FILM · 1999 · USA
The Matrix
- Directed by
- Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
- Runtime
- 136 min
- Studio
- Village Roadshow Pictures, Groucho II Film Partnership, Silver Pictures
716 archived facts 8 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026
Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
716 Interesting Facts About The Matrix
Interesting Facts (20)
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Drake, Nas, B.o.B, Rakim, Ab-Soul, Mac Miller, Colson Baker, cflynna, Kendrick Lamar, Common, Rick Ross, Donavan LaMond Johnson, Lupe Fiasco, Wale, Jay-Z, Lil' Wayne, Gucci Mane, 'Lil' Kim', Currency, The Game, Danny Brown, Kid Cudi, Jeezy are all hip hop artists that mention the Matrix in their music. R&B star Chris Brown recorded a song called The Matrix and released a video which is heavily inspired by the events of the movie and the character of Neo.
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As of April, 2016 a research team at DARPA was working on a project which focuses on Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (abbreviated TNT) which involves the use of electrodes put at the base of the neck and the use of electrical impulses to influence a person's neurotransmitters. The purpose is to allow Agents to learn languages and other complex subjects in a fraction of the time. It is similar to Neo being plugged into the training program to learn complex skills faster, except not as medically invasive.
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All scenes that take place within the Matrix have a green tint, as if watching them through a computer monitor. Scenes in the real world have a blue tint. Blue was also used at a minimum within the Matrix, since the directors thought blue was more of a real-world color (despite, ironically, blue being often the least-occurring color in nature). The fight scene between Morpheus and Neo, which is neither in the real world, nor in the Matrix, is tinted yellow.
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The iconic sunglasses worn by the Matrix characters belong to the label "Blinde," which prides itself on handmade eyewear. The company's founder, Richard Walker, had to bid against major companies such as Ray-Ban and Arnette to win the film's sunglasses contract, and he set himself apart by designing the glasses from scratch based entirely on the characters' unusual names. When his bid succeeded, Walker flew to Sydney, where he spent the duration of the Matrix shoot designing custom sunglasses for the actors behind an eye doctor's office on Oxford Street.
Production Story (219)
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At the directors' request, the actors were to be able to understand and explain The Matrix, not only as a film, but a philosophy. Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard was required reading for most of the principal cast and crew. Keanu Reeves said even before they opened the script the Wachowskis had him read Simulacra and Simulation, Out of Control by Kevin Kelly, and Introducing Evolutionary Psychology by Dylan Evans. Eventually, he was able to explain all the philosophical nuances involved. Carrie-Anne Moss commented that she had difficulty with this process.
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Gabrielle Union auditioned to play Trinity, and took inspiration from Janet Jackson to prepare. She said, "I wanted to get the good hair, the Janet hair, from the weave emporium. I literally [found] the exact outfit from her album cover. I [drew] in the damn mole. I [was] fully committed." However, the real Jackson had also been asked to audition, and Union recalled, "Then in walks Janet, and I'm cosplaying as Janet, with a weird drawn-on mole." Neither woman got the part, and Union joked, "I think we canceled each other out."
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The key of the beginning theme you hear at the beginning of every Matrix movie (rousing strings and horn blasts) ascends with each movie. The Matrix (1999) starts in the key of E minor, The Matrix Reloaded (2003) ascends a whole step to F-sharp minor, and The Matrix Revolutions (2003) ascends half a step to the key of G minor.
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William Gibson's novel Neuromancer was an influence on the film (in particular, use of the term "Matrix"). After watching the film, Gibson commented that the way that the film's creators had drawn from existing cyberpunk works was "exactly the kind of creative cultural osmosis" he had relied upon in his own writing. However, he noted that the film's Gnostic themes distinguished it from Neuromancer, and believed that it was thematically closer to the work of Philip K. Dick.
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As a part of the casting process, the Wachowskis, the writer director duo behind the movie, ordered a screen test to see if the leads envisioned for Neo and Trinity had chemistry. It was the first time Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves met. Moss walked into the room and said, "Hi, I'm Carrie-Anne." Reeves said, "Hi, I'm Keanu."
The Matrix (1999): Thomas A. Anderson / Neo, death sceneImage: Wikimedia Commons · Jdlrobson, CC BY-SA 4.0 - #036
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When Will Smith was being offered the part of Neo, the Wachowskis thought of pairing him with Val Kilmer as Morpheus. According to Smith, the only portion of the film that the Wachowskis pitched to him was the frozen-in-mid-air jump kick scene. This made Smith skeptical and he opted to make Wild Wild West (1999) instead, which was a massive critical and commercial flop winning him two Razzie awards in the process. The film also won Worst Picture.
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Will Smith was approached to play Neo, but turned down the offer in order to star in Wild Wild West (1999). He later admitted that, at the time, he was "not mature enough as an actor" and that, if given the role, he "would have messed it up". He had no regrets, saying that "Keanu was brilliant as Neo." He also noted that if he had been cast as Neo, the studio wanted Val Kilmer for the Morpheus role, which would have deprived audiences of Laurence Fishburne's iconic performance. Sandra Bullock had been offered the role of Trinity, but turned it down because Will Smith was in the film. She regretted her decision; had she been cast, she would have been reunited with Keanu Reeves, with whom she previously starred in Speed (1994).
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Janet Jackson was initially approached for the role of Trinity, but scheduling conflicts prevented her from accepting it. In an interview, she stated that turning down the role was difficult for her, so she later referenced the film in the "Intro" and "Outro" interludes on her tenth studio album "Discipline".
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The pistol that the Agents use throughout the film are a variation of the Desert Eagle--this was a deliberate choice by the Wachowskis against the will of their armorer. This is mostly due to Desert Eagles mostly being seen as novelty guns; they're chambered in.50 caliber--which is considered massive by pistol standards. The recoil is nearly impossible to control even with two hands, making the use of this pistol to be considered very unrealistic. However this fits within the continuity of the film as the Agents always fire this pistol one-handedly, emphasizing their inhuman "machine" qualities.
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The Wachowskis harbored their vision for five and a half years, working through fourteen drafts of the screenplay. Although most studio executives who read the script loved their ideas, they had extreme difficulty imagining how this would translate onto the screen. The Wachowskis then hired leading illustrators Steve Skroce and Geofrey Darrow, who created over 600 storyboards. Executives were reportedly sold immediately after seeing the bold vision on display, and green-lit the film.
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The Lafayette Hotel escape sequence originally continued in to the sewers and then back up in to the streets as Morpheus attempted to create a diversion, resulting in his capture. The storyboards for this version can be seen in "The Art of the Matrix", and a somewhat different sewer escape segment was included at this point in the "Path of Neo" videogame.
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Jennifer Connelly, Marisa Tomei, Salma Hayek, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Angie Harmon, Drew Barrymore, Kate Hudson, Uma Thurman, Ming-Na Wen, Michelle Yeoh, Winona Ryder, Lucy Liu, Courteney Cox, Heather Graham, Elizabeth Hurley, Mariska Hargitay, Jennifer Beals and Ashley Judd all auditioned or were considered or were offered or turned down the role of Trinity.
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The Nebuchadnezzar was designed to have a patched-up look, instead of clean, cold and sterile space ship interior sets as used on films like Star Trek (2009). The wires were made visible to show the ship's working internals, and each composition was carefully designed to convey the ship as "a marriage between man and machine."
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There was a rumor that the studio had little faith in the project, and only gave the Wachowskis $10 million instead of the $60 million dollar budget that they had asked for. Allegedly, the directors spent that entire amount on the opening scene alone, which impressed the studio sufficiently for them to green-light the rest of the budget. This story was later discredited, although there was a hint of truth: when studio executives were unhappy with how the production moved along and threatened to intervene during filming, the directors and editor hastily compiled the opening scene and finished it with temporary sound and visual effects. The result was enough to keep the studio off their back for the rest of the shoot.
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Sophia Stewart had a case pending against the directors, producers, and studios behind the Matrix and Terminator movie franchises, claiming that they were all based on a 35 page screenplay treatment she wrote in 1983 called "The Third Eye". Although the case was rejected because of the litigant's failure to present evidence in a timely fashion, Stewart continues to discuss her version of events online. For example, the "John Connor" and "Neo" characters are (she claims) the same individual in her treatment. The time frame doesn't seem to sync with reality though, since The Terminator was going to be shot and released in 1983, but had to be postponed because of Schwarzenegger's commitment to Conan the Destroyer. In a nutshell, The Terminator was written before her work was.
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The Wachowskis' approach to action scenes drew upon their admiration for Japanese animation such as Ninja Scroll (1993) and Akira (1988). Ghost in the Shell (1995) was a particularly strong influence. Joel Silver has stated that the Wachowskis first described their intentions for the film by showing him that anime and saying, "We wanna do that for real."
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When Lana and Lilly Wachowski's screenplay for Assassins (1995) was being made for producer Joel Silver, the Wachowskis brought Silver the script to this film. He was bowled over by their screenplay, but not by the Wachowskis' insistence that they direct the film themselves. He told them to cut their teeth by directing something else instead, which is why they made Bound (1996). The success of that lesbian crime thriller proved to be the calling card that the Wachowskis needed to earn the trust from Warner Bros. to direct this movie themselves.
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The screenplay appears to have borrowed several plot elements from the 1973 German TV miniseries Welt am Draht (World on a Wire), including a computer simulated world that's indistinguishable from reality to its inhabitants; unique self-aware computer programs who recognize the artificial nature of the simulated world and know of the real world's existence; and real world people who enter the simulation as avatars of themselves and return to the real world by making a phone call.
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The 44 cue names in Don Davis' musical score include: 10 gags based on character names (7 around "Switch"); 5 anagrams of "Wachowski Brothers"; 3 anagrams of "The Matrix"; and only one reference to philosophy. The cue for the "Spoon Boy" scene is titled "Boon Spoy", which is of course a spoonerism.
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The character of Switch was supposed to be played by two people. A man in the real world but once they were plugged into the Matrix it would be played by the female we saw in both here. The Wachowski's decided to change it because they felt audience's weren't ready for a gender dysphoric character.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Sets from the film Dark City (1998), including rooftops, buildings, and other exterior sets, were used in this film. The rooftops that Trinity runs across at the beginning of the film are the same ones that John Murdoch runs across in Dark City. Both movies deal with humanity being kept in a carefully constructed illusion by outsiders, which prompted claims that The Matrix had effectively ripped off Dark City; in reality, the screenplay of The Matrix had been written long before Dark City was released.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
When Belinda McClory auditioned for the role of "Switch," she was only going for half the role; the character was originally planned to be played by androgynous actors. In the real world Switch would be a male actor, and in the Matrix, a female--hence the name "Switch". Warner Bros. refined the idea and McClory ended up getting a single female role in both environments. In interviews many years later, the Wachowskis (who at the time had been considering undergoing gender reassignments) stated that there were trans elements in the film. This was one of them.
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Joel Silver joined The Matrix as producer soon after the project began.
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The Wachowskis nurtured their vision for five and a half years and produced fourteen drafts of the script. Although most studio executives who read the script liked the ideas, they struggled to imagine how it would be put on screen. The Wachowskis hired leading illustrators Steve Skroce and Geofrey Darrow to prepare more than 600 storyboards. Executives were reportedly convinced immediately after seeing this bold vision and greenlit the film.
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While Lana and Lilly Wachowski's script for Assassins (1995) was being prepared for producer Joel Silver, the Wachowskis brought Silver the script for this film. Silver was very impressed by their scripts, but not by the Wachowskis' insistence on directing the film themselves. He told them to gain experience by directing something else, so they made Bound (1996). The success of this lesbian thriller was the reference the Wachowskis needed to win Warner Bros.' trust.
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There was a rumor that the studio did not believe much in the project and gave the Wachowskis only 10 million dollars instead of the 60 million dollars they wanted. Allegedly the directors spent that entire amount on the opening scene alone, which impressed the studio and got the rest of the budget greenlit. This story was later denied, but it had a grain of truth: when studio executives were unhappy with the way shooting was going and threatened to intervene, the directors and the editor hastily cut together the opening scene and completed it with temporary sound and visual effects. The result kept the studio off their backs for the rest of the shoot.
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The Lafayette Hotel escape sequence actually continued into the sewers and then back out onto the street; Morpheus was captured while trying to create a diversion. Storyboards for this version can be seen in 'The Art of the Matrix', and the video game 'Path of Neo' includes a somewhat different sewer escape section at this point.
