Matrix Trilogy or Star Wars Prequels

Cardiac161 · 02-10-06, 08:39 PM

I revisited the Matrix trilogy and, like almost everyone else, was initially underwhelmed by the sequels. Maybe because the first Matrix built up so well to a point that both Reloaded and Revolutions were set up for a disappointment.

I saw them all again after getting the Ultimate Matrix collection and was actually quite impressed this time since the direction of the films were uncompromising and consistent, and it did seem that the Wachowski Bros. have planned the whole story of the trilogy regardless of whether the first Matrix succeeded or not.

The Star Wars prequels are great in their own right and it has gotten a lot of detractors as well. The climax of the prequels boil down to Skywalker's turn to the dark side and becoming Darth Vader while the Matrix trilogy somewhat became anti-climactic even before Revolutions ended.

What do u guys prefer?

lordwow · 02-10-06, 08:45 PM

I'm going to go with the Matrix Trilogy. I think the strength of the first Matrix outweighs the 3rd Star Wars, and the two sequels are far better than the first two prequels.

JumpCutz · 02-10-06, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordwow

I'm going to go with the Matrix Trilogy. I think the strength of the first Matrix outweighs the 3rd Star Wars, and the two sequels are far better than the first two prequels.

No disagreement here.

brianluvdvd · 02-10-06, 09:10 PM

I would have to go with The Matrix Trilogy simply because The Matrix is in there. Both sequels were awful and all of the Star Wars prequels were equally bad (and possibly worse).

The Matrix ranks up there with the original Star Wars in my humble opinion.

Maxflier · 02-10-06, 09:27 PM

I've never been into the whole Matrix thing, and yes i have seen all of them.
So I am going with Star Wars.

meritocracy · 02-10-06, 10:45 PM

I despise both the Matrix sequels and Star Wars prequels. Matrix wins by default on the basis of the first film.

Terrell · 02-10-06, 11:02 PM

Quote:

and the two sequels are far better than the first two prequels.

I'd strongly disagree with that. Love the first Matrix film. The last two were godawful. There were some great moments in the first two prequels that in my humble opinion outdo the moments in the Matrix sequels. But this is a "which do you prefer" thread. So arguing is pointless. Opinions differ.

GrimTangent · 02-10-06, 11:20 PM

they had similar weaknesses (forced dialogue, unengaging action sequences), but I prefer the matrix trilogy.

maingon · 02-11-06, 12:04 AM

Matrix big time, even if you didnt care for the 2nd and 3rd you gotta admit the both contain some of the best action scenes in a movie. star wars gotta say the visuals always look cgi, dialouge is much worse and boring,

neocheddar02 · 02-11-06, 01:17 AM

I voted for the prequel trilogy.

Even though Episode I wasn't great, it was still kind of fun. I loved 3 and 2 wasn't that bad either.

Looking back, I didn't like the matrix trilogy; sure the 1st one was good, but the other 2, no matter how hard they might've tried, weren't that great, in my opinion. I felt like someone took a "introduction to philosophy" book, skipped to the last 4 chapters and then wrote a script.

Michael Corvin · 02-11-06, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maingon

Matrix big time, even if you didnt care for the 2nd and 3rd you gotta admit the both contain some of the best action scenes in a movie. star wars gotta say the visuals always look cgi, dialouge is much worse and boring,

So.. Keaunu or Hayden?

Matthew Chmiel · 02-11-06, 02:43 AM

These are the two reasons I chose The Matrix trilogy.

1. The Phantom Menace is not apart of that trilogy.
2. Attack of the Clones is not apart of that trilogy.

End of discussion.

BuddyRevell · 02-11-06, 02:48 AM

I think a poll of Star Wars Prequels and Silent Night Deadly Night trilogy would be more fair. Matrix 1 is way too good to even compare to the prequels.

FinkPish · 02-11-06, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel

These are the two reasons I chose The Matrix trilogy.

1. The Phantom Menace is not apart of that trilogy.
2. Attack of the Clones is not apart of that trilogy.

End of discussion.

You realize with your typo (a part vs. apart) you essentially said the opposite of what you meant?

huh? · 02-11-06, 08:39 AM

I choose Star Wars. The whole story of the Prequel Trilogy (three films together) is way better (IMHO) than the Matrix storyline. The first Matrix movie is the best movie of the 6 movies up for discussion here, but the 2nd and 3rd Matrix movies were so forced. It was like they were attempting to cram as much religious allegory into the storyline that it ended up being obvious and ultimately ineffective.

