Animatrix Trailer

NeoCode writes "Like The Matrix? Like anime? Well, feast your eyes on this. The Matrix web site has released a preview trailer for Animatrix, a series of 9 anime stories set in the world of matrix, to be released on DVD. They are done rather beautifully, by the looks of the trailer, in both traditional anime and using computer graphics."

Comments

I will consider the irony

[Com2Kid]

Low budget eastern films influence big western producers to create gigantic megabuck flick;

for a follow up?

Why not export huge megabuck flick story line in an Eastern visual medium?

Oh well, at least Anime kicks ass for fight scenes. :-D

As Neo comes out of the matrix for the first time.

[Zork the Almighty]

"Wait a minute ! If this is real, why does everything still look like a cartoon ?!"

I CLAIM FIRST POST

[Anonymous Coward]

This is such an honor. I'd like to thank all the logged in trolls, fecal troll matter, Cmdr troll, all the troll ACs, all the flaimbaits and offtopics too, you guys really make it worth while. Lets keep working together to make slashdot a better place for all!

Re:I CLAIM FIRST POST

[BTO]

Thank you Michael Jackson.

awesome.

[jericho4.0]

The trailer looks great. This seems like one of the more dareing ideas to come out of a big hollywood studio in a while (even if we all know there's a market). Maybe this'll be really cool anime with a plot that's understandable.

Re:awesome.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is far from a daring idea.
Years ago 7 of the top japanese animators were gathered together to produce a film centering on a single subject. Each was to produce a segment of the film showing the vision of the subject they had.
That subject was Robots, and the film Robot Carnival.

All this is is The same idea but the subject this time is The Matrix.

Typo in story, should read:

[tunah]

NeoCode writes "Like The Matrix? Like anime? Well, I downloaded the trailer before submitting this story, and you can't have it. Neener neener neener."

Oh shit.

[Anonymous Coward]

You slashdotted it.

I am still waiting

[jukal]

that they would publish Ma(rketing)trix the Movie, where they reveal how they managed in this :) These guys really know how to exploit and squeeze every penny out of the idea. The most amazing part of this is that everything is well done and thought, we consistent. You could believe for example, that you could ruin the matrix concept like this, but somehow they have managed to keep it in order.

Re:I am still waiting

[Graspee_Leemoor]

"These guys really know how to exploit and squeeze every penny out of the idea."

And despite the first coming out a long time ago and the 2nd nearly here, how many computer games have come out based on The Matrix ?

Meanwhile every other 3d action games rips off the Matrix Effect.

graspee

Re:I am still waiting

[KILNA]

The reason for a lack of a Matrix game is the fact that they're waiting to produce a massively multiplayer subscription-based one, so they can get every penny *every month*.

The floating disembodied anime head

[Anonymous Coward]

...has to go. Send it the way of the Spam can!

Episodes made by various studios

[doc modulo]

From the art style, I could recognise:

* Studio that made: Ghost in the Shell, the movie (not sure about this one)

* Studio that made: Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (new version of VHD)

* Square studio that made: Final Fantasy, the movie.

* The American studio that made: Aeon Flux, Sci-Fi animation for BBC's Liquid TV and MTV. (not sure about this one either).

Anyone else have any additions or corrections?

Re:Episodes made by various studios

[mad flyer]

Does she have to be in a small swim suit to fight with eyes blinded ? why not naked, come on square, you chicken chick..

Re:Episodes made by various studios

[cr0n]

Takeshi Koike (Madhouse)

shame the parent will be modded down as troll

[Anonymous Coward]

'cause it's true and /. geeks can't deal with it. Animation is for kids. Adults who watch it have a problem connecting with reality. Course, it is popular in Japan, but we did drop two atomic bombs on them so they have a right to be a little screwed up (fallout and all).

Lain

[Taurine]

Let me get this straight. They watch the anime Serial Experiments Lain, take the most superficial view of it and go away to make the Hollywood perspective on this, with appropriately enormous budget and pretty-boy lead.

Then, when the udder is starting to dry out, they think there will be more milk if they turn it back into a US-made anime?

Like videogames, all good anime comes from Japan. OK, some good videogames come from the UK, France and Texas, but the best come from Japan.

Actually, how can they call it anime if its not Japanese? Surely its just a cartoon series?

Re:Lain

[Komrade S.]

Actually they aren't US made, I believe all of them are made by Japanese studios. There's a lot of information about it available at whatisthematrix.com. Sure the language is in English, which is most likely their key market, but I'm sure even for some of the purists (read: Ignorant people so tied up in their own little worlds that they can't for the life of them realise why people like things in their own language) there'll even be a Japanese dub.

Re:Lain

[Anonymous Coward]

Serial Experiments 4 was a commercial!!!
Can you really get any more superficial?
It was a pedophile beat fest.

Re:Lain

[Xoro]

Let me get this straight. They watch the anime Serial Experiments Lain, take the most superficial view of it and go away to make the Hollywood perspective on this, with appropriately enormous budget and pretty-boy lead.

Lain was first aired July 1998. The Matrix began shooting March 1998. On the net, you can find draft scripts from 1996.

The Wachowski's proudly admit to dipping into the common pool of anime ideas for inspiration for their movie. The similarities you found with Lain strongly suggest that its authors did likewise. Animes frequently borrow from each other and play off ideas and themes found in other animes. Why does it suddenly become exploitation when a Westerner does it? Is the pool marked "Japanese Only"?

Anime, hrm.

[autopr0n]

So now big eyes == anime?

I mean, I dunno. I would hardly call the CG one 'anime'. But what really should we call the others? Is all high quality animation amed at adults now "anime"?

