THE MATRIX 4K UHD Blu-ray Review
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
- The 1999 box office smash from the Wachowski brothers is reviewed and we also take a bit of a retrospective look at the series which includes The Final Flight of the Osiris from The Animatrix on Super 8.
Sound is Dolby Digital 5.1 with Dolby Atmos available as a menu selection.
Screen ratio is 2.40:1.
![The Matrix 4K Blu-ray HDR Analysis: 1000+ Nits; Rec.2020 Colours [SPOILERS]](/img/n.gif)
This 4k disc (and the accompanying 1080p blu ray) is a substantial improvement over the original blu ray release. The master used in that release, for whatever reason, was colour graded to match the sequels rather than the original theatrical experience. This gave it a strong green cast for scenes set in the matrix. This release was actually overseen by Bill Pope, the film's DP, to ensure it was more accurate to the theatrical presentation.
That is good information to know. Thank you for sharing it.
John.
Till the end of time there will be debates on whether too much tint or too little tint is the "correct" way to go.
@@NotOrdinaryInGames Either way, it's *not* how the film looked in cinemas back in 1999.
@@jsward96 Perhaps it was. And perhaps it was incomplete, since the entire trilogy is supposed to look coherent. Perhaps everyone is right, which makes everyone wrong.
how in the world do u see matrix 1 and never watch 2 & 3???
A seminal movie indeed. Matrix was the reason many of us bought their first DVD players and started their DVD collection...
It changed cinema so although it's not one of my favourites I do appreciate its achievements. I had been in IT for many years by the time it came out so it didn't have the same effect on me as it did on others as my mind was already thinking along the lines of the basic premise of The Matrix. John.
One of the reasons I pull out this first film on 4K on a regular basis is because it is fantastic to show guests how much of an improvement it is over the original blu-ray release. When the movie first came out on DVD, the colours were as true to the film as DVD would allow; however, a second DVD release and then every release thereafter (until the 4K) used a new colour-grading. They attempted to make the film look more similar to the sequels with a stronger green hue and, in doing so, made the film look much worse.
With the 4K release, they restored the colour back to its original theatrical colour-timing. Coupled with impactful HDR, deep inky blacks bringing back contrast (that was absent from the original blu-ray release), a far sharper image that reveals way more detail and a Dolby Atmos upgrade as icing on the cake.... well, it is one of the most noticeable upgrades the format has yet produced across the hundreds of 4K discs I own. I agree - it is not the single nicest 4K image out there - but it is one of the biggest leaps in quality from prior releases.
I first saw the Matrix in 1999 without having seen or heard anything about the movie prior to my viewing. Going into this film completely blind blew my mind. I had no idea where the story was taking me. The intrigue at the start was compelling and the ultimate payoff was riveting. While I'm in my mid-40's now, the movie remains, to this day, one of my favourite films of all time. Having the picture finally restored to how it was supposed to be seen was such a relief and revelation after years of rewatches with having to choose between DVD quality or a Blu-ray with a horrible green filter and washed out image.
Good to hear from you again Nacthenud. I think you've summarized things rather well there. The Matrix could never be a great 4K disc as a stand out advert for the format, but it possibly is a great 4K disc in terms of matching how the film looked in cinemas. There's been a lot of discussion about that on here which has been really informative or possibly even educational. So given that it always looked variable in the cinemas owing to some of the low quality computer effects and/or composite optical effects we couldn't possibly ask for better on our home video discs that cost so little for what they give us.
By contrast, assuming I do finally get the review for Apocalypse Now done next, we will get to look at a perfect example of how good quality 35mm film can can look when transferred to 4K. Better than Jaws? I think so!
John.
As someone who has owned this film in every format since the original DVD release, what I love about the UHD transfer is that it is the first time the movie captures the original intended color timing of the film- the first DVD didn’t look right, and the remaster used for the Blu-Ray release was digitally regraded with a much heavier blanket green tint.
It's really interesting that we are getting so many comments about the colour bias on this film. Most remember it as overwhelmingly green in the cinema but another comment linked a video that showed a transfer of a 35mm print and it looked far less green than I remember. It may have been colour corrected of course so without having the print to physically run we can't be definitive but apparently the director of photography sat in on the grading for the 4K transfer so that he could match what was originally intended. Doesn't mean to say he was right of course but personally I remember the image quality being poor at the cinema so with that taken into account, this is a good 4K disc. It just wasn't possible for it to look consistently good all the way through.
What an interesting and informative debate it has proved to be though and whatever any of us may think of The Matrix, it has one heck of a following and has had an influence on the direction of cinema to this day.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 yeah, and it’s of course impossible for me to recollect the exact colors from when I saw it in the theater in 1999, but I think a lot of people got used to the HD master used for the DVD and Bluray releases for so many years, which is a much heavier green tint that was applied to match the look of the sequels.
Anyway, I’ve quickly become a big fan of your channel and look forward to watching more of your videos!
@@Motorheadache95 Thank you Motorheadache95. I suspect a Lemmy connection there somehow... not that I'm a heavy metal fan of course... honest! John.
@@moviecollector5920 Yup! It was a Motörhead show in 1995, on Lemmys birthday, in which a tribute band was set to appear first and play some Motörhead songs. That tribute band turned out to be Metallica.
@@Motorheadache95 Amazing. Metallica have done some good tracks over the years but I haven't listened to too much since the 1980s really. My brother and I were having a beer with a couple of members of the Tygers of Pan Tang at the Marquee (1985 I think) and Lemmy came in. He seemed to know everyone there. I never did see Motorhead live - just about the only band of that era I didn't, but I have Overkill on green vinyl which is still rather special after all these years. John.
I received a notification of a new video from what quickly became my favorite channel on UA-cam. I was so wrong to assume that this review wouldn't be as historically informative as the rest given it's The Matrix, but you managed to make it both enjoyable and informative - as always. Waiting for Apocalypse Now review!
Thank you Ahmed. The reason Apocalypse Now keeps getting put back is because I've been trying to coordinate the other two chaps (Mondo Chelloveck Movies and Leon Talks Film but also hopefully Euphoria Pictures) to also do their own reviews so there will be a variety of independent opinion. The reason for me asking them is that the 4K of Apocalypse Now is so good that I'm going to be claiming that I think it is better than the 4K of Jaws and I expect that will surprise many people. If other chaps do reviews around the same time and also feel it's one of the best then perhaps it will be taken more seriously.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Now I'm looking forward to it even more than before. I have the Blu-ray but this comment alone convinced me to get the 4K.
I received My Fair Lady two days ago and I'm no expert but it's the best presentation I've seen in UHD. I'd be happy to hear your take on it some time.
Another great video. Thank you. I have always focused on the film production/cinematography aspects of movie making but your video series has given shown me how the subsequent storage of films and exactly how editions on new formats are produced, really matters.
“The Matrix” remains one of my favourite films. When watching it at the cinema I never noticed the picture deteriorating in the special effects scenes; instead I was captivated by the amazing story and visuals. Following multiple viewings over the years and again on its cinema re-release a couple of years ago, I think the pacing of the film is excellent.
I saw it in a cinema in Leicester Square in 1999 and I always remember the colour palate being blue (not green). The subsequent film’s choice of a green colour palate always struck me as odd. I think this UA-cam video gives an interesting take on why the original “The Matrix” may have greener and less blue on subsequent releases (to try to make it match up with the sequels): ua-cam.com/video/KEdgmNZnLs4/v-deo.html (“The Matrix and How Bad Remaster Happen”).
“The Matrix Revisited” is a fantastic documentary and well worth the investment of 2 hours. It was shot as the crew prepared the second and third films. It was released as a separate DVD which we poured over time and again, prior to the release of the second film. The inside knowledge it provides about the production of the original film and the ambition and vision that
the Wachowski’s had for the sequels is very inspiring. Zach Staenberg is a phenomenal editor and his skill and enthusiasm for the project is inspiring. John Gaeta’s work on the visual effects is fascinating too, as is Bill Pope’s work on the cinematography.
I recommend watching “The Matrix Reloaded”; it is not as good as the first film but it contains spectacular moments that our worth your time such as the freeway chase and the staircase fight scene that proceeds that. The freeway chase echos aspects of the car chase in “Tenet”.
“The Matrix Revolutions” is, sadly, a let-down. I remember watching it in a cinema in Oxford; the disappointment was palpable. However, for filmmakers interested in seeing what can go wrong (even when you have the budget, the actors and the ambition), it’s a very interesting lesson. Some of the visuals (such as Neo and Agent Smith fighting in the street during a thunderstorm) were amazing.
By the way, if you have not seen it I would thoroughly recommend the documentary “Side by Side”. Keanu Reeves meets with lots of filmmakers to talk about the transition from film cameras to digital cameras. The interviews he was able to get (e.g. with David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan and The Wachowskis) were truly fascinating.
Thank you again for the great videos. They are inspiring.
Great to have discovered this small little gem of a YT channel. Keep up the great work. You've got a fan! Cheers.
Thank you. Good to have you here. John.
I love all three movies, great 4K quality compared to the old 1080p blurays.
But the first film is not one of the better 4K discs we've seen. It's good for a lot of the time but because of the low quality CGI and/or opticals it's a bit of a downer. But that's how it was in 1999 so we certainly can't ask for more. John.
@@moviecollector5920 yeah I'm just happy we got an upgrade from the 720p-looking VC1 encoded version 👍
Really looking forward to seeing what new technology and filming techniques the the Matrix 4 will bring!
It will be using the new woke cameras 🤣
@@dylanlourens NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO;)
No doubt it will be too CGI heavy for people like me. Then again Gravity was great! John.
@@moviecollector5920 Indeed, it saddens me when there's so much CGI, it's more of a cartoon, than a real film, like Star Wars prequels.
Now 'they' do CGI where it doesn't need to be, like cgi blood in shootouts, and cgi smoke and fire, instead of actually blowing something up. Latest example is Snyder's Army of the Dead.
@@LennyNero2019 Some CGI when used in the right place is fantastic - think The Abyss and Terminator 2:Judgment Day. But conventional special effects are an art form of their own and I find I can admire them when I wouldn't ever admire something done in a computer. John.
I do wish there were more effort put into disc Menus these days, a lot of them seem to be a template, and not nearly as creative as they were in DVD's heyday.
I suspect there has been a simplification because 4K is more of a defititive film collector product that is never going to be the same level of mass market as DVD once was. DVD was the home video choice of just about everyone so the disc authors used the menus to show off and impress. These days the disc market - 4K disc market anyway - is aimed at film enthusiasts who just want to press PLAY and watch the film. That doesn't explain why it isn't made obvious that you have to select certain sound options though such as Dolby Atmos on this disc. A bit of a cods up there methinks. John.