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Sophia Stewart filed lawsuits against the directors, producers and studios of the Matrix and Terminator film series, claiming that all of them were based on a 35-page script draft titled 'The Third Eye' that she wrote in 1983. Although the case was dismissed because the plaintiff failed to present evidence in time, Stewart continues to tell her version of events online. For example, she says that the characters 'John Connor' and 'Neo' are (according to her claim) the same person. However, the timeline does not match reality, because Terminator was to be shot and released in 1983 but had to be postponed due to Schwarzenegger's commitment to Conan the Destroyer. In short, Terminator was written before her work.
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The dojo set was built long before it was used. During the dojo sequence, there was significant physical contact between the two actors, which led to bruises. Keanu Reeves's neck injury before filming meant that he had not been able to train sufficiently on the wires up to that point, and because of the physical toll Fishburne had taken by then, he could not perform the triple kick move satisfactorily and was angry with himself, which caused the scene to be postponed. The scene was shot successfully a few days later and Reeves used only three takes. From that point on, Yuen Woo-Ping changed the choreography of the scene and had the actors pull their punches in the final sequence of the scene, which created a feeling of training and gave both of them much-needed relief.
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In the early stages of developing the famous Bullet Time sequence, visual effects supervisor John Gaeta and cinematographer Bill Pope built many gimbals and dollies in the hope of creating the effect the old-fashioned way. The original dolly they created for the camera was to be spun around the action at tremendous speed, but after many failed tests and broken dollies, they opted for computer graphics, which meant writing an entirely new program for the effect. However, the Bullet Time sequence still uses a very old technique: still photography.
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While shooting the scene in which Neo slams Smith into the ceiling of the subway tunnel, Keanu Reeves's stunt double Chad Stahelski suffered various injuries, including broken ribs, knees and a dislocated shoulder. Another stuntman was injured by a hydraulic ram during a shot in which Neo crashes into a booth.
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According to the film's armorer, John Bowring, the guns Keanu Reeves holds in the lobby and elevator sequences were actually plastic, lightweight guns. They made a very faithful cast of the MP5K weighing about 150-200 grams, so that Keanu could carry them without worrying about the weight. Heavier versions were also made in case they needed to be dropped to the ground.
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The sets from Dark City (1998), including the rooftops, buildings and other exterior sets, were used in this film. The rooftops Trinity runs across at the start of the film are the same rooftops John Murdoch runs across in Dark City. Both films deal with humanity being kept inside an illusion carefully constructed by outside forces, which led to claims that The Matrix effectively stole from Dark City; in reality, the screenplay for The Matrix was written long before Dark City was released.
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According to costume designer Gloria Bava, Neo's original coat was silver leather. It was changed because the heavy material barely moved even under the wind machine, and the directors wanted something that rippled and flew like the "liquid sky" referenced in their screenplay. A lighter, black fabric was found and cost only 3 dollars per meter.
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All the references to street corners in the film (for example Wells and Lake) are real intersections in Chicago, Illinois, the Wachowski brothers' hometown. The subway train features signs reading "Loop," another Chicago reference. However, the film was not explicitly shot in Chicago or any other real city (it was shot in Sydney).
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The Nebuchadnezzar was designed to have a patched-together look rather than the clean, cold and sterile spaceship interiors used in films like Star Trek (2009). Cables were made visible to show the ship's working innards, and every composition was carefully designed to reflect the ship as a "marriage between man and machine."
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The interrogation scene in which the bug is implanted in Neo used a combination of practical and digital effects. In the scene where the Agents hold Neo and Agent Smith activates the bug entering his navel, a prosthetic stomach was used; a small notch where the plastic bends slightly can be noticed a few centimeters from his navel. A remote-controlled device was also used to simulate the bug's tentacles moving after it entered his stomach. The bug itself was a combination of CGI and animatronics. The scene where it activates is CGI, while the scene where it moves in his stomach is practical; the scene where it enters his navel is CGI.
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An anecdote about the "red dress" scene is repeated in the "Matrix Revisited" documentary and the book "Art of the Matrix." Apparently, when the actress first appeared in her costume, an unnamed person was pulling his car out of a nearby garage. He was so captivated that he drove straight into it before the garage door had fully opened. After ruining his car's paint and windshield wipers, he slowly and shamefacedly drove away from the set.
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Who first invented the time-freezing technique used in the film is disputed. According to some, Michel Gondry first used this technique in an insurance commercial and then applied it in a Björk music video. Others point to architectural graphic artist Matthew Bannister, who argued in his academic work that movement and time could be separated within video; Bannister proposed a rig that did not work with the technology of the time. Artist Tim MacMillan, meanwhile, demonstrated the technique himself on British television in 1993. Most likely, each of them and others discovered the technique independently.
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In post-production, the team called the digital manipulation of a person's body 'Frankensteining'. This method was used in particular during the chase in the first scene, when Trinity jumps through the window. The team had to move her arms and legs slightly so that she would look more natural while suspended in the air.
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The scene in which Trinity tells Neo 'you know exactly where it ends' was shot in Elizabeth Street in Sydney, looking north along CityRail's Central-City Circle line, from the intersection of Campbell Street with Wentworth Street. The illuminated white wooden scaffolding on the left was there before the shoot. Rain was added to the night scene with a fire truck. Local street signs were removed and remained on the sidewalk for days after filming ended.
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The first viewing program shows the city's area code, but because the camera zooms in before it is fully determined, the phone number remains (3?2) 555-0690. There are three places in the United States with similar codes: Chicago (312), Delaware (302) and the northwestern Florida peninsula (352). Since the original script stated the number was 312-555-0690, and there are numerous other references to Chicago in the film (such as State Street), we can assume the area code is 312.
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Proof-of-concept tests for the "bullet time" scene were first done by Mass.Illusions in Lennox, Massachusetts. In a 2019 interview with VFX magazine, Pierre Jasmin said, "We did the bullet time tests to help producer Joel Silver raise money for the film." According to Jasmin, the Wachowskis presented the team at Mass.Illusions with impressive storyboards showing how bullet time would look. John Gaeta, who directed the test shoots at Mass.Illusions, later supervised the visual effects of The Matrix through Manex, a VFX facility in Northern California. The first step in achieving bullet time is blocking. Because you need to know how the subject will move in order to set up the important camera rig. For this reason, Gaeta and his team first blocked the action using a series of still cameras. They then scanned the images into a computer, so that the filmmakers could map the characters' positions and the path the "virtual camera" would follow and develop a strategy. Using these simulations as a guide, the cameras were placed side by side in a special rig set up using a motion-controlled laser marking system capable of determining the correct angle and focus distance. In the most famous version of bullet time in The Matrix, the scene where Neo dodges bullets on a rooftop, 120 still cameras and two film cameras were used. Placing the cameras close together was essential to create the illusion of movement, because each camera took only a single still photograph. These cameras were triggered at extremely close intervals, so that the action appeared to develop slowly while the point of view moved at "normal" speed. The cameras fired either in sequence or simultaneously, depending on the desired effect. The single frames from each camera were then edited and shown in succession, creating an orbital point of view of frozen or slowed-down action. Once scanned into a computer, the resulting strip of still images is not much different from animation cels. And speaking of animation, now is the time to mention interpolation, the first of several techniques that gave the final effect a smooth look. Roughly speaking, "motion interpolation" is a process that uses an AI-powered algorithm to "generate" more frames in a series of still frames. Also known as motion interpolation, this technique increases the perceived frame rate by creating new intermediate frames. This makes the motion feel less jerky and allows certain parts of the image (such as Neo's cape) to flow more smoothly. The bullet time sequences in The Matrix could not be shot in place because most of the cameras could see each other. The scenes were shot in front of a green screen, and the backgrounds were replicated using photographs of real locations as textures for the 3D-modeled environment. The actors were secured with wires both to prevent them from falling and to stretch out their movements so that the final shot movement looked effortless. Digital elements (bullets, light, etc.) were then added in post-production.
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Just before the lobby shootout, when Neo and Trinity come to rescue Morpheus, they fail to get through the security check because they are armed to the waist and intend to send everyone holding Morpheus straight to the morgue. In 1997, Daniel Bernhardt, who later worked on the Matrix (and John Wick) series, had done the same thing in a scene in True Vengeance (in that film too he was trying to rescue a kidnapping victim).
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The Wachowski siblings nurtured their vision for five and a half years and produced fourteen drafts of the script. Although most studio executives who read the script liked the ideas, they had difficulty imagining how it would be put on screen. The Wachowskis hired leading illustrators Steve Skroce and Geofrey Darrow to prepare more than 600 storyboards. Executives were reportedly convinced immediately after seeing this bold vision and greenlit the film.
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There was a rumor that the studio did not believe much in the project and gave the Wachowskis only 10 million dollars instead of the 60 million they wanted. The directors allegedly spent that entire amount on the opening scene alone, which impressed the studio and got the rest of the budget greenlit. This story was later denied, but it had a grain of truth: when studio executives were unhappy with how the shoot was going and threatened to intervene, the directors and the editor hurriedly cut the opening scene and completed it with temporary sound and visual effects. The result kept the studio off their backs for the rest of the shoot.
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The Lafayette Hotel escape sequence actually continued into the sewers and then back out into the street; Morpheus was captured while trying to create a diversion. Storyboards for this version can be seen in 'The Art of the Matrix,' and the video game 'Path of Neo' includes a somewhat different sewer escape section at this point.
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Sophia Stewart sued the directors, producers and studios behind the Matrix and Terminator film series, claiming they were all based on a 35-page script draft titled 'The Third Eye' that she wrote in 1983. Although the case was dismissed because the plaintiff failed to present evidence in time, Stewart continues to tell her version of events online. For example, she says the characters 'John Connor' and 'Neo' are (according to her claim) the same person. However, the timeline does not match reality, because Terminator was to be shot and released in 1983 but had to be postponed due to Schwarzenegger's commitment to Conan the Destroyer. In short, Terminator was written before her work.
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At the directors' request, the actors had to be able to understand and explain the Matrix not merely as a film but as a philosophy. Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation was on the required reading list for the lead actors and much of the crew. Keanu Reeves said that even before the Wachowski brothers opened the script, they had him read Simulacra and Simulation, Kevin Kelly's Out of Control and Dylan Evans's Introducing Evolutionary Psychology. In the end, Reeves became able to explain all the philosophical subtleties in the film. Carrie-Anne Moss, meanwhile, stated that she struggled with the process.
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When Tank loads Neo's martial arts training, there is an image on the computer screen listing various styles. In fifth place it reads 'Drunken Boxing'. The film's fight choreographer, Yuen Woo-Ping, was the director and choreographer of Jackie Chan's early hit Drunken Master (1978), in which Chan masters the Zui Chuan, or Drunken Boxing, style. Among the other styles downloaded are Jiu-jitsu, Savate, Kempo, Tae Kwon Do and, of course, Kung Fu.
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In Thomas Anderson's criminal record, which Agent Smith looks at during the interrogation, some personal information is visible: the file was last updated on July 22, 1998. Anderson's place and date of birth are 'Lower Downtown, Capital City, March 11, 1962'. His mother's maiden name is 'Michelle McGahey' and his father's name is 'John Anderson'. Thomas attended 'Central West Junior High' and 'Owen Paterson High' (named after the film's Production Designer). A few seconds later, a photocopy of his passport is shown. Here his place of birth is CAPITAL CITY, USA, and his date of birth is September 13, 1971. The passport was issued on September 12, 1991 and set to expire on September 11, 2001 (a Tuesday), a date famous for the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.
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The book in which Neo hides his things is Jean Baudrillard's 'Simulacra and Simulation', which examines the concepts of postmodern simulation and hyperreality. The section he hides them in is titled 'On Nihilism'. Nihilism generally involves despair and the belief that life is meaningless. The same book was on the required reading list for the lead actors before they read the script.
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The company Thomas Anderson works for is called Metacortex. The word's roots are meta- (according to Webster, 'to go beyond, to transcend') and -cortex (the outer layer of gray matter surrounding the brain). Metacortex therefore means 'to transcend the limits of the brain', and that is exactly what Neo does.
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The name of Morpheus's ship, the Nebuchadnezzar, refers to King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon in the Book of Daniel. The Great King Nebuchadnezzar is famous for conquering Israel (specifically Judah and Jerusalem) in biblical times. He also had the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the Seven Lost Wonders of the Ancient World) built for his wife. In Daniel 2:1-49 he has a dream he cannot interpret and keeps searching for an answer. This mirrors the quest of those who want to escape the Matrix and the answers Morpheus and his crew try to provide after freeing minds.
