Joe-Pantoliano Movie Reviews

Compelling film about medium-size Los Angeles Law Firm with interesting, current event-type plots (for the 80s), thoughtful writing and superior acting performances by a very talented cast. This is a film you will want to watch over and over!

L.A. Law the movie that started it all is a great introduction to the long running hit TV series of the 80's. The professional and personal lives of the lawyers at the high profile Los Angeles law firm add style, and a little fun to the dramatic content of the movie. A must see for any fan of L.A. Law or anyone who enjoys a movie with endless surprises in it's script!

Up late at night, I finally got around to watching this three-part series, and it totally blew me away. RFK gave me back the hope that America will not give into cynicism, that with political leaders willing to stand up for what they believe in, we really can change our destiny. RFK stood up against the very people that WE find it difficult to stand up against everyday, like bullies, cynics, and sometimes even family. RFK shows us that change is sometimes mundane, other times it's exciting and often it's downright scary. RFK sets a fine example for politicians and Americans, just be prepared to be moved with this video because as we all know, if you're willing to stick your head out into the open and voice your opinion - you're gonna get shot at.

Brad Davis is one of the most underated actors ever. It's to bad he is no longer with us. See Midnight Express

I looked for a long time for this movie, and was lucky enough to find it a few months ago. The first time I saw it, I happened to see it on TV. Tim Daly is a gem, makes the unbelievable seem believable in this movie. You really experience the entire ordeal with them. It's an action movie with a softer side, and I'd recommend it to anyone. A+++

Don't believe Maltin. This is a cool film. It shows a white cop with no experience of the inner city going to school Downtown. He learns the hard way on a lot of the idiosyncrasies of "da hood". What Maltin also missed was the angry commanding officer of the Diamond Street District. Watching him go off is funny as hell. Don't miss this movie. You'll learn a few come backs for your boss one day from this guy.

I guarantee you, this is a film you will never forget! A story of a man with a dream, Jack, who builds Golddigger, a loveable and benevolent robot. Jack and his creation fight the evil Eli, a crooked antique dealer with a scheme so big, the world would never forget it. With an all-star cast including Johnathan Rhys-Davis, how could one go wrong? Watch for inspiring performances by Dr. Playhand, the little girl with the broken toy, the unlucky policeman, and especially, Jack's brother Isaac. This film will entertain you while getting to the core of your emotions and expanding your view of the world.

One of Andrew "The Fugitive" Davis' few non-suspense movies, this comedy recieved terrible reviews and zero box office upon its theatrical release--but it would be well worth seeing for many. Full of terrific character actors and sporting a jumbled chronology, the film tells the story of identical twin brothers (Andy Garcia, once again a naturally joyful presence) at war with each other over their adoptive mother's bountiful estate. The more selfish of the two siblings may have a lot of politicans in his pocket, but his generous opponent has a few tricks up his sleeve as well. Though essentially a "dramedy" in tone, there are occasional detours into slapstick that treaten to tip the balance. On the whole, however, this is the kind of fresh and highly moral piece of entertainment that comes out of Hollywood pretty rarely. It's so much more popular, it seems, to be smug and ironic. "Steal Big, Steal Little" doesn't go that route and leaves me feeling positive and optomistic.

From the man who brought us "The Fugitive" and "Under Siege" (the good one), comes an original comedic tale of two brothers fighting over the same inheritance.

Starring Andy Garcia... and Andy Garcia, "Steal Big, Steal Little" succeeds in every way that "Multiplicity", "Dead Ringers" and a few of the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen movies have failed. The twin brothers, both played BRILLIANTLY by Garcia, couldn't be more dissimilar (one is good and one is bad). So when their adoptive mother leaves her fortune and estate to only one of the brothers -- the fun begins!

Clever camera tricks and a fast-paced script make "Steal Big, Steal Little" the perfect movie for anyone who has ever been caught in the middle of a battle for family inheritance.

Andy Garcia's finest work.

As with many of his other movies, Andy Garcia pulls out another great performace in Steal Big Steal Little. In this movie Garcia plays identical twins that are on opposite sides when their step mother dies and leaves thousands of acres up for grabs, in the lush valleys of California. Filled with great suppporting roles from very familiar faces this movie is a must see especially if you are an Andy Garcia fan.

This is the story of a bounty hunter (De Niro) trying to get to LA with white collar criminal (Grodin) to collect a million dollar bounty. Unfortunately for him though, not only his bounty ann incessant pain in the ass but he's also got the mob, the Feds and another bounty hunter all trying to stop him collecting his pay check. Midnight Run is a rare gem, a top class action comedy with one of the most unusual screen "buddy" partnerships in cinematic history, which has sadly been somewhat overlooked by the majority of people and that's a great shame because it boasts great characters, great comedy, great action scenes, a wonderful plot and a brilliant script with stand-out performances from Dennis Farina, Charles Grodin and in particular Robert De Niro who proves what a great comedic (as well as character) actor he is. Expertly directed by Martin Brest, who directed Beverly Hills Cop (and Scent Of A Woman), this is in my opinion a much better movie than the much lauded Eddie Murphy movie and a must see, particularly if you are a fan of Robert De Niro. In fact it is so good I'd give the movie five stars if it weren't for the lack of extras on the DVD but (especially at a budget price) this is definitely one well worth adding to your collection.

