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No one can tell you what The Matrix is... unless you happen to listen to this podcast, wherein we do precisely that. This episode dives into the cultural significance and impact of 1999's surprise blockbuster, and (this being a video games podcast) it also digs into the games that were based on the film. Or rather, that were woven into the filmscape, it might be more accurate to say. As a bonus, one of this week's guests was actually in one of the films and can speak to what it's like to be a Hollywood celebrity. (Well, an Alameda celebrity, anyway.)

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Andrew Grieve

Great episode revisiting a series I haven’t thought about in too long. The hype was real after the first film was released, I was definitely all-in on the sequels...at first. I remember seeing Reloaded in the theater during its opening weekend, and my first reaction to the end (as was most of the audience) was “huh?”, even though I knew it was the second part of a trilogy. The previous night I’d spent playing Enter the Matrix with a friend, which felt like the most unpolished game I had ever played at that point, that wasn’t a prototype. The one-two punch of the game and Reloaded caused me to not see Revolutions in theaters and I still don’t think I’ve watched it in full to this day. I only played the demo for Path of Neo as well, that didn’t glitch out into a screen of code so it was a step up at least! As much as I’d say that was when I discovered Shiny Games weren’t as good as I previously thought, I should have known better after the release of Wild 9, or RC Stunt Copter for PS1.

shea dewar

What I remember most about this movie is how quickly it built goodwill with the public, and how quickly it was lost with the sequels.

Eric Plunk

Most people seem to poo on the sequels and it’s definitely warranted for Revolutions but I never had a problem with Reloaded. I saw it at a Drive-In as the second of a double feature which included Bruce Almighty on a first date with my now wife of almost 16 years. She was mad that I snuck and saw Revolutions with a friend a few months later without her but little did she know I did her a favor by saving her from its awfulness.

SilverHairedMiddleAgedTuxedoMask

Another possible influence on gaming is dual-wielding firearms. I know Marathon and Goldeneye had done it earlier, but it really seemed to explode after the Matrix when "serious" games started to implement it too like Counter-Strike and Halo.

Diamond Feit

This was definitely a rated-R film, it's full of gunfights with blood. And the fact that it was a big hit was all the more surprising since they couldn't sell as many tickets. I think it might have been the highest-grossing R-rated film for a while afterwards, though I suspect Deadpool holds that title now.

Anonymous

This is a really incredible episode and I love what Shane and Kat added to the conversation. Fantastic conversation! Thanks for making this.

shea dewar

I hate to be one of those jerks, but AOTC came out in 2004...I remember because it was the same year as Spider-Man.

retronauts

Attack of the Clones was definitely a 2002 movie, according to both Wikipedia and my memory. - Bob

shea dewar

Damn typo! I meant 2002.

Dylan (batmanboy11) Freitag

Excellent episode! I never ended up playing Enter the Matrix but was young (and therefore dumb) enough to want to, we just never ended up getting it, and when I hoped to borrow it from my cousin, he had thrown away/destroyed one of the discs (GameCube copy) because of how much he hated it, even though I believe he bought it with his own hard earned money. On the other hand, I got The Path of Neo around launch and was super excited to play it... but found it hard and buggy, so I never got very far, and was super disappointed by how not fun the lobby shoot out recreation was. With the new movie apparently happening, I do really hope we could get a proper Matrix game some time. -- For the record, having recently rewatched the sequels cause they were on TV during the week Christmas of boredom, they are still very much not good, but Reloaded is easily better than Revolutions. I think a large part of it is what Jeremy said about 3 spending way too much time in the Real World, and part of it is Reloaded is still posing some questions and taking the story in directions that seem interesting (even if supremely convoluted), but when it comes down to explaining and wrapping them up, they're dumb and unsatisfying.

Anonymous

I’ll probably say this again when What a Cartoon Movie’s “Animatrix” episode comes out but as a child that movie scared me on a deeper level. I probably shouldn’t had watched it when I was that young but even now that I’m an adult some scenes from the Renaissance part just makes me feel uneasy. Specifically the mob violence scene and the war scenes with the robots “plucking” humans out of their exo suits Great episode guys! Always love hearing the podcast talk about the 90’s which I lived through but didn’t fully digest since I was just a kid. I never knew how impactful the Matrix was until hearing it from you guys!

Nemo

How could you do an episode about this film without mentioning Sophia Stewart, the true creator of "The Matrix?????"