Ah well, who knows. Btw, if you like this stuff you can find a bunch of Matrix inspired here here. Some of them are pretty cool.

Re:Anime, hrm.

[Masem]

The preview does not call this "anime", simply "animated shorts". Anime has a specific definition, being animation from Japan, but that would include not only the good stuff like Mononoke, Akira, etc, but also the stuff like Hamatro and Pokemon. Certainly, none of the shorts are of the anime of the last type (thank goodness! "Jump, Neo!" "PIKA!").

Here, I think they are simply saying "Ani[mated] Matrix", as opposed to implying "Ani[me] Matrix". And in the first catagory, I'd certainly include CGI animation as a valid entrant, as well as American-directed shorts that may have been inspired by Anime but aren't truly anime.

Re:Anime, hrm.

[nutshell42]

As you can see two threads above most of the shorts are made by Japanese ppl and -I assume- by Japanese studios so it's animation made in Japan in the typical style and imho that qualifies them to be called Anime

jm2

Re:Anime, hrm.

[Not One Of Us]

Actually, if you visit the site (whatisthematrix.com) and put your cursor over the second box on the "mainframe" menu, it'll say "anime." The link takes you to the Animatrix part of the site. Thus, they do imply that the move is the Anime Matrix, not the Animation Matrix.

Re:Anime, hrm.

[Whoop-D]

No, all of the shorts are made by anime directors produced by anime studies. The only stretch on this would be the last piece, from Square. But it's still a Japanese company, even if it was made in Hawaii before Square, Honolulu became no more, and a Japanese director.

Re:Anime, hrm.

[mblase]

The poster, of course, is at fault. "Animatrix" is from "animated Matrix", not "anime Matrix". But clearly the fact that all the animators, except for Square USA, are Japanese should count for something.

"The Matrix" is a huge hit with non-geeks as well as geeks, of course, and the Warchowski brothers put this video together because they're anime fans as well. Anything, IMO, that brings "animation to the masses" in the USA is a Good Thing. Hopefully there'll be some previews of each studio's other projects on the DVD to direct buyers to other anime offerings by the same folks.

Anything that brings down the cost of "Cowboy Bebop" DVDs for me is worth doing. :-)

Since you asked

[Inthewire]

Like The Matrix?
No. Should I? A sorry mishmash of dystopian human-slavery science fiction, incredibly shallow cyberpunk (telephones as portals?) and Buddhist "the mind is the weapon" pap mixed with shiny leather and softcore multiculturalism (hmm...the black guys are the only ones who are natural in a modern noble savage kinda theme) combined to make no sense while doing an excellent A-TEAM ripoff with thousands of rounds sparking past our heros.

Like anime?
No.

Re:Since you asked

[Anonymous Coward]

Cool. I hate niggers too.

Re:now-with-tighter-clothing dept...

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot apparel - further guaranteeing that a member of the opposite (or even same) sex
will never speak to you. ThinkGeek needs a review feature... Cause unsuspecting geeks need to be warned that NO ONE EXCEPT THEM will think clothing with the name of a website on it is cool. Except maybe "Kiss my goatse.cx"... but I digress.

This is crap

[Anonymous Coward]

I suggest you watch some real cartoons.

Let me be the first to ask,

[Anonymous Coward]

Whats next, the Animatriax?

Who's Who

[Longinus]

Second Renaissance Part 1
Mahiro Maeda (Blue Submarine No. 6)

Second Renaissance Part 2
Mahiro Maeda

Program
Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Ninja Scroll, Wicked City, X (the series, not the movie))

Kid's Story
Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Macross plus)

World Record
Takeshi Koike (Don't know)

Beyond
Koji Morimoto (Episode 1 of Memories: Magnetic Rose)

Matriculated
Peter Chung (Aeon Flux)

Detective Story
Shinichiro Watanabe

The Final Flight of the Osiris
Square U.S.A (Final Fantasy et al)

Windows 3.1 Reloaded

[Anonymous Coward]

"Wake up Neo."

"Fucking stupid KaZaA messages, I thought I turned that shit off."

"The Matrix has you."

"U r 2 14m3 4 m4 sk177z! 1 vv177 h4x0r j00!"

"Fine then, fag - stay in the Matrix!"

later at work, a FedEx package arives

"What is this? Why am I talking to myself?"

Neo opens the package and six high density floppies fall out.

"Oh my GOD! NOO!!!! It's Windows 3.1!!!!"

The phone at Neo's desk rings, he answers it.

"Hello."

"Hello fag."

"Oh, the asshole from KaZaA... Hey, how'd you get my number?"

"There's no time for that now. Did you get the package I sent you?"

"Yea. Why the fuck you send me Windows 3.1?"

"It is very important that you install it right away."

"But..."

"No butts, find a computer and INSTALL IT!"

"Okay, whatever."

"At the end of the hall there's a computer with Windows XP. Reformat the hard drive and install Windows 3.1"

"That's a Mac running OS X, doushebag."

"A Ma.... Oh, my bad, after reading Matrix code for years you begin to see things that aren't there. I thought it said OS XP."

"What the fuck, OS XP? You're a tard."

"Change of plans, I just realized this wasn't as urgent as I thought. We can get back to this tomorrow. I'll be watching you, Neo."

"Sure you will. Fag."

Re:Anime

[justsomebody]

Wouldn't say that!

I would say only that watching (most of the) Hollywood movies is lame. They've been destroying movie culture with their low (or sometimes high) budget production and lame CGI with poor effects. Nice example of that is ATOC or LOTR.