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William Gibson's novel Neuromancer influenced the film (particularly the use of the term 'Matrix'). After watching the film, Gibson noted that the way its creators drew on existing cyberpunk works was the kind of 'creative cultural osmosis' he himself had relied on in his writing. He felt, however, that the film's Gnostic themes set it apart from Neuromancer and made it thematically closer to the work of Philip K. Dick.
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The Wachowski brothers' approach to action scenes was fueled by their admiration for Japanese anime such as Ninja Scroll (1993) and Akira (1988). Ghost in the Shell (1995) was a particularly strong influence. Joel Silver recounted that the Wachowski brothers first conveyed their intentions for the film to him by showing him this anime and saying, 'This is what we really want to do.'
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The film pays great homage to Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,' but there are also references to Karl Marx, Franz Kafka, Zen and Homer's Odyssey. One of the key literary works is the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard's book 'Simulacra and Simulation.' The book is visible lying open in Neo's apartment and was on the required reading list for all the lead actors and crew.
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Neo is frequently associated with the number one. (Neo is an anagram of the word 'one,' and a major plot point is whether he is 'The One.') Meanwhile, Cypher's name means zero (from the Arabic sifr). Zero and one form the basis of binary data and therefore of all modern computer data. (Neo also lives in apartment number 101, a number made up entirely of these two digits.) Finally, Trinity's name means 'group of three,' and she first appears in room 303.
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While explaining 'what the Matrix is' to Neo, Morpheus uses the phrase 'Welcome to the desert of the real.' This is a quotation from Jean Baudrillard's 'Simulacra and Simulation,' the hollowed-out book in which Neo hides his illegal software. The quote can be found in Chapter One - The Precession of Simulacra, page one, paragraph 2: 'The real is that which persists in the deserts here and there, no longer that of the Empire but that of ourselves. The desert of the real.' Note: the American title of Baudrillard's book is Simulations. It was published by Semiotext(e) in 1983.
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A subtle bit of foreshadowing is that Cypher refers to The Wizard of Oz while everyone else alludes to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. While Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is essentially the story of a girl who finds freedom in a dangerous and confusing world, The Wizard of Oz is the story of a girl swept into a new land amid tragedy, hunted for something she does not want, forced to become a killer, and all the while longing to go home; in the end she wakes up and her memories of the other world remain like a strange dream, likely to be forgotten over time.
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According to the inscription on the Nebuchadnezzar's core, the ship was manufactured in the 'USA' in the year 2069. It is also stated to be a 'Mark III, No. 11' model, which may be a reference to Mark 3:11: 'Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, 'You are the Son of God!''
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As of April 2016, a research team at DARPA was working on a project called Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT). The project involves using electrodes placed at the base of the neck and electrical stimulation to influence a person's neurotransmitters. The goal is to enable agents to learn languages and other complex subjects in far less time. This resembles Neo's training program that lets him learn complex skills faster, though it is less medically invasive.
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The screenplay appears to have borrowed several plot elements from the 1973 German TV miniseries Welt am Draht (World on a Wire): a computer-simulated world indistinguishable from reality for its inhabitants; unique, self-aware computer programs that notice the artificial nature of the simulated world and know of the real world's existence; and real-world people who enter the simulation as their own avatars and return to the real world by making a phone call.
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Christian symbolism: Early in the film, Choi tells Neo, "Hallelujah. You're my savior, man. My own personal Jesus Christ." Indeed, Neo has many parallels with Jesus. The question of whether he is "the One" mirrors the question of whether Jesus is truly the Messiah (in both cases, a savior whose coming was foretold). His surname, Anderson, also etymologically means "son of man", a biblical phrase referring to Jesus. Like Jesus, he is declared dead but then resurrects. The name Trinity also reinforces the Christian theme.
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The logo on the FedEx envelope Neo receives is made up of red and blue letters. As Neo signs for the envelope, he uses a pen that offers a choice of red or blue ink. These details foreshadow the choice Neo will make between the red and blue pills. The pen is most likely a Bic 4-color ballpoint pen, which offers red, blue, green and black ink options.
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After telling Neo that he is not the One, the Oracle says: "You've got the gift, but it looks like you're waiting for something. Your next life, maybe." These words come true at the end of the film: after Neo is killed by Smith, Trinity brings him back to life and he finally becomes the One.
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In cryptography, an oracle is a secure system component that leaks encrypted information through its responses to seemingly harmless queries. For example, utility programs that use their internal knowledge of an encryption scheme to verify seemingly neutral properties of an encrypted message can form the basis of an "oracle attack" that a creative user could exploit to obtain the message's contents.
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Of the 44 cue names in Don Davis's musical score, 10 are jokes based on character names (7 of them around "Switch"); 5 are anagrams of "Wachowski Brothers"; 3 are anagrams of "The Matrix"; and only one refers to philosophy. The cue for the "Spoon Boy" scene is titled "Boon Spoy," which is an example of a spoonerism.
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When Morpheus offers Neo the choice between the blue pill and the red pill, the blue pill is in his left hand and the red pill in his right. But when the camera moves in very close on Morpheus's face, his sunglasses mirror the hands holding the pills, swapping left and right; this symbolizes that reality can be deceptive and that perceptions such as "left" and "right" can be lost.
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Along with many other Christian parallels in the film, the character Cypher mirrors Judas Iscariot of the New Testament. Judas was one of the twelve apostles Jesus chose to serve in his name, but in a tragic turn he betrayed the Savior for thirty pieces of silver, rejecting His perfect knowledge. Cypher similarly betrays Morpheus and the Zion cause in exchange for the Matrix's comforts.
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When Neo asks Choi, "Have you ever had that feeling where you're not sure if you're awake or still dreaming?" Choi replies: "All the time. It's called mescaline. It's the only way to fly. Hey, it sounds to me like you need to unplug, man." This foreshadows Neo's fate throughout the film: Neo does not merely unplug from the Matrix, he ultimately succeeds at flying as well.
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Almost everything in the Oracle's conversation with Neo, but especially three lines: "Maybe in your next life," "One of you (Neo or Morpheus) is going to die," and "Here, take a cookie. I promise, by the time you're done eating it, you'll feel right as rain." The first two are directly connected to Neo finally becoming the One while fighting the Agents in the hotel; the third implies the installation or activation of the "Main Program" that the Architect mentions in Matrix Reloaded, since his powers begin to awaken after he eats the cookie.
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In the final scene, as Agent Smith chases Neo through a building, Neo passes through an apartment where two elderly women are sitting while looking for an exit (right after Tank tells Neo to go to his other left). On the television plays The Prisoner (1967), the iconic late-1960s television series in which a secret agent (officially unnamed) is abducted and finds himself trapped in an unnamed village. This groundbreaking series posits that "we are all prisoners."
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The film bears several similarities to the Terminator films: It is set in a dark, post-apocalyptic future in which machines have taken over the world. Morpheus and a group of rebel fighters battle to free humanity from the machines and the Matrix computer program. Neo is believed to be the chosen one who will destroy the Matrix and end the human-machine war. Neo, Morpheus and Trinity wear sunglasses and leather clothing. Trinity rides a motorcycle in one scene. Neo works at a computer company and is also a hacker. Agent Smith, as a law enforcement program, can take on the form of other individuals in the Matrix, and one of the weapons Neo uses against the Agents is a Mini gun.
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At the 72nd Academy Awards, Arnold Schwarzenegger presented the Visual Effects award, which The Matrix (1999) won. A decade earlier, Schwarzenegger had starred in the science fiction film Total Recall (1990), in which he played a man who goes to Mars to discover himself after a vacation memory implantation on Mars goes wrong. Like The Matrix, Total Recall deals with the nature of reality and the story of a man who falls in love with a female rebel fighter. In both films, the protagonists are offered red pills that will enable them to return to reality.
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The inner lining of the black suits worn by all the agent programs is gold. This is only noticeable in the running and fighting scenes. Interestingly, this may be the first hint that the 'programs' in The Matrix can be recognized by some people through a 'sight' ability; this emerges after the film, particularly at the beginning of Matrix Reloaded, when Neo studies the program Seraph carefully before meeting the Oracle.
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At the start of the film, Neo is told to 'follow the white rabbit,' and Dujour has a white rabbit tattoo. The Wachowski brothers wrote this as a reference to Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'; in the story, Alice follows the white rabbit down a rabbit hole and enters Wonderland. In the scene where Morpheus meets Neo, he offers him the choice of the blue or red pill, and Neo chooses the red pill and escapes the Matrix.
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Hip hop artists such as Drake, Nas, B.o.B, Rakim, Ab-Soul, Mac Miller, Colson Baker, cflynna, Kendrick Lamar, Common, Rick Ross, Donavan LaMond Johnson, Lupe Fiasco, Wale, Jay-Z, Lil' Wayne, Gucci Mane, 'Lil' Kim', Currency, The Game, Danny Brown, Kid Cudi and Jeezy reference The Matrix in their music. R&B star Chris Brown recorded a song titled The Matrix and released a video heavily inspired by the film's events and the character Neo.
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When Neo meets Morpheus, Morpheus offers him two pills: red and blue. The blue pill symbolizes staying in the Matrix, while the red pill symbolizes leaving the Matrix and passing into the real world. After Neo takes the red pill, waking up inside a giant pod filled with red fluid is a reflection of this choice. In other words, a giant 'red pill' represents not only him but also countless other people trapped inside red pills.
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(Around the 41st minute) While Morpheus explains to Neo what the Matrix is, on an old TV monitor in the Construct loading program he shows the silhouette of a devastated and desolate city. Although it is not stated explicitly, this is the silhouette of New York City; the Twin Towers and Manhattan's old shoreline can be made out. Interestingly, the Twin Towers would be destroyed in the September 11 attacks two and a half years after the film's premiere.
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The name of the man who buys illegal software in Neo's apartment is Choi, and his girlfriend's name is DuJour. In French, 'Choi Dujour' means 'choice of the day,' referencing the theme of choice in the film. Dujour's white rabbit tattoo is another reference to Alice in Wonderland. By addressing Neo as 'my own personal Jesus,' Choi foreshadows that Neo is the Chosen One, that is, a religious figure. Dujour also carries a double meaning as 'Femme du Jour' (girl of the day), suggesting that Choi's girlfriend may be a prostitute.
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Three times, instead of moving forward, Neo considers returning to his previous life: the first when Trinity gets out of the car and tells him, 'Because you have been down there Neo. You know that road. You know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be'; the second when Morpheus offers him the option of taking the blue pill and returning to his life; and the third when the Oracle tells him he is not the Chosen One but perhaps could be in his next life.
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Behind the Scenes (216)
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A combination of practical and digital effects were used for the interrogation scene where Neo is implanted with the bug. A prosthetic stomach was used for the scene where the agents hold down Neo so that Agent Smith can activate the bug that digs into his belly button, notice the small indentation a few inches away from his navel where the plastic had slightly bent. A remote controlled device was also used to simulate the bug's tendrils that were squirming around once they were inside of his stomach. The bug itself was also a combination of CGI and an animatronic. The scene where it activates is CGI while the shot where it's squirming on his stomach is practical, when it's digging into his navel it's CGI.
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In the early stages of developing what was to become the famous Bullet Time sequence, visual effects supervisor John Gaeta and director of photography Bill Pope constructed many gimbals and dollies in the hope of creating the effect the old-fashioned way. The original dolly they created for the camera would be led around the action at a tremendous speed, but after many failed tests and broken dollies, they opted for computer graphics, which meant writing an entirely new program for the effect. However, the Bullet Time sequence does still use one very old-fashioned technique: still photography.
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The iconic sunglasses worn by the Matrix characters are from the label "Blinde," which prides itself on producing handmade glasses. The company's founder, Richard Walker, had to tender against large companies, such as Ray-Ban and Arnette, to win the film's sunglasses contract, and set himself apart by scratch-designing pairs of glasses based purely on the characters' unusual names. When his tender was successful, Walker was flown into Sydney where he spent the duration of the Matrix shoot custom-designing sunglasses for the cast in the back of an Oxford Street optometrist.
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The "bullet time" sequences in the film were actually some of the least labor intensive to shoot. Because the scenes involved an array of still cameras taking still photographs which were later digitally arranged into the sequence in the film, the Wachowski Siblings were able to shoot the sequence in only 90 minutes.
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The shootout in the lobby took about ten days to shoot, and all of the effects were practical, with the exception of wire removal. Carrie-Ann Moss did her cartwheel off the wall in one take, which was the goal because it took six to eight hours to re-set and re-dress the blown up columns.
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The shots of Neo and Morpheus dangling from the helicopter were shot with stuntmen, with the exception of the times you can see Fishburne and Reeves' faces in the closer shots. Editor Zach Staenberg claims they had to "literally re-write the laws of Sydney" in order to get all the flying shots.
