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A Groovy MATRIX Site Easter Egg And A Review Of FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Right now, no one’s having more fun gearing up for the release of one of this year’s films than Joel Silver, the Wachowskis, and everyone working on THE MATRIX websites. Take this letter, for example:
Hi Harry,
Just wanted to let everyone know that that Animatrix site you posted contains a link to a hidden "hack the matrix" site (kinda like easter eggs on DVDs). Just sweep you mouse over the bottom of the web page under the graphic content warning near the right hand side of the page and a hidden link will appear. Click on it and the site appears. There's a keyboard there. Hover your mouse over the keyboard and one of several codewords appears. Click on the keyboard and a new box opens saying ENTER CODE. type in the code word and you're sent to some hidden content. I didnt find anything earth shattering but it's bit of fun.
You can call me Cory849 - or just Cory. It's my name. ;-)A much bigger display of the confidence that Silver feels right now was the press event held last week on the lot. I’m sure my invitation just got lost in the mail, since Warner Bros. is so fond of me. I’ll just have to settle for this review of the event and FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS, the Animatrix short that was shown there. Warning... there are spoilers for the nine-minute short a-plenty, and if you want to go into the film in front of DREAMCATCHER without knowing anything, skip to the next story now...
Greetings Harry,
Longtime reader, first time contributor. Here’s the poop: A full nine minute episode of the Animatrix was screened last night at Warner Brothers and it kicked holy ass.
“The Final Flight Of The Osiris”
Written by The Wachowski Brothers and directed by Andy Jones (director of “Final Fantasy.”)
Animated by the good people at Square USA (who brought us Final Fantasy: The Screenplay Without)
The style was – as described by one of the animators in attendance – “a half-generation beyond Final Fantasy.” The people are a little more realistic. Pores, whiskers and the sexiest animated cheesecake butt we’ve yet seen.
The press release summary: “The crew of the hovercraft Osiris must get a message back to Zion, a message of vital importance. Easy to do, but for the armada of Sentinels between them and Zion”
If you don’t want spoilers, turn back now.
The segment opens with a Swordplay training simulation reminiscent of Neo’s first session in “The Matrix.” Superhuman abilities are shown as Thaddeus, the African-American captain of the Osiris and Joanne, his Asian female crewmate (and possible love interest) gradually slice each other’s clothing off during the well-choreographed fight sequence. Both wear blindfolds throughout. In a nice character touch, each sneaks a peek at the other as the clothing falls away. (You can find images of this episode in a gallery RIGHT HERE. It’s in the Mainframe section under Anime.)
The simulation is interrupted by an emergency message from the bridge of their ship. Other crewmates inform the Captain that *thousands* of Sentinels are closing in. The Osiris is pursued through tunnels like the ones seen in the live action film. These sequences are very nearly equal in
visual quality. Just stunning. The Osiris even tries the same trick to hide from its pursuers. Finally, the ship is forced to take an unmapped passage and they break through to the surface of the ravaged Earth. To the crew’s dismay, the ruined megacity is literally swarming with what must be
millions of Sentinels. This is definitely where CGI really shines. There’s just no other way to have these kinds of “money shots.”
The Osiris also detects a massive drilling platform that moves on mechanical legs. And what is two miles below its current position? Zion, of course. The Osiris must get word to Zion through a “drop point” in the Matrix. Joanne is loaded up for Matrix insertion and has a touching farewell moment with Thaddeus. Each admits that they peeked during the simulation. Their lips get closer... and Thaddeus completes her connection, plunging her into the Matrix. Joanne executes a gymnastic fall through the girders of a towering powerplant (in the Matrix world) while the Osiris is pursued by more Sentinels than you’ve ever seen. Crewmen activate big, fricken turret guns and pour bullets into their attackers as Sentinels swarm onto the surface of the ship. Joanne finally lands in an alley with a massive thud that jostles the dumpsters and she sets off through the streets in search of the “drop point.”
Meanwhile, the Osiris is being dismantled as it flies through the decayed city on Earth’s surface. Several Sentinels get inside and begin to take down the Osiris’ crew members. All the character touches ended with Joanne
and Thaddeus’ goodbye. The most memorable line of dialog at this point comes from a cute female gunner to the attacking machines, “C’mon and get some!” She buys the farm a few moments later.
Joanne finally makes it to a mailbox where an old woman struggles to read the instructions with thick, tinted glasses. (Some new kind of Agent? Hmmm.) Joanne steps past her and drops a parcel into the slot. Inside, we see it tumble toward us in slow motion. The old woman apologizes to Joanne for getting in the way, “I was in my own little world...” Joanne snaps open her phone (slightly more advanced than the ones in the first film.) She says, “Thaddeus...”
On the Earth’s surface, Sentinels rip the ship apart and it crashes spectacularly, killing all aboard. In the Matrix world, Joanne falls to the pavement, dead. Fade out.