@@moviecollector5920 While I agree, that contradicts with the fact that collectors appreciate the outlook of the packaging, the artistic decoration on the disc itself vs. having a blank 1-color disc with a boring text and done.
@@ricsip Not all of them. Back when home movie collecting really got started in the late 1970s, Universal 8 issued their films in boxes which were plain white plastic upon which you would stick your own handwritten label (label for doing this was supplied so every film in your collection would match) but at the same time they put a colourful slip case around the box. That was the forerunner of what we get today with slip cases on disc releases but slightly different. Many collectors did sling out the slip cases which always seemed a little odd to me. I put much time into my own disc releases but many people aren't interested and I do feel like I'm wasting my time sometimes.
John.
One of my favorite movies of all time. It is an amalgation of religion, Japanese cinema and neo noir plus other influences. Hugo Weaving steals the movie with a snarling virtual villain.
I suspect this is a film that captured the imaginations of young gamers back in 1999 and they still hold an affection for it to this day. There is so much that's wrong with it and for the first hour or so it's a real bore but it stirred something in youngsters. I had the same sort of thing with the Phantasm series and I suspect that if I were to see that for the first time today I wouldn't give it a second watch but as it is, I'm hooked and have been from the age of 14. Let me know if you think I'm on the right lines here Jonas. John.
More Hong Kong cinema than Japanese cinema influence but hey it’s all good stuff
@@moviecollector5920 the first hour is more of a mystery and I actually saw it for the first time about 3 years ago and was genuinely intrigued I guess it depends on what you want and expect from a film I think it does have a sense of mystery and vulnerability that a lot of modern blockbusters lack nowadays
This is a great example of how the movies can be so divisive, and on opposite sides of the spectrum. I unabashedly love the movie for its innovation and its sense of fun. It may be too fantastical to some. The film also has a lot to thank Wizard of Oz for. It has so many ideas and philosophical undertones. While it is certainly too bad you don't have the same value for it, but here we are.
@@cheetahluv210 You might be right there because I think I actually preferred it at the cinema in 1999 for that air of mystery. Now I know the basic premise of the film and that it doesn't reach a conclusion I suppose the mystery benefit of that original screening has gone. My wife Susanne just said that she thinks it's a dull film to look at. That's certainly true but that was deliberate to create the otherworldly look. John.
Another film history lesson I didn't know I needed wrapped up in a review, brilliant as always and yes, I agree that the disc doesn't blow you away but I think a lot of the praise it got was in comparison to some of the terrible transfers we've had down the years.
I would be interested in your take on Nolan's Inception as it is a disc a lot of people have criticised and yet it's allegedly how he wants it to look....
I'll be looking at Nolan's Batman films soon Andy. If they're good then I may want to take another look at Inception which was one of those films at the time that just seemed like nonsense but may have more to it than I comprehended. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Your initial reaction is valid. Inception is boring nonsense. Nolan spends the entire movie having mannequins explain technicalities of a science fiction gimmick. I can't imagine watching that film again. It didn't have a single exciting character.
Thanks for the review.
I am one of the many that think it is a groundbreaking masterpiece, still holds up today, there has never been anything quite like it.
You can't say that with many action films.
The sequels I also love, both of them. They contain some of the best action sequences ever filmed.
Very very excited for the fourth film by Lana Wachowski.
It is certainly an interesting film to discuss but it seems you had to be a youngster in 1999 to appreciate it. I had films that had an effect on me about ten years before that if I saw them for the first time today I'd probably think they were tosh but as a result of seeing them so you, I still love them to this day. Phantasm is the one I'm really thinking of. John.
Thanks for doing this review! Mike and I really enjoy your content! And I, Jon, was one of the fans that requested this. :) this is my favorite of the 3.
I may not have enjoyed the film very much but I did enjoy re-visiting it. I thought I'd really get into it after a 22 year hiatus but it was more interesting to find that my impression and opinion of the film had not changed at all in all those years. I can see why it was popular and has remained so, it's just that I was in IT at the time and had been for many years so there was nothing original in the premise for me. If I'd have been a teenager in 1999 then I think I'd still be obsessing about the world they created in that film to this day but alas, I was an old croc then and I'm an even older croc now!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I enjoy hearing your perspective and thinking back at that time in my own life... As a child, I was about 8 when this came out in theater, I found it kind of boring. But I enjoyed the bullet time and the endless possibilities they showcased while in the Matrix. As an adult in my mid twenties I revisited the movie and enjoyed it more on an intellectual level. Now almost 30, i think its a little to wordy but enjoy the fight scenes and cinematography. So idk how ill feel about it in the next 5 years haha. On another topic, I hope they bring both Tron movies to 4k. Did those peak your interest as an IT guy?
The reason it looks so different color-wise between the Blu-ray and 4k is that it really is a new transfer. Apparently every home release version until now was not like the original theater version.
When they originally put the movie on DVD they scanned the original negative but didn't put the intended green tint on the movie, then the version released after that had overcorrected and assumed the entire movie (when inside The Matrix) was supposed to have a green tint on everything but it wasn't. That version of the movie was the home release for every version since until the original cinematographer was brought in to correct it for the 4k release. If you're curious, there's a brilliant video on UA-cam about it called "The Matrix and How Bad Remasters Happen".
This is true for a lot of films being released on disc today because the colour grading was done from the interpositive which means only the internegative had the finished, completed grading. Going back to the original camera negative means you have to start again. Having said all this, somewhere in these comments (and there is a lot of interesting discussion about The Matrix colouring) there is a link to a clip from a transfer of an original 35mm print, and it doesn't look like the 4K. What we don't know though is if the colour was corrected on that transfer and that's why it looks so much better than the 4K. So the great debate continues and I think you for adding to it. I need to look at that video but damn it, I don't have the time right now.
John.
This was another generations Star Wars, and I just hope that the new entry is more successful than the new Star Wars films were. The sad truth is that sometimes you just can't go back again. Lovely video as always- looking forward to Apocalypse Now!
There have been some great Star Wars sequels but three terrible films among them which probably caused most of the angst. I'm sure The Matrix sequel will be okay because it's a tried and tested formula and there's not really much that can go wrong with it. I probably won't bother with it as I didn't particularly care for the first film but if everyone tells me it's a classic, then I'm in! John.
Ya, this was my shit when i was a kid.
I've never been a fan of these films but I need to try and re watch them. My cousin from California is very good friends with Keanu Reeves. He was the best man at my cousins wedding. I was told he paid for his honeymoon. Really good guy.
I really like Keanu Reeves movies too. The Matrix wasn't one of his best as far as I'm concerned but there was nothing wrong with his performance it's just that the film was too predictable and we'd been through it all so many times before in other films. Good fun but I still haven't ever watched the sequels. We watched another of his films recently, The Lake House with Sandra Bullock. Magic!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I haven't even attempted The Lake House, lol. Maybe someday when I'm with a certain friend who likes heartwarming movies if that's what that it? My cousin was his roadie back in the 90s when he was on tour playing bass in the band Dogstar. I have stolen many pics off my cousins fb page. There are two great ones with them and Chris Farley. They have been good friends ever since. I'm more a Bill and Ted's type of audience. That movie was incredible when it came out. I was about 15 years old. Although dated a little now,, it just resonated well with the times back then.
@@erikmolnar6585 I was a little too old for the Bill and Ted films when they came out and I've never fancied catching up with them to this day. Keanu Reeves has a very good filmography and The Lake House is a magical little film that anyone can switch off to and enjoy. It would actually make a nice film for Christmas time now that I think of it. Don't know why I'd never come across it before but often films simply slip through the net unnoticed.
Right, today I need to get a new video shot. I've been reading up all about the opening of Star Wars in this country so I suppose that gives a bit of a clue with regard to what I've got in mind... but no film review in this one, just a few historical items that I hope will be of interest.
John.
I remember watching Matrix from 750 mb DivX rip on 15 inch CRT during 1999 and was blown away!
Of course went to premiere at cinema later and was doubly blown away!
And I bet you were a youngster at the time Joo Ei. I think if I'd have been a teenager I'd have loved it too but I suppose I'd moved on from video games by then. It's still an interesting film to discuss though and it's certainly getting traction in the comments on here. Amazing response actually.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 was 28 at that time, of course you are as old as you think you feel you are.
Over here, in the states, people get offended if you refer the watchoksi as brothers. They see you as a bigot. Despite having the 4k of this film, I forgot if they altered their names on the 4k release as the "watchoski sisters".
And I hope they'll do a 4k of the animatrix sometime soon!
I don't think they were ever credited as sisters, they simply cut their title to "Wachowskis"
I've only ever known them as 'brothers' because that was what was always reported. Presumably they created that alter ego because they didn't feel they would get on so well if everyone knew they were gals. That used to be the case anyway. John.
@@moviecollector5920 At the time of making this film they were really brothers, there is no mistake here.
@@user-zd2kl9yg4v and brothers they will always be. Just pretending they're something they're not genetically now.
@@moviecollector5920 Maybe you haven't been following the so called news about them, but the Wachowskis were actual normal male brothers, when they wrote the great Bound thriller and this first Matrix. Then Larry became Lana in 2008 after Speed Racer, and 8 years later Andy became Lilli. I don't know if one, or both of them actually went through a sex change operation, but it's all really disturbing. Either way they're officially called thansgender, and Larry/Lana is actually living with a female-to-male transgender person... I'm sorry, but what's the point. 🤪
I first viewed The Matrix with high expectation as I was a huge fan of action choreographer Yuen Woo Ping . But the greenish tint mixed with the yellow hue of the dim, yellowing lamp at the ill-maintained theater I first viewed it at made me physically nauseas. This 4K is the best I have ever seen it.
And in that regard the 4K disc can be said to be a good one. It's just that The Matrix was never a particularly good looking film in the first place. John.
I've always been on the fence about The Matrix. I remember really enjoying the original film back when I was young and spry, but the sequels were so poor they just sapped my enjoyment of the entire concept and world of the series.
I'm waiting with baited breath for the Apocalypse Now review. I love your information on the 8mm releases and other actual film options. It's a world I just missed out on, and I find it endlessly fascinating.
My theory is that The Matrix is a youngsters film and those who saw it when young enough have tended to stay with it to this day. I was an old croc by then and didn't find it original plus the picture quality was a step down on what I was used to. I thought I'd have changed my mind all these years later but alas... However, I can see why it had the impact it did so it's understandable that it continues to be so successful. John.