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In order to achieve the bullet-time shots, the production had to design a customized and standardized lens for the still cameras. This was done because still camera lenses aren't standardized the way motion picture camera lenses are, so they'd make it difficult to edit shots together smoothly.
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According to costumer Gloria Bava, Neo's original coat was a silvery leather. It was changed because the heavy material barely moved, even under the influence of a wind machine, and the directors wanted something that was able to billow and float, like "liquid sky," a reference in their script. A lighter, black fabric was found, and only cost $3/yard.
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The shot as Trinity tells Neo, "you know exactly where it ends", was filmed on Elizabeth Street (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) looking north alongside CityRail's - Central to City Circle - train line from where Campbell Street also intersects with Wentworth Avenue. The white wooden scaffolding illuminated to the left was actually there before filming. Shot at night, the rain was added by a firetruck. Local street signs were pulled out and remained uprooted street-side for several days after location filming had moved on.
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The antique television Morpheus shows to Neo in the construct is an AWA (Amalgamated Wireless - Australasia) Radiola "Deep Image" Model 209C or very similar model, circa 1958. Its bottom speaker section with fabric grille is missing, probably removed by set design to create a cleaner appearance.
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On the first day of shooting, Hugo Weaving suffered an injury to his leg, which turned out to be a polyp that had to be surgically removed. For a while, there was a suggestion that he would have to be re-cast, but, by shifting the schedule around so that all of his stuntwork would take place at the end of shooting, Weaving was able to keep the part.
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To prepare for the wire fu, the actors had to train hard for several months. The Wachowskis first scheduled four months for training. Yuen Woo-Ping was optimistic, but then began to worry when he realized how unfit the actors and actresses were. Yuen let their body style develop, and then worked with each actor's or actress' strength. He built on Keanu Reeves' diligence, Laurence Fishburne's resilience, Hugo Weaving's precision, and Carrie-Anne Moss's feminine grace. Yuen designed Moss' moves to suit her deftness and lightness.
The Matrix (1999): MorpheusImage: Wikimedia Commons · Fred Cherrygarden, CC BY-SA 4.0 - #277
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For the "bullet time" scene Proof of concept tests were first conducted by Mass.Illusions in Lennox Massachusetts. "We did the bullet time tests to help producer Joel Silver raise money for the movie," explained Pierre Jasmin to the VFX magazine before & afters in a 2019 interview. According to Jasmin, the Wachowskis presented the team at Mass.Illusions with evocative storyboards for what bullet time would look like. John Gaeta, who directed the test shots at Mass.Illusions, would go on to supervise the visual effects for The Matrix via Manex, a VFX facility in Northern California. The first step to realizing bullet time is blocking. Because in order to set up the all-important camera rig (well, cameras rig), you need to know how your subject is going to move. So, first things first, Gaeta and co. blocked out the action using a series of still image cameras. They then scanned the images into a computer so that the filmmakers could map and strategize the position of characters and the path the "virtual camera" would take. Using these simulations as a guideline, cameras were placed side-by-side on a specialized rig that was set up using a motion-controlled laser-pointing system that could judge the correct angle and focal distance. For the most famous iteration of bullet-time in The Matrix, where Neo dodges bullets on a rooftop, the set-up involved 120 still cameras and two film cameras. Placing the cameras close together was imperative to create the illusion of motion, as each camera only captured a single still photo. These cameras were triggered at extremely close intervals, so the action would appear to unfold slowly as the viewpoint moved at a "normal" pace. The cameras were either fired sequentially or all at the same time depending on the desired effect. Single frames from each camera were then arranged and displayed consecutively to produce an orbiting viewpoint of a frozen or slowed action. Once scanned into the computer, the resulting strip of still images is not dissimilar to animation cels. And speaking of animation, now is as good a time as any to talk about interpolation, the first of several techniques that give the final effect a fluid appearance. Bluntly put, "motion interpolation" is a process that uses an AI-powered algorithm to "animate" more frames in a sequence of stills. Also known as motion interpolation, the technique effectively creates a perceived increase in frame rate by creating new intermediate frames. This makes the motion feel less jittery and allows parts of the image (e.g. Neo's cape) to flow more smoothly. The Matrix's bullet-time sequences could not be shot on location, since most of the cameras could "see each other." Scenes were shot on a green screen and the backgrounds were replicated using photos of the real locations as textures for the 3D modeled environment. Actors were held in position by wires to both prevent them from falling over and to prolong their actions so that the final filmed movement looked effortless. Digital elements (bullets, light, etc.) were then added in post-production.
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Prior to pre-production, Keanu Reeves suffered a two-level fusion of his cervical spine, which had begun to cause paralysis in his legs, requiring him to undergo neck surgery. He was still recovering during pre-production, but insisted on training. Stunt coordinator Yuen Woo-Ping let him practice only punches and lighter moves. Reeves trained hard, and even requested training on days off, however, the surgery left him unable to kick for two out of the four months of training. As a result, Reeves did not kick much in the film.
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The effects team coined the term "Frankensteining" to describe the digital manipulation of someone's body in post production. In particular, this was used when Trinity jumps through the window during the chase sequence of the first scene. The effects team had to move around her arms and legs a bit to make her look more natural as she glides through the air.
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There is an anecdote repeated in the "Matrix Revisited" documentary and "Art of the Matrix" book about the "red dress" scene. Apparently when the actress emerged in costume for the first time, a nameless someone was pulling their car out of a nearby garage. They were so transfixed that they drove directly in to the garage door before it had finished raising. After destroying their paint job and windshield wipers they slowly drove off the set in embarrassment.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Neo's mouth melting in the interrogation scene is an intentional homage to the sci-fi novel "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream," by Harlan Ellison which served as one of the many influences for the film. The scene was accomplished with CGI and practical effects. His lips joining together and separating as gooey flesh before sealing shut is CGI, while the rest of the shots were practical. Plaster and prosthetic makeup was used over Keanu Reeves' mouth to simulate the latter effect.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
While filming the scene where Neo slams Smith into the ceiling of the subway tunnel, Chad Stahelski, Keanu Reeves' stunt double, sustained several injuries, including broken ribs, knees, and a dislocated shoulder. Another stuntman was injured by a hydraulic puller during a shot where Neo was slammed into a booth.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
When Mouse is cornered by the S.W.A.T. team during the raid, the guns he pulls out are a pair of cam-operated, electrically-driven 12-gauge automatic shotguns with 25-round drum magazines, capable of firing at 900 RPM. They were built specially for the movie by John Bowring, the film's key armorer.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
The dojo set was built well before it was used. During the dojo sequence, there was significant physical contact between both actors, earning them bruises. Because Keanu Reeves's neck injury prior to filming meant he had insufficient training with wires up to that point, and due to the physical toll he had taken by Fishburne up to that point, he was unable to perform the triple kick move satisfactorily and became frustrated with himself, causing the scene to be postponed. The scene was shot successfully a few days later, with Reeves using only three takes. Yuen Woo-Ping altered the choreography of the scene from then on, and made the actors pull their punches in the last sequence of the scene, creating a training feel, and giving them both much-needed relief.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Due to Keanu Reeves' neck injury, some of the action scenes had to be re-scheduled to accommodate his full recovery. As a result, filming began with scenes that did not require much physical exertion, such as the scene in Thomas Anderson's boss' room, the interrogation room, or the car ride where Neo is taken to see the Oracle.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
For the scene between Agent Smith and Cypher in the restaurant, the crew actually used shiitake mushrooms rigged to look like a rare steak for wide shots and when the actor had to handle it for long periods. Joe Pantoliano (Cypher) disliked eating rare beef and it made him gag, so a spit bucket was kept nearby during filming.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
The opening fight with Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) took about six months of training and four days to shoot. Part of her original screen test was to fight with a wire team from Hong Kong for about three hours. The Wachowskis wanted to make sure the actors could perform in most of their fighting sequences, which was uncommon at the time.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
The Agents, including Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), famously carry IMI Desert Eagle Mark XIX pistols, chambered in.50 Action Express, as their sidearms throughout the movie. The Desert Eagle was specifically chosen by the Wachowski brothers as the Agents' sidearm-of-choice, against the advice of armorer John Bowring, who dismissed them as "wanker" pistols
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Contains a major spoiler — show
According to the film's armorer, John Bowring, the guns held by Keanu Reeves in the lobby and elevator sequences were actually plastic, lightweight weapons. They made a very faithful cast of the MP5K, which weighs about 150-200 grams, so that Keanu could carry them without worrying about the weight. Heavier versions were also made if they were meant to be dropped on the floor.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
For the scene when Neo wakes up in the pod connected to the Matrix, the pod was constructed to look dirty, used, and sinister. During the testing of a breathing mechanism in the pod, the tester suffered hypothermia in under eight minutes, so the pod had to be heated.
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Keanu Reeves said that an early draft of The Matrix script had the Matrix avatar as a different sex from the Zion reality, but he claimed the studio was not ready for that version.
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Carrie-Anne Moss said she found the preparatory reading process for The Matrix difficult.
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Before pre-production on The Matrix, Keanu Reeves had spinal fusion surgery on his cervical spine to treat disc problems that were affecting his balance. He was still recovering when pre-production began but insisted on training.
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Because of his recovery, Keanu Reeves could not kick during two of the four months of training for The Matrix, and he therefore did not kick much in the finished film.
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Keanu Reeves trained hard for The Matrix and even asked for training sessions on his days off.
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Hugo Weaving sustained an injury during training for The Matrix that required hip surgery.
The Matrix (1999): SmithImage: Wikimedia Commons · modtang, CC BY 2.0 - #332
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Because Keanu Reeves had a neck injury, some action scenes in The Matrix were rescheduled until he had fully recovered.
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Carrie-Anne Moss performed the shots featuring Trinity at the beginning of The Matrix and carried out all the wire stunts herself.
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While rehearsing the lobby scene of The Matrix, in which Trinity runs on a wall, Carrie-Anne Moss injured her leg and was ultimately unable to film the shot in one take.
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The postponed scene was shot successfully a few days later, with Keanu Reeves using only three takes.
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Keanu Reeves lost 15 pounds (7 kg) and shaved his entire body to give Neo an emaciated appearance for the scene in which Neo wakes up in a pod.
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Before pre-production, Keanu Reeves developed a two-level fusion in his cervical spine; the condition began to cause paralysis in his legs and required him to undergo neck surgery. He was still recovering during the pre-production period but insisted on training. Stunt coordinator Yuen Woo-Ping allowed him to do only punches and light movements. Reeves trained hard and even asked to train on his days off, but the surgery left him unable to kick for two of the four months of training. As a result, Reeves did not kick much in the film.
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All scenes set inside the Matrix have a green tint, as if being watched on a computer monitor. Scenes in the real world have a blue tint. Blue was used minimally inside the Matrix because the directors felt blue was more of a real-world color (ironically, even though blue is one of the rarest colors in nature). The fight scene between Morpheus and Neo, which takes place neither in the real world nor in the Matrix, has a yellow tint.
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In the "Woman in the Red Dress" scene, many identical twin extras were used to create the illusion of a repeating training program made with limited resources. For example: the tall man with slicked-back hair and sunglasses in the opening scene appears a few seconds later as a police officer writing a parking ticket.
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The Matrix characters' iconic sunglasses belong to the brand "Blinde," which prides itself on handmade eyewear production. The company's founder, Richard Walker, had to bid against major companies such as Ray-Ban and Arnette to win the film's sunglasses contract, and he set himself apart by designing pairs of glasses from scratch based entirely on the characters' unusual names. When his bid was accepted, Walker was flown to Sydney and, throughout the Matrix shoot, designed custom sunglasses for the actors in the back of an eye doctor's office on Oxford Street.
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The dojo set was built long before it was used. During the dojo sequence, there was significant physical contact between the two actors, which led to bruises. Keanu Reeves's neck injury before filming meant that he had not been able to train sufficiently with the wires up to that point, and Fishburne, because of the physical strain he had taken up to then, could not perform the triple kick move satisfactorily and was angry with himself, which caused the scene to be postponed. The scene was successfully shot a few days later and Reeves used only three takes. From that moment on, Yuen Woo-Ping changed the choreography of the scene and had the actors pull their punches in the final sequence of the scene, which created a feeling of training and gave both of them much-needed relief.
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In the early stages of developing the famous Bullet Time sequence, visual effects supervisor John Gaeta and cinematographer Bill Pope built many gimbals and dollies in the hope of creating the effect the old-fashioned way. The original dolly they created for the camera was to be rotated around the action at tremendous speed, but after many failed tests and a broken dolly, they opted for computer graphics, which meant writing an entirely new program for the effect. However, the Bullet Time sequence still uses a very old technique: still photography.
