Matrix Reloaded

GameInformer Magazine has published an extensive look at Enter the Matrix, the game based on The Matrix Reloaded. Here's a clip from the article:

"Why didn't we do the first Matrix film?" voices David Perry, Shiny Entertainment's president, who for the best portion of the last three years, has seemingly vanished from the face of the Earth. "I was actually asked to do it. I met with the Wachowski brothers (Andy and Larry) and they showed me the original storyboards for the first Matrix movie. Joel Silver did his little pitch, yet I sat there in their office and said no. It was the worst mistake I ever made in my career. When I watched the movie in the theater, I was so blown away by it that I thought, "What the hell have I done?" I thought it was going to be another hacker movie!"

Although they weren't able to create a game that coincided with the timing of the first film, the Wachowskis remained deeply rooted within the video game industry and sought out other partnerships for their upcoming plans. Hideo Kojima, the mastermind behind Konami's acclaimed Metal Gear series, was asked to apply his unique fingerprint to the Matrix universe. Although not quite the development powerhouse it is today, the Wachowskis also pursued Bungie, the studio that delivered the Xbox juggernaut Halo. As interesting as these reports are, nothing ever came to fruition, and a game based on the first movie exists only in the imagination of its fans.

Shortly after the theatrical release, negotiations resumed with the number one draft pick, David Perry recalls, "When the movie came out, they called me right away and asked, "Did you see the film?" I replied, "[expletive deleted] year, it's awesome!" So they said, "Come on up here and we'll talk about the next movie." I jumped into my car and we inked the deal as quickly as possible. The deal was signed February 2001, and we were secretly working with the Wachowski brothers on it for six to eight months before that. That's when we were getting all of the plans laid out. The day it got signed, we really got started. We dove right into the technology to make it possible." As avid gamers (who have reportedly destroyed an Xbox unit during a fevered Halo match), the Wachowskis didn't want to make a derivative game that followed the story arc of the second film. They wanted to try something different. Something that speaks volumes to gamers. Something that Matrix fans can embrace. Something that seamlessly blends the efforts of developer and studio. Something that will redefine the way that moviegoers view games and gamers view movies. That something is Enter The Matrix.

For much more coverage, pick up the latest issue of GameInformer Magazine.

BOYCOTT THE MATRIX RELOADED
>
> Assalamu'alaikum.wr.wb.
>
> Di Amerika sedang ada pembuatan sequel The Matrix : The Matrix
> Reloaded. Film ini penuh dengan segala simbol religius, mungkin ini
> adalah satu cara mereka untuk 'beribadah' pada tuhan mereka, uang.
> Salah satu karakter yang mereka buat bernama : 'Allah'. Memakai
> namaNya bukan suatu masalah buat mereka, terlepas dia karakter baik
> atau buruk. Masalahnya, semua tingkah laku Amerika bukanlah suatu
> tindakan 'uncalculated'. Harus kita ingat bahwa Amerika demen melepas
> semacam 'psywar' , melepas rumor untuk membentuk opini publik, untuk
> tujuan ekonomi mereka. Ingat Hollywood juga membuat film 'hero
> amerika' melawan teroris 'islam' sebelum perang teluk meletus. Dan
> jika dalam film ini karakter 'Allah' adalah karakter jahat, bisa
> dibayangkan opini apa yang akan mereka bentuk, dan di Film ini,
> 'Trinity' adalah tokoh yang harus diselamatkan. Kesimpulannya,
> selamatkan Trinitas dan hancurkan Allah?
>
> Komunitas muslim bukanlah komunitas yang kecil, tapi tidak akan
> diperhatikan kalau tidak bersuara. Indonesia adalah sebuah komunitas
> Islam yang besar, dan penikmat film-film Hollywood yang setia. Kalau,
> boikot dilakukan disana, mungkinkah ada efeknya? Wallahu'alam. Tapi
> Tidak akan ada perubahan tanpa usaha sebelumnya..
>
> Semakin jelas apa yang di-inginkan Yahudi dan Kaum Kafir.... kali ini
> mereka menggunakan nama Allah sebagai nama tokoh penjahat dalam film
> Matrix Re Loaded
>
>
> Wassalamu'alaikum wr.wb.

