shots, one can notice that details from previous scenes are missing nearby: discharged and discarded pistols, the bodies of killed special forces operatives, and Trinity.
• At the 109th minute of the film, when Neo shoots up the office where the agents are interrogating Morpheus, from an exterior shot of the building, it can be seen that there is no one inside the room.
• At the 110th minute of the film, when Trinity is piloting the helicopter, she is wearing black gloves, although she wasn't wearing gloves earlier when she got into the helicopter on the roof.
• At the 111th minute of the film, when Neo is hanging from a cable during a turn and holding Morpheus's hand, you can notice a safety cable attached to the hand of the stunt double for Laurence Fishburne.
• At the 111th minute of the film, when Neo jumps from the roof, the shadow of the helicopter flying above him doesn't have rotors. When, in the next shot, Neo grabs the cable and the helicopter falls between the skyscrapers, shadows of the rotors appear. Also, the falling helicopter is not reflected in the windows of the opposite skyscraper.
• At the 116th minute of the film, when Agent Smith misses and punches a hole through a column with his left fist, you can see pre-prepared fragments of concrete.
• At the 118th minute of the film, when Agent Smith throws Neo into a wall above the tracks, large debris falls onto the rails along with Neo. When, in the next scene, Neo rises, slams Smith against the ceiling, and falls back down, the fragments of the wall that fell earlier are already gone.
• At the 118th minute of the film, when Agent Smith holds Neo in a grip and gloats before the approaching train, blood appears and disappears on Neo's chin between camera cuts.
• At the 119th minute of the film, when Neo performs a backflip and jumps onto the platform after a fight with Agent Smith, you can notice him grabbing thin wires that help him land.
• At the 124th minute of the film, Neo collapses to the floor after being shot. Judging by the bloodstain on the wall behind him, the bullets went through and through, but no holes remained on the wall.
• At the 126th minute of the film, Neo stops numerous bullets fired at him by the Agents and throws them to the floor. When he kicks Agent Smith away, you can notice that the bullets previously lying on the floor disappear.
• Ewan McGregor, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Tom Cruise all auditioned for the role of Neo. Val Kilmer, in turn, auditioned for the role of Morpheus. Will Smith could also have played Neo, but he chose to star in the unsuccessful 'Wild Wild West' (1999).
• The role of Agent Smith was originally intended to be played by the French actor Jean Reno, according to the directors Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski. However, the latter preferred to work on another Hollywood blockbuster – 'Godzilla'.
• Prior to filming, the leading actors studied the basics of Eastern martial arts. This training lasted from October 1997 to March 1998. The actors did not expect such a workload and were fully confident that a few weeks would be enough to acquire practical skills.
• As soon as the film was released and amazed audiences with the frozen camera effect, many people immediately claimed to be the first to bring this invention to the big screen. French director Michel Gondry used this effect in an advertisement for an insurance company, and shortly thereafter in a music video for pop star Björk. Architect Matthew Bannister described this problem in detail in his scientific work. He suggested that movement and time in the frame could run either in parallel or independently of each other. However, at that time, the equipment did not allow for this experiment to be carried out. And finally, artist Tim McMillan demonstrated this technique on one of the British channels in 1993. Perhaps each of them invented this effect independently, or perhaps someone used the ideas of others. Either way, for most ordinary people, Lana and Lilly Wachowski will still remain the revolutionaries.
• The film contains numerous references to Lewis Carroll's fairy tales “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass.” The film also contains many allusions to Marx, Kafka, Zen Buddhism, and Homer's “Odyssey.”
• Amusing anagrams (rearranging the letters in phrases reveals a new phrase) can be found in the film's soundtrack. The compositions playing during Neo and Morpheus's training fight, titled “Bow Whisk Orchestra” and “Switch or Break Show,” are anagrams of “Wachowski Brothers” (the Wachowski sisters (formerly brothers) – the film's directors). The following compositions also appear in the film: “Exit Mr. Hat” and “Threat Mix.” Both of these tracks are anagrams of the film’s title – “The Matrix.” Furthermore, after Neo begins to be called the One, an anagram can also be noticed here – Neo ~ One.
• For the second time in his acting career, Laurence Fishburne was given the opportunity to play a ship's captain. In 1997, in the film “Event Horizon,” he played Captain Miller.
• Shortly before filming began, Keanu Reeves suffered a serious injury to his cervical vertebrae. During 4 months of preparatory training, he was forced to wear a neck brace.
• At the end of the film, Keanu Reeves' character delivers a final monologue. Notably, previously throughout his entire acting career, Keanu had never spoken more than 5 sentences in a row.
• The filming of the fight scene between Neo and Agent Smith in the subway was somewhat prolonged. No one on the crew expected that so much time would be spent on this episode. Hundreds of failed takes, and as a result, filming this battle took 10 days longer than planned.
• The film used many sets from 'Dark City' (1998).
• The scene in which Neo meets gifted children in the Oracle's apartment is a tribute to 'Akira' (1988).
• The directors offered Hugo Weaving the role of Agent Smith after seeing his acting in "Proof" (1991).
• In the episode where Trinity and Neo are searching for Morpheus and end up on a rooftop, one of the helicopter pilots transforms into Agent Jones. However, Jones's left temple corresponds to the back of the pilot's head. But after Trinity shoots precisely at that temple, the bullet hole on the pilot, abandoned by the Agent's 'program', is inexplicably located on his forehead.