Came here to say great video and I appreciate you engaging with all the comments. I was 12 when I first saw The Matrix and I think it’s safe to say it changed my life. It’s one of the reasons why I got into the world of IT. But I also understand why some of the more mature audiences didn’t get on the hype train. I still enjoy every second of this movie and I tend to rewatch it every year or so. Today I did that in 4K and on a home Atmos setup and it’s been perfect and the most amazing viewing yet.
I always had a bit of trouble with this film Joachim because it was relatively poor image quality at the cinema compared to what I was used to seeing at the time. I didn't know it then but this was around the start of the downturn in image quality that then gained apace until the big downgrade in 2011. I can now see what the main problem was and it was the green bias to the colour and some of the full computer effects shots were clearly rendered at standard definition. The story works better today but at the time I felt it was rather old hat but likely because I'd been thinking about us living in virtual reality for ages by then.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thank you for your comment! Are you going to make a video about the downward spiral of movie quality until 2011? Also, what's special about that year?
@@joachimjankowski4618 That was when the industry made the switch from film to video. There had been quite a lead up to it though and during that lead up - which appears to have started around the time The Matrix was released - there was an intentional decline in image quality across cinema as a whole. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and in the end gave up on cinema almost completely in 2005/2006. Now I only go when I know there is a genuine film print so that largely means re-runs or new IMAX films from Christopher Nolan. Even the recent 70mm release of Kenneth Branagh's Death on the Nile was not a genuine 70mm release as the prints were struck from the far lower quality 4K master. I've spoken about this situation in various videos and it's been interesting how youngsters are - and have been - under the misinterpretation that movie presentation in cinemas is better now than it's ever been. Most cinemas don't even have tabs or even motorized masking with many of them being depressing black boxes. It's heartbreaking to see for me but I don't think there's anything that can be done about it now. Terminal decline is a term I've been using for quite a while now. Sorry to be so negative.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thanks for shedding some light on the situation. I remember going to another city (1 hour drive) in 2007 to see "300" in digital format. I had to pay extra (the ticket was more expensive) to see a mediocre quality in 1080p. But it was hyped as the new quality in cinematography. As I age I begin to appreciate film and associated grain way more. BTW great movie room you have going on in your place :) All the best!
The Matrix did not have the green hue theatrically. They changed that after the fact to match the 2nd and 3rd movies.
A lot of discussion about that. I never saw the sequels of the DVD's and I remember the general release print as overly green. That's not a scientific study though so it could be memory playing tricks. I remember how disappointing it looked though, for sure. I was used to master prints at the time. John.
I’m so glad I purchased the Italian Blu-Ray for ‘The Animatrix’.
I have the DVD but didn't ever manage to get through it all. I do like The Final Flight Of The Osiris which I consider to be better than the film The Matrix. Something about the computer animation works better than live actors for me and that's unusual for me as I don't usually care much for computer imagery. I ran that Super 8 reel recently as I was considering it for the 'Scope show at the BFCC but didn't select it in the end.
John.
I love the Matrix for sheer nostalgic reasons... its the one that started it all for me...
It was the first movie I ever bought on DVD and was purchased to go with my (then new) Kenwood Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound... which was cheap but thought was the greatest thing I had ever heard at home. Being 17 and having never had a proper sound system at home before there was quite the buzz about it from my friends. The whole scenario had an immediate effect sparking my LOVE for cinema AND surround sound/speakers in general. Sad part was I still only had a 32" Sony Wega CRT tv... but made do. 30 years later I now own over 1000 DVD's, around 500 BluRays and have started accumulating quite the 4k library as well. I will DEFINITELY have to pick this one up.
Thanks for the GREAT review as usual @Movie Collector.
I think you were the right age to be impacted by The Matrix. I had been working in IT for many years by that time and it just didn't seem particularly original to me. Combine that with the poor image quality and a few other things and it simply didn't make an impact. However, look at the influence it's had on cinema to this day and it's clear to see it was an historic film. Inow understand the fascination so many have with The Matrix much better than I did. Let's hope the forthcoming sequel is better than ever.
Almost forgot to thank you for sharing your memories of purchasing the film on DVD and getting a 5.1 amp. I've still got a Kenwood 5.1 THX amp here but it's been faulty for about eight years now and no one seems able to repair it. John.
Great review 👍 - as a huge fan of the trilogy I absolutely loved watching these in the best available quality.
The Matrix looks very good in places but the down side is that it was never a great looking film to start with. But the 4K does look like it did in the cinema I think and that is more than we could ever have hoped for. John.
@@moviecollector5920 agreed - visual effects heavy scenes in films and TV from this era always have that softer look to them once the effects kick in - keep up this great content!
@@SpontaneousWeasel Thank you Sir! I don't think decent special effects would have improved the film though. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Totally respect that the matrix films didn't connect with you like they did with me John 🙏as with all things effects wise, if they fail to enhance the storytelling then they can seem kind of wasteful (budget wise) - I do feel though that some of the in camera effects although usually soft due to optical compositing(Bram stoker's dracula for example) 'age better' in the UHD format than some of these earlier digital compositing and cgi effects from this 90's -2000's era. George
@@SpontaneousWeasel I think I appreciate the film for it's place in cinema history but I wasn't really the target audience as I had been in IT most of my life so I already tended to think along the lines in the story of The Matrix. I still do I suppose. But with regards to computer generated effects, I think we're all a bit tired of them now but still appreciate them when they're exceptional or invisible. My opinion is that CGIis best used to clean-up an effect to make the end result perfect but that rarely seems to happen. The earliest computer effects seem to have been the best or perhaps the most memorable. Even Jurassic Park had some wonderful computer work despite a few particularly dodgy scenes. I suspect it was because the makers felt they got away with it in Jurassic Park that things got pushed on too far too quickly. John.
I have the Blu-Ray set with the Animatrix on Blu-Ray. One of the reasons I still have it, even after I upgraded to the 4K set.
I really enjoy running that Final Flight of the Osiris reel. That whole Matrix world seems to work better as a cartoon for me. John.
I find it amazing that you can remember image quality and even color 20+ years later.
I've been into all this for so long and some films have stood out if they're exceptional while others have stood out if they're disappointing. Everyone was telling me that I had to see The Matrix when it was first on general release and so I took their advice and went to see it. The difference was that I was - and still am - a film enthusiast and they were just casual cinema goers. The Matrix was a disappointment due to comparatively poor image quality to what we had been enjoying in cinemas up to that time. It looks remarkably similar on the 4K disc to what I remember. Nothing wrong with the disc, that's just the way it looked and I think it's largely down to poor quality computer generated imagery. Many films suffered with this around that time and still do today to a certain extent. But it was a groundbreaking, trend setting film so it has to be appreciated even if I may have found the projected image at the cinema back then - and in the home today - a little disappointing.
John.
Fantastic in-depth review on the Matrix 4K, mate!
Good to have you back Leon. Maybe once you're back in the UA-cam groove we'll all have some television worth watching! John.
This was one movie were the Atmos soundtrack was a huge upgrade over the 5.1
I think Atmos has been a big help for home systems. If I ever more I may be able to fit one if I've got a barn in the grounds or something! John.
I agree. And even moreso with the second film. I went to demo the disc for it's atmos track for a friend and forgot to turn it on in the menu. 30 seconds in, I'm thinking, "This can't be right". Sure enough, I switched it to Atmos and started it over and wow - immediately improvement in immersive audio.
@@moviecollector5920 yes atmos is worth it for many movies. Even old movies like lawrence of arabia had a great atmos mix.
Really look forward to your reviews, keep up the good work.
The problem with the 5.1 mix was that it was filtered from the bass region. The Atmos mix sound much more fuller which I agree makes it the better mix. I'll have to say that nothing though beats the original dts 5.1 theatrical mix. That soundmix was mental.
This film didnt have the green filter on it when it was shown in cinemas in 1999. That was added to the movie when it was released on home video and DVD, and as others have said it was then added to the sequels to continue with the colour palette we had gotten use to. Removing most of this green filter is what makes the 4k look warmer and clearer at times.
Still a gold standard of modern film making even today, imo. I also use this movie to test out my sound system whenever I pick up a new version of the movie. I just never bothered with the bluray version as I believe the transfer wasnt that great. But I do have this movie on VHS, and DVD more than once, and now 4K.
The Super 8 releases tended towards green Sparky which suggests the green hue was there to a certain extent. The Super 8's came from a 35mm print and although I never purchased these extracts we did screen them at the film collector conventions. Shame I haven't got a copy to double-check but it is how I remember the film at the cinema and only ever saw the Super 8 extracts until this 4K release so I'm not sure how I'd have thought the green hue was a good representation of the 35mm otherwise. Maybe the previous releases were far greener. What do you think? John.
@@moviecollector5920 I wish I had an old VHS player to try my VHS copy again. But I generally dont remember the film being so green tinted in the cinema, and I saw that movie a lot in the cinema when it came out back in '99. I had one of those unlimted cinema passes and ended up seeing it many times with my friend, along side The Phantom Menace and Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me. Haha
@@Sparkykelly1 I didn't go to the premiere cinema to see The Matrix - don't know why as I lived in the centre of London - but saw it at the little multiplex just along Tottenham Court Road. I'd been used to premiere prints and so The Matrix with its origination from the internegative (meaning it was an extra three generations down to a premiere print) along with some poor quality computer graphics meant it didn't leave as great an impression as it could have. I remember not liking the colour palette much but I did understand the film makers were trying to create an alternative reality so giving it all a bit of extra green certainly helped with that. What I need is a time machine so I can go back and check my memory!
Now The Phantom Menace - I thought that was pretty terrific and still do. But I didn't like the two follow-ups much. I like The Phantom Menace so much in fact that I have a 35mm print and interestingly the Blu-ray has had bits added into it. I couldn't believe it and turned it off after about ten minutes. Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me was great fun too. Those were the days.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 most of the graphics were groundbreaking for their time and have since been copied to death. I think it was an age thing as I was 19 when it came out. My mate was so taken by it he ended up wearing a long black leather coat and had the straps on his combats. 😂
I agree with you about Phantom Menace it is definitely the better of the prequels.
I can't watch the Star Wars Blu-rays. They completely ruined my favourite Return of the Jedi with that woeful CGI band in Jabbas palace.