Reloaded for return of Matrix - Spoilers! -- Transcript of an article in Metro
November 01, 2002 - Friday
News : Movies : The Matrix: Reloaded :

Thanks to there_is_no_sp00n who posted this over in our Spoiler forum of The Zion Switchboard.

Sequel need no longer be a euphemism for anticlimax. After several summers of Hollywood blockbusters arriving on a flood of hype, The Matrix Reloaded looks like it might just live up to its billing. The feverishly anticipated movie is generating all kinds of excitement, if Internet chatrooms are anything to go by.
The first Matrix movie set new standards in sci-fi/action special effects and the second part, due for a UK release early next year (no official date has been set), promises to deliver an even more spectacular feast for the eyes.

In a recent interview with the Sydney Daily Telegraph, producer Joel Silver described a 14-minute set-piece for the new movie where a helicopter flies around central Sydney below building height as the most complicated sequence put on film. Ever. Coming from a professional whose production credits include the first Matrix film, the Lethal Weapon series and Die Hard, these words have gravitas.

Directorial duo Andy and Larry Wachowski pioneered the effects developed for the original film and changed the way motion pictures would be made forever: These included the new technique known as bullet-time, where hundreds of still images captured from different angles are animated together so it appears the camera is rotating 360 degrees around a single point of action.

While producing the first film, visual effects supervisor John Gaeta explained that this technology is the next stage in cinema evolution. It'll be as revolutionary as when cameras came off sticks and went to cranes, or when they came off cranes and became steadicams. Cameras can now be broken from the subject matter - they are virtual.
This technology has already been imitated by a number of other filmmakers. For a while it was flattering, said Silver. But soon the Wachowski brothers became annoyed at the constant swiping and decided that in the two, sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, they would create visual effects that could never be copied.

The word on the street is that star Keanu Reeves will be fighting multiple copies of the evil Agent Smith, human computer viruses, and taking part in a car chase that will be as innovative as the kung fu fights in the original. It is also rumoured that a state-of-the-art 3D blue-screen developed for the sequels enables the actors to become more convincingly immersed in special effects environments.

Already, The Matrix Reloaded is one of the most eagerly awaited films of recent years, as the interest it's generating on movie fan-sites and Internet chatrooms reflects. Don't let the excitement get too much. Next year is not that far away.

What is bullet-time?

Many could legitimately claim to have invented the time-freezing photographic technique used in The Matrix. It might have been French director Michel Gondry, who used it in an insurance company commercial and then in a video clip for Bjork It was also used in a commercial for Capital Radio on lTV showing numerous frozen scenes of London, one of which was pigeons in Trafalgar Square. The sense of depth between birds in the foreground and background was revolutionary. It may be that each of them, and others, invented it.
Web Test

Trix of the Trade
Its fair to say The Matrix in some small way was inspired by the internet. So you'd expect the films and all that surrounds them to have a strong presence on the Web. And they do.

Matrix Official Website
The film is all about fighting the system, so how can it have an official site? Never mind. This must have had a fair few quid thrown at it because it looks as slicj as Agent Smith's hair. There's the standard fare: interviews, photo gallery and the latest news. It also has the latest teaser trailer sure to get the saliva glands active.
www.whatisthematrix.com

Matrix character test
OK, it's a shameless rip-off of Find Your Star Wars Twin but who cares. It has no scientific basis, the questions have no input from any psychologists and the whole thing was probably put together by a spotty kid who only leaves his bedroom for school. But you're going to do it anyway. Hurrah, I'm Morpheus.
http://swankyspork.com/tests/matrix
Matrix Factfile
• Ewan McGregor was originally offered the part of Neo, but turned it down, as did Will Smith, who was busy making the sci-fi western flop Wild Wild West.
• Val Kilmer was at one time approached to play Morpheus.
• Some of the new characters appearing in The Matrix sequel include: Allah, Kain, Lazarus and Niobe (morpheus's love interest, played by none other than Will Smith's wife Jada Pinkett).
• The Glyphs on the computer screens, with the exception of the call traces, consists of reversed letters, numbers, and Japanese katakana characters.
• Neo is often referred to as The One; Neo is an anagram of 'One'.
http://www.thematrixonline.com/docs/7797.html