Midnight Run is solid action comedy that has a fine cast, a clever and witty script, and confident director calling the shots. The film also was the first time that I remember tough guy Robert De Niro making me laugh.

Bounty Hunter Jack Walsh (De Niro) is hired by the mob to bring in one of their accountants, Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin), for stealing some of their cash. The cross country trip seems like easy money for Walsh, after all, how much trouble could an accountant be? Walsh soon discovers that he'd much rather have a bullet wound than put up with Jonathan, a germ-a-phobic neat freak, who's also affraid to fly. Soon the two men discover that the mob and the Feds are getting restless. FBI Agent Alonzo Mosely (Yaphet Kotto) and his team are traking them, as are the mafia's Jimmy Serrano (Dennis Farina) and Eddie (Joe Pantoliano).

The team of De Niro and Grodin is just great, and harkens back to the chemistry between Lemmon and Mathau, in all of their work together. Grodin is the perfect foil for De Niro and vice versa. Extra Kudos to De Niro, as he underplays it all, until just the right moment. After which, you are sure he is really going to kill Grodin for real. The script by George Gallo is filled with enough laughs, action and close calls for two films. Directed by Martin Breast, Midnight Run is a fine follow up to Beverly Hills Cop, in the action comedy genre.

As good as the film is, the DVD extras, left me disappointed. Aside from, a brief making of feturette and the theatrical trailer, there's not much else. Special edition anyone?. Still, if you want something to watch that will make you chuckle, then Midnight Run should fit the bill

ONCE AGAIN DENIRO SHOWS HIS WIDE RANGE AS A GREAT ACTOR. HE, AND GRODIN BOUNCE OFF OF ONE ANOTHER TERRIFICLY. THIS IS THE BEST OF THE BUDDY FLICKS.
DENNIS FARINA'S MOBSTER IS EQUALLY HILARIOUS IN HIS AGGRESSIVE DEVIANCE.
DENIRO PLAYS DISGRUNTLED EX-COP TURNED SKIP CHASER (JACK WALSH) OUT TO CASH IN ON A $100.000 DOLLAR BOUNTY FOR WHITE COLLAR CROOK GRODIN WHO IS WANTED BY THE AUTHORITIES AS WELL AS THE BIG TIME MOBSTERS HE EMBEZZELED FROM. WHAT FOLLOWS IS A ROLLER COASTER RIDE FULL OF WELL CORREGRAPHED ACTION AND SIDE SPLITTING ANTICS.
I LAUGH HARDER EVERY TIME I WATCH IT.

DENIRO'S WALSH HAS HIS HANDS FULL KEEPING HIS CATCH FROM THE F.B.I., THE CHICAGO SYNDICATE AND A RIVAL BOUNTY HUNTER OUT TO STEAL HIS APPREHENDEE. THE RIVAL IS MARVIN WHO IS A SKILLED DOGGER HIMSELF BUT A SHADE ON THE DENSE SIDE.
WALSH EASILY DISTRACTS THE COMPETITOR BY POINTING OFF INTO THE DISTANCE AND SAYING "HEY MARVIN!"

I GUESS YOU HAVE TO SEE IT TO FULLY APPRECIATE THE SIMPLE HUMOR.

I CANT THINK OF ANOTHER FILM I HAVE LAUGHED AS HARD AT IN YEARS.
THE MOVIE WORKS GREAT AS AN ACTIONEER AS WELL.

"HEY MARVIN!" I LOVE IT.

Four-and-a-half stars

For me, there are two Matrices: The one I lose myself in while watching, and the one that I dissect afterwards. First, The Matrix in action.

The Matrix is the most visually dense, dazzling picture I've ever seen. From the title design of endlessly flowing green numbers, to the fight scene, to the exquisitely choreographed chase, to the bang-up conclusion, the opening sequence is breathtaking. The kinetic action is perfectly accompanied by Don Davis' score, which at that point evokes the dark feel of a classic, Hollywood thriller. And the writer-directors, the Wachowski brothers, make every shot tell.

In the future, humans created machines so intelligent, that the machines won a war which left the world a desert, and humans their slaves. Most of the humans now live in pods, until they are harvested by the machines for energy. The rest live in "the matrix," a virtual world created by the machines to delude the humans that they live in a gleaming, prosperous city -- actually, gleaming Sydney, Australia. (The movie is muddled as to whether or how some humans aren't living in pods. I've seen it twice, and still am not clear on this.)