@@Sparkykelly1 I have the re-worked Return of the Jedi on LaserDisc but I've never actually watched it. I saw the first two re-hashed films at the Odeon Marble Arch which was good fun but I think it should have been a one-off and then back to normal to this day. Sadly the situation has deteriorated further but if it gets people into the films and brings in the money then that's what it's all about. The Matrix had to be an age thing. I had been working in IT most of my life and so it didn't come across as particularly original like the earlier Tron had done and some of the computer work wasn't very good but no one else seemed to notice. It was early days of computer animation and I suppose I should have been more impressed with it but to this day I still prefer the wizardry and artistry of working things out practically. Having said that, I do like it when practical effects are then perfected within a computer providing the image has been output at a quality high enough for it not to be noticed. The Matrix is an historic piece of cinema and as you said, has been copied to death. I couldn't have put it better myself.
John.
Hi again John. Your videos are fantastic. You said something on this one about the film having a greenish hue. Seems a lot of people have not gotten the memo that this is a deliberate color switch to let you know anytime we are in the virtual world of the matrix. Scenes in the real world have normal color. Thanks for all you do!
That makes a lot of sense so thank you for confirming it. I remember the overall green hue in the cinema but I also remember how poor the image quality was compared to what we'd become used to by then. Watching it again on 4K I can see that some of the full computer generated scenes weren't finished as that is where the low quality is evident and probably caused my thinking back when THE MATRIX was first released. By 'not finished' it's obvious to see those scenes were rendered at lower quality and possibly as low as standard definition. It's a shame they weren't put right for this release but it's all money so understandable.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thanks for the reply John. Still curious as to the number of titles in your collection. I’m now pushing toward 6300. Years ago I received as a gift a set of Blade Runner movies that had about 4 or 5 different cuts including the directors rough cut. Wow it has come a long way since then. BR is my all time number one movie. Take care.
@@beck645 It that's the 4K Final Cut multi-disc of BLADE RUNNER then I have the same release. I would liked to have had the original and best version of the film in 4K but alas, no one wants us to watch that version now. A friend does have a 35mm print though and I keep teasing him about letting me have it. As for the number of titles in our collection here I really can't tell you. It's not 6,300 though. If you break down all the individual Super 8 releases back to how they were purchased then the Super 8 collection probably has more than 500 titles, LaserDisc about 150, VHS about 75 and then the CD sized video discs of all formats up to 4K about 1,000. On top of that though there are myriad documentaries and television series on DVD and Blu-ray with a 4K or two too. A few standard 8mm, 16mm and 35mm titles too of course. John.
Great review as always John. Even in 7 short min, you pack so much history and technical info, I always leave informed. And most of all, thank you for clearing up the controversy over the current look of the film. Most my memories of this movie come from seeing on DVD, where the green tint was very minimal. Upon rewatching it on HBO Max recently, I found myself put off by the green tint so much, I ended up pausing the movie and tried to mess with my TV settings. Thank god you actually saw the film in theaters and can confirm such info. Sorry to add more pressure, but can’t wait for the Apocalypse Now video. Cheers.
Most people on here are confirming that the film always had that green hue so it does appear my memory was correct. I remember that it looked pretty awful for a 35mm at that time but the good thing is that the 4K matches my memory so it's as good as it could possibly be.
Apocalypse Now by contrast is a thing of beauty. I think it's the best 35mm video transfer I've ever seen.... and I'm including the 4K of Jaws in that.
John.
Great review as always! Well I remember The Matrix as it looked in the movie theater back in 1999. It didn't have that much of a green tint as the DVD and BluRay editions if memory serves and yes: many but not all of the effects shots looked softer in quality, but they were so stunning that I didn't mind at all. Here on UA-cam you have some open matte shots from The Matrix, meaning that it was shot on 35mm 4-perf (very likely for TV), to be cropped top and bottom for theatrical release prints. IMDb says just 35mm, but it might have been Super 35. Didn't know that VistaVision was used for some effects shots. My guess is that the 4K disc was made from a new scan of the negative, which has the effects shots interspliced.
Well I admire your patience explaining to people why 2.39:1 (or 2.4:1) and even correctly presented 1.85:1 movies have black bars top and bottom on a 16:9 screen. I tried for many years to explain to my late mom, why movies shot on 1.33:1 or 1.37:1 have massive black pillars on the sides. "There is no image on the sides, that's where the film or video image ends". Her reply: "But I bought a 16:9 screen and I want a 16:9 image!" I said: "OK, never mind." It was in vain and it will be with a lot of other people who are not stupid, but can't get their heads around what aspect ratio and zooming is all about. As always: all the best!
The green tint has been pushed up more and more with each release. It was not much of tint in theaters. The open matted 1.78:1 HBO HD version (long ago retired from viewing) is the least green tinted and closest to the original theatrical presentation. I had that recorded to a DVHS tape many years ago, but it had audio dropouts so I eventually tossed it.
@@ItsTimePictures Thanks for the information. Yes I remember, the open matte shots of The Matrix were 16:9 (1.78:1), so the camera format might have been Super 35 3-perf. You have a similar issue with Titanic and Se7en, both shot on Super 35 with many different aspect ratios being released, 2.39:1 being the theatrical format which IMHO looks best and most balanced.
I saw Titanic in 70mm at the Odeon.... but it didn't improve the film any!!!
Most people have been saying that The Matrix is less green now than it was but finally matches the original cinema release. I don't know what the whole truth is but my recollection is of a dour, green looking film that could have done with some colour. However, I do appreciate it was deliberate, depressing look and in that regard it worked. If any of us were living in the real world portrayed in The Matrix I think we'd all want to get back into the computer world asap!
John.
I still contend that the third movie is underrated as an over-the-top action spectacular. The second movie really turned a lot of people off because of some of the convoluted storytelling, but I found the second hour of Revolutions to be really exciting and very visually impressive.
I'm sure that one day I'll get to give the pair of sequels a spin. I simply didn't see The Matrix at a young enough age so it wasn't the groundbreaking film to me that it was to so many younger cinemagoers. John.
@@moviecollector5920 It’s definitely a product of it’s time. I shared it with my two teen boys recently, and they only cared that they now got lots of Internet meme references. They didn’t find the movie to be any great shakes.
@@LeeClontz It does seem to have been a film of its time for a particular generation who have kept it dear to them ever since. I wonder how this predicted fourth film in the series is going to fare. I guess they're going to have to give it a major reworking to update it for today's youngsters. John.
You know my friend know the difference between knowing the path, and walking it!
Another great review!
You always come up with something Jørn - well done! John.
For years I avoided the Matrix sequels because everyone told me they be bad, and I believed and followed like a mindless sheep. It all changed when 2 people I deeply respect essentially told me they were never "bad" and I need to check them out. I'm glad I did. I assume you haven't died in the year that followed this review, so you still have time.
The Matrix isn't exactly one of my favourite films so I never fancied seeing a follow up. However, last years sequel rather intrigues me so you never know. Thanks for the push. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Well, you definitely don't HAVE to. Especially if you don't love the original all that much. All I can tell you is the trilogy was planned almost entirely from the start, and the deal was "if 1st makes a lot of money, we can make the other 2 however we like". The 4th movie was never planned, and conceived by the WB higher ups, to capitalize on nostalgia. But that is something you can choose not to believe, since that's 2nd hand insider info.
I found it to be one of my favorite remasters. The lighting in most scenes is done miles better than on the blu ray.
There has been much discussion about the levels of green in each release and the general consensus is that the 4K is closer to the original theatrical prints. It was a deliberate grade applied to the film but it does mean the image quality isn't as good as it could have been. Does disguise some of the more dodgy computer images though so that's possibly a major reason for it. John.
@@moviecollector5920 The Matrix shown at the Manchester imax was spot on in colour and vision but i agree with you isn't a great film.. who cares when watching imax a great experience.
@@hildamontes6146 Good point Graham -a big screen is what does most to enhance the enjoyment a film. John.
Ah hah John, the screen size. Last year I bought a 120" Stewart Filmscreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Realized I'd made a mistake and 4 weeks later bought a 150" 2.35:1 screen and never looked back. The almost unused 1.78 lives in my garage. As for the Matrix, it's such an amazing experience and the 4K Atmos is the best it's looked. Color grading issues are finally fixed. Agree with your assessment. Stay well!
I remember about your screen choices Robert but you did the right thing by going for the 'Scope screen in the end. As for The Matrix, it's a much-loved film that has had an influence on cinema to this day. I'm not sure if it's a good influence up to now but I think the poor image quality of the past from around the time of The Matrix does seem to be getting sorted. We're not back to the peak of the 35mm quality in the mid-1990s by any means but a lot of low quality 2K projectors are being retired and computers are about to take a giant leap so when that happens it won't be long before low quality computer image rendering all but disappears too. The future looks bright assuming cinemas survive this awful Covid-19 period.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I am sure cinemas will be OK based on this weekends US box office data. Quiet Place 2 and Cruella both did well. I don't think us two oldie HT geeks are a good barometer 🤪. Last night I introduced my son to his first viewing of "Apocalypse Now". He was very impressed, as I was on my first cinematic viewing in 1979/80. The 4K Final Cut package is amazing. Sound is revelatory with bass extension through the floor. Atmos is used superbly with helicopters and jungle ambience. I don't think we've heard your views on this one. Would make a fun video! Luc asked me to get predator next. So the 8 disc ($37) package is arriving tomorrow. Will report back. Bestest from CA.
@@Celestialrob Apocalypse Now is so good on 4K it really is like looking at a film. I was so impressed with that Final Cut 4K that I watched the original version of the film on Blu-ray with the result that I now have the six disc set en route from America! I want to see the unaltered film in the same quality as The Final Cut so I can finally experience the film as I did in 1979. One of three artistic masterpieces of cinema as far as I'm concerned. The other two being Blade Runner and 2001 A Space Odyssey. Hang 'em on the wall and simply admire them.
Predator on 4K should be very good because the Super 8 prints back in 1991 were among the best to ever be struck on the gauge.
Good news about cinema in the USA. I think we've lost quite a few more cinemas in the UK during the past year or so. It's possibly not looking so good here but those that survive may thrive once all the propaganda ends and people are no longer frightened to go out.
John.
This is one of the best UA-cam channels
Thank you Squid. Apocalypse Now next... I hope! John.
The blu-ray available in the UHD set is very different from the previous SDR release of the movie (which was a carbon copy of the HD-DVD disc). Whereas the newly 4K scan gives the film a more organic look ans a very fine grain structure, the color grading is very discutable. They clearly made a rough 100nits conversion of the HDR metadatas and whites are clipped on the 1080p disc presentation.
The new atmos track is too heavy on low end bass for my taste in comparison to the original 5.1 track. I don't mind new tracks and atmos remixes when the editor gives us the choice to choose the lossless original mixing. (criterion).