Doughboy · 02-11-06, 10:01 AM

As trilogies, both sucked. The first Matrix movie was great. A classic if taken as a standalone movie. But Unloaded was a bloated mess with that 30 minute series of action sequences in the middle as its lone highlight. And the Wachowski Bros....errrr, siblings wrote themselves into such a corner with the first two films that they had to resort to a laughable deus ex machina ending for Convolutions.

As for the prequels, the only one I enjoyed was Episode II. TPM gets worse everytime I see it, as does ROTS. ROTS actually has a lot in common with Convolutions. Lucas did such a poor job of writing in the first two movies(at least in terms of setting up the pivotal 3rd act), that he was left with no choice but to have Anakin turn for the flimsiest of reasons. Both have laughable death scenes for their female leads, although in the case of ROTS, at least Padme's death was brief. Then again, at least Trinity's demise wasn't followed by Neo screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!". Both Convolutions and ROTS neutered formerly badass characters. Morpheus was reduced to playing Nien Nunb to Jada Pinkett Smith's Lando for most of Convolutions and Darth Vader.....well, just refer to my previous comment. Both also took interesting characters introduced in the 2nd films(the Merovingian in Unloaded; Count Dooku in Episode II) only to dispatch them within the opening reels of the 3rd.

So to sum up, I liked one movie in each trilogy. At least with The Matrix, I can watch the first film, enjoy it, and ignore the sequels. With the prequels, I only liked the 2nd one which pretty much necessitates ignoring the entire trilogy. That's cool though. 20 years from now when people talk about The Matrix and Star Wars, I figure most people will hold 3 or 4 movies total from both series in high regard. Hell, a lot of fans already feel that way.

Josh H · 02-11-06, 10:13 AM

I voted "both are great" though my real choice would be "both are ok."

The Matrix was very good, the sequels were just ok.

With Star Wars the first 2 were just ok, and the third was very good.

fryinpan1 · 02-11-06, 10:13 AM

Matrix Trilogy easily wins based on the first film being a classic and the second film being pretty good.

Besides, the Star Wars prequels never happened. I repeat, they never happened.

coli · 02-11-06, 11:01 AM

As trilogies, I think they both are failures. For the Matrix, the first movie will be considered a classic standalone movie 20 years from now, and the sequels will be something just for the diehard fans, but overall are not that good.

Star Wars prequels have one pretty good movie, Revenge of the Sith, cause Lucas decided to divide the plot points to the trilogy 20%, 20%, and 60% for the final film. (Those are Lucas's words, not mine). The Phantom Menace & Attack of the Clones are just average movies that only Star Wars diehards love, and Revenge of the Sith appeals to more Star Wars fans cause it finally is the story why Darth Vader turned.

I think the Star Wars Original Trilogy and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy set a high bar for trilogies that are hard to match. Most trilogies have one classic movie in them: Back to the Future, The Matrix, Terminator, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Jurassic Park. The others have sequels that some are better than the others.

I guess I would have to give it to the Matrix, since it atleast it has one classic movie, and the Star Wars prequels couldn't produce one classic to appeal to anyone other than diehard Star Wars fans. And this is coming from a diehard Star Wars fan.

SeekOnce · 02-11-06, 11:05 AM

The Matrix Trilogy. No contest.

I just can't stand Hayden and Natalie in the Prequels.

GameGenie · 02-11-06, 11:14 AM

Matrix trilogy although i dont like the 3rd one.

fumanstan · 02-11-06, 12:50 PM

Matrix. I actualy enjoyed the sequels

dhmac · 02-11-06, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coli

Star Wars prequels have one pretty good movie, Revenge of the Sith, cause Lucas decided to divide the plot points to the trilogy 20%, 20%, and 60% for the final film. (Those are Lucas's words, not mine).

The division was more like 5%, 20%, and 75% (IMO).

(It's one area where The Matrix and the Star Wars prequels are alot alike - both have only enough plot for 2 movies, but it's instead stretched into 3 movies.)

T1000 · 02-11-06, 01:44 PM

Matrix, but only because of the first film.

I hate both films made after The Matrix and I hate all three prequels to Star Wars.

wendersfan · 02-11-06, 02:05 PM

They both sucked.

View Poll Results: Do You Prefer Matrix Trilogy or Star Wars Prequels?
Matrix Trilogy	55	39.86%
Star Wars Prequels	49	35.51%
Both are great	18	13.04%
Both sucked	12	8.70%
Star Wars Prequels only because they were easier to understand	4	2.90%
Voters: 138. You may not vote on this poll

02-10-06, 08:39 PM	#1
Cardiac161 DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Nov 2000 Posts: 1,045	Matrix Trilogy or Star Wars Prequels I revisited the Matrix trilogy and, like almost everyone else, was initially underwhelmed by the sequels. Maybe because the first Matrix built up so well to a point that both Reloaded and Revolutions were set up for a disappointment. I saw them all again after getting the Ultimate Matrix collection and was actually quite impressed this time since the direction of the films were uncompromising and consistent, and it did seem that the Wachowski Bros. have planned the whole story of the trilogy regardless of whether the first Matrix succeeded or not. The Star Wars prequels are great in their own right and it has gotten a lot of detractors as well. The climax of the prequels boil down to Skywalker's turn to the dark side and becoming Darth Vader while the Matrix trilogy somewhat became anti-climactic even before Revolutions ended. What do u guys prefer?

