Talk:The Matrix

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To-do list for The Matrix: edit · history · watch · refresh
  • Expand the casting process info in Cast section.
  • Reference everything with citation templates, via The Matrix Revisited and The Art of The Matrix.
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[edit] Sentence Change

If nobody objects, i'm going to change a sentence which appears in the plot section from this:

"He wakes up naked in a liquid-filled chamber, his body connected by wires to a vast mechanical tower covered with identical pods."

to this, which IMHO describes the most shocking scene in the film MUCH better:

"He wakes up naked in a liquid-filled chamber, his body connected by wires to a mechanical tower of gigantic proportions covered with hundreds of thousands of identical pods."

please tell me if its okay, so i (or anybody else) can change the relevant section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.28.212.168 (talk) 17:38, 4 February 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Plot?

The plot section is abysmal. It's a wonder people understand what the movie's about. How about this: 'after touching a reflective substance he wakes up... is rescued by Morpheus...' Some of this can be defended by using the argument of a need for brevity but what pray tell is the logical cause and effect between the 'reflective substance' (substance? SUBSTANCE? who wrote this?) and waking up naked? Who ever does the rewrite: please take the time and view this movie more than once so you first have grasped a basic understanding of the plot essentials. As things stand all this article does is give the critics of Wiki more things to cite about its (lack of) quality. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.5.12.208 (talk) 09:12, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

There also needs to be some explanation of the "red and blue pills"

an encounter with several sinister agents leads him to a group led by the mysterious Morpheus, a man who offers him the chance to learn the truth about the Matrix. Neo accepts and swallows an offered red pill

The last sentence especially could cause one of the biggest "WTF?" moments in recent history.
Mullhawk (talk) 08:06, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

It doesn't really look like a plot section as much as it is a positive review of the movie Parp555 (talk) 01:12, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Impact Section

Is it me, or is the "Meatrix" discussion paragraph in the impact section way too long than warranted? Seems like it was put there by people with an non-NPOV agenda to push.

[edit] Cast Section

Seriously, that needs to be cleaned up. While the patrick stewart and russell crowe entries are amusing.... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 166.124.98.20 (talk) 22:51, 5 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Removal of Infobox movie certificates

I'm against the removal of the {{infobox movie certificates}}. It provides useful information on the film. In my view, it is useful to have this concise summary. Although there is currently only one rating (US), this can and will grow. When this happens, it will become far too verbose to express the whole list of ratings in text form. The box also encourages worldwide contributors to add their countries' own rating. For discussion of this template in general usage, not just on this page, I suggest talking on the Template:infobox movie certificates page, where it can be discussed properly. --h2g2bob 18:11, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Why should any other countries have ratings? It's only the weird US where these ratings are so traumatically crucial. People from all around the world read these pages - and from a plethora of countries where 'English' is spoken - and they certainly don't support such follies.

I really don't like lists. I think there is a guideline regarding Wikipedia on not being a place where you just stuff everything. Certificates should be included if there was a particular controversy, like in the U.K. the film had some headbutts cut to secure a 15. WikiNew 18:13, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

If you can find information regarding such a policy, please provide a link to it. As it is, there seems to be an agreement that the ratings box should be here; to me it seems logical that the rating of a movie is quite important. Thanks. matt.smart talk/contribs 18:34, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information WikiNew 18:49, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pre-Matrix short story?

I dimly remember an old scifi short story in which the entire human population (apart from a few caretakers) was installed in tanks, happily dreaming. One human rebels against this easy life, and tries to set his fellow humans free. The revolutionaries reject "tank" reality and set up a crude commune out in the real world, heroically embracing the hardships of "real" life outside the tanks.

At the end of the story, two caretakers are talking about how difficult it sometimes is to tailor fake realities for some of the more difficult individuals, so that the fantasies won't be rejected. It turns out that the entire revolution was one of these fake realities, constructed for the benefit of the central character who (ironically) is happily dreaming his anti-tank dreams ... inside a tank.

Does anyone else remember this old story? Title? Author? ErkDemon 07:20, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Sumthing Like: "The Gamekeeper" from Season 2 of Stargate SG-1?

[edit] blue/green screen

This bit in visual effects is just nonsensical. The colour shift is obviously a post-production effect rather than an on-set one. And I'm not much of a matrix buff but even I've seen the backstage footage of bullet time being shot in greenscreen. This is a justification, not a suggestion; I'm doing this anyway. -Zepheriah 20:40, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

your tone seems a bit strong. if you were going to 'do it anyway,' then simply put your reasoning in an edit summary. discussion page is for just that - discussion. you need not make justifications for your edits here - this would be a page for ideas and consensus. by all means, be bold in updating pages, after all, each edit we make can be reverted by anyone. the_undertow talk 00:46, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
Stop playing Nurse Fletcher.