I think The Matrix on the 4K discs looks as I remember it Spike but I was disappointed at the cinema so I think it's as good as it can be and we can't ask for more than that. John.
Great as always John. Your channel has quickly become my favorite movie review channel. Keep up the good work. Can't wait for your thoughts on Apocalypse Now. My all time favorite movie.
Apocalypse Now is so good on 4K that I can't quite believe it. That's the delay because if I'm going to tell everyone that it may well be better than the 4K of Jaws (and that was scanned at 6K of course) then there have got to be other reputable opinions to either confirm or counter what I'm saying. So Mondo Chelloveck Movies has been pressed into action and one or two other chaps hopefully too. I want them to get something prepared simultaneously.
John.
The really old movie buffs here thank you for explaining to people why letterboxing was and continues to be the best way to watch a movie at home correctly. 😁👍
I think I should design and patent some sort of top and bottom automated masking for televisions! John.
The first time I ever saw this film was on DVD with that green tint. When I watched the 4k I was amazed at how different it looks. The 4k is a must have
I never did see the DVD but I remember the green hue in the cinema. Do you think it's even more green now because I can't really remember too well? John.
@@moviecollector5920 I was told that it was more of a white hue originally but green hue was added later in the dvd releases
@@cheetahluv210 My recollection was of a dowdy looking green film at the cinema but my memory may be playing tricks on me. Let's see what others on here think because some have already suggested the green hue was largely removed for the DVD and Blu-ray releases. Interesting. John.
@@cheetahluv210 the movie always had green in it, but the later DVD and Bluray release was digitally regraded with a much heavier blanket green tint. From what I can tell, The new 4K transfer fixes this and makes it look closer to how the movie originally looked in 1999.
The whole idea of this reminds me of a short SF story I read in an anthology book, several decades ago so don't expect me to remember the title. In this a man fought a war to free people who he thought were captive living their lives out fastened to beds and having induced dreams. In the end it turned out that he was a dangerous criminal and that he was the one imprisoned and dreaming.
Also if people think this at 2.40:1 is leaving too much unused screen what would they think of the Ultra Panavision
ones that are 2.70:1 (Ben Hur, The Hateful Eight etc.)
That short story sounds like the sort of thing I spent my time reading during my late teenage years and early 20s Brian. With regard to Ultra Panavison, I think we're going to find out what people think of that soon but most aren't going to like it because they won't understand it. Funny to think Cineavision produced Ben-Hur in 2.35:1 for Super 8. John.
you’re killing it with the uploads man, keep it up!
Thank you Caden. I enjoyed revisiting The Matrix to analyze it but quite surprised that the film still isn't for me. I've realized I'm simply too old for it and always have been really. John.
The Matrix Atmos mix is one of the best. You can really show off home setup with that mix. Whoever did this mix needs to get all future Atmos upgrades for older movies.
Can you give it a comparison to the 5.1 for us Luis and see if you can spot much difference. Because I've got a high end system I can't realistically invest another £5k to 6K in an equivalent Dolby Atmos sound system (it wouldn't fit in the room in any case) but on not such high end systems I expect there will be more of a noticeable difference between 5.1 and full Atmos so I'd be interested to know what you think.
John.
Really look forward to your reviews, keep up the good work.
Thank you. It should finally be Apocalypse Now next and it's one of the best I've seen. All will be revealed! John.
I've got a 35mm print of the first Animatrix. The only one to get a theatrical release before they scrapped that idea.
It was a 35mm print that enabled the release of 'Osiris' onto Super 8. A great little release it was too. John.
"There is no sequel"
I've not seen either of them but I think I get what you mean. John.
I would agree that the first hour is on the slower side. But I wouldn't link the movie and gamers. I'm sure theres some connection there somewhere, but I see it closer to an evolution of John Woos earlier films. That second half of the movie moves, with some fantastic action sequences. I doubt we'd have say the Raid movies, without the matrix.
My only gripe with the movie, is that there is a 16x9 open matte image out there that looks so much better than the 2:4:1 thats out there now.
A few people have mentioned a 1.85:1 video transfer but cinema enthusiasts are going to prefer the original aspect ratio. My guess is that the narrower version was a possibility for television broadcasts but since 1999 black bars top and bottom have become accepted so there's no requirement for it. Seems like it was shot Super 35 though so that explains some of the poor imagery in amongst the good.
My feeling is that if I'd have been a teenager when I saw this I'd have loved it. I was getting on a bit by then though and had been in IT for many years so it didn't have that same impact as it had on the younger members of the audience because I was basically living in that world and had long considered we were in a computer programme!
John.
Great review John :) I think The Matrix is a decent sci-fi film but a bit overrated in my opinion. The Matrix Reloaded is a really bad sequel but The Matrix Revolutions is slightly better. I'm not sure if I will bother to watch the new film but we'll see.
The new film may surprise us all. Perhaps if they are able to render all the effects shots in 4K and ensure they are up to the best of the modern era then we'll finally see what others see in The Matrix. Whatever, that 1999 film was cinematic history and it's had a lasting impact.
John.
Hi Movie Collector I enjoy watching your videos and I have a question, do you know when the original 1984 A Nightmare On Elm Street is coming to 4k Blu-Ray? I have been waiting for it and I hope to see it soon. thanks
I think the original 1984 film recently had a new Blu-ray so unless it was a 4K transfer it seems unlikely. That was a very creepy film to see in a nearly deserted massive cinema one Monday evening back then I can tell you. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Yeah I bet, I was 6yrs old when I first saw it on HBO, slept in my parents room for a year lol. Sure hope it gets a 4k release, thanks and take care
@@kennyjurgens9084 In the meantime it might be worth snapping up the 2K Blu-ray just in case it sells out and no longer available. It's a great horror film but a bit of a shame it was flogged to death with all the sequels which has sullied the first, classic film somewhat. I did enjoy a few of those sequels though. John.
@@moviecollector5920 I will do that while I'm waiting, yeah I thought part 3 was good
The Matrix has a history of bad transfers on home media with the color correction being all wrong. This 4k release was the first time we got a faithful transfer of The Matrix on home media. That is why everyone took notice of this release.
It looks like it did in the cinema as far as I recall so however poor it may look we can't ask for better than that. John.
Solid review good sir! As always.
I am glad they put the original color correction back into the movie. Because on Blu-ray it was ruined.
It does rather spoil the image quality on this 4K disc though but as that's the way it looked back in 1999 that's all we can ask for. John.
Movie fact: The Wachowski brothers are now sisters. They are now named Lana and Lilly.
This was done by a pair of brothers Ethan. I guess something has changed since then. John.
@@moviecollector5920 yeah brothers then now sisters. I only found out about a year ago and when you read the specs of the directorial credits, they have changed the names much to my confusion
great video again, looking forward to apocalypse now!
Me too! I've done a lot of preparatory work though so it's coming. John.
I thought the new color grading was a touch too saturated on the 4K but that’s based off the original laserdiscs & DVD transfers that had a much more subtle color grading than even the 4K.
The transfers on DVD especially is good but the 4K has it beat obviously in clarity. I actually like the Animatrix more than the matrix. The segment I love is the runner bit.
They should have made this like avatar; this world is actually tailor made for it unlike avatar.
I do recall it looking the same as the 4K in the cinema and others have been confirming that. This means it's a good 4K disc even if the image quality isn't what we'd have expected from 35mm in 1999.
John.
May as well order this one. What better way to show off my new 65” oled tv,unless John you recommend another 4K disc to demonstrate instead? Great video.
The Matrix isn't one of the better quality movies to show off a telly or projector Chuckyboy but if you love the film you are going to be very pleased with it. It was never the best looking film largely owing to so much computer effects work with some of the 100% computer shots apparently compiled at standard definition. These stick out somewhat and did in the cinema when it was first on release. If you want the best to get the best out of your new telly then TENET is going to be up there as it's the best on my current video projector and second best on the older video projector. That's a good sign it will look terrific on anything and it should given it's [mainly] off the scale 15/70 origin.
John.
Cheers for another great review John! I just watched the Matrix 4K last week I'm with you as it was exactly the same quality at the Cinema at release, I think I saw it 6 times;) I also have the Animatrix which I have on DVD and Blu-ray. Such a great addition to the Matrix universe. I'll be purchasing the sequels asap.
Thank you Danek. A few people are saying that the green hue was added following the release of the sequels to make the series look the same as the two later films. I always remembered The Matrix as being a dowdy looking, green film but it may be my memory playing tricks. Whatever, that depressing look was deliberate so it achieved the desired result. John.
@@moviecollector5920 definitely had and always has had a green hue.
@@danekunderhill4812 Thank you Danek. I'll be a bit more insistent about this with other commenters now then. John.
@@moviecollector5920 the green hue was to indicate when they were in the Matrix if my memory is correct and I think they even removed some blue as well.
Great video! I was also a fan of that release. I’m wondering if you have picked up the new 4K release of My Fair Lady? I think you would like it, Paramount says they scanned the 70mm film print in 8K. It looks amazing!
If you like 70mm the Batman v Superman 4K looks superb.
Thank you Carter. My Fair Lady wasn't out when I was in HMV a couple of weeks ago so it will have to wait. It should be among the best 4K releases because it originated on 65mm negative film so it would be a heck of a cods up if it wasn't one of the best. That 65mm/70mm film frame equates to about 15K in computer terms - and that's compressed too so we really should have the top modern releases shot with it all the time. Kenneth Branagh's 70mm production of Death on the Nile is out in October so we'll all need to support 70mm screenings of that.
John.
Never says never as far as I'm concerned. The clip of Batman vs. Superman I saw last week looked much better than the trailer so it's possible I'll pick a copy up. First it will be The Dark Knight trilogy and I'll see where I go from there. But Batman vs. Superman may be a little different from My Fair Lady so Carter may not really appreciate superhero type of films!
John.
Another great informative review
Thank you Simon. A more historic film than I ever gave it credit for I think. John.
Movie Collette....... Hello again from Munich, some facts here, Rambo 3 in 1988 cost 60 million dollars The Matrix in compare 11 years later only 63 million dollars and now you can see how expensive Rambo 3 was because Rambo 3 was the most expensive Hollywood film of all time until 1990/1991 (T2), fact Nr 2 the originally intended Cinemascope frame (1953) was 2.55: 1 and not 2.35: 1/ 2.40: 1, fact Nr 3 to me the MATRIX trilogy lookes A1 in 4K including A1 DOLBY ATMOS remix on all specially 1+3 with many overhead effects, many thanks for your A1 review (as usual) i preordered David Lynch Dune on UHD twice the UK + German Edition see you soon
I think Ben-Hur was 2.77:1 so there have been variations on the 'Scope frame over the years but I don't want to throw too much information at people otherwise they won't take it in. Ultra Panavision, Super Panavision, Panavision, CinemaScope, SuperScope, TechniScope... there are so many variants but it would be a bit much to go through them all during a film review.