While anime on the other side always has a plot and a story which is made more terrily. This doesn't come because it's anime, but because they always extend story to 6 or more hours.

Last great movie (movie not anime) I've seen was Juan Xin (The Eye) Chinese movie. No lame CGI, no lame tricks just a beautifull story and a pure horror (or thrill, whatever you choose).

Well, the trick in anime is that carton and pure CGI without combining with real movie enables you to enjoy SCI-FI without bounds, eveything is possible. There's everything made in a constant manner without bounds while Movie, well movie has bounds, too many. So when I look from my perspective, I like to watch a good movie, and I like to watch a good anime, I don't care if only whatever I'm watching is good (and since movies are getting more and more lame, anime is not getting worster).

Uhhhh.. No. I don't like either of them.

[President A. Lincoln]

I dont recall any point in The Matrix where any screeching blue-haired girls with eyes the size of dinner plates got fucked by an octopus tentacle. Since Anime is officially recognized as a deviant sexual fetish by the APA, I wonder how long itll be before there will be a version of the Matrix for people who like drawing animals with grotesquely oversized genitalia, or people who want to fuck cartoons.... Oh wait, thats Anime. Nevermind.

Re:Uhhhh.. No. I don't like either of them.

[Amante]

Ah yes, yet another anime-hating troll. Sure, there's plenty of shitty anime . . . but there's plenty of shitty TV and movies (a much higher proportion then anime, I might add), and you "Trolly McTroll"s never flame those entire artforms senselessly -- because, of course, you love to flaunt your mindless hypocrisy. Go figure.

Re:Uhhhh.. No. I don't like either of them.

[Space Coyote]

I'd like to report that I'm not a troll, as far as I know, and I very much hate anime. I've seen the good stuff, and a good deal of the bad stuff, and on reflection, its certainly nothing to warrant being a fan of it. Lame plots, shallow stereotypical characters, screwed up attitudes towards women and silly effects aren't enough for me I'm afraid.

Oh and I also hate the Matrix. Thanks.

Re:Uhhhh.. No. I don't like either of them.

[Anonymous Coward]

This just in! It has come to our attention that not everybody likes the same thing!

You seem to carry viewpoints that differ from some of the posters and editors of Slashdot, which is unfortunate. Sure you have to troll (all the while saying you are not a troll) to get a response to your well thought out posting, but you obviously have karma to burn. I wish I did so I could take the hit for this without posting anonymously. At least you aren't censoring yourself by actually filtering out the crap you don't enjoy like the rest of us, but that would take more time and energy than just posting than posting an I-hate-these-things-and-everybody-else-should-be-j ust-like-me type response.

Thus you gave me no choice but to sink to the same level myself.

Re:Uhhhh.. No. I don't like either of them.

[Anonymous Coward]

Please shut the hell up and get some real pussy, you fucking freak.

I'm sorry, troll, you must have mistaken the /. forums for Usenet.

Re:Uhhhh.. No. I don't like either of them.

[Anonymous Coward]

then grow some balls and watch some real anime without all that stuff.
Get some Studio Ghibli productions for starters.

Low budget? Eastern visual medium?

[autopr0n]

Since when is anime low budget?

As far as the 'visual medium' goes the only thing that we've borrowed is the stylization of the characters. Animation was invented in the west. And that visual style was borrowed from early western style anyway.

I'm not saying that 'the west created everything' or anything like, obviously the japanese have really come up with the majority of advances in Animation lately, but I would hardly call it an "eastern visual medium"

Re:Low budget? Eastern visual medium?

[Com2Kid]

Since when is anime low budget?

I was speaking of the hong kong action flicks that inspired The Matrix's fighting scenes to a great extent.

Direct download links...

[Saeger]

...for the annoyed:

Animatrix_Trailer_640.mov - 18MB (the one you want)
Animatrix_Trailer_480.mov - 13MB
Animatrix_Trailer_320.mov - 7MB
Animatrix_Trailer_240.mov - 3MB

--

Re:Direct download links...

[GlassUser]

Thanks, but what would annoy me even less is to have something that uses a codec I can play.

Re:Direct download links...

[Saeger]

Yeah... but the good news is that it's easy to convert from Sorenson to DivX (or XVid, or whatever), at least in windows. You just export from QuickTime to Cinepak AVI (remembering to set HQ output). Then you just re-encode to Divx+mp3(or ogg) in VirtualDub.

I'm sure the new encode will pop on p2p networks sometime soon. The same thing happens with other (popular) sorenson only clips.

--

Re:Direct download links...

[ckedge]

It's not easy to convert from Sorenson to anything else if you refuse to install quicktime software(*).

Anyone know where to get a cracked/seperated sorenson codec?

(*) - because of quicktime's OVERBEARING IDIOTIC Vicious perpensity to sieze control of your OS/Browser file associations and make your system/browser less stable.

Re:Direct download links...

[GlassUser]

Yes, that would be the problem I have.

Where did you find that?

[autopr0n]

I mean, the matrix website is hardly a bastion of usability...

Re:Where did you find that?

[cbuskirk]

Assuming you are viewing the flash version of the site, the far right control panel (mainframe) is the link to Animatrix. In addition to the trailer it has 9 preview cards for each of the episodes.

Hey whats gives with QTime

[Anonymous Coward]

On the site they have trailers with the first ten or twenty seconds blank (try the Micro preview of Matrix Reloaded).

Below it it says "Sound but no pictures - get Quick Time 5 (Download)".

Did they make the trailers blank at the start to get people to upgrade their Quick time?