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Because of Keanu Reeves's neck injury, some action scenes had to be rescheduled to allow him to fully recover. As a result, filming began with scenes that did not require much physical exertion; such as the scene in Thomas Anderson's boss's office, the interrogation room scene, or the car ride in which Neo is taken to see the Oracle.
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While filming the scene in which Neo slams Smith into the ceiling of the subway tunnel, Keanu Reeves's stunt double Chad Stahelski suffered various injuries, including broken ribs, knees and a dislocated shoulder. Another stunt performer was injured by a hydraulic piston during a shot in which Neo crashes into a booth.
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According to the film's armorer John Bowring, the guns Keanu Reeves holds in the lobby and elevator sequences were actually plastic, lightweight weapons. They made a very faithful cast of the MP5K weighing about 150-200 grams, so that Keanu could carry them without worrying about the weight. Heavier versions were also made in case they needed to be dropped to the ground.
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The sets from Dark City (1998), including the rooftops, buildings and other exterior sets, were used in this film. The rooftops Trinity runs across at the start of the film are the same rooftops John Murdoch runs across in Dark City. Both films deal with humanity being kept inside an illusion carefully constructed by outside forces, which led to claims that The Matrix effectively stole from Dark City; in reality, the script for The Matrix was written long before Dark City was released.
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To prepare for wire fu, the actors had to train intensively for several months. The Wachowskis initially planned four months of training. Yuen Woo-Ping was optimistic, but began to worry once he realized how out of shape the actors were. Yuen allowed their body types to develop and then worked according to each actor's strengths. He built on Keanu Reeves's diligence, Laurence Fishburne's endurance, Hugo Weaving's precision and Carrie-Anne Moss's feminine grace. Yuen designed Moss's movements to suit her skill and lightness.
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According to costume designer Gloria Bava, Neo's original coat was silver leather. It was changed because the heavy material barely moved even under the force of the wind machine, and the directors wanted something that rippled and flew like the "liquid sky" referenced in their script. A lighter, black fabric was found and cost only 3 dollars per meter.
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Neo's mouth melting in the interrogation scene is a deliberate homage to Harlan Ellison's science fiction novel "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream," one of the film's many inspirations. The scene was achieved with CGI and practical effects. The sealing of his lips and their peeling apart like sticky flesh is CGI, while the other shots are practical. The second effect was simulated using plaster and prosthetic makeup over Keanu Reeves's mouth.
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All the references to street corners in the film (for example Wells and Lake) are real intersections in Chicago, Illinois, the hometown of the Wachowski brothers. The subway train features signs reading "Loop," another Chicago reference. However, the film was clearly not shot in Chicago or any other real city (it was shot in Sydney).
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The guns Mouse pulls out when he is cornered by the S.W.A.T. team during the raid are camera-operated, electrically powered, 12-gauge automatic shotguns with 25-round drum magazines capable of firing 900 rounds per minute. These weapons were custom-made by the film's chief armorer, John Bowring.
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During the Trinity rooftop chase at the beginning of the film, two different city skylines are noticeable. Behind the Agents, the BellSouth Building and the L & C Tower in Nashville, Tennessee are visible. After Trinity jumps past the Guns & Ammo billboard, the TransAmerica and Coit Towers in San Francisco can be seen behind her.
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The handgun the Agents use throughout the film is a variation of the Desert Eagle; this was a deliberate choice by the Wachowskis against the wishes of the film's armorer. The reason is that Desert Eagles are generally seen as novelty weapons; they fire a.50 caliber round, which is considered large by handgun standards. The recoil is nearly uncontrollable even with two hands, which makes the weapon's use rather unrealistic. However, this fits the film's continuity, because the Agents always fire this handgun one-handed, emphasizing their inhuman "machine" qualities.
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The Nebuchadnezzar was designed to have a patched-together look rather than the clean, cold and sterile spaceship interiors used in films such as Star Trek (2009). Cables were made visible to show the ship's working innards, and every composition was carefully designed to reflect the ship as a "marriage between man and machine."
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The interrogation scene in which the bug is implanted in Neo used a combination of practical and digital effects. A prosthetic stomach was used in the scene where the Agents hold Neo and Agent Smith activates the bug entering his navel; a small notch where the plastic bends slightly can be noticed a few centimeters from his navel. A remote-controlled device was also used to simulate the bug's tentacles moving after it enters his stomach. The bug itself was a combination of CGI and animatronics. The scene where it activates is CGI, while the scene where it moves in his stomach is practical; the scene where it enters his navel is CGI.
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An anecdote about the "red dress" scene is repeated in the "Matrix Revisited" documentary and the book "Art of the Matrix." Apparently, when the actress first appeared in her costume, an unnamed person was pulling his car out of a nearby garage. He was so captivated that he drove straight into it before the garage door had fully opened. After ruining his car's paint and windshield wipers, he slowly and shamefacedly moved away from the set.
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The three music pieces that play while Neo fights Morpheus in the construct are named "Bow Whisk Orchestra" by composer Don Davis. This piece consists of a semi-improvised piece by Davis with Asian instruments, Lunatic Calm's song "Leave You Far Behind," and another piece by Davis titled "Switch or Break Show." Both "Bow Whisk Orchestra" and "Switch Or Break Show" are anagrams of "Wachowski Brothers." Additionally, the music piece that plays when Neo, Morpheus and Trinity return to the building after visiting the Oracle is titled "Threat Mix." Later, the music piece that plays while Morpheus fights Agent Smith in the same building is titled "Exit Mr. Hat." Both "Threat Mix" and "Exit Mr. Hat" are anagrams of "The Matrix."
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Who first invented the time-freezing technique used in the film is disputed. According to some, Michel Gondry first used this technique in an insurance commercial and then applied it in a Björk music video. Others point to architectural graphic artist Matthew Bannister, who argued in his academic work that movement and time could be separated within video; Bannister had proposed a rig that did not work with the technology of the time. Artist Tim MacMillan, meanwhile, demonstrated the technique himself on British television in 1993. Most likely, each of them and others discovered the technique independently of one another.
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In the mission to rescue Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), Neo (Keanu Reeves) carries at least two Beretta 92FS pistols. Although carrying multiple copies of the same weapon may seem absurd, especially when dual-wielding, discarding empty guns and drawing new ones is faster than reloading. This practice has a rich history dating back to the era of flintlock pistols, when pirates entered battle with six loaded single-shot pistols.
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In post-production, the team called the digital manipulation of a person's body 'Frankensteining'. This method was used in particular for Trinity's jump through the window during the chase in the first scene. The team had to move her arms and legs slightly so that she would look more natural while suspended in the air.
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The antique television Morpheus shows Neo during the construct is an AWA (Amalgamated Wireless - Australasia) Radiola 'Deep Image' Model 209C or a very similar model, made around 1958. The fabric-grilled speaker section at the bottom is missing, probably removed by the set design for a cleaner look.
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Trinity's (Carrie-Anne Moss) opening fight required about six months of training and four days of shooting. As part of the auditions, she was asked to fight a Hong Kong wire team for about three hours. The Wachowskis wanted the actors to be able to take part in most of the fight scenes; this too was unusual for the time.
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The scene in which Trinity tells Neo 'you know exactly where it ends' was shot on Elizabeth Street in Sydney, looking north along CityRail's Central-City Circle line, from the intersection of Campbell Street with Wentworth Street. The illuminated white wooden scaffolding on the left was there before the shoot. Rain was added to the night scene with a fire truck. Local street signs were removed and remained on the sidewalk for days after filming ended.
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The opening (and closing) scenes take place at the Heart O' The City Motel. Although the official name of the city in which the film is set is Edge City, there is a clear homage to the Wachowskis' hometown of Chicago; there really is a 'Heart O' The City' motel in Skokie, IL, just outside Chicago. Although it does not have the same aesthetic, it is certainly a reference.
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The first viewing program shows the city's area code, but because the camera zooms in without being fully established, the phone number remains (3?2) 555-0690. There are three places in the United States with similar codes: Chicago (312), Delaware (302) and the northwestern Florida peninsula (352). Since the original script stated the number was 312-555-0690, and there are countless other references to Chicago in the film (such as State Street), we can assume the area code is 312.
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Concept proof-of-concept tests for the "bullet time" scene were first done by Mass.Illusions in Lennox, Massachusetts. In a 2019 interview with VFX magazine, Pierre Jasmin said, "We did the bullet time tests to help producer Joel Silver raise money for the film." According to Jasmin, the Wachowskis presented the team at Mass.Illusions with impressive storyboards showing how bullet time would look. John Gaeta, who directed the test shoots at Mass.Illusions, later supervised the visual effects of The Matrix through Manex, a VFX facility in Northern California. The first step in achieving bullet time is blocking. Because you need to know how the subject will move in order to set up the crucial camera rig. So Gaeta and his team first blocked the action using a series of still cameras. They then scanned the images into a computer, so that the filmmakers could map the characters' positions and the path the "virtual camera" would follow and develop a strategy. Using these simulations as a guide, the cameras were placed side by side in a custom rig set up using a motion-controlled laser marking system capable of determining the correct angle and focus distance. In the most famous version of bullet time in The Matrix, the scene where Neo dodges bullets on a rooftop, 120 still cameras and two film cameras were used. Placing the cameras close together was essential to create the illusion of movement, because each camera took only a single still photograph. These cameras were triggered at extremely close intervals, so that the action appeared to develop slowly while the point of view moved at a "normal" speed. The cameras fired either in sequence or simultaneously, depending on the desired effect. The single frames from each camera were then edited and shown in succession, creating an orbital point of view of frozen or slowed-down action. Once scanned into a computer, the resulting strip of still images is not much different from animation cels. And speaking of animation, now is the perfect time to mention interpolation, the first of several techniques that give the final effect a smooth look. Roughly speaking, "motion interpolation" is a process that uses an AI-powered algorithm to "generate" more frames in a series of still frames. Also known as motion interpolation, this technique increases the perceived frame rate by creating new intermediate frames. This makes the motion feel less jerky and allows certain parts of the image (such as Neo's cape) to flow more smoothly. The bullet time sequences in The Matrix could not be shot in place because most of the cameras could see each other. The scenes were shot in front of a green screen, and the backgrounds were replicated using photographs of real locations as textures for the 3D-modeled environment. The actors were secured with wires both to prevent them from falling and to stretch out their movements so that the final shot motion appeared effortless. Digital elements (bullets, light, etc.) were then added in post-production.
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Just before the lobby shootout, when Neo and Trinity come to rescue Morpheus, they fail to get through security because they are armed to the waist and intend to send everyone holding Morpheus straight to the morgue. In 1997, Daniel Bernhardt, who later worked on the Matrix (and John Wick) series, had done the same thing in a scene in the film True Vengeance (in that film too he was trying to rescue a kidnapping victim).
Characters & Cast (88)
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After reading the script, Carrie-Anne Moss stated that at first, she did not believe she had to do the extreme acrobatic actions as described in the script. She also doubted how the Wachowskis would get to direct a movie with a budget so large, but after spending an hour with them going through the storyboard, she understood why some people would trust them. She underwent a three-hour physical test during casting, so she knew what to expect subsequently.
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Hugo Weaving stated that the character of Agent Smith was enjoyable to play because it amused him. He developed a neutral accent with specific "character" for the role. He wanted Smith to sound neither robotic, nor human, and also said that the Wachowskis' deep voices influenced Smith's own. When filming began, Weaving mentioned that he was excited to be a part of something that would extend his abilities.
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Neo (Keanu Reeves) takes at least two pair of Beretta 92FS pistols with him on his mission to save Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). While it may seem ridiculous to carry several copies of the same gun, it would be faster to drop the pistols when empty and pull out "fresh" ones than it would be trying to reload them, particularly when dual-wielding, as Neo does in the film. Also, such practice would have a rich precedent in the flintlock era, when bandits or pirates were known to carry up to six loaded one-shot pistols into battle.
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Switch was originally meant to change genders upon entering the Matrix, which coined their name "Switch". In the real world, Switch would be male, and in the Matrix, Switch would be female - a very clever and critical point of the 'residual self-image' idea. When actress Belinda McClory auditioned for the role, she was going for only half the role. Warner Brothers made the decision to cut this and give Switch one form for both environments. Switch's presentation is deliberately androgynous to pay homage to their original concept. Lilly Wachowski would later say that The Matrix contains a "trans metaphor" by the name of "Switch". Switch highlighted "where [their] headspaces were" when it came to the idea of The Matrix, but from a "closeted point of view." The early concept for Switch's presentation may be a reflection of Lilly and Lana Wachowski's struggles with their gender identity, which were unknown to the public at the time.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Every Agent in the movie (Brown, Jones and Smith) has a chance to show their Agents' powers: Brown (Paul Goddard) jumps from a building to another while he is chasing Trinity; Jones (Robert Taylor) dodges the bullets shot by Neo in the rooftop; and Smith (Hugo Weaving) fights against Neo in the subway station.
