The Ultimate Matrix Collection

To a not-inconsiderable number of fans, the Matrix films aren't just entertainment, but rather icons of a secular religion founded on the ridiculously pretentious philosophical mumbo-jumbo spouted in these three Wachowski Brothers movies. Those who take this stuff seriously won't hesitate to buy this deluxe collection--which, with its dizzying arrays of supplements and cutting-edge remasterings, represents the last word in DVD presentation, at a price (10 discs for $79.95) that is definitely a bargain. But how much Matrix is too much? In addition to the three films themselves, Warner's box set includes two companion pieces, The Matrix Revisited and The Animatrix, along with 35 hours of extras covering nearly every aspect of every frame of every shot. Some of these new featurettes--and there are dozens of them--rehash supplements that appeared on earlier Matrix DVDs, and some of them expand upon material previously covered in less detail. One thing still hasn't changed: the Wachowskis refuse to talk about the films. But they do proffer written introductions to the commentaries newly recorded for all three movies by two teams, one consisting of film critics Todd McCarthy, David Thomson, and John Powers, the other of Princeton professor Cornel West and author Ken Wilber. The critics are more, well, critical than the academics. Although they clearly prefer the first movie, they also pick it apart pretty well, liberally sprinkling their remarks with terms like “banal” and “unimaginative.” At one point in The Matrix Reloaded, an unidentified critic makes a snoring sound. And when Neo meets the Oracle, Powers asks, “Is anyone else as stupefied by this as I am?” To which Thomson replies: “It's just dreadful.” The trilogy's dramatic flaws are much less apparent (or important) to West and Wilber, who go on incessantly about the three realms of being--body, mind and spirit--and resort frequently to obtuse psychobabble. West even dismisses criticisms of the Matrix films as “lazy,” implying that negative reactions to the trilogy are a result of insufficient mental engagement (a judgment that, frankly, strikes me as lazy); McCarthy, Powers and Thomson back up their comments with sound reasoning, which can't always be said for the academics. After watching and listening to all this extra stuff, I confess to being all Matrix'd out for the foreseeable future--but there's no denying that Warner has achieved something truly spectacular with this deluxe box set that completists will surely want to add to their collections. Recommended. (E. Hulse)[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 28, 2008—Warner, 6 discs, 505 min., R/PG-13, $129.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1999's The Matrix, 2003's The Matrix Reloaded, 2003's The Matrix Revelations, and 2003's The Animatrix all look brilliant on Blu-ray and feature Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. The 35 hours worth of extras are all ported over from the previous release, while the Blu-ray version compiles segments from the various documentaries into three new picture-in-picture “in-movie experience” tracks for the main films. Bottom line: a cornerstone of any Blu-ray collection, this is highly recommended.]