8.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.7 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.7 |
A computer hacker named Neo joins a group of rebels dedicated to fighting the machines upon learning the truth about his present reality.
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Gloria FosterAction | 100% |
Adventure | 81% |
Sci-Fi | 72% |
Epic | 56% |
Thriller | 54% |
Martial arts | 26% |
Surreal | 23% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
There is a second disc image with additional language options for other territories; it should be listed separately.
English SDH, French, Spanish, Dutch
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
The Matrix is a landmark film, and whatever one may think of its creators' subsequent output
(including the two sequels), its
significance and continued popularity are beyond dispute. Its
language and motifs have permeated everyday speech, and the characters of Neo, Trinity and
Morpheus have become pop culture icons. After The Matrix, film fighting styles grew more
elaborate and had to be more creatively photographed to keep pace, and wire work became
standard practice. Special effects were permanently altered by such inventions as "bullet time".
Not since Terminator 2
had mass
audiences been so thoroughly wowed by a film's visual
innovation.
The Matrix also appeared at a critical juncture in the history of home theater. DVD had debuted
just two years earlier, with Warner Brothers as its main proponent. The first DVD-by-mail rental service,
Netflix, was formed the following year. In 1999, the new format's dominance was conclusively
established when two titles broke industry records by shipping a million or more units on DVD.
One of them was Titanic; the other
was The
Matrix.
For all of these reasons, one would expect Warner to lavish an excess of care on The Matrix's
UHD presentation, and the studio has not disappointed. The film has been newly scanned from
the original camera negative and meticulously color-corrected under the supervision of the
original director of photography. The resulting 4K/HDR rendition restores a subtlety and finesse
to The Matrix's imagery beyond anything seen to date in a home theater. Even if you know the
film intimately, its visuals have become startling all over again. And the remixed Dolby Atmos
soundtrack is a revelation.
To its credit, Warner has also remastered the film's 1080p standard Blu-ray, based on the new
transfer and sound mix, so that Matrix fans who haven't yet upgraded their equipment can enjoy
at least some of the benefits from this modern classic's 4K overhaul. (Specifications are listed here.) The new 1080p disc isn't
available separately, but acquiring the complete UHD package is an investment in the future. If
you love The Matrix, sooner or later you'll want to be able to experience it in the best
presentation it's ever had.
Screenshots accompanying this review are taken from the remastered 1080p standard Blu-ray.
Screenshots accompanying this review are taken from the remastered 1080p standard Blu-ray.
While these images give some sense of the 4K disc's appearance, they cannot hope to represent
its visual subtlety. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.
This 2160p, HEVC/H.265-encoded UHD of The Matrix is based on a new 4K scan of the
original camera negative created by Warner's Motion Picture Imaging facility. Color
correction and HDR grading were performed by MPI's senior colorist, Jan Yarbrough, and
overseen by Bill Pope, director of photography on all three Matrix films. Warner Brothers has
provided the following statement from Mr. Yarbrough, which is reproduced with the studio's
kind permission:
The Wachowskis have entrusted the creation of the HDR mastering with the original Director of Photography Bill Pope, ASC. Working with Bill I have come to realize that he has a full understanding and appreciation for the dynamics of the HDR format. The Matrix is created in two worlds: the "real" world in cool blue tones; and the "data" world in ever present green. Now with HDR, this film can be viewed in its futuristic and data centric realm more accurately than previous formats would allow. HDR with its huge dynamic range of luminance and color gamut allows for a true film gamma replication while adding additional dynamic range for accurate highlights and deep detailed blacks. DP Bill Pope has taken advantage of this to create a version with color timing as it was originally intended, crafting a high resolution digital master that is more accurate than the original theatrical release.
Whether in lossy Dolby Digital or lossless Dolby TrueHD, The Matrix's 5.1 soundtrack has long
been home theater demo material, but that mix has now been surpassed by a Dolby Atmos remix,
which appears on both the 4K UHD and the remastered Blu-ray. (The sound specifications
printed on the back of the case list the Blu-ray as only "Dolby TrueHD English 5.1", which is
incorrect.) The Matrix won well-deserved Oscars for Sound and Sound Effects Editing, and much
of the original team in the Warner sound division returned to revisit their work, pulling the
original stems and effects from the archive and using the expanded capabilities of Atmos' object-based system to bring the
film's sonic universe to
life in ways that could not be achieved when it
was initially released.
It's worth stressing, however, that this is not the kind of controversial remix that adds new effects
or attempts to alter the dimensions of the sonic field with which fans have lived for the past
nineteen years. The bullets that Neo dodges don't suddenly travel farther or reverberate in new
directions, and the helicopter with which Morpheus is rescued doesn't acquire a new and
unfamiliar flight path. The hallmark of this Atmos remix is fidelity to the original sound design,
except that it is now rendered more distinctly in every aspect and in all directions. Individual
effects that once blended into the film's layered waves of sound now stand out on their own, each
one separate but appropriately prioritized.
Nowhere is this effect more evident than in the film's
propulsive final act, which is a continuous sonic assault from the moment Neo and Trinity open
fire in the lobby of the government building from which they rescue Morpheus. The lobby
shootout is a symphony of bullets firing, shells ejecting, masonry shattering and body blows
connecting, all to the accompaniment of Don Davis' pounding score—and I have never before
heard each single element with such sustained clarity and intensity. The same is true of
Morpheus' rescue by helicopter, with whirring blades, repetitive mini-gun fire, shattering glass,
splashing water and rapid bullet hits, all registering with equal force and precision. Take any
action scene in the film, and you will be able to hear things that you've always known were there
but your ear could never latch onto so easily as the Atmos mix allows it to do.
The dialogue remains as clear as it always was, and the distinctive organic sounds of the "real"
world, whether the loud ones of Neo's rescue or the quieter ones of his gradual rehabilitation,
have acquired a new immediacy. Davis's distinctive instrumentals and the film's eclectic mix of
songs are more vividly rendered than ever.
One small note of warning: Be sure to select Atmos from the main menu before starting the film.
Otherwise, you'll get Dolby Digital 5.1. For reasons that pass all understanding, Warner still
refuses to make Atmos the default track on its UHDs and Blu-rays.
Over the last nineteen years, The Matrix has been released in more iterations than Agent Smith,
gradually accumulating new layers of extras along the way. Rather than attempt to retrace that
history, I will simply list the extras included in the UHD package, so that readers can make their
own comparisons to whatever version(s) they already own.
Warner's 4K presentation of The Matrix joins Unforgiven and Blade Runner as exceptional
examples of catalog films brought to UHD in the best possible way. It belongs in every 4K fan's
library and, thanks to the remastered Blu-ray,
every Matrix
fan's library. The film itself remains
an indisputable classic of action and sci-fi. Highest recommendation.
1999
Remastered
1999
10th Anniversary
1999
Academy Awards O-Sleeve
1999
1999
10th Anniversary DigiBook
1999
1999
10th Anniversary Edition
1999
1999
10th Anniversary
1999
1999
1999
10th Anniversary Edition
1999
2003
2003
Director's Cut
2009
20th Anniversary Edition
1996
Limited Edition
1997
2010
2003
+BD with the 3 versions
1991
1080i
2003
2004
2015
2012
1990
2005
2001
2020
2009
20th Anniversary
2003
1997
1993