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Hugo Weaving stated that Agent Smith was enjoyable to play because the character entertained him. He developed a neutral accent with a special "character" for the role. He wanted Smith to sound neither robot nor human, and he also said that the Wachowskis' deep voices influenced Smith's. When filming began, Weaving said he was excited to be part of something that would develop his abilities.
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Before production, Keanu Reeves underwent cervical spine fusion that had begun to cause paralysis in his legs and had to have neck surgery. He was still recovering before production but insisted on training. Stunt coordinator Yuen Woo-Ping allowed him only to throw punches and perform light movements. Reeves worked hard and asked for training even on his days off, but because of the surgery he could not kick for two of the four months of training. For this reason, he does not kick much in the film.
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Will Smith was offered the role of Neo but turned it down to star in Wild Wild West (1999). He later admitted that at the time he was 'not mature enough as an actor' and that if he had taken the role he would have 'messed it up.' He did not regret it and said, 'Keanu was great as Neo.' He also stated that if he had been cast as Neo, the studio wanted Val Kilmer for the role of Morpheus, which would have deprived audiences of Laurence Fishburne's iconic performance. Sandra Bullock was offered the role of Trinity but turned it down because Will Smith was in the film. She later regretted her decision; had she been cast, she would have reunited with Keanu Reeves, with whom she had starred in Speed (1994).
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On the first day of shooting, Hugo Weaving injured his leg, and it turned out to be a polyp that had to be removed surgically. For a while, recasting was considered, but they rearranged the schedule and moved all of the stunt work to the end of the shoot, and Weaving was able to keep the role.
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Hugo Weaving said that playing Agent Smith was fun because it entertained him. He developed a neutral accent and a specific 'character' for the role. He wanted Smith to sound neither robotic nor human, and noted that the Wachowskis' deep voices influenced Smith's voice. When filming began, he said he was excited to be part of something that would expand his abilities.
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When Belinda McClory auditioned for the role of 'Switch,' she was applying for only half of the role; the character was originally to be played by androgynous actors. In the real world Switch would be male and in the Matrix female; that is why the character was named 'Switch.' Warner Bros. refined the idea, and McClory got a single female role in both environments. Years later, in interviews, the Wachowskis, who at the time were considering gender transition, stated that there were trans elements in the film. This was one of them.
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After reading the script, Carrie-Anne Moss said that at first she did not believe she would have to perform the extremely acrobatic movements described in it. She also doubted how the Wachowskis would direct such a big-budget film, but after spending an hour with them going over the storyboard, she understood why some people trusted them. During the audition she went through a three-hour physical test, so she knew what to expect afterward.
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Carrie-Anne Moss received many high-profile role offers after the success of the Matrix series, but turned them all down to focus on motherhood. "I felt torn, thinking, 'God, I'm being offered amazing things. This would be such a huge deal.' I was holding my baby in my arms and I thought, 'At the end of my life, will it matter that I have one more film on my résumé, or that I held my baby?' And I said no instantly. I decided without a second thought."
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When Will Smith was offered the role of Neo, the Wachowskis were considering pairing him with Val Kilmer as Morpheus. According to Smith, the only part the Wachowskis presented to him was the scene with the kick frozen in mid-air. This made Smith hesitant, and he chose to make Wild Wild West (1999) instead; that film was a major critical and commercial failure and earned him two Razzie Awards. It also won the award for Worst Picture.
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Switch was originally planned to change sex when entering the Matrix, which is why the character was named "Switch." Male in the real world, female in the Matrix; this was a very clever and critical point of the idea of a 'self-image.' When actress Belinda McClory auditioned for the role, she was applying for only half of it. Warner Brothers cut the idea and decided to give Switch a single form in both environments. Switch's appearance is deliberately androgynous as a nod to the original concept. Lilly Wachowski later said that The Matrix contained a "trans metaphor" with "Switch." Switch emphasized "where their heads were at" regarding the Matrix idea, but only "from a hidden point of view." The early concept for Switch's presentation may have been a reflection of Lilly and Lana Wachowski's gender identity struggles, which were not publicly known at the time.
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Jennifer Connelly, Marisa Tomei, Salma Hayek, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Angie Harmon, Drew Barrymore, Kate Hudson, Uma Thurman, Ming-Na Wen, Michelle Yeoh, Winona Ryder, Lucy Liu, Courteney Cox, Heather Graham, Elizabeth Hurley, Mariska Hargitay, Jennifer Beals and Ashley Judd auditioned, were considered, were offered or turned down the role of Trinity.
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The Agents, including Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), carry the famous IMI Desert Eagle Mark XIX pistols in.50 Action Express caliber as sidearms throughout the film. The Desert Eagle was chosen by the Wachowski brothers against the advice of weapons expert John Bowring, who described them as "snob" guns.
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Hugo Weaving explains that when we first meet Agent Smith, he is a machine, an agent of the system, and the system represents the machine world. Then, throughout the film, we see Agent Smith gradually evolve, becoming less machine and increasingly human, and deciding to disobey the system (such as Agent Smith removing the device in his ear).
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As part of the casting process, the film's writer-director duo the Wachowskis requested a screen test to test the chemistry of the leads being considered for Neo and Trinity. This was the moment Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves met for the first time. Moss entered the room and said, 'Hello, I'm Carrie-Anne.' Reeves replied, 'Hello, I'm Keanu.'
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Easter Eggs & References (58)
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The film pays a huge homage to Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", although there are also references to Karl Marx, Franz Kafka, Zen, and Homer's Odyssey. One of the main featured works of literature is "Simulcra and Simulation" by the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard. The book can be seen lying open in Neo's apartment, and was required reading for all the principal cast and crew.
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During the Trinity rooftop chase at the film's beginning, two distinctive city skylines are noticeable. Nashville, Tennessee's BellSouth Building and L & C Tower are visible behind the Agents. San Francisco's TransAmerica and Coit Towers can be seen behind Trinity after she jumps past the Guns & Ammo billboard.
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The man whom Neo meets at his apartment to buy illegal software is named Choi and his girlfriend is DuJour. In french the pair are "Choi Dujour" or 'choice of the the day' another tongue and cheek reference about the importance of choice in the movie. Dujour sports a white rabbit tattoo, one of many references to Alice in Wonderland. Choi refers to Neo as "My own personal Jesus Christ" foreshadowing Neo's status as the One, a religious figure. Dujour could also be a double entendre "Femme duJour" (Girl of the day) implying that Choi's girlfriend is a prostitute.
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According to the inscription on the Nebuchadnezzar's core, the ship was "Made in the USA" in the year 2069. It also states that it is a "Mark III, No. 11" model, which is a possible reference to Mark 3:11, which reads "And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of him, they would fall down in front of him shrieking, 'You are the Son of God!'"
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According to the time stamp of Trinity's call at the start of the film (Thursday, February 19th, 1998 at 1:24:18 p.m.) and that of Neo's call at the end of the film (on Saturday September 18th, 1999 at 2:31:21 p.m.). The elapsed time comes to precisely one hour, seven minutes and three seconds shy of 576 days
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When Neo fights Morpheus in the construct, the three pieces of music that play on the score are termed the "Bow Whisk Orchestra" by Composer Don Davis. It consists of a semi-improvisational piece with Asian instruments by Davis, the song "Leave You Far Behind" by Lunatic Calm, and another piece by Davis called "Switch or Break Show". Both "Bow Whisk Orchestra" and "Switch Or Break Show" are anagrams of "Wachowski Brothers". Also, when Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity return to the building after visiting the Oracle, the piece of music that plays is called "Threat Mix". Later, when in the same building Morpheus fights Agent Smith, the musical piece is called "Exit Mr. Hat". Both "Threat Mix" and "Exit Mr. Hat" are anagrams of "The Matrix".
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Neo's first scene chatting with his friends (the ones that take him to the nightclub where he meets Trinity) is rife with foreshadowing. One of his friends calls Neo "my savior, my own personal Jesus Christ" and then, after hearing the strange story about his computer, quips "you need to unplug, man".
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When Morpheus is explaining "What the Matrix is" to Neo, he uses the phrase "Welcome to the desert of the real." This is a paraphrase from Jean Baudrillard's "Simulacra and Simulation", the hollowed-out book where Neo keeps his illegal software. The quote can be found in Chapter One - The Precession of Simulacra, Page one, Paragraph 2, "It is the real, and not the map, whose vestiges persist here and there in the deserts that are no longer those of the Empire, but ours. The desert of the real itself." NB: The American title of Baudrillard's book is Simulations. It was published by Semiotext(e) in 1983.
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The FedEx envelope that Neo receives has the FedEx logo in red and blue lettering. Neo signs for the envelope with a pen that allows the selection of either red or blue ink. These items foretell and reference Neo's upcoming selection between the red and blue pills. This is most likely the Bic 4 colour biro pen offering red, blue, green and black ink options.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Some personal information can be seen on Thomas Anderson's criminal record that Agent Smith glances at during interrogation: The last update to the file was July 22, 1998. Anderson's place and date of birth are "Lower Downtown, Capital City on March 11, 1962. Anderson's mother's full maiden name is "Michelle McGahey," while his father's name is "John Anderson." Thomas attended "Central West Junior High" and "Owen Paterson High" (named after the film's Production Designer). A few seconds later, a photocopy of his passport can be seen. There, the place of his birth is CAPITAL CITY, USA, and his date of birth is 13 September, 1971. The passport was issued on 12 September 1991 and set to expire on 11 September 2001, a Tuesday, infamously the day of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
The opening (and closing) scenes take place at Heart O' The City Motel. While the official name of the city in which the film takes place is Edge City, it is very clearly an homage to Chicago, the hometown of the Wachowskis, there is in fact a "Heart O' The City" motel in Skokie, IL; which is just on the outskirts of Chicago. While it doesn't share the same aesthetic, it's certainly a nod.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
At the 72nd Academy Awards, Arnold Schwarzenegger presented the Visual Effects award segment which The Matrix (1999) won. A decade earlier Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in the science fiction film Total Recall (1990) which Schwarzenegger stars as a man who goes to the planet Mars to solve of the mystery of himself when a memory implant procedure of a holiday on Mars goes wrong. Like The Matrix, Total Recall is about the nature of reality and about a man whom gets caught up with rebels which he falls in love with a female rebel warrior. In both films, the film's protagonists are offered red pills which will return them to reality.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
When Neo gets in the car with Trinity for the first time, Switch refers to him as "Coppertop." Coppertop is her slang for the Duracell brand of batteries, which is also the battery Morpheus shows Neo as he explains how the human race became an energy source.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
The first trace program gives a view of the City's area code, but the camera zooms in before it can be completely determined, leaving the phone number as (3?2) 555-0690. Three locations exist in the United States with similar codes: Chicago (312), Delaware (302), and the northwestern Florida peninsula (352). Since the original script indicates that the number is 312-555-0690, and there are numerous other references to Chicago in the film (such as State street, which is in downtown Chicago), we can assume that the area code is 312.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
It appears that all the agent programs have golden lining in their black suits. This is only visible during running and fighting scenes. Interestingly, this might be the first hint that "programs" in the Matrix can be identified by some people with "the sight" which was revealed only after the movie: most notably in the beginning of "Matrix: Reloaded" when Neo takes a good look at the program, Seraph, before being allowed to meet The Oracle.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
At the beginning of the movie, Neo is told to "follow the white rabbit" which Dujour has a white rabbit tattoo. The Wachowskis wrote it as a nod to "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll which in the story, Alice follows a white rabbit down a rabbit hole, through which she enters the strange magical world of Wonderland. It is also mentioned in dialogue by Morpheus in the scene which Neo meets Morpheus, Morpheus offers Neo to take the blue or the red pill, and Neo chooses the red pill, which will free him from The Matrix.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
The book Neo hides things in is called "Simulacra and Simulation," a treatise by Jean Baudrillard that explores the post-modern concept of simulation and hyperreality. The chapter where they're hidden is called "On Nihilism." Nihilism often involves a sense of despair coupled with the belief that life is devoid of meaning. This same book was required reading for all principal cast prior to reading the script.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
(at around 41 mins) When Morpheus are revealing Neo what is The Matrix while they are in the Construct loading program, Morpheus shows in an old TV monitor the skyline of a ruined and uninhabited city. Not explained or mentioned openly, Morpheus shows Neo the New York City's skyline, noticeable in the clearly visible Twin Towers and the former seashore surrounding Manhattan. Oddly enough, Twin Towers would be destroyed two years and a half later of the movie premiere in the infamous 9/11 attacks.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Just before the shootout in the lobby when Neo and Trinity arrive to rescue Morpheus, they fail the security check as they are armed to the teeth with the firm intention of sending everyone there holding Morpheus straight to the morgue. Back in 1997, Daniel Bernhardt, who went on to work on the Matrix ( and John Wick) franchises, did the same thing in a scene in True Vengeance (he was also attempting to rescue a kidnap victim in that film).