[edit] Sunglasses

Why do all the characters wear black clothes and sunglasses? That seems to be the stereotype but there doesn't seem to be much of an explanation why. Ratso 03:04, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Please do not use Wikipedia as a forum for subjects other than improving the article. Alientraveller 15:04, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Fine. Give us a forum to dscuss other issues. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.67.35.112 (talk) 01:48, 2 December 2007 (UTC)
Please use other sites, like IMDb. Alientraveller (talk) 15:13, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
Why doesn't Wikipedia have a forum? I'm seriously considering starting my own, unless Wikipedia does it first. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.67.35.112 (talk) 18:46, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
Actually, Alientraveller, if we could find out the answer to Ratso's question, it could be added into the article - thus improving the article. Sometimes discussion helps, you know. Lewis512 (talk) 14:38, 23 March 2008 (UTC)
Yeah, that's often a problem, people don't phrase it in such a way. There doesn't have to be a concrete answer either, except that's just how the Wachowskis liked it. Alientraveller (talk) 15:08, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Music

This is a non-standard use of the Music field in the Film infobox (it's supposed to be original music only) and the assignation of Original and Non-original music seems pretty arbitrary. For example Rob Dougan and Don Davis are both down as "original". Dougan's track was licenced and had been released long before The Matrix came out, while obviously the Davis score was written expressly for the film. 80.193.211.68 11:07, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What spoon?

Is there any particular reason why the phrase "There is no spoon" redirects here? ~~Neo 2.3 Hylan 14:32, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Probably because "there is no spoon" is one of the most well-known lines in the movie. In addition, I can't think of anywhere else that would redirect to. It's a phrase, not a subject. Primium mobile 03:12, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Intro Edit Reasoning

Changed the intro to reflect that (and I'm not even that big of a Matrix nerd) the machines "ate" the people. That was their purpose. Plugging them into the Matrix merely acted as a way to keep the people alive (we don't generate much heat dead) KungfuJoe1110 09:04, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

I wanted to know if I can add the cathegory Zionist propaganda in films, just because it's so obvious even if you have seen the film only once. Heil Olmert! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 200.122.104.9 (talk) 16:25, August 23, 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Lucid dreaming

Maybe there should be a line that says that the matrix is a bit like a dream and neos realizing is like the process of gaining lucidity in a dream. Also this movie is held in high regard in the Lucid dreaming comunity —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.127.223.198 (talk) 11:03, August 24, 2007 (UTC)

It is not Wiki's role to interpret things. It is Wiki's role to relate facts. The above is subjective and most assuredly a conjecture you and very few others would dare make anyway. Further I seem to remember that this term you use is actually a kind of 'home shopping' elixir that's marketed by quacks. I certainly hope you in no way are trying to tie your business or that of your affiliates into a Wiki article.

I agree with the first comment above concerning lucid dreaming. The article also references about two dozen influences on the philosophy of the film - are these facts, or interpretation? You are taking an extremely high handed view of what is applicable to a wiki article. An example of lucid dreaming that could be argued as being applicable is the idea of checking a digital watch during a dream, and then rechecking it to see if the time has changed (in order to confirm you are in fact in a dream, it will almost certaintly have changed) Is this not parallel to the black cat glitch in the movie (ie a ripple in the matrix, which is a simulated reality?), the white rabbit metaphor , the red clothed siren etc. Anyway, who the hell are you to reduce a 40 year movement in attempting to understand sub-consciousness in dreaming down to a "home shopping" elixir? Your an expert on this are you? Did you tie this person's IP address to a specific website touting the few tiny and failed commercial appliances related to what is a tiny sub culture of dream study? Did you? Or are you just a wanker?

BTW, all the above information I researched myself some time ago concerning lucid dreaming was from an excellent article on Wikipedia. So why not remove the article then?

[edit] Nmap found?

When I saw first The Matrix Trilogy on TV, I never notice it. But a source said Nmap ware was found and used in a scene. Can someone clarify this and maybe add this to the articles for reference for the sake of our underground world? :D --Calvin Limuel (林德耀) 10:14, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Underground world? Why don't you start by doing the legwork - why don't you go and find that scene? Personally I very much doubt you'll find it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.5.12.208 (talk) 09:21, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Trinity???