The Matrix is a good 4K because although it's hardly one of the best any of us have seen, it does look just like the original 35mm release and we can't ask for better than that. Sound is fabulous but it always was. An historic film but you had to be a certain age to really like it... and I was too old then and way too old now. John.
If you could freely pick 3 films to come to 4k UHD, what would those be? That maybe is a good idea for video? I would pick Amadeus, There will be blood and Barry Lyndon. Thanks for the video John, always a privilege and a pleasure to watch your content.
Blade Runner, Apocalypse Now and 2001 A Space Odyssey. Looks like I'm sorted then! Good question John - something I hadn't thought about.
John.
Nice review John.........Iv the same 4k release, was very cheap 15e, I'm very happy with it ...like you said a slight upgrade over the standard Blu ray.
Looking forward to Apocalypse now👌👌👌👌
By contrast, Apocalypse Now is a fabulous 4K disc Roy. Although I have to say that it's similar in one regard because just like The Matrix, Apocalypse Now looks exactly as I remember the 35mm I saw at the cinema. The difference is that Apocalypse Now looks great and The Matrix doesn't! John.
Really interesting debates in the comment section on weather the film is good or holds the test of time. While I agree that this movie was targeted at a younger audience, one can't deny that certain influences like ghost in the shell or world on a wire did actually manage to have more engaging characters. The concept of living in a simulation has been done many times, total recall, one of your reviews John, is one of them. But one also can't deny that certain sequences still out do most of today's action movies in terms of fight choreography, sound design, editing and a great score. I love the movie for nostalgic reasons, but the "film Connaisseur" inside me, and being a film maker myself, I just can't handle many of the stylistic choices (sunglasses, black leather fetish clothing, a lot of the muted coloring... Living in a "simulation" like that, a death metal/Gothic wet dream, most people would want to leave asap)... Love your reviews, greetings from Vienna
That's a great comment Götz and you've probably told me what I don't like about the film without me having to really think about it. My work colleagues used to talk with me about how if any of us were living in the real world within The Matrix movies we'd all went to get back to sleep in the virtual world. That was a bit of a flaw because real life in The Matrix was so awful we'd all want to get the hell out of it! There was no ending either. There was no solution to that awful life for any of them it just went off. I found that a bit odd to say the least but no doubt the film makers were thinking of sequels.
John.
The 4k Matrix was a big surprise for me. Had the bluray and did not expect much improvement, however it turned out to be one of best looking 4k discs I have. Could not believe the q on this one
It's just a shame that for much of it it really doesn't look very good but that was the original film so there's nothing that can be done now. This is probably as good as it's going to get unless the various effects houses kept all the elements and someone wants to go back and re-work a whole lot of them into a true high definition image. I think some of them were only about 300 lines by the look of 'em!!! John.
Could you review Forbidden Plant on Blu Ray ?
That's not one on my radar Justin but I did enjoy it when I last saw it about 20 years ago. John.
Revolutions was a great sequel. I saw it at a sold showing at the Imax in Bradford. In terms of sound and picture it was an amazing presentation.
I will have to look the sequel up now Des because I don't think any of it was IMAX so it was just an enlargement to fill the width of the screen as I don't think it's likely they would have been able to fill the height. Amazing that they put it up there on such a big screen so it must have been better image quality than the original film. I hope so anyway. I did see Gravity at the Waterloo IMAX and it destroyed the film. Watch it at home from the Blu-ray and it's fabulous.
John.
Quality review - I appreciate you noting the very important difference between faithfully reproducing an imperfect original image and just a bad transfer. Loving your work.
One thing - it's actually 'The Wachowski sisters'. Both Lana and Lily have come out as trans women in the years since making the trilogy, but in truth they've always been trans - in fact, The Matrix itself contains a lot of very deliberate symbolism and allegory about the trans experience. It's quite fascinating seen through that lens.
Thank you Cameron. I think The Matrix looks just as I remember it - but that wasn't particularly great I suppose.
I didn't know the Wachowski brothers weren't brothers. I suppose being listed as 'sisters' might have meant they weren't taken as seriously years ago but not a problem today I hope. John.
Deadly video.I had heard mixed things about this 4k,might give it a miss.Looking forward to the apocalypse now review.
Yes, it's not exactly the best image quality we've seen. If you like the film then you should like the 4K but if not I don't think it's one that can be recommended. Well, that'll save a bit of money for a change David! John.
I remember going out of my way to buy the widescreen VHS when it was initially released and the quality was horrendous! I wonder how the new movie will fare without Laurence Fishburne? Thanks for the video.
I can only imagine how awful The Matrix would have looked on video tape because the whole look and hue of the film is not conducive to a decent VHS recording. Not as bad as red, but the green look combined with the dull colours doesn't really bare thinking about on VHS which struggled with dark content.
I presume they killed off the Laurence Fishburne character. That's a shame because he's good in everything he appears in and his shoes will be hard to fill. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Yes, according to the internet Morpheus was killed off in a video game, Hugo Weaving also couldn't return due to scheduling conflicts. Will be interesting.
Brilliant review as always. You are an excellent narrator.
Very kind of you to say Protheus. John.
In my opinion alot of movies have been cropped from 1.85:1 to 2.35:1, i think they did it to look "fancy" I find it distracting to never see over anyone's head. There is an open matte version of the Matrix, and I think it looks much better.
Often with movies shot in a certain ratio, that use masks upon projection to crop them to that ratio, you can see microphone booms and other things with the mattes removed. If I could show sections of my Super 8 print of Jurassic Park you'd see all sorts of information on the bottom of the screen when the full computer image frames come up. The rest of it looks fine in 1.66:1 or 1.33:1 but it was designed primarily for a 1.85:1. I think The Matrix had to be released in the 'Scope frame ratio because it's simply that type of film and it wouldn't have looked anywhere near as impressive on a smaller screen.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I do understand that not every movie screen can be extra tall to fit the 1.85:1 and keep the same width as 2.35:1. But sometimes I feel there's pressure on the movie industry to make you feel like you can't get the same experience at home. Even if it mean cropping out useful bits. If a film is shot on 35mm or super 35mm, and they used a spherical lense, there is no reason to display it in 2.35:1. Thanks for your quick response. I have just gotten into 4k collecting, and I have watched most of your videos over the last month. Keep up the good work!
@@Jarrizar I think the recent re-branding of the once great IMAX name is causing a bit of confusion because they're passing off 1.78:1 video projection as IMAX and those cinemas using this are making cinema goers think they're seeing something extra special. The widescreen phenomenon begun by Cinerama in 1952 and then CinemaScope in 1953 brought about the revolution and it was always a special thing to see the masking move out and out and out to give the amazing wide images from which to enjoy a film. Television is currently trying to catch up but is not really an ideal medium for the film formats as it's a fixed box and means that a 1.78:1 ratio movie is the optimum. With projection it is still possible to facilitate that thrilling widescreen process when the masking moves out to reveal the full width of the screen. That is how the best movies were projected and that is why The Matrix had to fill that wide frame. To exhibit The Matrix at 1.78:1 or 1.85:1 would have cheapened it. The fact that the image quality would have been far more impressive at the smaller ratio is a subject for another discussion! I always felt short changed by a 1.66:1 or 1.85:1 film in the cinema and I still do in the home today. But it can be a lot of fun to replicate the current 1.78:1 trend in the home but opening all the masks up fully. I'm just about able to get the height in at the moment but if I ever manage to get the builder in, there's no way I'll be able to fit it which means 2.40:1 or 2.66:1 films will be the most exciting once again. That's really what the 'Scope frame is all about and why The Matrix has that screen ratio.
John.
Correct me if I’m mistaken, but I only remember the green hue being a thing after one of the Blu-Ray releases, some time after the whole trilogy had come out and the other two movies were really green- like they tried to match it, retroactively. That’s a bummer that it’s not that good, but I trust your opinion haha. Matrix 1 and Labyrinth were next on my purchase list, but I’ve heard such mixed reviews for both.
PS- LOVE the Animatrix. Used to watch that a lot.
Yeah there was a remaster done in 2004 that digitally regraded the original film with a heavier green tint, closer matching the sequels. It was released in a DVD set and then later the HD-DVD and Bluray releases.
The new UHD transfer smokes those releases, and was supervised by the director of photography- there’s some green in the image, but it’s much closer to the original theatrical look and isn’t as heavy or consistent.
Good to hear from you again Timothy. There has been much discussion on here about how the film looked and when but nothing entirely definitive to report yet. A link to a 35mm transfer of the film suggests it was more normal to look at on original release but that's not my recollection. Could be my memory playing tricks of course but we don't know if that 35mm transfer has been colour corrected although I feel that's unlikely. Whatever the case, the 4K disc isn't a brilliant advert for the format but to be fair to it, it didn't exactly have the best starting point with The Matrix being comparatively poor image quality in cinemas. The downturn had already started in 1999 but not many cinemagoers seemed to notice.
John.
I agree with another comment I've seen here about being blown away by The Matrix when it first came out only to be incredibly bored of it today. I always remember the buzz around the DVD coming out and how the disc was supposedly helping people to make the jump from watching movies on VHS and Laser Disc to a new DVD player. My wife's a fan of the movie so I'll probably grab it in the 2 for £30 at some point. John, on the subject of Laser Disc, where did you buy yours from back in the day? I used to get Pal Discs from our local Andy's Records & HMV in Manchester but used LVS a hell of a lot for the US AC-3 imports before moving over to DVD. I'll never forget receiving Tomorrow Never Dies on DVD then quickly moving back to the US AC-3 Disc because the DVD Picture and Audio quality wasn't a patch on the Laser Disc. LVS used to advertise in Home Cinema Choice around the late 90's, I wonder what became of them.
I used to get LaserDiscs from Tower Records on Piccadilly Circus, HMV on Oxford Street and Virgin Records on Oxford Street. Those were the days but now all we have left is HMV. We need to be careful that they survive.
DVD came out in 1997 so I suppose a lot of people were first getting into it around 2000 and The Matrix would have been a major release at the time. John.
I love the Matrix movies sharkie, i have bought them on 4K and need to re-watch them one day
I think I'll actually treat the wife to the trilogy box set Paul. Its her birthday next week. Funnily enough as I type this I'm currently back on Cyberpunk.
