Customer Reviews
FANTASTIC - By: stuart, 07 Aug 2007 
The Animatrix is perfect in my opinion. It is a superb series of animated shorts that are a must have for any 'true' fan of The Matrix trilogy & is a brilliant exploration of what is without doubt the best movie universe created. All the shorts have something to recommend them & alll are fantasticallly animated.
For me this is my introduction to the world of anime. The animation technique is wonderful & it makes for a fantastic beginners guide to what I am constantly told is the finest piece of animation in the world today. The Animatrix works for everyone. Matrix fans & animation fans in general will find much to enjoy here.
The shorts are alll brilliant. Final Flight Of The Osiris features some quality sequences & animation & successfully sets up the events for The Matrix Reloaded & Enter The Matrix. The Second Renaissance is a frightening & disturbing look at how the matrix was built & how the machines came to dominate the planet. Featuring staggering animation, grotesque images & presented in a faux newsreel, along with Osiris it is the finest segment on the series. Kid's Story is a beautiful tale & like Osiris paves the way for a plot thread in Reloaded, while Detective's Story is a wonderful mix of anime & American film noir. Beyond is a delightful tale in which a bunch of kids discover a hunted house which is in fact a glitch in the matrix while Program is a fantastic story set inside a training program which has a great pay off. If any of the shorts are problematic it is Matriculated which is trippy & surreal but which works too thanks to the fantastic animation & down beat conclusion.
The Animatrix is a very impressive package is undoubtedly a must have, especiallly with Osiris, Renaissance & Kid's Story here & is a beautiful exploration of the Wachowski's brothers fantastic universe.
Not for idiots - By: Cole Conner, 15 Jan 2007 
I first watched this genius creation around about 3 years ago. I watched it yesterday & i am still utterly moved by its brilliance. Anyone who doesn't appreciate these fabulous, deeply intriguing works of art, I would say, just doesn't have the intelligence to understand exactly what is happening.
Final flight of the Osiris was, at its release, astounding CGI, but because of its usage of technology would never stand the test of time. Although a great story, this to me was perhaps the least imaginative of the stories, but cracking nonetheless. (when she lands in the allley after her free falll we alll burst into fits of hysteria)
Kids Story, World Record, & distinctly Matriculated are sheer breath-taking awe. The way the intense depth of these stories is portrayed had me totallly entranced, & after a joint was on the edge of tears.
The Second Renaissance was a brutal and, to me, clear representation of what would happen, & involves possibly the greatest scenes i have ever seen in any film, let alone an animation. (that robot, to me, is a real woman)
Totallly & completely astounding work.
Not for idiots.
Visually stunning... - By: , 06 Mar 2006 I rented the Animatrix hoping it would entertain me as much as the first Matrix film (as the last two just seemed not very well put together).Having just started to reallly get into Anime & Asian cinema I hope that it's alll this good. I was more than surprised & totallly overwhelmed.
The first episode "Final flight of the Osiris", is set between the first two films at the point they find out that the machines are digging.
The CGI is fantastic. I've seen Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within & it is made by the same company. The female lead looks almost real.
The rest of the episodes are anime. Some contain CGI & some just rustic hand drawn artwork.
The result for me is a supremely top notch artistic & beautifully directed 'series of events'. I can see how some people may find the Animatrix confusing, but I think that the 9 episodes are purely individual stories. They are alll taken from different parts of the matrix & show the different aspects that weren't shown in the films.
I loved every episode of the Animatrix & I think it stands alone as a quality dvd. Visuallly stunning due part to the fact of alll the different animation styles used & also the range of different direcors.
The Wachowski brothers obviously had a vision & the Animatrix has bought my love for it back after the let down of Reloaded & Revolutions.
Animazing - By: Unreal, 22 Mar 2005 Who cares if it has nothing to do with the live action films, thats not the point. The point was to create great animations with reference to the matrix & set in the matrix world. The quality of some of the animation is fantastic, most notably Final Flight, Program & 2nd Renaissance. Definately one of the best animes Ive seen. Definately worth a buy!
what can i say apart from waste of money - By: ichi, 26 Feb 2005 
buying this with very high hopes boy was i dissapointed it was very hard to understand & most of the little movies had absolutely nothing to do with the live action films there are about three i like final flight of the osiris which ois done by cgi & kids story thats like the animation in the 10 minuete kill bill anime & detective story which is one of the only little films where you get to see an actual charcter from the matrix even for anime fans & matrix fans this is not a worthy addition to youre collectoin stay clear but if you do have to see it rent it first because youre hard earned money could go on something much better indeed