YOU ARE THE COOLEST

[autopr0n]

Clearly, you are much smarter then everyone else who might happen to enjoy well crafted and entertaining movies that don't happen to have storylines equaling the highest literary standards in academic America.

Your distain for Anime only hightens that point, as no truly intelegent person could enjoy artwork that moves for christ sake!

Re:YOU ARE THE COOLEST

[Anonymous Coward]

Clearly, you are much smarter then everyone else who might happen to enjoy well crafted and... yadda yadda yadda.

My problem with anime is:

1. It's a cartoon. Sorry, it IS. I don't hate anime and watch DISNEY/Warner Brothers/etc. cartoons instead - I don't watch ANY cartoons.

2. Squeaky high pitched voices. Does this apply to all anime movies/shows? I don't have the patience to find out 'cause of reason #1, but it's annoying enough nonetheless.

3. A style of animation that parallels bad website design. Most of the animes I've had the displeasure to witness were poorly animated using a low frame rate, frequently had simplistic/repeated backgrounds and made heavy use of flashing effects.

4. Lost in translation. This is why I could never get into the final fantasy games. Materia = Bastardization of "Material"?, a monster called "Weapon"? Seems quite a few elements of the game MAY have had an interesting name in Japaneese but when it got translated ended up as a "generic" English equivalent.

5. Childish dialog. Most likely a result of 4.

Re:YOU ARE THE COOLEST

[NTmatter]

Following are my responses to your post. They are not meant to be offensive, demeaning, or unentertaining in any way.

1) I don't really have any quarrel with that point. If you use the term "cartoon" to describe 2D-frame based animation that is primarily hand-drawn, then there's no error in your terminology. I suppose the term anime is used to apply to the general style of the genre that some claim 'separates it' from animation elsewhere in the world.

2) All I can advise is that you watch some anime geared at a more mature audience (Try something like Cowboy Bebop, Hellsing, Blood the Last Vampire, or anything else with a rather dark-sounding name) It tends not to have high-pitched squealy characters.

3) Please, take my word that cheesy, low-framerate slideshows are not representative of most anime out there. That style of animation seems to be hallmark of shows that are produced to the standard of a weekly episodic adventure about a boy and his [insert collectible item here]. Purely for marketing purposes. Try to compare it to a show that has a closed storyline and 13 episodes in total. Have a gander at Macross Plus, or Blue Submarine #6, or any of the other anime listed above. That's some very nice animation.

4) Lost in translation? Well, it happens, and I won't deny it. Watch some fan-subbed anime. They sometimes include translation notes indicating the meaning of mistranslated words that had to be bent to fit the English language. From what I gather, the English language has a lot less nuance than Japanese. Some things don't come over so well.

As for your quibbles with the language in FF7, there are some points where the translation really is terrible. A quick Google search for "Meaning of Materia" results in this site (albeit a bit buried). I wouldn't call it a bastardization of the word Material. In fact, it appears to be the Latin root of Material. One could in fact say that material is a bastardization of materia. Of course, there's probably some deeper meaning behind it all if one knows Japanese.

I personally don't understand much of the Japanese language, but from what I gather from the many hours I spent playing FF7 and watching subbed anime, the word "Mahou" (meaning magic [anyone feel free to correct me]) sounds tremendously similar to the "Makou" in the Makou reactor. And what do they get out the Makou reactors? The Huge materia, crystallized from the planet's magic (or something to that effect). So, that provides a vague explanation for the naming of materia and why they give you magic in the game. (Or at least the way I see it :) Of course, it could have merely been a commercial decision. Wasn't the original translation of "omnislash" supposed to be something along the lines of "Super Ultimate Champion War God Slash" or something? Omnislash sure sounds better to me.

5) Childish Dialog? Based on what you've said, it sounds like you've been watching childish anime. It follows that the dialog is going to be suitable for its target audience. If you want mature dialog, watch an anime for mature people.

Go support your local video rental chain, and check out some of the stuff I've mentioned. I can't say you'll like what you'll see, but it's definitely possible you might enjoy it. I'd say that the best introduction to anime would be Macross Plus. It is an anime that seems to be a good introduction to the anime style, but lacks many of the extreme oddities and conventions present in more light-hearted anime. Most importantly, Macross Plus is a movie (or small miniseries) that seems to be available in most major video chains, so you shouldn't have trouble finding it. Also, if you're into the really gory and somewhat sick stuff, I'd recommend you take a look at Ninja Scroll. Lotsa fighting, blood, dismemberment, and nudity there. The Kenshin OVA's are actually good in that respect too. A story of treachery, deceit, and a fair bit of action.

Well, all in all, I hope I haven't come off as too much of an anime-zealot. I want to emphasize that I don't believe that everyone in the world should be in love with anime because <SARCASM>it's the most wonderful thing in the world </SARCASM> or something (I hope those tags showed up right :) Everyone's got their tastes, and they all differ greatly. As such, if you'd like to flame me, then don't.

Re:YOU ARE THE COOLEST

[KILNA]

I don't undserstand #1... can't handle non-photographic images? What is the reasoning here? Just because it's a created representation of something moving instead of light captured reflecting off an actual thing, somehow its not worthy of your eyes? Do you no longer open any books containing illustrations, because books with illustrations are for children? This sweeping policy against viewing contrived moving images, in itself, does not seem very adult. As for #2-#5, they are generalizations that are often innacurate.

Re:YOU ARE THE COOLEST

[AvitarX]

How could you not list Akira? I know it is the almost a cliche for anime and all, but still. It is a bitchin' movie, and unlike a TV series there is a lot less investment in time to get into it.

