Everyone who isn't a mad-mad "MAXTRIX" fan knows that the two movies of 2003: "Reloaded" and "Revolutions" were just ways to scrounge up more money because I qoute I heard one the producers that work with the two brothers who made up this movie series, they made the two movies and Animatrix because "they knew the first one made money, and there was doubt in their minds that these follow ups were going to do the same." In short: the didn't care about a plot, character development, or anything else that makes a movie worth looking at over two times. And Considering that I'm no fan of the Matrix, I had no particular reason to believe that this assortment of cartoons done in the animatrix was any better than Reloaded and Revolutions. I had enough dignity to swallow my pride and rent this DVD, since my hunches aren't always right.


To make a long story short only three out eight the movies on the animatrix DVD are worth watching and those were: "The final flight of the Oirsis" (an explanation to what Niobe was talking about in the game enter the maxtrix, using the animation from the final fantasy movie), "Beyond", and "A detective story", mostly because they go more hand-in-hand with the Matrix than the others.


While the second renaissance explained what happened to the humans and how they became under the grasp of the machines it really just felt lame and really didn't reveal anything no one already knew about. The rest, kid's story, world Record, matriculated, and program are a hodgepodge of cartoons that really didn't feel as though it had anything to with Matrix, just a bunch of fillers for the DVD.



The art in the cartoons range from semi-good to absolute bad (take Kid's story, the second renaissance and World Record for example), and the stories are sometimes too flaky to take seriously (The second Renaissance, Matriculated, and Program).



The content is a basis of blood, gore, adult language, disturbing scenes and sexual content and situations making me wonder why this wasn't labled with a "R" rating. Because we all know Anime is all about blood gore, violence, sexual content, and disturbing images (nods head); YEAH RIGHT and my name is Linsdey Lohan, the smoker with bad skin.


The special features on the disk are commentary from the directors on several of the movies, a documentary on the history of anime that's not really informative and shamelessly promotes old Anime like "Grave of firelies" "Akira", "Ghost in a shell", and "Astro boy." They even had the nerve to go and call Japan Post-Apocalyptic because they were hit with the nuclar bomb in WWII, when in truth they're not. There's also an enter the Matrix trailer but that game sucked so badly I'm not even sure why they put it on the DVD aside from shameless promotion of their Maxtrix Products.



All in all, by far the best movie on here is "the final flight of the Oiris," [despite its corny dialogue] while the others which are basically moderate to watch are poorly executed plans in a motion picture format.------ [A 3 out of 5.]

This collection of nine animated films (actually eight, one arbitrarily divided into two parts) inspired by THE MATRIX (1999) explores aspects of Matrix-mythology glossed over in the feature films. The First, "Final Flight of the Osiris," played briefly in theaters shortly before THE MATRIX RELOADED (2003) opened. Animated in the photo-realistic style of 2001's FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN and written by the Wachowski brothers, "Osiris" follows the ship's last doomed mission. Its crew, Jue and Thadeus (Voices of Pamela Segall and Kevin Micheal Richardson), are the first to spot the drilling machine and the sentinel army that threaten Zion in RELOADED, and Jue makes a daring leap into the Matrix to deliver a warning.
"The Second Renaissance, Parts I and II," also written by the Wachowskis, constitute a prequel to both MATRIX features. The conceit: We're viewing Zion historical file 12-1, which chronicles the rise of the machines, from their earliest, mindless incarnations to the sensational murder trial of B166-ER, the first android to kill its master, and the founding of the machine nation Zero-one. Persecuted by a coalition of fearful human nations, the citizens of Zero-one fight back; in a last ditch effort, humanity blots out the sun in hopes of starving the machines of solar energy. But they compensate, eventually enslaving their former human masters.
In "Kid's Story," alienated hacker Micheal Popper (Clayton Watson) gets a call from Neo (Keanu Reeves) and makes a perilous escape from the Matrix.
"Program" follows Cis (Hedy Burress) as she participates in a favorite fight simulation set in feudal Japan. But her training partner, Duo (Phil LaMarr), has made a deal to return to the Matrix; Cis can join him or die.
"World Record." the least attractivly animated film in the group, chronicles the unusual awakening of Dan Davis (Victor Williams), an Olymic caliber runner who pushes himself beyond the bounds of human endurance and creates a rip in the veil of the Matrix.
In the spooky "Beyond," teenage Yoko (Hedy Buress) tracks her cat, Yuki, to a local "Haunted House" where neighborhood kids have discovered the laws of nature don't apply. Cans float in midair, a broken light bulb appears and diappears in a flash of light, youngsters turn cartwheels in the air and drift to earth like feathers. They're experiencing a glitch in the Matrix, and debuggers are on their way to fix it. Writor-director Koji Morimoto's haunting short story offers a genuinely different view of the world of THE MATRIX, from its old-fashioned Japanese architecture to its quizzical ending.
The B&W film noir pastiche "A Detective Story" reaches back to Trinity's (Carrie-Anne Moss) pre-Neo life as a super hacker, and follows the efforts of a hardboiled dick (James Arnold Taylor) to track her down.
Finally, in "Matriculated," human revolutionaries try to convert machines to their cause by creating a Matrix of their own. Though the premise is clever, writor-director Peter Chung ("Aeon Flux") get bogged down in psycheldelic images that make the film look like a Frutopia commercial.
MATRIX completists (Including me) will revel in the films' interlocking stories and animation buffs will appreciate the range of talent the Wachoskis brought to bear on these shorts, including noted anime directors Yoshiaki Kawajiri (VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST) and Shinichiro Wantabe (COWBOY BEBOP).

