Matrix Sequels To Get the IMAX Treatment

hondo77 writes "As if the two sequels to "The Matrix" weren't a big enough event already, it has been announced that both films will also be showing in IMAX theaters. "Although "The Matrix Reloaded" will open in Imax theaters two or three weeks after its general release May 15, "The Matrix Revolutions" will open Nov. 5 in both conventional and Imax cinemas..."."

Comments

Upgrade?

[inertia187]

...a technology that upgrades live-action 35mm films into the Imax experience.

I don't know if I could call it an upgrade when you have to use Pan & Scan. Sure it's bigger, and more exciting, but you're missing pieces.

Here's a mirror to the article:

Link 1

Re:Upgrade?

[Temsi]

You didn't read the article, did you?

The difference here is that they use the DMR process to enlarge the frame, so it can be put to IMAX size 70mm film. To make a long story short, it analyzes each frame and enlarges it to IMAX proportions, maintaining image sharpness and detail along the way.
Since the aspect ratio of the IMAX screen is not widescreen, but closer to 4:3, a pan and scan is necessary to use the full screen.
Ocean's Eleven did not go through this process. What you saw, was a 35mm print, projected onto an IMAX screen, with a standard 5.1 or 6.1 Dolby Digital audio mix. A completely different thing. 35mm film projected to a screen that huge will go soft (lose sharpness).

I've seen many films projected that way (including Ocean's Eleven, Minority Report and Jurassic Park 3), and while they look huge, and have kick ass sound, the DMR looks so much better, and sounds so much better.
That's because the image is processed especially to take advantage of the bigger screen (grain removal, detail enhancing and more) and a new sound mix to take full advantage of the more powerful sound system.

Apollo 13 looked amazing, SWep2 look great, but the HiDef source materical wasn't really made to withstand this type of blowup (even though it was impressive, you could still see pixellation), it was designed for normal sized theatres.

Personally, I'll see the 35mm first, simply because I love and prefer widescreen. Then I'll see the IMAX.

Yay

[NanoGator]

"As if the two sequels to "The Matrix" weren't a big enough event already, it has been announced that both films will also be showing in IMAX theaters."

The more these guys try to hype the Matrix, the more I want to distance myself from it. Anybody else worried they're over-marketing it?

Re:Yay

[Anonymous Coward]

Overmarketing is when you sell a sucky product by hyping it. Matrix Reloaded is going to be a superb product. Don't be so cynical. Pretend you're 11 and this is Empire Strikes Back.

Re:Yay

[NanoGator]

"The trailers aren't too spoilerish, the movie posters are very very cool. Hell, even the news stories let out about the movie have been pretty tantalizing rather than repetative or revealing."

How is this different from Episode 1 or 2? Both had interesting trailers, both had news stories that pointed towards being an interesting movie, the movie posters were cool etc. The fact of the matter is that you can hide quite a bit about the true quality of a movie with trailers. "Wow, if 2 minutes of it is cool, imagine what all 90 will be like!"

You know the old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover..." Well, don't judge a movie by it's marketing hype. These guys are trying a little too hard to get me to see it opening night. That's never a good sign. It means they're worried that the early goers won't convince their friends to see it.

Re:Yay

[hondo77]

Name 3 movies in the last 20 years that recieved lots of hype before launch, and ended up deserving it.

Terminator 2

Jurassic Park

The Lion King

Re:Yay

[Xerithane]

How do you know that? Name 3 movies in the last 20 years that recieved lots of hype before launch, and ended up deserving it. I can name a few *cough*Godzilla*cough*LastActionHero*Coughh*Episod es1&2*cough* that were hyped in much the same way, only to be extremely dumb movies.

I don't remember much hype about Last Action Hero. I didn't even know what it was until TBS showed it a few years later, and thought, "Hmm.. the lows some people will go."

I'm dying to see the Matrix Reloaded. Matrix fills a role as "Damned Awesome Once a Year Movie" that Star Wars 4-6 never did for me. I don't want a Galaxy far, far away. I want people doing crazy shit in my world. The Matrix does this.

Did you even see the trailer for it? Reloaded has the best trailer for any movie to date. It puts the Ep1&2 trailers to shame. The Wachowski (sp?) brothers know what they're doing with the creative license, and they have a team to make it golden.

I've never been this excited over a movie, it must be like you're 11 and actually thought Star Wars was cool, something I never could experience.

Re:Yay

[Xerithane]

Last Action Hero was at the peak of Ahnuld's mainstream popularity. It may have been THE peak considering how much damage that movie did to that popularity.