Re:YOU ARE THE COOLEST

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm a huge anime fan. But even I will admit I've grown a little "desensitized" to still frame animation. 95% of animation from Japan has many more still frame pans than even the lowest budget american saturday morning cartoon. Even some of the the highest budget animations from Japan have this characteristic. At first I hated it. After I realized that the plots were so much more involved, it started to bother me less. But it's still there.

Overall I like the animation style of the Japanese better, however the American's do tend to draw more frames and have more things moving in the background than the Japanese on your average show.

Re:YOU ARE THE COOLEST

[Anonymous Coward]

It's called nuance and drama. Having those panning shots, and the dialogue is part of the art, take those away, and suddenly you have an animated version of Commando (brainless and action packed). Take dragon ball z for instance. I dosen't have alot of intelligent dialogue, they just fly around and shout insults at eachother. Maybe a couple times an episode, they shoot fireballs, blow up some flora, punch eachother around, etc.

Really, if having things not constantly move is a problem to you, you might visit a doctor. I suspect it might be a case of Attention Deficit Disorder.

Get ahold of some good anime, a little research should tell you what is good, and what isn't (I reccommend Princess Mononoke as a beginner flick into the world of anime).

Re:YOU ARE THE COOLEST

[archen]

Maybe because not everyone likes Akira?

Re:YOU ARE THE COOLEST

[AvitarX]

I know not everyone likes it, but I just think it is the most palattable to the genereal public, and the dubbing is great, subtitles and poor dub can be barriers or entry. And I still think movie vs series is the way to go.

Thank you, Penny Arcade!

[Raetsel]

Oh thank God. I was reading a post by Tycho a couple hours ago and was curious enough to follow his link that went like this:

• Animatrix: Holy shit.

Pulled the .mov out of my browser cache. Think I'll watch it again, just because. As much as I may hate the politics of AOL/Time Warner and DVDs with their evil regions and encryption... I'm afraid I'm going to spend my money on it.

Figures. I would find this just after watching Ghost in the Shell.

Re:Anime

[Lithdren]

Honestly how can you compare LOTR to AOTC? At any rate: While the movie industry does basically what the music industry is doing, coming out with more and more crap, to make a quick buck off the morons who'll watch anything, a few gems can and do stand out. Something the west has never really gotten 'into' is Anime. We see it here and there, but its never really done well or right in the West. Lets hope this is a step in the right direction.

Mod Parent Up

[Froobly]

If I had a mod point right now, I'd use it here. This person knows his/her stuff.

Re:Mod Parent Up

[Anonymous Coward]

THE ANIMATRIX - Preview Trailer

and google. It's amazing that some people find impressive.

Re:Anime

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice example of that is ATOC or LOTR.

Attack of the Clones sucked. I'm sorry, but it did. Okay, so the Yoda scene was cool... The rest of the movie just kinda dragged on and was lame. But hey, you knew going to see it that it was basically just made to milk a new generation of Star Wars fans for all they're worth without adding anything interesting to the storyline.

Lord of the Rings, I didn't go see. I saw the original animated version back in school when I was a little kid. I just remember something about trolls and hobbits and battles... Yawn. Sorry to rain on the parade of Tolkien worshippers, but I wasn't all that impressed with it even as a kid, so I figured I'm not gonna like it all that much more now that I'm an adult. Fantasy doesn't do much for me anyway... I'm more an action/sci-fi/comedy person.

I think the main problem with movies being dull lately is just the fact that instead of coming up with new interesting material, they keep rehashing old stuff with "new, improved!" special effects.

Re:Anime

[deblau]

How in the world can you argue that LOTR is destroying culture? Movies are just the medium, not the message. To say that the movie LOTR is destroying culture is like saying the book is destroying culture for the same reason. (For all you Tolkien purists, as far as message goes, LOTR:FOTR was a much better adaptation than Starship Troopers. Don't cry for JRR, cry for Heinlein.) And not all anime has a plot. Take Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, anything in that genre.

If you don't like movies with lots of CG and no message, don't watch them. I don't. I haven't seen AOTC, and I don't plan to. CG is also medium and not message, and I saw no message in the previews for AOTC. Lots of new anime is being done almost entirely in CG. Does that mean it's good or bad? No, the medium is irrelevant to my enjoyment.

Stop trolling with bad examples.

Re:Anime

[Saeger]

The last great Hollywood movie's I've seen in the past few years (that I can remember off the top of my head... hence are memorable TO ME): In The Bedroom, Matrix, Dark City, Magnolia, Crouching Tiger, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Requiem for a Dream, ...and a few I've seen on the Sundance channel... like Bagdad Cafe.

What do many of these movies have in common with good Anime? Really good stories married to really great visuals. Even when 90% of everything is crap (some universal law :), anime's 90% manages to stink less for some reason.

--

Music

[FrostedWheat]

Does anyone know the name of the music they used in that promo?

Re:Music

[bishr]

"Snatch" Soundtrack , track 3.
Track name: "Supermoves", by Overseer.
It's a strange, but still great, CD.

Re:Music

[FrostedWheat]

I've watched that movie and never even recognised the song. Thanks mate !!

Re:Music

[Fred Ferrigno]

Harh! I have both the Snatch and Matrix soundtracks. I recognized it but thought they were just re-using music from the Matrix.

I've now been excited into listening to the Snatch soundtrack again.. really good stuff. Didja know Mirwais is half Afghani? I saw a poster at my university asking us to donate textbooks to the Mir-wais school in Kabul. Anyone know what it means?

Re:Anime

[Anonymous Coward]

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

"Fag!"

mods:not a flame if you saw the movie.

Re:Anime

[hyeh]

Since when was Crouching Tiger a Hollywood movie? It was produced in China, directed by a Taiwanese (Ang Lee), starring a Malaysian (Michelle Yeoh), and a Hong Kongnese (Chow Yun-Fat).

I know what the Matrix is.

[jeffgreenberg]

I know what the Matrix is.

It's the marketing hype that is going to be surrounding the film.

The Animatrix.
The Matrix Reloaded.
The Matrix Revolutions.

Future Projects:

The Anna Nicole Matrix.
The Matrix Recycled.
The Unixmatrix
The Matrix Refresh rate
The Matrix decaf.
The Matrix pop-up book.
Johnny Mnenomic (in bullet time)
Ossama bin Matrix.

Re:I know what the Matrix is.

[RebelTycoon]

What does Anna Nicole and Ossama have in common?
Majority of Americans want them DEAD!!!

What are the differences?
One's fat, one's skinny, one will eat anything, one had sex with a camel... but both got lucky at the expense of all Americans and now must DIE!!!

Re:I know what the Matrix is.

[drinkypoo]

Don't forget Ozzy Matrix, Sopranostrix, and of course, Girls Gone Wildtrix.

Re:I know what the Matrix is.

[REDNOROCK]

The Matrix: THE FLAME THROWER! The matrix: Plush Neo doll The matrix: The search for more money

Re:I know what the Matrix is.

[grumpygrodyguy]

Man you're a turd, if I had the money I'd bail John Walker out of jail and give him a gun so he can shoot your ass dead.

American trash.

Re:I know what the Matrix is.

[Anonymous Coward]

There won't be a Unixmatrix. Apple won't port.

Re:Anime

[justsomebody]

Nope, not a bad example.

All I've said is that combining fiction with fiction is much easier than combining real movie with fiction. Results produced by the second one are often made lame and obvious, you always notice what's real and what's CG added. While on the other hand fiction in fiction blends more into a complete product

LOTR destroying culture? Never said that. I'm a fan of Tolkien. Movie adaptation of the book SUCKS MAJOR. Sometimes is good to take time and read a good book instead watching a lame movie adatation.

Starship troopers? At least the movie was going somewhere and wasn't 3 hour of lame shoot without feeling based on a well known book, ST is a light weight movie with action going on and that's it. Lame too, but better CG.

Re:Anime

[Anonymous Coward]

A common thread in the movies you listed is great soundtracks. Requiem for a dream is one I listen to often.. especially the short Coney Island Dreaming track. It slows my pulse in notime flat and my eyes focus goes blurry. wouldnt want to watch the movie again, but the music is good.

Re:Anime

[justsomebody]

Both are made lame and using overdose of CG and SF? But movies are different, I agree

Grow down

[Anonymous Coward]

When we are in our twenties some think that the little dischords that jar their awareness, and that other people seemed to overlook, make us more sensitive, sophisticated individuals.
Instead, all it impresses people with is that the affected individual is probably: a)hypercritical
b)effete
c)suffering from add
d)a prig with performance anxiety and low self esteem.

Re:Grow down

[Anonymous Coward]

You are my new best friend. I'd love to hear your views on the false sense of entitlement plaguing that same age group.

And I thought it was Yakko, Wakko, and Dot.

[Genady]

Suuuuuure... and I was expecting Yakko as Morpheous, Wakko as Neo, and Dot as Trinity. Sure, go ahead and spoil my expectations!

American money

[autopr0n]

It was funded by american money, and the US was the primary target, I think.

dear zealots

[Anonymous Coward]

Today I installed linux-opera on my FreeBSD machine, after a couple of years of painful slowness, kludginess and crashiness of Mozillas 0.7 to 1.0. B-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. Pages render wonderfully quickly, and look nicer. Hell, even blank windows open quicker. The interface is nicer. My CPU load is way down when I'm browsing. The Acrobat plugin works, the Flash plugin works, and remember, I'm not even using Linux directly, just BSD's emulation layer.

I'm about to download IBM's JDK. I gave up with Java on Mozilla ages ago..

I have just paid my $10 (yes, I'm a student). That and Mathematica are now the two non-open-source packages on my BSD machine, and both extremely worthwhile purchases.

Nice, but...

[Briareos]

...I found the trailer for the Ghost In The Shell TV series that was also just released way better... plus it's a simple MPEG file - no need to mess around with QuickTime... :)

np: Nils Petter Molvaer - Hurry Slowly (NP3)

Re:Nice, but...

[Not One Of Us]

There seems to be a problem with that link, for I can not reach it. Did you accidentally post a bad link or did the server get slashdotted?

Re:Nice, but...

[Briareos]

Drat...

If you look at the site's front page, you'll find the entry for the trailer (from the 28th of August) striked through - looks like they've pulled the trailer... :(

np: Andrew Pekler - First Snow, Last Year (Station To Station)

God I'm getting tired of this

[BigJimSlade]

Fuck karma. Fuck submitting stories.

2002-08-30 18:06:15 What is The Animatrix? (articles,news) (rejected)

What the fuck do you have to do to get something submitted around here?

Re:God I'm getting tired of this

[bev_tech_rob]

Yeah, most posts are by Michael(5 stories), Cliff, and CowboyNeal. I have submitted stories only to have someone else submit the exact same story later and get it accepted. Time to remove this site from my favorites list!

