Lyris Lite :: THE MATRIX on HD DVD: very good, but not great

Review sites are sure to score this a 10/10 for video, because, well, it's The Matrix, but in reality, the HD DVD release of this neat film isn't a total stunner. Make no mistake though, it's a really nice looking disc. It looks like a little bit of filtering has gone on, because the film grain particles take on a slightly taller appearance instead of being pixel-sized, and there's a slight glow visible at the top and bottom of the active picture area.

Weirder still is the fact that the sound lags noticeably behind the picture, which is odd given the fact that this film has its fair share of breaking windows and action scenes. It's not enough to be seriously annoying, though.

But enough about the faults, it's still a good looking disc of an enjoyable film. And, it's an HD DVD exclusive for the time being, thanks to the Blu-ray Disc Association's apparent lack of organisation in getting their format's interactive capabilities up and running.

Unfortunately though, unless you go on eBay, there's no way of buying THE MATRIX on its own and avoiding the crap-tacular sequel and the (apparently) crap-tacular sequel to the sequel.

I got the Ultimate Matrix Collection on DVD a while back; it's a pretty good set in my opinion. Obviously the 2 sequels are nowhere near as good as the original but the set does include The Animatrix which is fantastic.

My DVD set does have a couple of flaws however, the fold out bit for the Matrix is in German (pretty funny really) and on The Matrix DVD the dual layer skip kind of ruins the scene.

A short quote from the fold out; "Der Oscar-preisgekronte Originalfilm in neuer, digitaler Abtastung, die von den WACHOWSKI BROTHERS und Kameramann BILL POPE uberwacht wurde." lol

I'm just glad you thought the two sequels are awful too. They just totally lack the atmosphere, grimness and that sheer coolness of the first..

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