Plot
The Animatrix is a collection of several animated short films, detailing the backstory of the "Matrix" universe, and the original war between man and machines which led to the creation of the Matrix.

Release Year: 2003

Rating: 7.4/10 (30,939 voted)

Director: Peter Chung

Stars: Akio Ohtsuka, Clayton Watson, Pamela Adlon

Storyline
Anthology of nine short anime (Japanese animation) films tied in to the 1999 blockbuster "The Matrix" and its sequels. "Final Flight of the Osiris": The crew of the hovercraft Osiris attempt to warn their city of an imminent attack. "The Second Renaissance, Parts 1 & 2": The story behind the war between man and the machines, how mankind scorched the sky, and the creation of the Matrix. "Kid's Story": A teenager is contacted by Neo, and manages to escape the Matrix. "Program": Two warriors battle in a samurai training simulation when one decides to betray his crewmates and re-enter the Matrix. "World Record": A champion sprinter manages to break free of the Matrix by sheer physical effort during a record attempt. "Beyond": A young girl searching for her cat discovers a haunted house caused by a glitch in the system...

Writers: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

Cast:
Akio Ohtsuka - Thadeus (voice)
Clayton Watson - Michael Karl 'The Kid' Popper (segment "Kid's Story") (voice)
Pamela Adlon - Jue (segment "Final Flight of the Osiris") / Manabu (segment "Beyond") (voice)
Hedy Burress - Cis (segment "Program") / Yoko (segment "Beyond") (voice)
Terrence 'T.C.' Carson - Clarence (voice) (as T.C. Carson)
Melinda Clarke - Alexa (segment "Matriculated") (voice)
Olivia d'Abo - Rox (segment "Matriculated") (voice)
Dane A. Davis - 01 Versatran Spokesman (segment "The Second Renaissance, Part II") (voice)
William R. Dean - Additional Voices (voice)
John DeMita - Teacher (segment "Kid's Story") (voice)
Debi Derryberry - Kid (segment "The Second Renaissance, Part II") (voice)
John Di Maggio - Crew Man (segment "Final Flight of the Osiris") / Kaiser (segment "Program") (voice)
Alex Fernandez - Tom (segment "World Record") (voice)
Jack Fletcher - Townsperson (segment "Beyond") / Sandro (segment "Matriculated") (voice)
Julia Fletcher - The Instructor (segments "The Second Renaissance, Parts I&II") / Narrator (segment "World Record") / Townsperson (segment "Beyond") (voice)

Official Website: Official site |

Release Date: 3 June 2003

Runtime: 102 min

Trivia:
WILHELM SCREAM: in the episode, "Matriculated". It happens when the Sentinels attack the humans in the lab near the end.

Goofs:
Continuity: When Washington D.C. is shown the first time in "the second renaissance", you see that directly behind the capitol, there are enormous skyscrapers, but the second time they show the capitol (in the riot scene), you can see the sky behind it.

Quotes:
Machine: Hand over your flesh, and a new world awaits you. We demand it.

Now THIS is more like it!

Rating: 10/10

The idea of the Matrix is so full of potential and could be taken in so many, many directions. The movies decided to go in the direction of pretension but the Animatrix goes EVERYWHERE the movies don't. It is so far superior and well worth the time. It's a shame that most audiences don't consider Anime or any form of animation to be 'real' or something that they should take seriously (sadly even Matrix fans feel this way and won't watch it simply because it's animation) because they're missing out on something very special here.

It's not original to review this DVD by going thru all the shorts so I'll just stick to what I like best (which is most of it). First of all, 'The Second Renaissance Parts 1 and 2' is absolutely VITAL as backstory to the first Matrix film. And it's a zillion times more interesting than the sequels in terms of drama, irony and subtext. 'The Final Flight of the Osiris' takes place before Reloaded and leads us into story of the machines beginning to drill down to Zion. And it's very cool. 'Detective' is a story of a private eye trying to find Trinity and discover what exactly the Matrix is. But Agent Smith comes after him to put a stop to that. It's in black and white and has a wonderful atmosphere of 1950's dime novel pulp fiction. 'Matriculated' is the story of a captured machine who is taught/hypnotized into feeling what it's like to be human. It's a very clever story that manages to provoke feeling for the characters (and even the captured machine), something the movies never did. 'Kid' is about the kid from Revolutions who takes over the Mech at the end and manages to open the doors to Zion. Apparently, before being freed, he was a schoolkid who met Neo online and wanted to 'wake up'.

But the best one is 'Beyond'. A magical tale with an atmosphere so solid that it's almost tangible. It's about a girl who goes looking for her cat in an old abandoned factory with some other kids. But in this factory the Matrix is having problems and 'reality' for the characters doesn't quite work properly. It's a very interesting tale that really makes you think.

There are numerous extras on this DVD, all of them more interesting that the other Matrix DVDs. All 9 of the shorts are presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound. It's truly for all fans and non-fans of the Matrix universe.

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