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Amazon.co.uk Review
The Animatrix is a series of nine stories by different directors set in the Matrix universe, all of them conceived and commissioned by the Wachowski brothers. They demonstrate an eclectic mix of anime animation styles, stories and characters, most of which intertwine with the narrative of the first sequel, The Matrix Reloaded.

The first and most impressive is the Final Flight of the Osiris (from the director of Final Fantasy). In a breathtaking computer-generated short that would have worked well as a pre-title sequence for the second film, the crew of the ill-fated Osiris discover the sentinel army and the machines drilling towards Zion. This most filmic of the offerings guides fans into the more individualistic animated styles of the subsequent features.

The second and third instalments, The Second Renaissance, Parts 1 & 2, turn the tables on the man vs. machines battle by telling the story of the emergence of artificial intelligence and the ensuing (mostly human instigated) carnage leading up to the subjugation of the human race. The remaining features are: Kid's Story (directed by anime supreme Shinichiro Watanabe), which introduces us to the Kid, who also features in Reloaded; Program and World Record, written by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, better known for schlock horror anime Vampire Hunter B; Beyond, which tells what happens when ordinary people discover bugs in the system; A Detective Story, a homage to film noir as PI Ash is hired to track Trinity; and the distinctly psychedelic Matriculated.

The standard of animation is high throughout, even where the storylines are confused (and in one or two cases little more than conceptual). This is a fascinating collection of shorts that will appeal to Matrix and anime fans alike, as well as shedding light on some of the more obtuse plot machinations of Reloaded.

On the DVD: The Animatrix is primarily a visual offering, so it's good to see that this anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 video transfer is near-perfect, with CGI extravaganza signature short The Final Flight of the Osiris being about as stunning as is possible on a small screen. Extras are plentiful: the commentaries for The Second Renaissance Parts 1 & 2 are in Japanese with English subtitles; there are two more commentaries, for Program and World Record. There are also some features, including one on the history of anime and seven on the individual films in the series; the best of the latter is the featurette for Osiris, which goes into detail on the CGI and contains a "square celebrity death match" sequence of a modified Aki (from the Final Fantasy film) battling a sentinel. --Kristen Bowditch

Special Features
"Scrolls to Screen: The History and Culture of Anime" documentary
Seven featurettes with director profiles, interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of each of the films
Four audio commentaries
"Enter the Matrix" videogame trailer
Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
Widescreen 16x9 2.35:1
Languages: English, Japanese
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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61 Reviews 5 star:  (33) 4 star:  (17) 3 star:  (8) 2 star:  (3) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review (61 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   7 of 8 people found the following review helpful: Visually stunning..., 6 Mar 2006 By  "patvegas1" - See all my reviews 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 really get into Anime and Asian cinema I hope that it's all this good. I was more than surprised and totally 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 and it is made by the same company. The female lead looks almost real. The rest of the episodes are anime. Some contain CGI and some just rustic hand drawn artwork. The result for me is a supremely top notch artistic and 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 all taken from different parts of the matrix and show the different aspects that weren't shown in the films. I loved every episode of the Animatrix and I think it stands alone as a quality dvd. Visually stunning due part to the fact of all the different animation styles used and also the range of different direcors. The Wachowski brothers obviously had a vision and the Animatrix has bought my love for it back after the let down of Reloaded and Revolutions.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (