# DVD: The Animatrix



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Okay, picked up the Animatrix gift set. The difference between the gift set and the stand-alone set is that the music CD is included.

First off, a brief reminder. There is a parental warning that this is based upon the R-rated Matrix films on both the package and on the disc when you put it in. They mean it, as some of the stuff is very violent, very graphic, and a bit of a mature theme.

The first short, The Final Flight Of The Osirus, ties directly into the beginning of The Matrix Reloaded. If you didn't know better, you would swear that this was a live action film. However, this is entire computer generated film that was produced by Square USA who was responsible for the ill-fated Final Fantasy movie. It seems that the graphics work is much better than the movie, but unfortunately Square USA has since gone under.

Next up is the two part The Second Renaissance, and we are told, from Zion's historical files, how the world of the Matrix came to be. Very graphic, with some scenes very remenicent of events that have occurred throughout history.

The third story is Kid's Story, which tells of one kid named Michael Karl Popper who escapes the Matrix in a most unusual manner. This has a small tie-in with the The Matrix Reloaded movie.

Those three stories were written by the Wachowski brothers and thus tie into the Matrix cannon. The other five stories are based upon the Matrix universe. I'm split between two of the shorts. The Program is a wonderfully animated training program with a sort-of Japanese Samurai root. Beyond concerns a glitch in the Matrix where the normal logic and physicals laws just don't apply.

Like Heavy Metal and Robot Carnival, we get to see several different methods of storytelling and animation. 

Also included is a brief history of Japanese Animation, which starts out with the Japanese saying how much the Matrix resembled their own animation. A history of Japanese art follows, which leads into the Anime world. Clips of several anime films such as Grave Of The Fireflies, Ninja Scroll, and Akira are used as examples. (Miyazaki's work is strangle absent) In addition, the world of manga (the Japanese version of comic books) is touched upon, and how it plays a major part in Japanese society. 

Also included is some commentaries which I did not listen to yet. 

A pretty good disc IMHO.


----------



## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Good review.


----------



## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

A great disc. Also, for those of you gamers out there, don't forget the Enter the Matrix video game. It has over an hour of scenes shot at the same time as the movie and the story from the game intersects the movie at various key plot points. You also get a minute of Revolutions previews when you finish the game. I finished it using Ghost's character and I'm gonna use Naobi's character next.


----------

