8.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
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
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
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
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
Warner Brothers and Best Buy have collaborated on a store-exclusive SteelBook release for 'The Matrix.' This review focuses on the SteelBook packaging and, from a technical perspective, exclusively on the UHD video presentation, with emphasis on the Dolby Vision color enhancement. Michael Reuben has reviewed the UHD presentation with its HDR-10 coloring. This is not a replacement of his review but rather a companion look at a second color format option available on the disc.
The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.
UHD reveals the true form of The Matrix with a level of structural complexity and color reproduction that previous home video versions have
never approached. The Dolby Vision color enhancement and the 4K film-sourced visuals make for a potent combination that together yield one of the
most structurally sound, visually absorbing, and naturally filmic UHD transfers yet on the format. The digital green code to open the film is strikingly
bright and crisp,
the first signal of the color's prominence throughout the film but also Dolby Vision's ability to not simply amplify it, but perfect it, to not simply brighten
it, but stabilize it within the context of the film's carefully constructed visual parameters. The vibrancy is stellar, leaping off the screen from the Warner
Brothers Shield forward and complimented by extraordinary black depth that holds
throughout the film. Blacks are deep
and dense in fully absorbed darkness, in grades of shadow, or the skin-tight leathery reflective suit Trinity wears to open the film. Such holds
everywhere, including nighttime exteriors or within the grungy, shadowy confines of the Nebuchadnezzar. The film utilizes dark and light
contrast extraordinarily well, not just as environmental set pieces but as visual statements and tonally complimentary points of emphasis. The Dolby
Vision coloring excels beyond blacks and greens, the latter of which permeate the film in any variety of tonal variations, from intense to grungy, from
complimentary to theme-defining with a steadfast stability that doesn't over-emphasize but seems to perfectly define the shade and the scenes it
supports. Brilliant whites within "the construct" dazzle in intensity and uniformity, though a few shots border on
overexposure, such as when Morpheus takes Neo into another simulation beyond the sparring room, the one with the woman in the red dress. Skin
tones are magnificently true as well and hold accurate within any lighting, from dim shadowy interiors to brightly lit exteriors and offices.
The movie is a textural delight. The 4K source resolution of the shot-on-film material rates extremely high for textural complexity, clarity even in the
film's frequent use of shadow and low light and dark green coloring, and total cinematic appeal. Warner Brothers' UHD maintains a complimentary
grain field, one that lends a filmic veneer to the image that's constant but not overpowering. Textures are remarkably robust and intimately detailed,
presenting skin textures with a level on which the audience will become familiar with every pore, blemish, and hair. Even in shadow and light the clarity
and refinement soar. The grimy and worn surfaces within the Nebuchadnezzar are another area of note for the UHD's ability to transmit total
scene accuracy even in darker locales and still capture the complexities of wear, grime, damage, and raw materials. Visual effects shots barely suffer
from any scene-breaking loss in absolute definition.
UHD is truly a spectacular format, particularly when revisiting classic pictures, shot on film, presented in a way that truly, fully, accurately brings the
theater experience to the home. Blu-ray came close at its best, but at UHD's finest, such as with The Matrix, there's no coming close. It's hard
to fathom any future format improving on this, particularly at common and more readily accessible screen sizes in the 65-75" range panels and
somewhat larger home projection screens.
For a full review of the film's stellar Dolby Atmos audio track, please click here.
There may be no spoon in The Matrix, but there is certainly one on the cover of its Best Buy exclusive 4K SteekBook. The front cover features
a predominantly black background with vertically oriented green digital characters. A bent spoon, which is famously the object described in the film's
key metaphor to help Neo better understand the world in which he lives and the powers he possesses, is the prominent front-side subject. Within the
spoon are floating head character portraits of Trinity, Neo, and Morpheus, all sporting sunglasses. The rear side carries over a similar design but is
more densely digital and features a trio of Agent Smiths down a corridor. The spine is
made of a fairly flat black color with some little spots of green wear and one tear-looking segment towards the bottom. The film's title is
approximately centered. A UHD logo sits atop and a Warner Brothers logo appears at the bottom.
Inside, the digital copy floats; there are no left-side tabs and the UHD disc is housed individually on that side.
The right-hand side houses two more discs in the usual staggered-stacked pattern. The inner print features a two-panel spread image of Neo famously
bending backwards at a nearly 90-degree angle, dodging a bullet that is rippling above him. Small, unobtrusive billing appears bottom-left.
As for the on-disc extras, there are many. Various reviews of past iterations break down the content more thoroughly. Below is a basic listing of what's
included on each disc.
Blu-ray/UHD:
Warner Brothers has revisited The Matrix on UHD and has done a remarkable job of bringing the film to the flagship home format. The 4K resolution renders the film sharp as a tack, supremely detailed, and organically filmic. The Dolby Vision coloring is a revelation and a solidification of the film's overreaching and subtly intimate coloring alike. Black levels might very well be the real highlight, with brilliant whites not far behind and the film's frequent green push a beautiful sight to behold, particularly blended in with black. The Atmos track is one of the finest in the industry and the package's supplemental content is thorough, highly enjoyable, and eye-opening. The SteelBook is, bluntly, a disappointment. The cover lacks character but with a film as complex as this perhaps its was thought the play-it-safe approach was best so as not to confuse buyers with images of a red pill or a white rabbit or something a more creative mind could conceive. The Matrix's UHD SteelBook release earns my highest recommendation, and the set is also available in basic wide release packaging as well as a trilogy box set.
1999
10th Anniversary Edition
1999
1999
Academy Awards O-Sleeve
1999
1999
10th Anniversary Edition
1999
10th Anniversary
1999
10th Anniversary DigiBook
1999
1999
1999
10th Anniversary
1999
1999
Remastered
1999
2003
2003
Director's Cut
2009
20th Anniversary Edition
1996
Limited Edition
1997
2010
2003
+BD with the 3 versions
1991
1080p Corrected Version
2003
2004
2015
2012
1990
2005
2001
20th Anniversary
2003
2020
2009
1997
1993