Thomas Anderson, a computer programmer by day and an elusive hacker named Neo by night, has always questioned the nature of his reality. When he is contacted by the legendary rebel Morpheus, Neo is offered a life-altering choice: take the blue pill and return to his mundane existence, or take the red pill to uncover the truth about the "Matrix" and join the human resistance in a war against intelligent machines.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States Australia |
Premiere date |
March 31, 1999 |
Running time |
136 minutes |
Genre |
Sci-Fi Action |
Budget |
$63,000,000 |
Box Office |
$467,222,728 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
The Wachowskis |
Produced by |
Joel Silver |
Written by |
The Wachowskis |
Music by |
Don Davis |
Cinematography |
Bill Pope |
Edited by |
Zach Staenberg |
Production Co. |
Warner Bros. Village Roadshow Pictures Silver Pictures |
Distributed by |
Warner Bros. |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #01 in The Matrix Collection
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The Plot
The Trace and the Escape
The film opens in darkness, accompanied by the sounds of two voices discussing a man they believe to be "The One." While they speak, a trace program initiates, pinpointing their location. The scene abruptly cuts to a derelict hotel where police officers kick down the door of an apartment to capture a lone woman named Trinity. Although the police believe they have the upper hand, mysterious government agents arrives, warning the lieutenant that his men are already dead. Inside, Trinity engages the officers, neutralizing them with amazing, seemingly impossible feats of strength and agility, defying the laws of physics.
Fleeing the hotel, Trinity races across rooftops, leaping distances that no ordinary human could clear. She reaches street level and dashes toward a ringing telephone booth. Just as she answers the call, a garbage truck driven by the pursuing Agents slams into the booth, obliterating it instantly. The Agents step out of the truck to examine the wreckage, but Trinity is nowhere to be seen; she has successfully escaped through the phone line. The Agents note that their informant is real and confirm the identity of their next target: a man named Neo.
Thomas Anderson and the Question
Neo, known in his daily life as Thomas Anderson, is a computer programmer who secretly operates as a hacker involved in illegal activities. He feels that something is wrong with the world, a feeling confirmed when he is contacted by Trinity at a local nightclub. Amidst the pounding music, she approaches him and reveals that she is aware he is searching for a man named Morpheus. She tells him that Morpheus can answer the question that has been plaguing him: "What is the Matrix?"
The following day, Anderson arrives late for work. His boss reprimands him, warning that any further tardiness will result in termination. Later, while sitting in his cubicle, a courier delivers a phone to him. It rings immediately; it is Morpheus. He warns Neo that Agents are currently in the building searching for him and guides him in an attempt to escape. Despite Morpheus's precise instructions, Neo is overcome with fear when asked to climb outside the skyscraper's window. He surrenders and is captured by the Agents.
The Interrogation
In a sterile interrogation room, Agent Smith confronts Anderson, revealing that they know everything about his double life as a hacker. Smith offers a deal: if Neo helps them locate Morpheus, the "terrorist" who has been contacting him, his criminal record will be expunged. Neo defiantly refuses, demanding his phone call to a lawyer. The interrogation takes a nightmarish turn as Neo’s mouth suddenly seals shut, his lips melting together until they are smooth skin. Terrified and silenced, he is pinned down while Smith produces a robotic, insect-like bug that burrows into Neo's navel. Neo screams silently before waking up in his own bed with a gasp, uncertain if the horrific experience was real or a dream.
The Red Pill
Neo's phone rings again; it is Morpheus, requesting a meeting. A car picks Neo up, driven by fellow rebels Apoc, Switch, and Trinity. In the back seat, Trinity uses a device to extract the robotic bug from Neo’s stomach, proving the interrogation was real. They arrive at a rainy, abandoned location where Neo finally meets Morpheus. They discuss the concepts of fate and free will, with Morpheus explaining that he has spent his entire life searching for Neo.
Morpheus presents Neo with a final choice manifested as two pills. The blue pill will allow him to wake up in his bed and believe whatever he wants to believe. The red pill offers the truth: he will "stay in Wonderland and see how deep the rabbit-hole goes." Neo chooses the red pill. As the chemical takes effect, his reality begins to fracture. He touches a mirror which liquifies and engulfs him, and he abruptly wakes up naked, submerged in a liquid-filled pod, his body connected by tubes and wires to a vast mechanical tower. He sees millions of identical pods stretching out in every direction. A machine disconnects him, and he is flushed out of the chamber into a dark, watery abyss. He is rescued by Morpheus's crew and hauled aboard their hovercraft, the Nebuchadnezzar.
The Desert of the Real
In the ship's medical bay, Neo drifts in and out of consciousness as his atrophied muscles are rebuilt. Once recovered, Morpheus introduces him to the crew and reveals the shattering truth: it is not 1999, but closer to the year 2199. To explain fully, Morpheus plugs Neo into the "Construct," a virtual loading program. Neo appears in a white expanse, looking as he did before taking the pill.
Morpheus explains that humanity is losing a war against intelligent machines. Decades ago, humans scorched the sky to cut off the machines' solar power supply. In response, the machines enslaved humanity, turning them into living batteries to harvest their bio-electricity. The world Neo has known since birth—the Matrix—is nothing more than a simulated reality based on the world of 1999, designed to keep the human population docile while their energy is consumed. Morpheus and Trinity are members of a resistance movement that unplugs individuals to fight for freedom. Overwhelmed by this revelation, Neo refuses to believe it and demands to be unplugged. Upon returning to the ship, the reality of the situation causes him to faint.