It’s a fun ride (okay, except for the fact that every human character dies.) And the Samsung product placement on Joanne’s phone at the end doesn’t bode well for the future of digital filmmaking. (Why do they do that? Did Samsung really kick in enough money to make it worthwhile for the filmmakers to compromise their artistic vision? Do they *really* need the free phones Samsung probably gave them? Sorry, just a pet peeve.) In all, it’s a solid contribution to the Matrix franchise. Heavy on action and thin on character, but enough wholesome Sci-Fi nutrients to meet your minimum daily requirements. You want character? Go see “The Hours.”
The good news? You can see this episode for yourselves on March 21st. It will be attached to the worldwide release of the supernatural thriller, “Dreamcatcher.” “The Animatrix” debuts on DVD/VHS on June 3rd. This episode is also said to be attached to “The Matrix Reloaded” when released.
Other Matrix vets involved: editor Zach Staenberg and musical score by Don Davis. (Other current electronica artists also contributed.)
At the event, some footage was also shown from the “Enter the Matrix” game. It looked pretty standard with “Bullet Time” effects galore. We’ve all seen enough of that, haven’t we? The game’s distinction seems to be that a lot of original footage with Jada Pinkett Smith and some of the other stars will be integrated. Also, it will be fun to kick Agent ass.
There you have it.
Sharing with the class, you may call me: TsarThanks, man. Nice work.
"Moriarty" out.
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really looking forward to all this matrix anime stuff. hope it's as good as it sounds
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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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You can't kill Trinity and Neo without justifying it pretty damn well, but you can heighten the tension for them by showing everyone else get their butts kicked by the sentinels. And introducing nice little asides like this before you do so that you care about the characters, without getting distracted from the main event. Brilliant. OK, so maybe everyone else was way ahead of me on this one, but I didn't understand how the animatrix was going to work before.
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Before Thaddeus and Joanne's love has a chance to blossom? Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! LOL..I'm just playing around, but it definitely sounds like it's gonna set up the Reloaded flick very well. Also, the animation is definitely of extreme high quality on every character, living and non. Damn FF box office!!!!
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"Hack the Matrix" has been an easter egg on the official site for months. It is accessible through www.hackthematrix.com.
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Yeah im sick of bullet time also but just remember that the 1st matrix is where it was invented.Of coarse the other matrix films are gonna have that so why is everyone complaning.It also makes alot of sinse and bullet time makes sinse in the matrix.It doesnt make sinse in charlies angels and other crap but its not like there coping anything,there just using what they invented.
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Feb 10, 2003 11:41:00 AM CST
Is it just me, or do some of these look like they're better than
by minderbinder
The clip I saw was very cool, the best CGI humans I've seen so far. Too bad some of these will only be shown theatrically in front of movies I could care less about.
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Ass! I still can't believe that people complain about the plot of "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within". Sure, it would have been cool if they had made a tear-jerking dramatic black comedy with Charlie Kaufman and Alan Ball writing the screenplay, but Square NEVER intended to! This movie wasn't the best, but it really is not much better than 90% of the anime out there. This movie is just mediocre anime (just like the kind you regularly support, love, and watch) with amazing graphics. How can you people sing the praises of "Princess Mononoke", "Jin Roh", or even (gasp) "Akira" yet say this story is somehow lacking? The story is exactly like most of these other movies: a prepondering heavy-handed overtly Japanese indictment of modern consumerism (read: American Capitalism) and it's effect on the new-agey spirit of the Earth. This is the same plot in several other anime titles that are generally lauded around here. Anyone who watches all the rest of that anime crap then tries to take high road about Final Fantasy is truly a hypocrite. I don't even know if I should even bring up how TERRIBLE all of the Star Wars prequels are (I know, dead horse). Those still get your unwavering support despite plots that are ten times more awful! This movie should have been supported. This is the kind of CG I want to see in the future, not that overbright way-too-busy farting alien stereotype crap that George Lucas orders. I can only hope that Square finally gets the recognition it deserves for its amazing CG work and is allowed to do more stuff. They (and WETA) are truly pushing the envelope. Lucas and ILM are rehashing past techniques, despite their objections to the contrary. Anime is notable only in the fact that it is willing to admit that adults can watch animation and have it geared to their mature interests. This is a fact that idiotic puritanical Americans cannot grasp. In these moments, when anime presents mature and interesting themes, it is often at its best and does some ground breaking stuff. Despite that, much anime has a lot of really corny shit in it that isn't fit for a movie screen. Final Fantasy was no exception and it should not have been treated any differently just because it was hyped. It had every reason to be hyped, due to its revolutionary CGI work.
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Feb 10, 2003 12:44:15 PM CST
So MOMERATH, you're saying that FF sucked but that's OK since al
by minderbinder
Sorry, don't buy that. I love great animation, but you can't have a hit without a good story. Personally, I thought that FF was pretty good, what killed it was the hippie-do elements: refering to "spirits', "ghosts", "mana" etc. To be honest, I think the plot was fine, they could probably improve the movie a million times just by re-dubbing with new dialogue (minus the cloying tree-hugger speechifying). Oh, and it annoyed me that James Woods was a repeat of his character from Contact.
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The Asian chick in Final Flight Of The Osiris isn't "Joanne,", it's "Jue."