02-10-06, 08:45 PM	#2
lordwow DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 9,414	I'm going to go with the Matrix Trilogy. I think the strength of the first Matrix outweighs the 3rd Star Wars, and the two sequels are far better than the first two prequels. __________________ Her clam does taste like honey though. Now honey I LOVE. That alone makes her awesome in my book. - Slayer2005 Xbox Live:Wowous\|Twitter\|Join The 360Voice DVDTalk Group

02-10-06, 09:27 PM	#5
Maxflier DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Louisiana Posts: 8,859	I've never been into the whole Matrix thing, and yes i have seen all of them. So I am going with Star Wars. __________________ My DVD / HD DVD / Blu-Ray Collection My Game Collection XBOX Live Gamertag:Maxflier PSN:Maxflier My Countdown Counting down to: The first Saturday in May. 346 days 8 hours 21 minutes

02-10-06, 10:45 PM	#6
meritocracy DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Earth Posts: 1,335	I despise both the Matrix sequels and Star Wars prequels. Matrix wins by default on the basis of the first film. __________________ What exactly is rotten in Denmark? The Collection

02-10-06, 09:10 PM	#4
brianluvdvd DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: Birmingham, AL Posts: 8,660	I would have to go with The Matrix Trilogy simply because The Matrix is in there. Both sequels were awful and all of the Star Wars prequels were equally bad (and possibly worse). The Matrix ranks up there with the original Star Wars in my humble opinion.

02-10-06, 11:20 PM	#8
GrimTangent Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Toronto, Ontario Posts: 350	they had similar weaknesses (forced dialogue, unengaging action sequences), but I prefer the matrix trilogy.

02-11-06, 12:04 AM	#9
maingon DVD Talk Platinum Edition Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Traverse City, MI Posts: 3,886	Matrix big time, even if you didnt care for the 2nd and 3rd you gotta admit the both contain some of the best action scenes in a movie. star wars gotta say the visuals always look cgi, dialouge is much worse and boring, __________________ Compositor/ VFX Artist Credits Include: -Green Lantern (2011) -Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 (2011)

02-11-06, 01:17 AM	#10
neocheddar02 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: California Posts: 910	I voted for the prequel trilogy. Even though Episode I wasn't great, it was still kind of fun. I loved 3 and 2 wasn't that bad either. Looking back, I didn't like the matrix trilogy; sure the 1st one was good, but the other 2, no matter how hard they might've tried, weren't that great, in my opinion. I felt like someone took a "introduction to philosophy" book, skipped to the last 4 chapters and then wrote a script. __________________ "Would I rather be feared or loved? Umm ... easy, both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me."

02-11-06, 02:43 AM	#12
Matthew Chmiel DVD Talk Legend Join Date: May 2000 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 10,947	These are the two reasons I chose The Matrix trilogy. 1. The Phantom Menace is not apart of that trilogy. 2. Attack of the Clones is not apart of that trilogy. End of discussion. __________________ Google+ / Instagram / Letterboxd / Spotify / Twitter Find me on PlayStation Network / Xbox Live / Steam: cupboardoflove

02-11-06, 02:48 AM	#13
BuddyRevell DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: San Francisco Posts: 1,340	I think a poll of Star Wars Prequels and Silent Night Deadly Night trilogy would be more fair. Matrix 1 is way too good to even compare to the prequels. __________________ "I suppose you could say that everyone has an El Guapo. For some, shyness may be an El Guapo. For others, lack of education may be an El Guapo. But for us, El Guapo is a large ugly man who wants to kill us."

02-11-06, 08:39 AM	#15
huh? DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Beverly, MA Posts: 5,502	I choose Star Wars. The whole story of the Prequel Trilogy (three films together) is way better (IMHO) than the Matrix storyline. The first Matrix movie is the best movie of the 6 movies up for discussion here, but the 2nd and 3rd Matrix movies were so forced. It was like they were attempting to cram as much religious allegory into the storyline that it ended up being obvious and ultimately ineffective.