This is wrong. After Last Action Hero, most his movies have ranked in the top 15 for the year. True Lies, yup. Eraser, yup. Batman & Robin, yup. End of Days even made a lot of money, not sure if it's on the top 15. Arnold has never picked the "major" movies, except the Terminator series. Even Conan was more of a cult favorite, then a classic, than a main stream movie.

Contrast to Keanu Reeves, who continuously tried to do mainstream movies, and finally found a series that fit. Keanu makes a good Neo. Not to bright; like a big, dumb, puppy dog that knows kung fu.

Re:Yay

[NanoGator]

"I don't remember much hype about Last Action Hero."

Let me put it to you this way: It was hyped enough that a reference to it made it into an episode of Married With Children. It's not very often sitcoms admit to the existence of movies.

"Did you even see the trailer for it? Reloaded has the best trailer for any movie to date. It puts the Ep1&2 trailers to shame. "

The trailer wasn't that cool. It showed a few neat-o effects, no argument there. So did Episode 1. Only, Episode 1's trailer led you to believe that there was going to be some massive epic battle in the end, not some pathetic skirmish. What if Reloaded is that way? What if there's a couple of cool battle scenes, but it's tied together by a flimsy plot designed to place those characters into that situation?

"The Wachowski (sp?) brothers know what they're doing with the creative license, and they have a team to make it golden."

There was a time where the same would have been said about George Lucas. Who's saying that today?

Look, the movie could be good. I hope it's good, I'd like it to be good. What I'm reacting to is how hard they're trying to sell this movie on me. that should always send up a red flag. If this movie's so good, then how come they need Superbowl ads for it? How come they are trying to lure people into more expensive IMAX theaters for it?

The only thing giving me hope for Reloaded right now is the Animatrix. That's where the true creativity seems to be coming from. So far, from the first movie and what's been seen from the second one, it's an attempt to make anime-style editing into live-action. Fine. Just make the story interesting.

Frankly, I'm saddened that the first Matrix wasn't more like X-Men. I mean, who'd shed a tear of any of the characters from the Matrix was killed? Pretty flat.

Re:Yay

[ArsonSmith]

CHA of course in the atempt to write Chair Face on it.

Re:Yay

[Viking Coder]

Goldeneye
Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers
X-Men
True Lies
Terminator 2
Goodfellas
The Abyss
Aliens
E.T.
The Fifth Element
Back to the Future
Austin Powers
Wayne's World
Rain Man
Good Will Hunting
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Fight Club
L.A. Confidential
The Sixth Sense
Braveheart
Forrest Gump
Leathal Weapon 2
Pulp Fiction
A Few Good Men ...and Shawshank Redemption
Oh, and Schindler's List

Re:Oh wow! Yes! uh oh..

[grumpygrodyguy]

The new Matrix films, awesome...

The new Matrix films in IMAX... whoa... oooh... ahh...

I don't know, personally I wish films like this were given a chance to breath first. Hollywood puts so much wieght into financial success at the box office, it's almost like insider trading now. Bet on the success of whichever movie has the best marketing crew, and you'll get good returns on your money.

When the matrix first came out, it had very little fanfare. The experience of seeing the film itself is what drove people to tell thier friends and families. Word of mouth has always been the sincere means of measuring the value of a movie. The best thing to do with a film like this is wait. Maybe it doesn't belong on an IMAX screen because it's not worth seeing period. Or maybe, it's even better than the original. There's no way to know.

Re:Sequels, Schmequels.

[RyatNrrd]

I just think the dearth of new ideas is particularly prevalent this year; more so than other years. And I wonder what it means that the most dense section of the problem seems to fall on our demographic.

To address your points, indeed LoTR is a trilogy and therefore is entitled to consist of three films. But that doesn't change the fact that Return of the King will be far from a new concept. That's my beef.

As for The Matrix and Star Wars, there may have been hints and murmers from the beginning of making the original films part of something bigger, but there would have been no trilogies had the first ones not been so sooo so successful. Both films are complete stories of their own right, and would not have suffered for the story to not have been continued from there. Particularly in the case of The Matrix, I am fully expecting the sequels to achieve very little but to cheapen the self-contained elegance of the original.

Obviously though, this is personal opinion of mine, and speculating on the quality of a film I haven't seen yet is probably not helpful. But for me, to re-capture the feeling of "wow, this is a really cool idea" that I felt while watching the original Matrix, I will need to go and watch another original film. If I can find one.