Re:God I'm getting tired of this

[Anonymous Coward]

More importantly, why the fuck do you think anyone cares that your little story didn't get accepted? Poor baby. Did it ever occur to you that there might be, I don't know, multiple editors, working independently? Maybe you should run you own weblog; then you can have all the karma you want. Or you could write on a piece of paper "You are the karma god" and read it when you were feeling down. Just if you do start your own weblog, please don't connect it to the Internet. The last thing we need on the net is another whining loser.

Re:God I'm getting tired of this

[mozkill]

the word of the day is : plagiarism

Re:God I'm getting tired of this

[Anonymous Coward]

You want a story accepted? Easy. Blow Michael or Malda or Hemos. Dick sucking buys you everything at Slashdot.

Re:God I'm getting tired of this

[racerx509]

I feel you man, my karma is good as well but I gets no respect. My submitions have all been pretty juicy, but its obviously good ole boy when it comes to acceptance. Oh well,maybe I"ll start my own nerd news site.

Re:God I'm getting tired of this

[BigJimSlade]

Yeah... I'd just like to see my name on the front page one day. Guess I'll have to do something worthwhile that somebody else will submit a story about :)

Re:God I'm getting tired of this

[V_drive]

just wondering--couldn't there be a way for all submitted stories to be accepted, just as all posts are accepted? let the moderators catagorize the stories and bump them up and down. the average view will then simply set a threashold that allows him to see the number of stories he feels like reading. that would actually make life easier on taco et al.

well, just an idea.

Re:God I'm getting tired of this

[bev_tech_rob]

Good point... I hadn't considered that. It may take awhile for stories to be considered for posting...given the probable volume of submissions....

Animatrix Script Start

[Kwil]

Fade in:
COMPUTER SCREEN - so close it has no boundaries. A blinking cursor pulses on the screen.

A phone rings.

YAKKO(V.O): Hello?

DOT(V.O): I'm inside. Anything to report?

Numbers and letters start to stream in alternating columns up & down across the screen - flashing through a box in the middle. A quick reader will spot BUY AOL @ 14 as it flashes by. The first three digits of an area code snap into place.

YAKKO: Yes. I'm on the final level!

Numbers are replaced by a game of Pong on-screen.

Cut do DOT on the phone wearing traditional outfit.

DOT: Pretty good. So I bought the cutest outfit...

POLICE burst into the room, guns drawn.

POLICE: Freeze!

DOT motions to the phone and the police abashedly point their guns elsewhere and begin to quietly whistle.

DOT: I gotta go now.

YAKKO: Okay. See you when you get in.

DOT hangs up. POLICE resume aggressive stance one comes forward with handcuffs. DOT jumps in the air and motion freezes. Camera pans around her in mid-air. Motion resumes and she lands in "cute" pose.

POLICE: Awwwwwww....

Re:Anime

[ZaMoose]

I'd love for you to lay out why you think that FoTR "SUCKS MAJOR". How would you have changed it to make it more faithful to the book?

The only things that readily come to mind are: 1) putting Arwen in her proper place and 2) actually featuring Tom Bombadill and the Barrowwights.

But those two issues hardly constitute enough to make a movie MAJORLY SUCK...

How to fix Win QT so you can see the trailer

[yerricde]

because of quicktime's OVERBEARING IDIOTIC Vicious perpensity to sieze control of your OS/Browser file associations

In my copy of QuickTime 5 for Windows, I immediately unchecked the option (Start > Settings > Control Panel > QuickTime > File Type Associations) to associate with Windows file types and Internet file types. Removing the npqtplugin*.dll (the QuickTime plug-ins) from c:/program files/mozilla.org/mozilla/plugins helped as well.

and make your system/browser less stable.

Hasn't happened on my machine running the Windows 2000 (NT 5.0.3) OS. I still haven't got one blue screen since I installed it four months ago.

Re:How to fix Win QT so you can see the trailer

[Fred Ferrigno]

In my copy of QuickTime 5 for Windows, I immediately unchecked the option (Start > Settings > Control Panel > QuickTime > File Type Associations) to associate with Windows file types and Internet file types.

That's more work than necessary. Apple should not assume that you need their program to view files for which there is a perfectly good program for that comes pre-installed with nearly every OS. I can't limit the associations beyond Windows, Mac, or Internet file types, whatever that means. I've got programs that are better at viewing "Macintosh" files than Apple's own software, all except for Sorenson-encoded MOVs. They should at least let you pick associations for each file type, and should never take associations from other programs. And, in a perfect world, they'd just install a system codec and let any application use it.

Codecs change. Give Apple benefit of the doubt.

[yerricde]

Did they make the trailers blank at the start to get people to upgrade their Quick time?

Not necessarily. Perhaps the older Sorenson Video codec included with QuickTime 3 and 4 would introduce horrible artifacts that would shine a negative light on the cinematic quality of the first 20 seconds of the trailer.

Thankyou Square!

[Sk3lt]

I would like to thanks Square for doing this, they are giving everyone an extra view on the Matrixuniverse.

The trailer looks awesome and by the looks of it it seems that the CG rendered world is the reality, and the Anime world is the Matrix or "Animatrix".

Very interesting and I can't wait till it's released.

Re:Thankyou Square!

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you actually watch the trailer? It's nine separate short films by nine separate studios. Unfortunately, Square USA is one of them.

Re:Anime

[Ember]

justsomebody writes:

Well, the trick in anime is that carton and pure CGI without combining with real movie enables you to enjoy SCI-FI without bounds, everything is possible [...] Movie, well movie has bounds, too many.

There are some great SF movies without any special effects at all. Take for example Tarkovsky's Stalker. IMO it's a great movie, I've seen it several times and always left the cinema deeply moved, though it is more ascetic than Dogma movies.

