Movie:
After computer hacker Thomas "Neo" Anderson (Keanu Reeves) comes to terms with the fact that his entire life up until now has been nothing more than an illusion programmed by machines, and that his role in freeing the humans is to be the "Chosen One", his newfound superpowers are quickly called upon. For the machines know where the humans who escaped the Matrix are hiding: In the underground city of Zion. There, Neo, the love of his life Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) refuel their ship, the ,,Nebuchadnezzar", only to return to the Matrix from a place of safety.
Only from there can Neo succeed in stopping the machines, who have already sent 250,000 sentinels to destroy the resistance fighters for good. Neo and his allies have only a few hours to win the final battle against the machines. It doesn't help that Neo, barely back in the Matrix, meets his nemesis Agent Smith. He has found a way to duplicate himself and so Neo suddenly faces a whole army of Mr. Smiths. But of course, the Chosen One can't let that stop him, as the fate of all humanity lies in his hands.
For four years, fans have had to wait for the sequel to 1999's cult hit ,,Matrix". Four years in which the cult of the ,,Matrix" phenomenon has grown from strength to strength, and expectations for the sequel have risen almost immeasurably. The DVD of the first part is still one of the best-selling DVDs ever, numerous scientific books have dealt with the philosophical and mystical background of the film and thousands of pages on the Internet are dedicated to the adventures of Neo and Trinity and their deeper meaning. But it is exactly this hype that makes ,,Matrix Reloaded" seem rather disappointing at first sight. Visually, the second part of the trilogy is in no way inferior to the first. The story, on the other hand, is not convincing right away. This is probably primarily due to the first third of the film, which takes place almost entirely in the underground city of Zion. The action that takes place there has little in common with the magic of the first Matrix movie, you feel much more like you are in a new ,,Star Trek" movie. Although Zion can convince visually already, but ,,particularly" is just not.
And ,,special" is a word that has been closely associated with ,,Matrix" from the beginning. It's that feeling of seeing something special, something new, that created this incredible buzz in part one that is just missing in part two. In a time when every new blockbuster tries to come up with new technologies and even more grandiose effects, a visual cinematic experience like ,,Matrix" is hard to recreate. Only when Neo goes back into the Matrix and meets his nemesis Mr. Smith (in more ways than one), does ,,Matrix Reloaded" come close to its predecessor again, both in terms of content and visuals.
Overall, "Matrix Reloaded" is an absolutely impressive fantasy spectacle with minor flaws. But as an appetizer for the conclusion of the trilogy "Matrix Revolutions" this DVD is an absolute must!
Picture:
As it was hardly to be expected otherwise, the "Matrix Reloaded" DVD can fully convince in technical terms. The picture is sharp and quite contrasty even in the rather dark scenes in Zion. The colors are, according to the plot, sometimes rich and sometimes cool, but never seem blurry. So picture-wise, the DVD gets top marks.
Sound:
There's nothing to complain about with the sound per se either. Even though sound freaks will miss a DTS track, the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix can definitely make up for the lack of DTS. Even during the menus, the bass booms and the film's sound effects come into their own on a good surround system. Once again, we have to thank the developers of the DVD for this ingenious medium! However, the fact that the German audio sounds a bit muffled than the English soundtrack is an unnecessary, though not overly so, annoyance.
Extras:
Nearly two hours of bonus material can be found on the bonus DVD. However, most of the extras only scratch the surface of the "matrix" or are purely promotional. For example, the nearly 22-minute making-of offers more depth through a lot of behind-the-scenes footage than many a promotional making-of, but due to the complexity of the film and the techniques used, the short documentary still feels very superficial. Hopefully, as with the first installment, there will be a longer documentary on the making of the film in the near future. "The Matrix unfolds" is strictly speaking a pure promotional film for the movies, the video game and the Animatrix DVD and with just 5 minutes it is quite short anyway. The documentary "The Freeway Chase" is the only really worthwhile extra on the DVD. In just under 30 minutes, the making of the breathtaking freeway scene is documented. One would have liked such an in-depth look at the filming for the rest of the movie. But who knows what the DVD future may bring us.
The making-of of the videogame "Enter the Matrix" should be of particular interest to those unfamiliar with the game. Much like the "Animatrix" movies, for which a trailer can be found on the DVD, knowledge of the game allows viewers a deeper look into the world of the Matrix. At a whopping 30 minutes, this documentary is also pleasingly detailed.
The short documentary "Get me an Exit" spends just under 10 minutes looking at "Matrix"inspired advertisements, including Samsung televisions, soft drinks and, of course, mobile phones. This feature is certainly interesting, although the individual commercials themselves would have been enough. "The MTV Movie Awards Reloaded" is the amusing conclusion to the bonus DVD. Here, the two hosts of the 2003 MTV Movie Awards, Justin Timberlake and Seann William Scott (Stifler from the "American Pie" movies) find themselves in a wacky "Matrix" parody. The 2003 parody doesn't come close to the brilliant "MTV Matrix" parody with Sarah Jessica Parker from 1999, in which "Matrix" was absolutely terrific mixed with Parker's hit series "Sex and the City". But alone Will Ferrell as an architect is absolutely brilliant and therefore absolutely worth seeing!
Conclusion:
With convincing picture and sound quality and over two hours of bonus material there is no reason to complain. Nevertheless, the DVD to "Matrix Reloaded" leaves a pale aftertaste. Especially with the all too superficial, because much too short making-of you constantly have the feeling: There's more to come. The double DVD leaves the impression that it is actually only an appetizer for the "wahre" DVD edition, which there will certainly be after completion of the trilogy in the near future. Nevertheless: technically, the DVD can fully convince and is definitely ideal for getting in the mood for "Matrix Revolutions".
Original title: Matrix Reloaded
Number of discs: 2
Languages: German (DD 5.1), English (DD 5.1)
Subtitles: German, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic
Image Format: 16:9 (2.40:1)
Extras: Preload - Behind the Scenes, The Matrix Unfolds, The Freeway Chase (Making of the Freeway Sequence), Get me an Exit - Matrix Inspired Commercial, Making of "Enter the Matrix", Animatrix Trailer, MTV Movie Awards Reloaded Parody
FSK: age 16+
length: approx. 133 Min.
Regional Code: 2
Price: approx. 20 Euro
Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp
