Posts by Richard Hernandez13

rapidstag74 said:Yeah.
Those villains from Dark City are absolutely terrifying. And man, that Smith was something else.

It's actually pretty cool how Bruce Spence, who played Mr. Wall in Revolutions, also played the Trainman.
And don't forget his role as the LOTR Mouth of Sauron!

That is quite an impressive run of roles. 😁

... but wait, rapidstag74, have you even actually seen Revolutions? 😁

newcomer said:For me, the big breakthrough concept introduced by The Matrix film was this idea of a parallel world where absolutely anything is possible. I always find myself thinking back to that specific scene where Trinity leaps from one skyscraper to another—that massive, gravity-defying jump—only to have an agent right on her heels immediately after. Nowadays, when I rewatch it, a little bit of 'suspension of disbelief' starts to wear thin, and I can't help but feel a tiny grain of doubt that the whole thing might be a little cheesy or overstretched.
😉

The truth is, Reloaded and Revolutions just don't capture that same "holy crap, this is incredible" sense of wonder that the first movie had. You know that moment in the original where Neo wakes up and looks left and right at all those people tucked away in their cubicles? It makes you realize you're stepping into something entirely fresh and exhilarating.
I remember watching clips and trailers before the release, seeing Neo dodging bullets, and honestly, I thought it was just some flashy visual gimmick. But once I actually sat down to watch the movie, I realized there was actual dramatic weight behind all that action.

Reloaded and Revolutions didn't have that spark, and frankly, they couldn't have, even if they weren't completely devoid of fresh concepts. It's just that their ideas didn't carry that same kind of impact for a general audience—people who aren't necessarily looking to dive deep into Gnosticism, metaphysics, or complex systems theory...
Personally, I really dug the concepts of the anomaly and control in Reloaded, along with rogue programs like Merovingya and the dynamic between the Architect / Oracle.... though I have to admit my enthusiasm for Revolutions kind of fizzled out after a few days.
Still, there's plenty of credit left for the first film (definitely more) and Revolutions (a bit less), so I'm not exactly throwing a fit about it. 🙂

rapidstag74 said:Personally, I think Dark City is actually the better movie.

I have to agree, I absolutely love Dark City too (it actually came out before The Matrix, if you recall!).

rapidstag74 said:But Richard Hernandez13, there isn't any bullet-time in Equilibrium at all. Honestly, I'm pretty sure there isn't even any slow-motion in there. And thank God there isn't any Joel Silver either.

but there was definitely some martial arts involved. I actually meant to add that to my previous post, but I accidentally hit the quote button instead of edit—so then I ended up deleting that whole new post because I totally forgot what I had changed in it.

Michelle Gonzalez said:seriously guys, you have to watch "Equilibrium"

Honestly, because of movies like Equilibrium, there are moments where I almost wish The Matrix had never happened—ever since its release, we've been flooded with this endless wave of films where the protagonists just strut around in tight black leather, pulling off all those bullet-time stunts. (hmmm... I wonder if the culprit behind all that is the fact that about 90% of them were produced by Joel Silver)

slyrider16 said:Plus, what you thought was cheesy, I actually felt wasn't quite big enough. If they were going to go on a rampage through the city, they might as well have leveled a few hundred skyscrapers while they were at it...

Yeah, I totally agree, I felt that gap too. By all rights, that final showdown should have been an absolute, total blowout if we're following standard action movie logic.
Honestly, I found Shore's segment in The Matrix Reloaded with the clones way more gripping. Here, it feels like every single shot was weighed down by this heavy, "monumental" vibe that just slowed everything down.

Christian Perez10 said:Honestly, the whole concept of Agent Smith crossing over into the real world is just pure nonsense, and I feel like that's what you're basing this whole argument on. Software simply isn't capable of controlling a human brain (Bane)—it could maybe mess with electrical impulses, but the software itself doesn't send those out.

Why would you call it nonsense?
I actually thought that was one of the better ideas they introduced in >. We aren't talking about the kind of software we use on our laptops today; remember, we're dealing with science fiction here, not a technical manual for a computer scientist.

maristella69 said:I honestly get goosebumps whenever someone mentions how gorgeous Monica Bellucci is! I mean, sure, maybe she was at her absolute peak back in the day (like during those small roles). To me, though, she looks a little softer and fuller lately, almost like she’s lost that sharp edge—I guess that's just what happens when you enjoy that delicious Italian lifestyle!

Well, if we're being honest, that classic Baroque standard of beauty always did embrace a certain amount of "extra" curves. 😉

Betty Bennett10 said:I mean, look, how on earth is a viewer of The Matrix Revolutions supposed to know all that? You’ve got these random characters just popping in and out of the frame, which, if you ask me, pretty much flies in the face of any standard filmmaking logic.

In Reloaded, they really only have a tiny cameo for a few seconds where they thank Neo for saving them, and by the time we get to Revolutions, they're mostly just cannon fodder.

As for that bit in the Animatrix, I always saw it more as a little extra flavor rather than something absolutely essential to wrap your head around the main trilogy.

Betty Bennett10 said:So he happens to be gay, sure, but who actually IS this guy?

He’s basically the kid from that "Kid's Story" short in *The Animatrix*, you know, the one who ends up getting deleted from the Matrix because he put all his faith in the One.