Having said that, I have nothing against anime. It's just another form, and as in any art form it contains some great works and some crap.

--

Am I the only one...

[GuyGizmo]

...who thinks this looks really cool?

I liked the Matrix, I like anime, and this looks really awesome. Assuming the information Longinus posted is correct (I certainly hope so - that's some awesome info and I have no idea where you got it from), I'm really hyped. I recognize all of those names, have seen stuff they've all done, and I know them to be really really good; something good has to come out of this all, even if it was started by the always-so-hated big Hollywood studios. Even if Longinus's post isn't true, at least one of the features is using Square-esque computer graphics (even if it's not square, which apparently it is), which means we'll finally see some follow-up after the Final Fantasy movie. As much as the movie bombed and wasn't all that good, I'm waiting for someone, anyone to pick up the torch and keep it going. Quasi-photorealisitc CG literally is completely limitless when it comes to movies, so I'm estatic that something else has been made. I'll probably be one of the first to get this DVD when it comes out.

So if this IS an Anime Matrix...

[Anonymous Coward]

...where's the child porn?

After all, ALL Anime is purely Japanese animated child pornography, so for this to count as Anime, it must have child porn (something mercifully missing from the original film).

Re:So if this IS an Anime Matrix...

[REDNOROCK]

this'd be a troll of it weren't true..

Hmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone else got credit for a story I submitted!

"As a whole we think we do a good job, but sometimes we make mistakes. We're always sorry when we do, but considering the thousands of weekly submissions, we think we're definitely coming out ahead." - Slashdot FAQ

what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Anime to me is merely a medium. Right now it is cheaper and easier to make fantastic situations and worlds with Anime then with realistic CGI and actors. If that changes in the future (as is the trend) then who knows. I personally do not fall in love with anime for the sake that it is anime. For that matter, I wonder how many people out there like it because of true enjoyment in the medium and not because it is 1337 to do so.

But the one I'm waiting for

[droleary]

has yet to be made! :-)

Re:But the one I'm waiting for

[Quikah]

Yes it has.

rofl...

[rakslice]

Does this sound like pure merchandising to anyone else? It reminds me of those music-inspired-by-the-movie "soundtracks".

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

If youy can't access the anime......

[3seas]

Then the Matrix has you...

I mean damn man, do you really expect to see yourself?

signed, the real life Neo..

Busted system

[Mulletproof]

It's obviously a good ol boys submission system when shit like "A Guide to the Dance Dance phenomenom" gets posted. I mean really, what good is a karma system if you don't use it for something? Sure, it's used in moderations, but that's it? Mine is "Excellent". I've submitted 12 stories and every fat one of them has been rejected. Sure, some of em may be bad, prempted, etc, but all of them? And for a busted review on a year old U571 movie rant? DDR?! I feel for you bro...

Take the points, big dogs. Doncha wish you could mod past -1?

Re:Busted system

[Anonymous Coward]

dont you get it? slashdot has become a corporate slut.

Re:Busted system

[Anonymous Coward]

seriously. I submitted a story about a KoF MMORPG that was NEVER picked up by anyone. Slashdot readers will never know of it now. That's a fucking good story.

I'm in love!

[GeekDork]

No matter what the trolls say, this has potential. When I saw the Reloaded/Revolutions teaser, I wasn't too excited, but this one brings back the feelings I had after seeing the original Matrix teaser. I hate the MPAA, I hate Hollywood, I hate Warner, but they'll get my money for this!

If they do it right, they can go far beyond what they're doing on the big screen. Let's hope they break out of the sequel box and give us some cool entertainment.

Silly Troll

[Tokerat]

Matrix are for kids!

Re:Anime

[Fred Ferrigno]

The only things that readily come to mind are: 1) putting Arwen in her proper place

I'm nearly done with The Two Towers, and it looks like there's something planned between Aragorn and Eowyn, Theoden's neice. Arwen's increased role in the movie makes no sense then. (And an Aragorn/Eowyn relationship makes a lot of sense.) Is Aragorn just such a heartless pimp that he can lead on two women at once? How is the second movie going to handle Eowyn?

Re:Anime

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe you should read the third book and find out what's going on between them, eh? I see no troubles with the way they did Aragorn/Arwen. What I had a problem with was the lameass wizard battle. I never really cared for Bombadil.

Re:Anime

[Fred Ferrigno]

Well I'd say that my point of view as someone who hasn't read the third book (I'm still working on the second, remember?) is similar to most of the audience of TTT, who probably haven't read any of the books.

Basically, if they introduce Eowyn in the movie like they did in the book, people who have only the first movie for reference will think there's something fishy going on. The enhanced role of Arwen is going to change the story for the next two movies rather significantly, specifically as to how they'll deal with Eowyn.

I don't think those are too accurate

[Nazmun]

For one thing, there are a lot more animation houses and styles that are applicable. Also the Square Studio that made Final Fantasy, the not so great movie no longer exists. I doubt they had a hand in it.

Not Just Lain

[Nazmun]

I doubt that they just looked at one anime... It incorporates ideas from numerous anime and the main idea seemed to from a video game from like two decades ago. They might have not even played the game but looked at anime that had something similar.

And I realized I posted something stupid

[Nazmun]

Silly me... ignore my previous post...

How about turning anime into films?

[kupo zero]

How about it? I think there are some animes that would be good films. The first i can think of would be Noir. Girls with guns with a plot. Sounds good to me! However, there are also animes that should never be a movie. Dragonball Z. Nuff said.