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Even in the bloody credits of the original Matrix film they have the 'steak' password - I used it two and a half years ago for God's sake...
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You are correct. It isn't entirely okay that Final Fantasy looks good when placed aside other anime yet bad when placed beside real movies. My point is that I feel that American audiences made the movie fail because they placed undue expectations on something that is just anime. My feedback was mainly to decry the fact that snobby bastards on this board tried to pretend that movie's plot utterly failed, despite the fact that it is just like that of several of their beloved anime plots. Furthermore, it really sucks that movies like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days", "Scooby Doo", and even "Jackass: The Movie" can all do boffo box office, yet something as artfully crafted (visually) as this is left to the vultures. That is a crime. Could FF have been better? Sure, if it were meant to be American Sci-Fi pic, a comedy, or a drama, but it wasn't. It was meant to be anime and in that regard it succeeds just as much as most other anime.
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I understood everything going on and the animation was the best yet(at the time).I was so sure square had a hit on thier hands...i overestimated the general moviegoing public in thier ability to understand...the ones who got it thought it was "too asian". What the fuck does that mean? oh well i loved the fuck out of it and still do.Secondly, It's called The Final Flight of Osiris...good indicator that its a doomed mission...well good for square animating something that will probably be seen by more people than the full legnth FF:TSW...maybe thier millions of dollars spent on animation wont pissed away due to lack of interest this time....
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...so it's a typical anime plot.i LIKE typical anime plots...i liked Princess Mononoke(which had a lot of the same themes).Do you have to be jaded to not like plots about spirits ghosts and mana? Cause i must be missing out on that whole Jaded Dollar then.Oh well...ill just go hang with the tree spirits or alien ghosts or blue type earthy spirits then and leave the dissection and overanalyzation behind...
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Nice visuals - even tho' they recycled the black seargeant from Spirits Within.
And why does Hollywood STILL kill-off African Americans? Even in anime?!?!?
"Ok, this guy's a positive role model but let's smear him over the landscape anyway!"
Sheesh! -
Feb 10, 2003 6:16:31 PM CST
Props to the Wachowskis for putting Square and the Final Fantasy
by bamf
They know underrated talent when they see it. Seen the excerpt from Osiris, can't wait for the whole thing. They're putting this in front of a theatrical movie? By that reckoning, they have now added 9 minutes to the approximately 10 minutes of trailers and commercial crap that now normally precede flicks. God almighty, that's just silly.
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at the end of the credits there was something about "the secret password is steak". This is probably something that everyone else knows about and became obsolete years ago, but can anyone tell me what the deal with that is (or was)?
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Like Snickers_Co said this Hackthematrix.com website has been around since the first Matrix opened. I can't believe someone didn't tell Harry about this 4 years ago!
I wonder how long it'll be before he figures out about the binary codes in the navigation console of Whatisthematrix.com? -
Ok first... the hack the matrix codes have been around since the first matrix site and Harry has posted info about it before when someone found some test footage of the different hovercraft. Second, nothing more annoying that reading about something cool like whats in this new Animatrix short when stupid ignorant things are said that distract from reading the rest of it by seeing things like "it's from the director of Final Fantasy - Andy Jones" when if he took a moment to check his facts the director was Hironobu Sakaguchi. The brilliant man behind the actual Final Fantasy games. For christs sakes people, check your facts before submitting the email to something that will be put up for the world to see... saying just one wrong thing makes you look stupid.
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Feb 10, 2003 10:49:37 PM CST
You people who saw that password in the original movie and "hack
by cruel shoes
Yay YOU!
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I mean, MAJOR BUMMERS here, just like the free comics on the main site. They were made for two purposes, to look good and to make you depressed. Final Flight is no different =(
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so... you're saying it's racist to kill off black characters, but ok to kill of white ones? give me a fucking break. and i guess you didn't read the review otherwise you'd know that ALL of the humans die, not just the black guy. asshole.
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is definately "red"
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can you give some examples to back that up please?
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Most people I know never knew it was out, though they knew "Legally Blonde" was and it was the movie that won that weekend two summers ago. I thought and still think that Final Fantasy was a good movie, the animation was great for its time (you could see techniques evolve through the movie as they didn't have the time to go back and fix earlier scenes) and it was a cut way above most movies that make it to number one. The only hype may have been to the people in the know. The general public never heard about it and the advertising for it sucked the week it opened. Dark, undecipherable newspaper ads up against a full color perky Reese Witherspoon in the "Legally Blonde" ads. TV spots ran mostly on cable and really didn't sell the movie to anyone than a gamer crowd which it wasn't even aimed at. (The only theatre here in the Detroit area showing it that did good business for at least 4 weeks was the only theatre to have a giant display of all the main characters in their lobby) Of course this was after the Sony Pictures fake critic debacle and they lost their marketing gurus before FF:TSW opened. People I know who've seen it since on DVD either enjoyed it or found it interesting. Nobody thought it sucked. It's a damn shame that Square gave up on movies...if this short hadn't already been committed to, we wouldn't have even gotten to see this new short.
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..was the animation supervisor on FF:TSW.
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When are we going to hear about that, AICN?
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