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Pretty much everything in the Oracle's talk with Neo, but three lines in particular: "Your next life, perhaps," "One of you [Neo or Morpheus] is going to die," and "Take a cookie. I promise by the time you're done eating it, you'll feel right as rain." The first two are directly connected to Neo finally becoming the One in the hotel during the fight with the Agents; the third implies insertion or activation of the "Prime Program" the Architect cites in The Matrix Reloaded, as his powers start awakening after he eats the cookie.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
In the last scene, in which Agent Smith's chasing Neo through a building, as Neo's looking for an exit, he runs through an apartment occupied by two old women (right after Tank said for Neo to go to his "other" left). On the television, is The Prisoner (1967), the iconic late 1960s television series, in which a secret agent (no name officially given) has been abducted, and awakens to find himself imprisoned in an unnamed village. The landmark series supposes how "we're all prisoners".
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- #596
Contains a major spoiler — show
When we are introduced to Neo, he's asleep at his computer. Images are seen rapidly changing on the screen, one of which is the front page of an actual Arabic newspaper. Loosely translated, the title of the newspaper means "Midday". Additionally, the main body of the page is about the negotiations between Lebanese Christians and Syrian President Al Asaad in the late 1990s.
- #597
Contains a major spoiler — show
When Tank is uploading the martial arts training to Neo, there is a shot of the computer screen as it scrolls through the various martial arts styles. The graphics have a computer image of a person and the title of the style below. The fifth one on the screen is entitled "Drunken Boxing". Yuen Woo-Ping, the fight choreographer for this movie, was director and fight choreographer for Jackie Chan's early hit, Drunken Master (1978), in which Chan's character masters the style of Zui Chuan, or Drunken Boxing. Some of the other martial arts fighting styles being downloaded are Jiu-jitsu, Savate, Kempo, Tae Kwon Do, and, of course, Kung Fu.
- #598
Contains a major spoiler — show
The vintage TV seen in an early scene in the film is an AWA (Amalgamated Wireless Australia) brand model. In the helicopter scene later in the film the white tower on top of a building seen in the background in several shots is the AWA Radio Tower, an iconic Sydney landmark.
- #599
- #600
Contains a major spoiler — show
When Morpheus offers Neo to choose blue pill or red pill, blue pill is on his left hand and red pill in his right hand. However, when camera focuses Morpheus' face at a very closeup, his sunglasses reflect like a mirror his hands with the pills, exchanging left and right, symbolizing that reality can be deceiving and that perceptions as "left" and "right" can be fading.
- #601
Contains a major spoiler — show
The film bears a couple of similarities to the "Terminator" films: The film takes place in a dark post-apocalyptic future, in which machines have taken over the world. Morpheus and a band of rebel warriors are fighting to free humanity from the machines and the Matrix computer program. Neo is believed to be the chosen one who will destroy The Matrix and end the war between man and machine. Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity wear sunglasses and leather outfits. Trinity rides a motorcycle in one scene. Neo works as an employee of a computer company and is also a computer hacker. Agent Smith, a law enforcement program, has the ability to change into the form of other individuals in The Matrix and one of the weapons Neo uses on the Agents is a Mini gun.
Deeper Meaning (99)
- #602
- #603
Christian symbolism: Early on, Choi tells Neo: "Hallelujah. You're my saviour, man. My own personal Jesus Christ." Indeed, Neo has a few parallels to Christ. The question of whether he is "the One" reflects the question of whether Christ is truly the Messiah (in both cases, a saviour whose coming has been foretold). Furthermore, his last name, Anderson, etymologically means "son of man", a biblical phrase referring to Christ. Like Christ, he is declared dead but then resurrects. The name Trinity (as in the Holy Trinity) also adds to the Christian theme.
- #604
- #605
- #606
- #607
'Matrix' is the late Latin word for 'womb' - which would make "The Matrix has you..." an apt warning with a double meaning, referring to both the computer-generated dream world, known as The Matrix, that imprisons the human mind, and also to the cocooned physical state of the human body which is being simultaneously harvested for bioelectric power in an artificial womb.
- #608
- #609
In cryptography, an Oracle is a component of a secure system which leaks encrypted information through its responses to superficially-benign queries. Utilities that confirm apparently-neutral properties of an encrypted message using their internal knowledge of the encryption scheme, for example, can form the basis of an "oracle attack" which a creative user may exploit to obtain the content of the message itself.
- #610
- #611
Numerous sets of identical twins were cast as extras in the "Woman in Red" scene to create the illusion of a repeating training program made with limited resources. Example: the tall man with slicked-back hair and sunglasses in the opening shot is seen a few seconds later as a police officer writing a parking ticket.
- #612
- #613
- #614
- #615
Contains a major spoiler — show
After The Oracle reveals Neo that he is not the One, she says him: "You got the gift, but it looks like you're waiting for something. Your next life, maybe". The quote proves to be true at the ending of the movie: after Neo is killed by Smith, Trinity gets to resurrect him, finally turning him into the One.
- #616
- #617
Contains a major spoiler — show
Neo is often associated with the number one. (Neo is an anagram for one, and a major plot point is whether or not he is "the One".) Meanwhile, Cypher's name means zero (from the Arabic sifr). Together, zero and one represent the basis of binary data, and thus the basis of all modern computer data. (Neo also lives in apartment 101, a number composed entirely of those two digits.) Finally, Trinity's name means "group of three", and she first appears in room 303.
- #618
Contains a major spoiler — show
When Neo asks Choi "You ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you're awake or still dreaming?", Choi responds Neo "Mm, all the time. It's called Mescaline. It's the only way to fly. Hey, it just sounds to me like you need to unplug, man." It foreshadows Neo's fate through the movie: not only Neo is unplugged from The Matrix, at the ending he's capable to fly.
- #619
Contains a major spoiler — show
The name of the company where Thomas Anderson works is Metacortex. The roots of this word are meta-, which according to Webster's means "going beyond or higher, transcending," and -cortex, which is "the outer layer (boundary) of gray matter surrounding the brain." Thus, Metacortex is "transcending the boundaries of the brain," which is precisely what Neo proceeds to do.
- #620
- #621
Contains a major spoiler — show
Hugo Weaving explains when we first meet Agent Smith he is a machine an Agent of the system and the system represents the machine world. then through out the course of this film we start to see Agent Smith slowly evolve and become less machine and more and more human and decides to disobey the system (hence Agent Smith unplugging his ear piece)
- #622
Contains a major spoiler — show
For three times Neo is concerned about to return to his previous life instead to go ahead: the first by Trinity, when he is going to get out of the car and she tells that him "Because you have been down there, Neo. You know that road. You know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be"; the second by Morpheus a few minutes later when he gives the option to take the blue pill for returning to his life and believe whatever he want; and the third by The Oracle, when she tells him that he is not One but maybe in his next life.
- #623
Contains a major spoiler — show
Along with the many other Christian parallels in this movie, the character Cypher is a reflection of Judas Iscariot in the New Testament. Judas was one of the twelve apostles that Jesus chose to minister in his name, but, in a tragic turn of events, Judas denied his perfect knowledge of the Savior by betraying Him in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. Cypher likewise betrays Morpheus and the entire cause of Zion in exchange for the vanities of the Matrix.
- #624
Contains a major spoiler — show
One subtle bit of foreshadowing comes in the form of Cypher making a Wizard of Oz reference while everyone else makes allusions to Alice in Wonderland. This shows Cypher is somehow apart from the rest of the Nebuchadnezzar crew, but also can be seen as illustrating a fundamental difference in how he perceives his awakening. While Alice in Wonderland is at its core a story about a girl finding freedom in an otherwise dangerous and confusing world, Wizard of Oz is a story about a girl slipping into a new land in the midst of tragedy, being hunted for something she never asked for, and forced to become a killer, all while yearning to return home, where she awakens with memories of the other world as if they were an odd dream, presumably to eventually forget them.
- #625
Contains a major spoiler — show
When Neo meets Morpheus, this one offers him two pills, red and blue, symbolizing blue to keep in the Matrix and red to get out of Matrix and to be in the real world. It foreshadows his own decision: when Neo wakes up after to take the red pill, he is inside a giant pod which contains him in red liquid. It means, a giant "red pill" which contains not only him, but the rest of human beings encapsulated in uncountable red pills.
- #626
Contains a major spoiler — show
The name of Morpheus' ship, the Nebuchadnezzar, is a Biblical reference to King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, from the Book of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar the Great was famous for his conquests of Israel in Biblical times (specifically Judah and Jerusalem). He also built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the lost Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) for his wife. He has a dream he can't interpret, but keeps searching for an answer, in Daniel 2:1-49.
- #627
Every scene set in the Matrix has a green tint, as if viewed on a computer monitor. Scenes in the real world have a blue tint. Because the directors felt blue was a color belonging more to the real world, blue was also used minimally in the Matrix (ironically, even though blue is generally the color seen least in nature). The fight scene between Morpheus and Neo, which takes place neither in the real world nor in the Matrix, is yellow.
- #628
At the directors' request, the actors had to be able to understand and explain The Matrix not only as a film but also as a philosophy. Jean Baudrillard's book Simulacra and Simulation was required reading for the main cast and much of the crew. Keanu Reeves said that even before the Wachowskis opened the script, they had him read Simulacra and Simulation, Kevin Kelly's Out of Control and Dylan Evans's Introducing Evolutionary Psychology. In the end he was able to explain all the relevant philosophical nuances. Carrie-Anne Moss stated that she had difficulty with this process.
- #629
At the directors' request, the actors had to be able to understand and explain the Matrix not merely as a film but as a philosophy. Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation was required reading for the lead actors and much of the crew. Keanu Reeves said that even before opening the script, the Wachowski siblings had him read Simulacra and Simulation, Kevin Kelly's Out of Control and Dylan Evans's Introducing Evolutionary Psychology. In the end, Reeves became capable of explaining every philosophical nuance in the film. Carrie-Anne Moss, however, stated that she struggled with the process.
- #630
- #631
- #632
- #633
- #634
- #635
While Tank loads Neo's martial arts training, there is a screen listing various styles. In fifth place it reads 'Drunken Boxing.' The film's fight choreographer, Yuen Woo-Ping, was the director and choreographer of Jackie Chan's early hit Drunken Master (1978), in which Chan masters the Zui Chuan, or Drunken Boxing, style. Among the other styles downloaded are Jiu-jitsu, Savate, Kempo, Tae Kwon Do and, of course, Kung Fu.
- #636
In Thomas Anderson's criminal record, which Agent Smith looks at during the interrogation, some personal details are visible: the file was last updated on July 22, 1998. Anderson's place and date of birth are 'Lower Downtown, Capital City, March 11, 1962.' His mother's maiden name is 'Michelle McGahey' and his father's name is 'John Anderson.' Thomas attended 'Central West Junior High' and 'Owen Paterson High' (named after the film's Production Designer). A few seconds later, a photocopy of his passport appears. Here his place of birth is CAPITAL CITY, USA, and his date of birth is September 13, 1971. The passport was issued on September 12, 1991, and set to expire on September 11, 2001 (a Tuesday), a date famous for the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.
- #637
The book in which Neo hides his belongings is Jean Baudrillard's 'Simulacra and Simulation,' which examines the concepts of postmodern simulation and hyperreality. The section he hides them in is titled 'On Nihilism.' Nihilism generally involves despair and the belief that life is meaningless. The same book was on the required reading list for the lead actors before they read the script.
- #638
The company Thomas Anderson works for is called Metacortex. The word's roots are meta- (according to Webster, 'to go beyond, to transcend') and -cortex (the outer layer of gray matter surrounding the brain). Metacortex therefore means 'to transcend the limits of the brain,' which is exactly what Neo does.