The Prophecy and Training
When Neo awakes, Morpheus explains why he was chosen. The Oracle prophesied the return of a man who could manipulate the Matrix, end the war, and free humanity. Morpheus believes Neo is "The One." Neo remains skeptical but agrees to begin his training. The ship's operator, Tank, explains that they are from Zion, the last human city deep underground. Tank plugs Neo into the training simulator, downloading gigabytes of combat data directly into his brain for hours. When Neo wakes up, he knows every major martial art.
Impressed, Morpheus challenges Neo to a sparring match within a construct similar to the Matrix. He teaches Neo that the simulation has rules like a computer program, but these rules can be bent or broken. Neo begins to understand, moving with incredible speed. Next, Morpheus takes him to the "jump program," asking him to leap between two skyscrapers. Morpheus makes the jump effortlessly. Neo attempts to free his mind but fails, plummeting to the pavement. He wakes up in the chair bleeding, confused because the simulation wasn't real. Morpheus offers a grim lesson: "The body cannot live without the mind." If you die in the Matrix, you die in the real world.
Agents and Betrayal
In further training, Morpheus explains the nature of Agents. They are sentient programs patrolling the Matrix to maintain order. They can possess the body of anyone still hardwired to the system. They have superhuman strength and speed, yet they are bound by the physics of their programmed world. Morpheus insists that while Agents are powerful, Neo—once he accepts his identity as The One—will be able to defeat them. However, crew member Cypher privately tells Neo to ignore this "savior" talk, advising him that if he sees an Agent, he should run.
Unbeknownst to the crew, Cypher is disillusioned with the hardships of reality. He meets secretly with Agent Smith inside the Matrix over a steak dinner. Cypher agrees to betray Morpheus and lead him into a trap. In exchange, he demands that the machines reinsert him into the Matrix as a wealthy, famous man with no memory of the real world, preferring the bliss of ignorance.
The Oracle
Morpheus takes Neo into the Matrix to meet the Oracle. In her apartment, she appears as a kindly grandmother baking cookies. She examines Neo and, confusing him with her foresight, implies that he is not The One—or at least, not yet. She tells him he seems to be waiting for his "next life." The Oracle reveals a darker path: Morpheus believes in Neo so blindly that he will sacrifice himself to save him. She tells Neo that he will eventually have to choose between his own life and Morpheus's.
As the group prepares to leave the Matrix via a "hard line" telephone exit, they are ambushed. Police and Agents swarm the building, trapping them. In the chaos, Morpheus fights Agent Smith to buy time for Neo to escape. Despite his skill, Morpheus is beaten and captured. Neo and the others flee, but Cypher becomes separated from the group. Cypher reaches the exit first and returns to the real world.
Decimation of the Crew
Back on the Nebuchadnezzar, Cypher reveals his treachery. He attacks Tank and kills Tank's brother, Dozer, with a lightning rifle. He then moves to the operator chair and murders Apoc and Switch by remotely unplugging their bodies while they are still inside the Matrix, killing them instantly. Just as Cypher prepares to kill Neo and Trinity, Tank, who was only wounded, recovers and shoots Cypher dead. The survivors are left devastated, knowing Morpheus is now a prisoner.
The Rescue
In a government stronghold, three Agents inject Morpheus with a serum to hack his mind, seeking the access codes to Zion's mainframe. Agent Smith reveals a personal vendetta; he hates the Matrix and the "smell" of humanity, desperate to destroy Zion so he can be free of his duty. On the ship, Neo realizes the Oracle's prophecy is coming true: he must choose. Refusing to let Morpheus die, he decides to go back in. Trinity insists on joining him.
Heavily armed, Neo and Trinity storm the government building. In the lobby, they engage dozens of soldiers in a spectacular gunfight. Neo begins to move with supernatural confidence, at one point dodging bullets fired by an Agent by bending backward at an impossible angle. Trinity is awestruck, remarking she has never seen anyone move that fast. They use a helicopter to assault the floor where Morpheus is held, killing the Agents' bodies and rescuing their leader. They fly to a subway station to exit via a hard line. Morpheus and Trinity escape, but before Neo can leave, Agent Smith destroys the phone, stranding him.
He is The One
Instead of running as he was taught, Neo turns to face Agent Smith. They engage in a brutal duel, exchanging blows with superhuman force. Neo manages to throw Smith onto the tracks just as a train approaches, but the Agent simply possesses another body and emerges from the train unharmed. Realizing he cannot win a prolonged fight yet, Neo flees. He is chased through the city by three Agents while, in the real world, "Sentinels"—killing machines—locate the Nebuchadnezzar and begin cutting through the hull. The crew cannot use their EMP weapon to disable the robots while Neo is still mentally connected.
Tank guides Neo to an old exit. Neo bursts into the room, but Agent Smith is waiting and immediately shoots him in the chest multiple times. Neo collapses, dead. On the ship, his heart monitor flatlines. Trinity, watching over his body, refuses to accept this. She whispers that the Oracle told her she would fall in love with The One. She kisses him, breathing life back into his body. inside the Matrix, Neo’s heart beats again. He stands up. The Agents open fire, but Neo simply raises his hand, stopping the bullets in mid-air. He looks at the hallway and sees the world not as walls and floor, but as streaming green code. He is The One. Smith attacks, but Neo blocks him effortlessly with one hand before diving into Smith’s body and exploding him from the inside. The remaining Agents flee in terror.
Epilogue
Neo picks up the phone in the Matrix just as the Sentinels breach the ship in the real world. He returns to his body instantly, allowing Morpheus to detonate the EMP, disabling the attacking machines and saving the crew.
Some time later, Neo is back in the Matrix, now fully aware of his power. He makes a telephone call, addressing the machines directly. He promises to show the people a world without rules, controls, or borders—a world where anything is possible. "Where we go from here is a choice I leave to you," he says. He hangs up the phone, steps out into the street, looks up, and flies directly into the sky above the city.