I am surprised that people are impressed by such mediocre film like "Final Flight of the Osiris" and found "Matriculated" too abstract or boring. That's the problem man, people are just too shallow. "Final Flight of the Osiris" is basically just Hollywood-esque plot garnered with Final Fantasy technology. Very superficial, very crappy story. Perhaps the reason why people love it so much is 'cos it almost feels like watching a Hollywood productions with the standard hero/heroine love affair nonsense.

Well, on the other hand, "Matriculated" in my opinion, while not graphically superior to the aforementioned film, certainly stands out for its extremely thought provoking story line. I cannot see why people cannot make out its meaning. I'll probably shed some light on it. Human beings in this film tried to convert the robot to their side, and actually succeeded in doing so. But it is not out of empathy, but rather selfishness. Human beings simply cannot accept a robot as his own kind. When the robot(after being infused with human emotions) tried to complete the union of the souls (a healing process for the dying human girl)in the dream sequence, the human girl rather screamed and fled into oblivion, and thus leading to eternal death of the girl. What can the robot do, but stare blankly at the girl, trying to comprehend the meaning of it all?

The other stories range from dull to ok, but "Final Flight of the Osiris" and "Matriculated" are two polar extremes.

There's only one reason that this doesn't get 5/5 and that's because of Program and World Record. Other than those two, this is perfect. It's unforgetable.

Final Flight of the Osiris 4/5
This is the bridge between The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded. The Osiris descovers the machines drilling to Zion, and all hell breaks loose. The animation is top notch, and the voice acting is good too. This is animated by those who did Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and it's kicked up a couple of notches.

Second Renaissance Part I 4.5/5
This is the story of the events that lead up to the war against the machines. Robots are mistreated slaves. They are disrespected and ridiculed. When one robot rebells and kills his owners he is tried, and destroyed by the humans, thus causing an upriding and an enormous riot, which leads to a short fight with rebelling machines. The riots are stopped, and dead robots are buried.

Second Renaissance Part II 5/5
This IMO is the best of the entire 9 shorts in The Animatrix. After the riots, machines create their own city called "01". There they manufacture robotics and weaponry, along with other technological advancments. Of course, humans are feeling uneasy against the machines, and when they send embassadors ro make peace, they aren't accepted. Huamns decide to bomb 01 causing a war. They blacken the skies to cut off the machines' main source of power. What happens next is a truly horrific portrayal of humanity's last desperate stand against the machines on a scale that goes beyond any world war. Humans don't get any second chance and are used as an alternate power source, since the sun is cut off.

Kid's Story 4/5
This is the story of how The Kid comes to know of the matrix. He is then found out by the agents and has to escape. The animation is truly visionary due to the fact that The Kid beleives he feels more in real when he dreams than when he is awake.

Program 2/5
This short doesn't seem to fit in at all and plays better as an episode of a long running TV show. Most basic and bland animation.

World Record 2/5
This one really needed some extra time to explain more in-depth what is really going on. The animation makes it seem like a moving comic book, which isn't bad.

Beyond 3.5/5
A girl loses her cat and follows some kids into a "haunted house" where she finds her cat. The whole thing is a glitch in the matrix, allowing these kids to fly around the house and perform amazing stunts. In the end the agents ultimately find out about the house's discovery and correct the glitch.

A Detective Story 4/5
Mr. Ash, a private investigator is sent to find Trinity by an un-named man over the phone. Ash discovers that three others have been assigned on this wild goose chase and have all failed in different ways. Featuring the voice of Carrie Ann Moss, this has probably some of the most interesting and unique animation of them all.

Matriculated 4/5
This is about a group of humans who are disconnected from all the conflicts involving Zion, and simply live at a small outpost "converting" machines to fight for humanity. It starts out gloomy, but then ends up in a wild world of color and imagination where the humans do their strange ritual of convertion.

If you enjoyed The Matrix Trilogy, than you'll probably like Second Renaissance. I can't really guarantee that you'll like the others, but you probably will. Enjoy.

Wow, was all I could say when I first saw the beautiful animations done by Square pictures (final fantasy the spirits within) in the opening short final flight of the osiris. It was an excellent short that really set the stage for the enter the matrix videogame and the two sequels, and I would buy this DVD simply for that film alone but there's still so much more. The rest of the films are excellent tie in's that answer alot of questions and are truly enhanced by the commentary. Speaking of bonus content there is a great feature on the history of anime that is extremly enjoyable to any anime fan out there. With excellent music, great extras, and some wonderful animated films the animatrix deserves all 5 stars