DVD Talk review of 'The Ultimate Matrix Collection'
 

I read Daniel Hirshleifer's DVD review of The Ultimate Matrix Collection at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=28274 and... he is blatantly wrong about how The Matrix came out of "complete obscurity"

It had ads on the Superbowl, for goshsakes.

I consider myself pretty dialed in to the state of cinema, and I really don't recall The Matrix getting much notice during its initial theatrical run. Its popularity definitely came about by word of mouth. By the time it came to DVD, it was considered "totally awesome" and sold massive numbers. It's kind of like Austin Powers. I remember almost no one saw that movie in the theater, but it became a massive hit on DVD.

But hey, if that's the worst issue you can find with my review, especially one of that length, than I consider it a success!

The original MATRIX was neither a "small movie" (its production budget was over $60 million) or a under-promoted one. Not only did it get the SuperBowl ad, but it was all over TV and theaters in terms of marketing. It had a pretty substantial online marketing effort as well (the huge "What Is The Matrix?" campaign).

"Word of Mouth" was definitely pre-release AND post-release. The movie had (at that time) the biggest April opening day ever for a movie and had made well over $100 million by the end of the month. "Word of Mouth" movies, by definition are usually ones that start small at the box office and then build an audience...The Matrix was a hit right out of the box. Now, if by "word of mouth" you meant pre-release "buzz", that would imply some pretty good marketing, wouldn't it (which, as has been pointed out, The Matrix had in spades)?

Not that this necessarily means anything, but my college had a preview showing of The Matrix before it went wide, and I'd never heard anything about it -- no ads, no posters, no word of mouth, nothing -- beforehand.

All I remember from the time is seeing the movie's trailer playing on all the TVs in a Lechmere store (a now-defunct big box electronics chain) and thinking, "Who thought it was a good idea to make a sequel to Johnny Mnemonic?" :)

Are you kidding? Because you coudn't be more wrong. It was huge, opening day. I remember going to see it opening night, and it was sold out, so we had to settle for a later showing, and how the theater actually added extras showings after midnight. Also, the ads featuring 'bullet-time' created major notice and buzz. Maybe you just weren't too "dialed into the state of cinema" back in '99...
I was personally excited for it because I dug the director's previous movie "Bound", which I even saw in the theaters.

:up: same here...

Daniel, the problem is that's now two reviews in a row with some "issues". Get back on the ball!!!

Sarcasm?

With all due respect to my fellow posters, it would be nice to hear opinions one way or another as to the content of the review, rather than the "obscurity" of the first film.

Now that HD-DVDs are at closeout prices, what I and other matrix fans want to hear debate about is, is this an upgrade worth making from the SD release?

Any thoughts?

I believe Warners just announced that the Matrix Trilogy would be out on BD later this year (probably around the time Speed Racer comes out), so if you want to get an HD set of the movies, one that isn't obsolete is coming soon.

That's an awfully silly comment to make. My HD DVD set still plays in my HD DVD player, so there's really no way in which it's obsolete. :) It sounds as if the only difference between the HD DVD set and the Blu-ray release is that The Animatrix will be in high-def, and while that is a selling point, if you can get the HD DVD set now for, say, $30 or wait several more months and get it on Blu-ray for $60-70, can you not see the appeal in paying less for instant gratification and (Animatrix aside) the same exact quality?

Adam, I think we can agree that Fink makes a useful point, albeit a bit clumsily worded...as do you in clarifying that the difference is an HD Animatrix. Thank you both!

Any other comments on the observable differences in image/sound quality RE the versions currently out?

Too bad ultimate matrix HD isn't a combo/hybrid version.

Technicaly, the HD DVDs in the "Ultimate Collection" set are Combo discs, but the DVD sides contain bonus features, not the movies in SD.

I really don't see the point in continuing to debate whether these are worthy upgrades from the SD release. Of course they are. Read a review. :)

I meant obsolete in the sense that those products are no longer being made or supported. Please don't take it personally; it's only a thing, it doesn't define you in any way.

I'm not taking it personally at all.

Continuing? Was this debate ever even joined? Not in this thread. :)

The review stated that the True HD sound was very impressive, and the video on the two sequals was quite good too. Fair enough, and helpful as it goes.

I'm just curious about subjective impressions RE how noticable the difference is between this collection and the SD collection on systems of various quality. Neither this review, nor others I have seen (very few), have commented on that. I can't imagine I'm the only _Maxtrix_ fan interested in this question?

There are very few High Definition discs of either format that aren't worthy upgrades from DVD.