02-11-06, 10:01 AM	#16
Doughboy DVD Talk Platinum Edition Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: H-Town, TX Posts: 3,659	As trilogies, both sucked. The first Matrix movie was great. A classic if taken as a standalone movie. But Unloaded was a bloated mess with that 30 minute series of action sequences in the middle as its lone highlight. And the Wachowski Bros....errrr, siblings wrote themselves into such a corner with the first two films that they had to resort to a laughable deus ex machina ending for Convolutions. As for the prequels, the only one I enjoyed was Episode II. TPM gets worse everytime I see it, as does ROTS. ROTS actually has a lot in common with Convolutions. Lucas did such a poor job of writing in the first two movies(at least in terms of setting up the pivotal 3rd act), that he was left with no choice but to have Anakin turn for the flimsiest of reasons. Both have laughable death scenes for their female leads, although in the case of ROTS, at least Padme's death was brief. Then again, at least Trinity's demise wasn't followed by Neo screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!". Both Convolutions and ROTS neutered formerly badass characters. Morpheus was reduced to playing Nien Nunb to Jada Pinkett Smith's Lando for most of Convolutions and Darth Vader.....well, just refer to my previous comment. Both also took interesting characters introduced in the 2nd films(the Merovingian in Unloaded; Count Dooku in Episode II) only to dispatch them within the opening reels of the 3rd. So to sum up, I liked one movie in each trilogy. At least with The Matrix, I can watch the first film, enjoy it, and ignore the sequels. With the prequels, I only liked the 2nd one which pretty much necessitates ignoring the entire trilogy. That's cool though. 20 years from now when people talk about The Matrix and Star Wars, I figure most people will hold 3 or 4 movies total from both series in high regard. Hell, a lot of fans already feel that way. __________________ My DVD Collection

02-11-06, 10:13 AM	#17
Josh H Retired Join Date: May 1999 Posts: 27,389	I voted "both are great" though my real choice would be "both are ok." The Matrix was very good, the sequels were just ok. With Star Wars the first 2 were just ok, and the third was very good.

02-11-06, 10:13 AM	#18
fryinpan1 DVD Talk Platinum Edition Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: WV Posts: 3,178	Matrix Trilogy easily wins based on the first film being a classic and the second film being pretty good. Besides, the Star Wars prequels never happened. I repeat, they never happened. __________________ My DVD/Blu-ray/HD DVD collection Danny

02-11-06, 11:01 AM	#19
coli DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 2,077	As trilogies, I think they both are failures. For the Matrix, the first movie will be considered a classic standalone movie 20 years from now, and the sequels will be something just for the diehard fans, but overall are not that good. Star Wars prequels have one pretty good movie, Revenge of the Sith, cause Lucas decided to divide the plot points to the trilogy 20%, 20%, and 60% for the final film. (Those are Lucas's words, not mine). The Phantom Menace & Attack of the Clones are just average movies that only Star Wars diehards love, and Revenge of the Sith appeals to more Star Wars fans cause it finally is the story why Darth Vader turned. I think the Star Wars Original Trilogy and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy set a high bar for trilogies that are hard to match. Most trilogies have one classic movie in them: Back to the Future, The Matrix, Terminator, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Jurassic Park. The others have sequels that some are better than the others. I guess I would have to give it to the Matrix, since it atleast it has one classic movie, and the Star Wars prequels couldn't produce one classic to appeal to anyone other than diehard Star Wars fans. And this is coming from a diehard Star Wars fan.

02-11-06, 11:05 AM	#20
SeekOnce Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land Posts: 864	The Matrix Trilogy. No contest. I just can't stand Hayden and Natalie in the Prequels.

02-11-06, 11:14 AM	#21
GameGenie Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: NJ Posts: 368	Matrix trilogy although i dont like the 3rd one.

02-11-06, 12:50 PM	#22
fumanstan DVD Talk Hero Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Irvine, CA Posts: 33,339	Matrix. I actualy enjoyed the sequels __________________ 3x Sheep Champion VG Round 1b \| VG Round 7 \| NFL

02-11-06, 01:44 PM	#24
T1000 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 312	Matrix, but only because of the first film. I hate both films made after The Matrix and I hate all three prequels to Star Wars.

02-11-06, 02:05 PM	#25
wendersfan Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Where homophobes don't get slut sauce Posts: 28,260	They both sucked. __________________ "Fifth Element may be as dumb and artless as Johnny Mnemonic, but since a frenchman made it it must be ART!" -Pants "...I think it's a low blow to draw attention to wendersfan's drunken state. " - dork "Just because their victims are still alive doesn't mean they didn't commit murder." - grundle "You concentrate on the sad wanna be hooliganism and let us worry about the actual soccer." - rocketsauce (final score: Columbus 2-Chicago 1)