- #639
The name of Morpheus's ship, the Nebuchadnezzar, refers to King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon in the Book of Daniel. The great King Nebuchadnezzar is famous in biblical times for conquering Israel (specifically Judah and Jerusalem). He also had the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the Lost Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) built for his wife. In Daniel 2:1-49 he has a dream he cannot interpret and keeps searching for an answer.
- #640
- #641
William Gibson's novel Neuromancer influenced the film (particularly the use of the term 'Matrix'). After seeing the film, Gibson stated that the way its creators drew on existing cyberpunk works was the kind of 'creative cultural osmosis' he himself had relied on in his writing. However, he felt the film's Gnostic themes set it apart from Neuromancer and made it thematically closer to the work of Philip K. Dick.
- #642
The main theme heard at the beginning of every Matrix film (soaring strings and brass) rises in pitch with each film. The Matrix (1999) begins in E minor, The Matrix Reloaded (2003) rises a full octave to F sharp minor, and The Matrix Revolutions (2003) rises another half step to G minor.
- #643
The Wachowski siblings' approach to action scenes was fueled by their admiration for Japanese anime such as Ninja Scroll (1993) and Akira (1988). Ghost in the Shell (1995) was a particularly strong influence. Joel Silver recounted that the Wachowski siblings first conveyed their intentions for the film to him by showing him this anime and saying, 'This is what we really want to do.'
- #644
The film pays great homage to Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', but there are also references to Karl Marx, Franz Kafka, Zen and Homer's Odyssey. One of the principal literary works is the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard's book 'Simulacra and Simulation'. The book is seen lying open in Neo's apartment and was on the required reading list for all the lead cast and crew.
- #645
Neo is frequently associated with the number one. (Neo is an anagram of the word 'one', and a major plot point is whether he is 'The One'.) Meanwhile, Cypher's name means zero (from the Arabic sifr). Zero and one form the basis of binary data and therefore of all modern computer data. (Neo also lives in apartment number 101, a number made up entirely of these two digits.) Finally, Trinity's name means 'triad', and she first appears in room 303.
- #646
'Matrix' means 'womb' in Late Latin — which turns the warning 'The Matrix has you...' into a double-edged one, referring both to the computer-generated dream world that traps the human mind and to the pod-like physical state in which the human body is harvested for bioelectric energy in an artificial womb.
- #647
While explaining 'what the Matrix is' to Neo, Morpheus uses the phrase 'Welcome to the desert of the real.' This is a quotation from Jean Baudrillard's 'Simulacra and Simulation', the hollowed-out book in which Neo hides his illegal software. The quotation can be found in Chapter One - The Precession of Simulacra, Page one, Paragraph 2: 'The real is not the map, but that which persists here and there in the deserts that are no longer the Empire's but our own. The desert of the real.' Note: The American title of Baudrillard's book is Simulations. It was published by Semiotext(e) in 1983.
- #648
- #649
A subtle bit of foreshadowing is that Cypher refers to The Wizard of Oz while everyone else alludes to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. While Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is essentially the story of a girl who finds freedom in a dangerous and confusing world, The Wizard of Oz is the story of a girl swept into a new land amid tragedy, hunted for something she does not want, forced to become a killer, and longing to go home all the while; in the end she wakes up and her memories of the other world remain like a strange dream, likely to be forgotten over time.
- #650
- #651
- #652
- #653
According to the inscription on the Nebuchadnezzar's core, the ship was manufactured in the 'USA' in the year 2069. It is also stated to be a 'Mark III, No. 11' model, which may be a reference to Mark 3:11: 'And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, 'You are the Son of God!''
- #654
As of April 2016, a research team at DARPA was working on a project called Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT). This project involves influencing a person's neurotransmitters using electrodes placed at the base of the neck and electrical stimulation. The aim is to enable agents to learn languages and other complex subjects in far less time. This resembles Neo being plugged into a training program to learn complex skills faster, though it is medically less invasive.
- #655
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- #657
The screenplay appears to have borrowed several plot elements from the 1973 German TV miniseries Welt am Draht (World on a Wire): a computer-simulated world indistinguishable from reality for its inhabitants; unique, self-aware computer programs that notice the artificial nature of the simulated world and know of the existence of the real world; and real-world people who enter the simulation as their own avatars and return to the real world by making a phone call.
- #658
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- #660
Christian symbolism: Early in the film, Choi tells Neo, "Thank you. You're my savior, man. My own personal Jesus Christ." Indeed, Neo has many parallels with Jesus. The question of whether he is "The One" mirrors the question of whether Jesus truly was the Messiah (in both cases, a savior whose coming was foretold). His surname, Anderson, also etymologically means "son of man," a biblical phrase referring to Jesus. Like Jesus, he is declared dead but then resurrects. The name Trinity also reinforces the Christian theme.
- #661
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- #664
The FedEx envelope Neo receives has a logo made of red and blue letters. When Neo signs for the envelope, he uses a pen that offers a choice between red or blue ink. These details foreshadow the choice Neo will make between the red and blue pills. The pen is most likely a Bic 4-color ballpoint, which offers red, blue, green and black ink options.
- #665
- #666
- #667
Neo's first scene with his friends (the ones who take him to the nightclub where he meets Trinity) is full of foreshadowing. One of his friends tells Neo "you're my savior, my own personal Jesus Christ," and after hearing the strange story about his computer, jokes, "you gotta unplug, man."
- #668
- #669
- #670
- #671
- #672
- #673
In cryptography, an Oracle is a secure system component that leaks encrypted information through its responses to seemingly harmless queries. For example, utilities that verify seemingly neutral properties of an encrypted message using their internal knowledge of the encryption scheme can form the basis of an "oracle attack" that a creative user could employ to obtain the message's contents.
- #674
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- #676
- #677
Of the 44 cue names in Don Davis's score, 10 are jokes based on character names (7 of them around "Switch"); 5 are anagrams of "Wachowski Brothers"; 3 are anagrams of "The Matrix"; and only one refers to philosophy. The cue for the "Spoon Boy" scene is titled "Boon Spoy," which is an example of a spoonerism.
- #678
When Morpheus offers Neo the choice between the blue pill and the red pill, the blue pill is in his left hand and the red pill in his right. However, when the camera moves in very close to Morpheus's face, his sunglasses mirror the hands holding the pills, swapping left and right; this symbolizes that reality can be deceptive and that perceptions such as "left" and "right" can be lost.
- #679
Along with many other Christian parallels in the film, the character Cypher mirrors Judas Iscariot of the New Testament. Judas was one of the twelve apostles Jesus chose to serve in his name, but in a tragic turn, he betrayed the Savior for thirty pieces of silver, rejecting His perfect knowledge. Cypher similarly betrays Morpheus and the cause of Zion in exchange for the Matrix's comforts.
- #680
- #681
When Neo asks Choi, "Have you ever had that feeling where you're not sure if you're awake or still dreaming?" Choi replies: "All the time. It's called mescaline. It's the only way to fly. Hey, it seems to me you should unplug, man." This foreshadows Neo's fate throughout the film: Neo doesn't just unplug from the Matrix, he ultimately learns to fly.
- #682
Almost everything in the Oracle's conversation with Neo, but especially three lines: "Maybe in your next life," "One of you (Neo or Morpheus) will die," and "Here, take a cookie. I promise, by the time you're done eating it, you'll feel right as rain." The first two are directly connected to Neo finally becoming the One while fighting the Agents in the hotel; the third implies the installation or activation of the "Main Program" the Architect mentions in Matrix Reloaded, because his powers begin to awaken after he eats the cookie.
- #683
- #684
In the final scene, as Agent Smith chases Neo through a building, Neo passes through an apartment where two elderly women are sitting while looking for an exit (right after Tank tells Neo to go to his other left). On the television plays the iconic late-1960s television series The Prisoner (1967), in which a secret agent (officially unnamed) is abducted and finds himself trapped in an unnamed village. This groundbreaking series posits that "we are all prisoners."
- #685
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- #687
When we are introduced to Neo, he is asleep at his computer. One of the rapidly changing images on the screen is the front page of a real Arabic newspaper. The newspaper's headline roughly means "Noon." The main body of the page also concerns negotiations between Lebanese Christians and Syrian President Assad in the late 1990s.
- #688
The film bears several similarities to the Terminator films: The film is set in a dark post-apocalyptic future in which machines have taken over the world. Morpheus and a group of rebel fighters battle to free humanity from the machines and the Matrix computer program. Neo is believed to be the chosen one who will destroy the Matrix and end the human-machine war. Neo, Morpheus and Trinity wear sunglasses and leather clothing. Trinity rides a motorcycle in one scene. Neo works at a computer company and is also a hacker. Agent Smith, as a law enforcement program, can take the form of other individuals in the Matrix, and one of the weapons Neo uses against the Agents is a minigun.
- #689
At the 72nd Academy Awards, Arnold Schwarzenegger presented the Visual Effects award, which The Matrix (1999) won. A decade earlier, Schwarzenegger had starred in the science fiction film Total Recall (1990), in which he played a man who goes to Mars to discover himself after a vacation memory implantation on Mars goes wrong. Like The Matrix, Total Recall deals with the nature of reality and the story of a man who falls in love with a rebel female fighter. In both films, the protagonists are offered red pills that will enable them to return to reality.
- #690
- #691
The inner lining of all the agent programs' black suits is seen to be gold. This is only noticeable in the running and fight scenes. Interestingly, this may be the first hint that the 'programs' in the Matrix can be recognized by some people with the ability of 'sight'; this emerges after the film, especially at the beginning of Matrix Reloaded, when Neo carefully looks at the program Seraph before meeting the Oracle.
- #692
At the beginning of the film, Neo is told to 'follow the white rabbit,' and Dujour has a white rabbit tattoo. The Wachowski siblings wrote this as a reference to Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'; in the story, Alice follows the white rabbit down a rabbit hole into Wonderland. In the scene where Morpheus meets Neo, he offers him the choice of the blue or red pill, and Neo chooses the red pill and is freed from the Matrix.
- #693
Hip hop artists such as Drake, Nas, B.o.B, Rakim, Ab-Soul, Mac Miller, Colson Baker, cflynna, Kendrick Lamar, Common, Rick Ross, Donavan LaMond Johnson, Lupe Fiasco, Wale, Jay-Z, Lil' Wayne, Gucci Mane, 'Lil' Kim', Currency, The Game, Danny Brown, Kid Cudi and Jeezy reference the Matrix in their music. R&B star Chris Brown recorded a song titled The Matrix and released a video heavily inspired by the events of the film and the character Neo.
- #694
- #695
When Neo meets Morpheus, Morpheus offers him two pills: red and blue. The blue pill symbolizes staying in the Matrix, while the red pill symbolizes leaving the Matrix and passing into the real world. After Neo takes the red pill, he wakes up inside a giant pod filled with red fluid, a reflection of that choice. In other words, a giant 'red pill' represents not only him but also countless other people trapped inside red pills.
- #696
(Around the 41st minute) While Morpheus explains to Neo what the Matrix is, the Construct loading program shows the silhouette of a ruined and desolate city on an old TV monitor. Although it is not stated explicitly, this is the silhouette of New York City; the Twin Towers and Manhattan's old shoreline can be made out. Interestingly, the Twin Towers would be destroyed in the September 11 attacks two and a half years after the film's premiere.
- #697
The man buying illegal software in Neo's apartment is named Choi, and his girlfriend is named DuJour. In French, 'Choi Dujour' means 'choice of the day,' a nod to the film's theme of choice. Dujour's white rabbit tattoo is another reference to Alice in Wonderland. By addressing Neo as 'my own personal Jesus,' Choi foreshadows that Neo is the Chosen One, that is, a religious figure. Dujour also carries a double meaning as 'Femme du Jour' (girl of the day), suggesting that Choi's girlfriend may be a prostitute.
- #698
Three times, instead of moving forward, Neo considers returning to his previous life: first when Trinity gets out of the car and tells him, 'Because you've been down that road, Neo. You know where it leads. And I know you don't want to be there'; second when Morpheus offers him the option of taking the blue pill and going back to his life; and third when the Oracle tells him he is not the Chosen One but perhaps could be in his next life.
- #699
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Career & Awards (15)
Life & Family (1)
- #716
Carrie-Anne Moss was offered many high-profile roles after the success of the Matrix franchise, but she turned them all down to focus on motherhood. She said, "I remember being torn, having a little twinge like 'Gosh, I'm getting offered such great things. That would be such a huge deal.' I was holding my baby in my arms, and I remember thinking, 'At the end of my life, will it matter to me that I have another movie on my résumé? Or will it matter to me that I held my baby?' And I instantly thought, no. It was just a no-brainer."
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