Guru Askew

The Fast and Furious franchise has officially out-grossed the Matrix trilogy but its an apples/oranges comparison to say the least. Inflation, stronger worldwide market, more films, a less-restrictive rating. All things that give the winning franchise an edge.

But it's certainly surprising. TFAF looked like a direct-to-video-grade actioner in 2001 and I would have put money on it being forgotten by the time it hit video.

Your point is perfectly valid though. The Matrix has suffered a complete breakdown and I'd even go so far as to say there's not even much of a cult of Matrix die-hards like there is with older sci-fi franchises like Terminator, Aliens etc. but Fast & Furious seems to be here to stay.

I don't wanna turn this into a Fast & Furious thread but I'll say that I think Universal could be pumping them out for decades Bond-style. As long as fast cars exist you'll be able to write movies about racing them and using them to steal shit.

FRwL

We can just all agree heads nudging against heads that the Matrix trilogy is one of the most wretched examples of a failed franchise, wallowing in its own tragic and lost opportunities, with complete and utter disdain for itself and no morsel of any brightness in its own dank black void -- yet somehow retaining some fetid stench of followers -- kind of like Wehrmacht enthusiasts.

Ringmaster

When I bought my blu ray player a couple of years ago, one of the first upgrades I bought was the blu ray book package of the first Matrix, not the box set off all the movies because I haven't seen the sequels since they played in theaters and I owned the DVD box set! The first film is timeless and strong enough imo to stand the test of time and not even those terrible sequels can't destroy its legacy. If there is a tragic aspect to the first film, it's that I cannot own the film, in it's original color scheme , on blu ray. I loved the brown/yellow drabs of the scenes that took place in "the matrix" than the blatant green hues of the wachowski's post tinkering.

Sonic

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Damn when I first saw the Trailer for Matrix and heard that song I thought I was dreaming. I'm a huge Enigma fan and putting that track into the trailer really made me want to go out and watch it.

RocShemp

I don't recall the Tetragrammaton (יהוה) being uttered even once in any of the Matrix movies.

inri222

Well too bad. Not only are you missing out on one of the greatest horror films of all time but also a psychological drama about a man who is doubting his faith and is being put to the test by forces of good and evil.

moviefan2k4

Now you're just splitting hairs; its painfully obvious where that particular swear word originated from.

I was a horror fan from my teens to mid-20s, and the stuff I saw and heard affected me really bad. It got to where I emotionally associated more strongly with the killers than their victims. That realization truly terrified me, and I gave it all up. I'm glad to be free of such influences, and God alone gets the glory.

majorjoe23

I didn't think the Matrix sequels could have been worse, but moviefan an bluetoast have proved me wrong.

RocShemp

Uh huh. It's still not the name of God being used. Maybe his title but certainly not His name.

It's scares me that you're so easily influenced but I guess I'm glad you took steps to curb your homicidal tendencies.

Although a lot of the kids in slasher movies have it coming due to sheer stupidity.

bluetoast was in this thread?

Oh there you are!

You know, in a weird way, I actually would love to have seen something like that. It would have been the perfect way to illustrate Neo's control over the Matrix in even the mundane. After all, in the first film it was said that Neo's predecessor could control the Matrix and shape it how he saw fit. I was expecting Neo to have such control in the sequels but he never demonstrated that. The closest was when he controlled the Sentinels in the Real World (which led to the Matrix-Within-The-Matrix theories) but that was just an unanswered question and another wasted opportunity.

majorjoe23

moviefan2k4

God is mentioned by many names in the Bible; Yahweh's a variation on one of them. The most direct reference is when He tells Moses, "I AM THAT I AM", meaning the self-existent eternal One with no beginning or end.

All of us have the capacity to be heavily influenced by a variety of things, and humans aren't the only source of temptation. The moment which really convinced me to abandon horror was when I tried on my Michael Myers costume one summer, and everything changed inside me. The walk, movements, breathing, emotions, mentality...all of it. Despicable thoughts flooded through my mind and heart, and I knew that wasn't who I was created to be. Looking back, I see that experience as a warning from God, of how close I got to the spiritual cliff.

RocShemp

Yeah, I found his post and edited mine accordingly, majorjoe23.

bluetoast

I thought I was crazy with the ballroom dancing, but I'm glad others would have liked to see it!

RocShemp

Still not a name. That's like saying that Barack Obama's name is President when that's just an honorific.

Yeah... Like I said, it's scary how EASILY influenced you are.

inri222

Rockmjd23

You are, um, kind of a scary person.

moviefan2k4

You'd be correct, if God didn't refer to Himself as "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob". Jesus also called Him both Father and God, even sharing the name I AM to express His equal divinity.

It's not just me; everything has a message, for both good and/or evil. Which one you choose to listen to is very important, but its foolish to underestimate spiritual darkness. It's very real, and the unprepared are often attacked by it.

I'm just a fallible human being, the same as everyone else. We all face different temptations every day.

Michael Corvin

Um, no we don't. Don't take this as an attack but it sounds like you needed some professional help.

moviefan2k4

I got something even better than that; spiritual freedom. I do go to weekly meetings with Celebrate Recovery, though.

RocShemp

And those are all honorifics. Obama is the President of the United States but that doesn't mean his name is "the President of the United States". I call my dad "papá" (Spanish for dad) and my sister calls him "papi" (Spanish for daddy) yet neither is his name. They are honorifics.

And the only reason we say God instead of יהוה is because no one remembers how to pronounce יהוה thanks to the Jews being afraid to speak that name.

moviefan2k4

You just proved my point, which is that using that particular curse originated as a blasphemy of God's name, and is still used that way in many people's hearts. You may also notice that no one uses alternative phrases, like "Buddha-damn", or "Muhammad-damn"....and that's because deep down, they still know God's the ultimate authority. They simply choose to demean and pervert His name with their speech.

RocShemp

I said nothing of the sort. But feel free to jump to conclusions, like you always do.

I've heard plenty uses of "Budda have pity" said in many different contexts as well as exclamations of "Allah" in like manner. So much for that claim that no one does. Also, saying that deep down they know YOUR deity is the ultimate authority is insulting. Deep down they only know what they have been taught and what they believe. Nothing more and nothing less.

majorjoe23

Again, they go with god damn it, because god is a general term. They don't do it because they know God is super powerful and want to piss him off for some reason.

Also, Buddha isn't a god. Neither is Muhammad.

Rockmjd23

It's a good thing this thread went in a religious direction. There aren't enough of those already.

moviefan2k4

I respectfully disagree; some may have picked it up as kids, but they still know its wrong. Others deliberately use it as you described, especially anti-theists who've made it their life's mission to erase God from the public square.

No, but they're both respected religious founders. Of all the different faiths, Jesus was the first to claim divinity, and the only one who proved it.