Thanks for reviewing this movie, John! Never saw this in the cinema, but I was blown away when I rented it later on. I loved the story telling and how another world is being revealed of sort. Probably my favorite action movie of all time, but I haven't watched it again for a long time. I kinda fear it has aged quite a bit. I can't really say much about the picture quality since I never saw it in the cinema or on blu-ray/4k. The sequels were ok, but didn't capture the magic of the first one.
It's a film that appealed to a certain age Bjørnar and I was about 15 years too old in 1999. There is much love for the first Matrix film out there so with another sequel about to be issued, let's hope it gets a lot of people back into cinemas and they all thrive again. John.
For serious anime fans, I think it's worth picking up a Japanese edition of The Animatrix. Having Japanese audio (with subtitles) to accompany the Japanese animation adds a unique layer of authenticity to the experience.
That would be fun to run in synch with the Super 8 Osiris sequence. Now you've got me thinking! John.
John, thank you for the positive words about CinemaScope and other 2.4:1 aspect ratio formats. More and more I’m finding we are kindred spirits! I’ve set up my home theater with a 2.4:1 screen, and leave it unmasked, since most of my viewing is 2.4:1 anyway. It’s a luxurious and transportive way to enjoy our favorite movies as we saw them in the 70s and 80s. Without having to hit 88 miles per hour!
Thank you Jamil. I don't think you can beat the wide 'Scope frame. Films always had something extra special about them when the full width of the screen was unveiled in the cinemas. If you have the room for a curtain track you might find you really enjoy being able to bring in a black mask at the sides. I love all that sort of thing as it brings back memories of happy times in cinemas around the world.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I think that’s just the encouragement I needed to add that project to the queue! I just got “done” with a rebuild of a 2008 home theater in the house I just bought, but I am making a list for the next round of improvements. I do have full control of light in the room and curtains as well, so the sides of the screen aren’t visible in 16:9 viewing, but I still like the moving masks aspect to recreate the classic cinema experience. This project is another reason your channel is so timely for me, in recreating the theaters I grew up in.
@@JamilMoledina I did all this about 20 years ago and first of all I working it all out without motors and automation and then investigated how to make it all function by the pressing of buttons. Side masking is simple as it's just a corded curtain track. John.
And I thought I was a Batman 89 fan! You have the images from the collector cards blown up and framed on the wall behind you. I just finished both series 1 and 2 after starting collecting in 89 and resuming and finishing this year (33 years later) thanks to E-bay. Super cool man. When and how did you do that?
I believe they're actually the set of eight front of house stills. Do a search for them and all eight turn up from different sources and in quite high quality too. Soon I'm about to go through The Dark Knight films so that should be fun having avoided them over all these years because the Batman series wasn't good after than 1989 classic. John.
@@moviecollector5920 thanks and I totally agree on your take of the Batman series.
Is there any difference between watching a 4K movie digitally (like on Netflix) and on a disc?
4K streamed over the web is likely to be about mid-way between the quality of a DVD and a Blu-ray. It's all about the information that is going to get along a network connection and even the fastest available is going to be tiny compared to a Blu-ray or a UHD Blu-ray. Superficially streaming can look good but I don't bother with it. John.
Streaming services will be much lower bitrate, meaning fine grain and detail is totally lost, anything not moving becomes a blocky mess, and anything moving too much gets a little bit more smeared.
A movie on a 4K disc uses up about 60-70 Gigabytes of Data, whereas most streaming services try to squeeze that into the low tens
Have this Trilogy on 4k and still have the original DVD boxset including the animatrix, enjoyed all the content in this franchise and eagerly await the Matrix 4 at the end of the year, although not sure where the movie will take us and whether after all this time it will work. I would like to see it on a imax screen as think it will be stunning hopefully a trailer will drop soon ! 👍
I only rewatch the first one. I wouln't get my hopes up with the 4th one.
I think anyone going to see a new Matrix film today is going to have to be prepared for a near wall to wall CGI laden production. Special things can be done of course (Gravity for example) but because the universe created in The Matrix looked so dowdy it's probably not going to be very good to look at. I hope I'm wrong and anyone who loves this series will be to enjoy a new film as much as they enjoyed the first. John.
I really like the matrix, especially the helicopter scene where the glass Ripple's. That was a good special effect.
Yep, that was excellent Stephen. The ripple in the glass of the skyscraper in particular was something else. John.
I have to disagree on this one, I think picture quality is excellent and the Dolby atmos track is reference quality in my opinion, nice review as always. Looking forward to your take on apocalypse now. Cheers.
It might look better on your system Mr. Serrano. It seemed to look better on my television so maybe the smaller image actually helps with this release. It still doesn't look great though and there's no getting away from the low quality CGI or optical effects that occasionally pop up - not all of them, but some. Try the 5.1 on it and compare it to the Atmos if you fancy a challenge and let me know if you can easily spot the difference. If you've got a high end system then the difference won't be so obvious but it seems to help with smaller speakers.
John.
At first glance I thought it was the Merovingian reviewing the Matrix!
Who says I'm not?!? John.
Haahaa OMG this is hillarious!
Hi john. I just watched my new 4k disc. Goodfellas. I think it’s one of the better 4k discs you can buy.
I bought it cheap so I thought why the hell not.
Great video as always👍
Goodfellas is a film I've succeeded in missing all these years so if I see one going cheap I think I'll knab it too now. John.
If the blu ray menu is the same as the uhd (the menu that has the rabbit) is the 4k master version, if the bluray goes directly to the movie is the old release, or another way to see if is the old or new is seeing if is AVC or VC1, AVC is the new version with the new master (the 4k based) and it has the Dolby Atmos, the VC1 didn't had it.
I have no problem with the green tint, and the old VC1 versions has a really pronounced green tint, and I don't know why but I prefer those, even that looks a little fuzzy, and comparing both blurays the new one has more grain (in some scenes and close ups) and as you said less color, just the 4k corrects that but sometimes looks a bit blue-ish, I'm fine with both masters just the new bluray had less love with the color grading and the exposure (?), there are scenes that are too bright, it reminded me to the old versions of Leon that when there were outdoor scenes they were over exposed.
I've been watching the whole channel and I've never written a comment, this is an amazing channel, hearing you is like taking a class of history, thank you so much for sharing your experience and opinions.
Thank you Francisco. I think The Matrix has been colour timed as closely as possible to the original 35mm prints now but it came out a little greener than it should have on my video projector. It may have looked better on my television when I gave it a quick check on that but it's hard to tell. I think it's worth playing with the HDR brightness on just about every 4K disc before running it because you'll probably find that turning it down a little on The Matrix and Leon will result in the best possible image. Alternatively - or perhaps additionally - turn the television or projector brightness and/or contrast down a little.
John.
Great review as always. I think the CGI looks off (and always did) due to rendering technology of the late 90s. An inter positive was scanned and digital compositing was done with VFX then it was rendered back out to 35mm before being edited with everything else. The Mummy had the same issues. Phantom Menace did all compositing and editing digitally and looked better as a result. Thanks for the trivia about CinemaScope “mumps!”
Funnily enough, I was just discussing The Phantom Menace with another commenter and how that one worked so much better so you've answered that. Shame the following two Star Wars films were so comparatively awful. 'Clones' is actually the worst image quality I've ever seen in a cinema.
I did see a London special effects company working on a scene in 1997 or 1998 and that was back and forth over three or four frames for hours - tedious, boring and working in a blackened out room - before outputting it to negative 35mm. It was extremely interesting to see and the end results were exceptionally good, but this was the period when picture quality in the cinema was about to take a big downturn from which we still haven't fully recovered. But we'll see a huge improvement in October if we can all get along to a 70mm equipped house for 'Death on the Nile'. I'm heading for Leicester Square!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Looking back on attack of the clones today, it is absolutely laughable that they thought they could get away with showing it in imax theaters. but we do have to appreciate what those early efforts with digital filmmaking, that early Sony CineAlta which shot 1440x1080 anamorphic with baked in chroma subsampling, would mean for the future, as now we have digitally made films like 1917 and Dune that are simply stunning visually
@@tyjuarez 1917 certainly is a great image to look at Ty, but it's too clean and that takes away some of the reality. When I did my review video for Dune I didn't realize they had attempted to put the reality into it by transferring it to film and back again and I thought the grain I was seeing was video noise because it was so dark for much of it. It looks a bit better on my telly (of course it would because of the size differential) but it's still overly dark, particularly for most of the last 20 minutes or so. There are better movies shot on video out there and Le Mans '66 is the one I always recommend. That was shot on video but has the realism of a movie shot on film. Video is certainly getting there now but that first attempt with Attack of the Clones did not do cinema any favours. Yes, there had already been a downturn in image quality owing to digital effects (and that's where The Matrix suffered a bit) but Attack of the Clones took that downturn to a new low. Because hardly anyone complained they got away with it and it was accepted as the future. Now cinema offers little above what you can do in your own home and that's a big reason why cinema is under such threat today. Cinema should have gone down the large film format route for most big releases, installed systems like D-150 for huge, deeply curved screens and then it would still be the undisputed best way to see a film. But I can't talk really because that whole era after Attack of the Clones caused me to almost completely give up on cinema. As a result of all the poor video projections I paid to see I always check that a real film print is being screened before I hit the road. Top Gun Maverick almost got me out to see a video again though but I couldn't get to central London to see it as I don't trust local cinemas with tiny screens at all any longer.
Right, that's me back off my soap box!
John.
I am absolutely a sucker for this trilogy and really anticipating the Matrix 4. I grow more attached to this saga with every viewing! The sequels, especially Revolutions took longer for me to appreciate but man they have grown on me and I really do enjoy the hell out 'em every time I watch them! John I can tell that the Matrix is not high on your list of favorites, not to worry, I won't hold it against you. 😉
I was hoping I'd really enjoy it like so many others this time around Gilbert but sadly it's simply not for me. Usually I find something in science fiction movies but I suspect I was too old for this one in 1999 and I'm even older now. John.
There was only one film to see in 1999, it certainly wasn't George's Phantom menace. And that's from a lifelong Star wars fan. Although to be fair, most of us caught The Matrix on VHS rental. Once again along with Speed it belongs in the top ten action movies. 2 and 3, don't bother, except for the freeway chase sequence. Now, sorry, but Inception is Nolans masterpiece, and wether on 4k or VCD, you must give this a second chance.