The whole Matrix series can also be interpreted as the story of Jesus, with Neo, Trinity and Morpheus representing the Holy Trinity. Neo represents Jesus (the Son), Trinity represents the Holy Spirit and Morpheus represents the Father. Neo also has extraordinary powers and dies before being brought back to life. Adding credence to this idea is the fact that "Anderson" means "Son of Man."
Jesus. All we needed was for the bloody christians to get in here. Sorry but I find I want to vomit. Someone please kill off this ridiculous thread.

Does anyone have a reasonable source for that claim? It seems like a prime example of someone spitting out his own theories. The last sentence is completely unreasonable: "Son of Man" does not give any "credence" to the idea that the three people represent the trinity, only that Neo has characteristics of a Messiah/Jesus. If nobody should be able to discover any basis to this claim, I'll delete the entire paragraph as personal ideas of some Wikipedian. --Ibn Battuta 19:52, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Yup, go ahead. Alientraveller 19:55, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

I agree Jesus is a son of god, not man. However since we live in a biblical realm with biblical influences it may very well be a valid point.

Speak for yourself. If you are referring to the US then I agree with you. But simultaneously point out that not everyone (thank Jesus) lives in the glorious US. In all other cases I think you are way out of line and had no business posting this pestilent rubbish here.

After all the other main characters don't fit into the alice in wonderland theme, which may verywell be exploited with character introduction and timing in the second matrix in an unashamed fashion. I myself though trinity was an anti christian stab, much like the eucheristik flesh eaters in the 13th warrior, but with the advent of the utilaization of three instead of one, two, or four or more movies, their may be a valid point to the biblical referencing. -Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.14.129.123 (talk) 18:30, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

This seems a bit silly for the article. I could make an academic argument that the matrix is really a metafilm about the film industry itself, and point out that cypher's character is named Regan and when he and agent smith talk in the restaurant they seem to be discussing taking the film industry back to the era of deregulation under Reagan. There's also the whole thing with the obvious references to the movie screen itself when they talk about the loading screen, and essentially the whole war between man and machine is an allegory to the fight between independent cinema and the Hollywood studios, references to truth and whatnot.

The point is there are so many potential ways to look at film, just like literature, that putting in one view when there are many that can be substantiated doesn't seem to fit in with the wikipedia attitude of everything being cited and behind walls of red tape. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.129.244.16 (talk) 05:33, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

I don't see this movie as a Trinity(Christian) movie, but it does have a lot of allusions to the Gospel of John, at least as many as it does to the Allegory of the Cave, or Simulacra and Simulation. Also Jesus is called the "Son of Man" in the bible--especially John. What sort of sources are needed to put something in the article? Could one cite the movie and the gospel to say something like, "The Gospel of John begins, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' The Matrix begins by showing us the code which is in fact Neo who is referred to as the savior," or does one have to find someone else who said it and cite them? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Animatus (talk • contribs) 05:52, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Pictures

It would be cool if we could get some free pictures related to the film, I was thinking that one of the "real world" powerplants with the pods and one of a bullet time sequence, e.g. the rooftop scene would help readers understand the concepts better. cyclosarin 06:37, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Influences

Isn't the Matrix heavily influenced by Heidegger's work of "the One" and "Dasein"? Acceptable (talk) 02:42, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

If you've got a cite for it. Alientraveller (talk) 13:11, 23 March 2008 (UTC)


Shouldn't there be mention of the German film "Welt am Draht" (early 70's?)which used just this idea of a simulated reality the people trapped in it were not aware of? (Remade in the late 90's as "The 13th Floor") User: menme —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.52.145.60 (talk) 15:47, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Again, have you got a citation? Alientraveller (talk) 18:00, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Controversies

It should be noted that Warner, Joel Silver, and Wachowski Brothers settled a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement of the sci-fi work of Sophia Stewart's "The Third Eye".

http://media.www.slccglobelink.com/media/storage/paper442/news/2004/10/28/Entertainment/mother.Of.The.Matrix.Victorious-785067.shtml

"Stewart filed her case in 1999, after viewing the Matrix, which she felt had been based on her manuscript, "The Third Eye," copyrighted in 1981. In the mid-eighties Stewart had submitted her manuscript to an ad placed by the Wachowski Brothers, requesting new sci-fi works." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.107.127.191 (talk) 09:17, 3 May 2008 (UTC)