Betty Bennett10 said:Seriously, what kind of name is "Oracle" anyway? 😕

Well, Larry Ellison was the one who programmed it. 😁

Which basically means it's like having a prophet or a seer on your side.

rapidstag74 said:Well, I guess I really made my choice. 😁

But honestly, what people are saying about Zion's little guy is actually pretty spot on—not necessarily that he's gay, but just that a huge chunk of the fanbase is convinced he is.

I mean, Neo and him basically met in a gay chat room if you go back and watch Animatrix. 😁

nimblemarlin17 said:That’s exactly why they threw in that ridiculous plot twist I’m still trying to wrap my head around. I mean, how did Neo actually take down Smith? Honestly, the Matrix will probably just keep existing until Kiefer Sutherland signs on for more sequels, because let's face it—he's the only one who can actually beat him.

SPOILER ALERT!!
When Smith assimilated the Oracle, he thought he could see the future since he basically absorbed her "powers," envisioning a world where he finally wins by absorbing Neo (which explains that classic, over-the-top villainous laugh he does). But man, was he wrong! The Oracle totally played him, just like she played Neo in the first two movies. Smith followed everything she laid out as "prophecy" perfectly, including assimilating Neo, which turned out to be a massive setup. It turns out Neo was essentially hardwired directly into the Source—so when Smith tried to merge with him, the Source just stripped Smith's code away and wiped him out along with all those clones (and yeah, Neo too). What a wild ride!

rapidstag74, don't go confusing everyone! You're going to end up getting banned, I swear! Trust me on this one, I can see it coming from a mile away!

Justin Patel said:well,
The Matrix only pulled in about 85 million here in the States... I mean, kind of underwhelming, right?

True, but that was just in its first five days! When you look at the global box office, it actually raked in 204 million during that same five-day stretch.

I'd say that's definitely anything but underwhelming.

rapidstag74 said:Didn't that Architect guy mention something about how machines can just figure things out on their own?
I mean, maybe they’ve got some other power sources tucked away somewhere... I don't know, like freaking NUCLEAR ENERGY or something!!!

Machines are actually pretty environmentally conscious.

Okay, maybe not exactly—that whole situation where people were being used like Duracell batteries really only kicked off because of the psychological toll it took on whatever was left of the population (kind of like in *The Animatrix*).

neonhawk53 said:In the first part, I get the impression they’re showing off these machines that actually use human brains as a power source.

So how on earth could they have achieved peace??
Since the whole system relies on farming people for energy.

Let's look at this hypothetically—suppose you're plugged into the Matrix, and in that simulation, everything is perfect: you've got a beautiful wife, amazing kids, a high-paying career, a spacious home, and maybe a classic car in the garage; basically, you're living the dream.
Then, out of nowhere, a group of militant radicals shows up and unplugs you from the Matrix; just like that, your wife, your kids, your car, your job, and your house are all gone, and they're standing there mumbling about how you're finally completely free while shoving a shovel into your hands.

Honestly, which reality would you actually choose?

The machines aren't really that stupid—they'd always find someone willing to play the role of a battery.

rapidstag74 said:Honestly, screw all of them. I genuinely hope their next big production falls completely flat on its face.

Regarding that whole situation.
Word on the street is that their next big move was supposed to be producing "Conan the Barbarian"—with John Milius back in the director's chair, of course—and you could almost bet the money that the brothers would have pushed the entire project through pre-production since Milius had already knocked out the script.

The real kicker is that the offices for both the brothers and Milius are actually located in the same Warner Bros. building on the exact same floor. The first hurdle was that Milius isn't exactly the hottest commodity in Hollywood right now, and now that Arnold has pivoted toward politics, things have shifted too. It’s entirely possible the whole project just got scrapped because of that. 😢

casualmarlin9 said:IS "PERFECT" EVEN A REAL WORD HERE??

D Well, if you haven't quite caught on yet, let me break it down for you: Neo is essentially a program, or at least partially one. He was never truly just a regular human being, which is exactly why he was able to perceive everything he saw in the real world. It’s also the whole reason he could pull off those wild stunts inside the Matrix and why he ended up on that specific platform where only programs are allowed to exist.

I have to say, I really can't get behind your theory that Neo is a program or part-program.

The way I see it, he basically just "absorbed" certain bits of the Matrix code into his own mind, which gave him the ability to see and do all that crazy stuff—that's pretty much what the Architect explained back in "Reloaded."

In the end, he was just being reset, or rather, returned to the source more or less as it was always intended to happen, right along with Smith's code.

rapidstag74 said:I think it’s worth pointing out that The Matrix has this distinct comic book quality to it. It isn't just some one-time gig like Independence Day was. They didn't just write a single story; they basically built an entire universe with its own internal logic—kind of like Middle-earth or the Star Wars galaxy—that leaves plenty of room for hundreds of different adventures to unfold.

And honestly, it isn't just that comic book vibe. The dramatic structure itself feels very much like a graphic novel (you know, when we're talking about those typical mainstream superhero tropes): you have a segment where the setup is explained, then a burst of action, then more exposition to clarify things, followed by another action sequence... it just keeps cycling through those beats over and over again.

Besides, the Wachowskis were actually working as comic book screenwriters before they ever jumped into directing with that (really excellent) neo-noir thriller "Bound." That's why if you check their official site, they actually have a section dedicated to comics illustrated by all sorts of artists, ranging from indie types like Peter Bagge (who is totally my favorite 😁) to legends like Bill Sienkiewicz or Dave Gibbons. They even had Neil Gaiman pen a short story once.

It'll be coming out in print soon.