I do plan to take a look at Inception again if I get into Nolan's Dark Knight films. And even if I don't, I think I might see something in Inception that a casual viewing years ago failed to see. John.
are the new blu rays in these sorts of releases gonna be ‘better’ than the existing blu ray releases or is everything taken from the same DI 4k scan done back in (say) 2008
I'm not sure with the Blu-rays in this pack because they're not very good but then the 4K isn't great either (but we need to consider that The Matrix never did look particularly good). It could be a re-dated pressing of the old transfer for the Blu-ray but someone else will hopefully tell us because I don't know. Most new releases have a Blu-ray taken from the 4K master and that is why we often can't tell much difference between the 2K and the 4K. John.
The bluray in the 4K release is the old version repackaged and not the new transfer that comes on the UHD, sadly.
Thanks for this, nice review! I would have loved to hear your take on the HDR presentation; seems like the HDR10 isn’t great, but the Dolby vision is awesome. Some scenes are really dark in HDR10, which is fixed when using DV HDR.
None of it was dark that I can recall. It's just the image quality of this film was never that great so the 4K was never going to look great. It does match my recollection of the film in the cinema though and that surely means it is another great 4K disc but due to its comparatively low quality origins (variable quality in the main is what I'm citing for that statement) it could never act as a good example of the 4K format. Picture quality in the cinemas was on the slide about this time but not many people seemed to notice. I think the computer effects were sidetracking people from noticing the downturn in what we had enjoyed up to the late 1990s. By 2006 things were far, far worse though so it wasn't the worst period yet by any means.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Rather than a true 4K showcase, I just hoped this 4K version would be the best one. And it seems to be the best one with colour grading close to the original theatre release, better image quality and a really nice Dolby Atmos audio track.
Though I do suppose that we're probably not too far off from being able to actually turn stuff that was lower res originally into a higher resolution through AI image reconstruction.
@@thenonexistinghero I think there are just a few noticeably low resolution sequences created entirely in a computer that need to be completely re-created from scratch and then The Matrix will be classed as good image quality. It's the poor CGI in those sequences that spoils it. Also, many comments on claim that the original 35mm general release prints did not look this green but that's what I remember about it and as I didn't see the sequels I don't think I can be too far wrong. What may have happened is that the DVD and Blu-ray was graded without so much green and now it's been put back to how it was as the transfer was done from the negative which means all grading and density has to be re-created and if I were doing that, I'd have a 35mm master print to hand if possible. Being a Warner Brothers release, I can't imagine they wouldn't have had access to a master print. John.
Nice I also have the Kef TDMs package but not it's subwoofer/
That subwoofer is too big Nick so it's a bit pointless in a small room really but I keep it turned down rather than on THX auto. John.
Nice review, liked and subscribed
Thank you BJ. Good to have you with me. John.
Good disc, great review. Thanks again.
Picked up An American Werewolf in London for £30 on Amazon. German edition. Not sure it's any better than the standard Blu-Ray release from Arrow, in 2019, but I had to buy it.
P.S Never watch the Matrix sequels!!!
Keith at Euphoria Pictures has done an enthusiastic review of that German 4K of American Werewolf so worth looking up if you haven't seen it already.
And thank you for the advice regarding the Matrix sequels. There were a few extracts released on Super 8 years ago and I think it says it all when I say that I didn't buy any of them.
John.
Definitely not my favourite movies but very entertaining all the same. Another wonderful review.
I think it was a film for the younger generation in 1999 Stephen and those of us much older than mid-20s at the time didn't stand a chance. But it's an historic piece of cinema history that has had a major impact on the direction of cinema to this day. John.
I really liked watching The Matrix in a theater, but even then I was thinking when will they get to the point already - so many false starts, at least four.
I was at the time starting my fascination with anime, so its influence, particularly of Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell, was exciting to see in a major US blockbuster, so to say. I also loved the soundtrack, songs from artists I knew and liked, and found out about thanks to it, respectively: Rob Zombie, The Prodigy, Massive Attack, Marylin Manson; and Propellerheads, Lunatic Calm, Meat Beat Manifesto, Rob Dougan.
I always say music in films is at least 50% of experience, and a good one can even overshadow mediocre acting, budget, or screenplay, changing the perception to the better. But only a handful of directors actually understand and use that. Most movies have horrific, generic orchestral operatic noise that you can't distinguish from a dozen others like it.
P. S. If you're reading this John, and I know there are lots of comments, and only getting more (which is great) I've noticed a few lobby cards from Alien Resurrection on your home theater walls. Glad you seem to like that part of the franchise, because many don't. I've missed the first three Alien films in theaters, but the 4th one came out right on my 16th birthday, which was the greatest gift, and I went at least 4 times to see it. Today I still appreciate Jean-Pierre Jeunet's style, and I think his preferred color gamma fits the Alien franchise the most.
I think you had to be a youngster to fully appreciate The Matrix because after a certain age we tend to move on from video games and even those of us who don't we don't tend to be so obsessed by them. I may be wrong but I feel that was a big part of the secret of the success of The Matrix.
Good spot on the Alien Resurrection front. People tell me that it looks awful on video so I'm able to reply that I've never seen it on video. I saw it twice at the cinema where it looked fantastic and I held out afterwards in the hope of getting a film print. It never got a Super 8 release but fortunately for me a fellow collector in New Zealand put his 35mm print up for sale and I was able to purchase it. I have run that film so many times since then (about 20 years ago) and I have never tired of it. It's a great looking Alien film with so many little nods and winks to the Alien films that went before it to keep every Alien fan amused. The Aliens have never looked better and the underwater sequence is quite simply special.
John.
Good Morning Sir,
What is the procedure to get myself reels of the movies released dated back ?
35mm is a little obscure these days but perhaps not as obscure as it once was because I'm regularly being told of 35mm films and equipment on eBay and that simply wasn't allowed years ago. For 16mm and Super 8 film I recommend taking a look at Classic Home Cinema. If you haven't already watched my Super 8 Film Gauge video yet give that a view first because I have all the information for Super 8 in there and links in the description.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thank you for sharing your valuable expertise I am new into the world of Videophile.
@@lalatendubehera566 Anytime. It's been a hobby for me since about the age of 2 or 3. John.
The Matrix is an incredible, generational film. Like with all concept / twist movies, does it lose magic over time? There is certainly an argument... but for me, it always blows me away and I love the balance of the story vs action. Bullet time still blows me away and few films have imagination of the matrix, especially the helicopter crash scene. One of my all-time favourite films... everybody has a film of their youth or time in their lives, this was almost mine (Jurassic park or T2 probably overall )
I did feel that it was a computer gamers film but maybe it appealed to youngsters generally. I don't think any of my fellow IT work colleagues particularly liked it but they were all around my age so that's probably why. I still love films from my youth that I'd probably think were cobblers today so we've all been there.
John.
The Matrix is one of the most mis-coloured movies on dvd/blu ray. It had a few different releases as it was one of the movies that was released very early in the development of dvd, and was one of the big selling points of the format (with sony releasing the playstation 2 as one of the first consoles to include a dvd player built in). The colouring of the movie is intentional on the part of the directors, with the colours of the matrix intended to be greys and lacking strong colours with a strong green tint to suggest a feeling that something is wrong with the world. The real world is coloured with a blue hue to suggest a feeling of coldness - but especially in some of the earlier releases - the first dvd release and the first blu ray releases, these colourings were not overseen by the right people and in some cases were overcorrected by mistake. In the blu ray re-relese these were corrected and I expect the 4k should have the same attention to detail - it was especially noticeable in one scene where they put Neo back into the construct for the first time after they have get him into the real world and the edit is as follows:
1 Morpheus says the line ‘this may feel a little strange’.
2: you see the shot of them inserting the pin into the pack of his head.
3 A close up of Keanu’s face in pain.
4 Tank presses a button on a screen to load.
5 The exact same close up of Neo’s face zooms out to show he’s actually inside the construct white room.
Now as 3 and 5 are the exact same shot, just framed close so you can’t initially see Neo’s hair, when it was released in cinemas it was correctly coloured. 3 was the blue hue, 5 was the green hue. This was a prime example of the kinds of bad colour grading that was done on the early versions of the release, and possibly quite importantly one of the movies to make the studios aware how much more care and attention to detail was needed for digital transfers over what had been the standards for analogue like VHS.
The Matrix was also pre HD definitions standards being agreed, so it’s no surprise that some of the effects shots are where image quality drops, as different effects houses probably didn’t have a standard high resolution that they all worked to when digitally compositing effects and then putting back onto negatives. The only way they would be able to do that now would be if they either had the original negtives before effects were made and re-did the effects at a higher resolution, or re-did them and superimposed them over the old ones. It’d probably cost a lot. Back around the same time, the Lost In Space movie has some of the worst examples of bad image quality drops due to one of the effects houses very bad handling of the footage - whenever there is a shot of the ‘Blarp’ CGI character (back when CGI characters were not a common effect) the image quality on the dvd becomes noticeably poorer, very, very grainy, and much darker and mis-coloured, as the animation house had had to firstly digitally remove a puppet that was used for reference when filming, then add in the CGI character, and had been under immense time constraints to do it.
But where is the proof that original version in movie theaters had green\blue tint? Eveywhere I have read about it, the filtering appeared in sequels first, and was later added to blu-ray of original film.
It's all an interesting subject. I remember my cinema visit as having a green hue to it all but it could be memory playing tricks. It was certainly a colourless, dowdy looking film but that would be the intention because the real world portrayed in The Matrix was a dowdy, colourless place.
Some of the CGI is very good but some of it is poor so that would indicate multiple houses working on it just like Lost In Space. Lost In Space had some terrific sequences but the monkey-like creature was consistently awful.
My opinion of The Matrix is not that great but I was probably too old for the market it was aimed at. And I was working in IT and had been for many years so there was nothing original about the concept because I'd been thinking along similar lines for a long, long time. If I'd have been a teenager at the time I'm sure I'd have loved it and would do to this day. Phantasm had that effect on me but would I like Phantasm today if I was seeing it for the first time? Possibly not.
John.
Everything happening inside the Matrix definitely had a green hue. It was so in theaters (seen it 5 times at the Odeon in Century Plaza, below those triangular buildings in LA that are blown up in Fight Club, so basically a good theater without projection problems - I mean studios often had private screenings and premieres there), it was the same on the DVD I bought in 1999 in a snapper case, which Warner did back then. I don't know the difference with later HD releases. From what I've seen online, as I haven't bought the new transfers yet, the UHD makes the faces too red, white shirts of guards in the lobby shootout scene are not as white, and overall colors are screwed up to whoever's taste it was, who was 'color correcting' it.