The idea of "the matrix" as technological dream world, evokes Marxist guru Herbert Marcuse's 1964 book, One Dimensional Man. Marcuse couldn't explain how he was able to see through the technofog that deluded everyone else. The Wachowskis do a somewhat better job of explaining that part. They also take a page or two from Alice in Wonderland, The Planet of the Apes, 1984, and even Japanese comic books.

It is the "agents" who give the machines a "human" face. The agents look like feds - replete with ear pieces, sunglasses and interchangeable, nondescript suits - but they are machines; hence their superhuman power and speed. (The Wachowskis also throw in some "shape-shifting," a trope from New Age/American Indian mythology, which was introduced in the movies in Thunderheart.) As "Agent Smith," Aussie actor Hugo Weaving is a memorable heavy.

A hardy band of human freedom fighters traveling around in a rusty old "Mark III" ship and a circa-1965 Lincoln Continental (the Wachowskis have a soft spot for old Lincolns), in addition to those whom we don't see, back in the city of Zion at the earth's core, are humanity's last, best hope.

The picture alternates between didacticism and action. Most of the lessons are taught by "Morpheus" (Laurence Fishburne) who initially seems to be the savior, but who is actually he who will groom the Saviour, "The One."

Enter "Neo" (Keanu Reeves), the hacker whose name is clearly an anagram of One, as in The. The movie hinges on whether Neo is The One.

The other main character, "Trinity" (Carrie-Ann Moss), is a passionate, butt-kicking female member of the rebel troupe.
Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of The Matrix, is that within a set-up that could easily have deteriorated into New Age verbal diarrhea and emotionally empty technical effects, the movie makes you -- or at least, me -- care deeply about these people.

The cast does praiseworthy work, especially Fishburne, Moss, and in a brief but moving scene, Gloria Foster ("the Oracle"), a woman of a certain age who still looks great. The stars clearly do a lot of the fighting themselves. Note, too, the forty stunt men who risked their very real butts for your movie-going pleasure.

Now, let's consider the elements that get lost in the sights and sounds of viewing.

The movie suggests a Christ-like savior, but This One has little in common with Christianity's Messiah.

Keanu Reeves is no Gene Hackman. In fact, Hugo Weaving is more human, as a machine, than Reeves is as man's savior. As for fictional saviors, I much prefer Lance Henriksen's tortured, all-too-human "Frank Black" from the classic Chris Carter TV series, Millennium.

The science is terrible. Computers will never be able to initiate thought and action. And human beings cannot learn physical skills without any physical practice.

Why is The Oracle fallible, and why does she quote the phrase "Know thyself" in Latin, instead of the original Greek?

As movie critic Steve Sailor pointed out, the movie perfectly matches Hollywood's notions of multiculturalism: The heavies are all pasty-faced white guys, while the good guys are a mix of blacks and whites.

All of the above issues must be compartmentalized while watching the movie, in order to enjoy it. (I know - I'm too literal-minded.)

Note that while kids usually love The Matrix, it's also not necessarily a good idea to watch it with very young ones. At its conclusion, my three-year-old started wacking away at me, in his best imitation of kung fu. And so, you might not want to show this to any of your children, prior to their thirtieth birthday.

The DVD is chock full of goodies. You can watch the movie with subtitles, in order to see how Don Davis' musical subtly carries it. Davis breaks in at times, with his own commentary. His score is a serendipitous mélange of styles - from classic thriller-style to punk rock - fashioned to match the unique mood of each scene.

Another feature lets you stop the movie, to view footage of the special effects that went into the scene being shown. The purist in me complains, "That's like a magician explaining how he does his tricks," but the guy who at 18 wanted to become a movie director, says, "More! More! More! The more knowledge, the better!"

Yet another feature focuses on the Hong Kong-style kung fu training the cast endured for some six months, and the "bullet-time" special effects invented for the movie.

With this DVD you get your money's worth, and then some.

For me, there are two Matrices: The one I lose myself in while watching, and the one that I dissect afterwards. First, The Matrix in action.

The Matrix is the most visually dense, dazzling picture I've ever seen. From the title design of endlessly flowing green numbers, to the fight scene, to the exquisitely choreographed chase, to the bang-up conclusion, the opening sequence is breathtaking. The kinetic action is perfectly accompanied by Don Davis' score, which at that point evokes the dark feel of a classic, Hollywood thriller. And the writer-directors, the Wachowski brothers (Bound), make every shot tell.

The story is about a future in which humans created machines so intelligent, that the machines won a war which left the world a desert, and humans their slaves. Most of the humans now live in pods, until they are harvested by the machines for energy. The rest live in "the matrix," a virtual world created by the machines to delude the humans that they live in a gleaming, prosperous city -- actually, gleaming Sydney, Australia. (The movie is muddled as to whether or how some humans aren't living in pods. I've seen it twice, and still am not clear on this.)

The idea of "the matrix" as technological dream world, evokes Marxist guru Herbert Marcuse's 1960s book, One Dimensional Man. Marcuse couldn't explain how he was able to see through the technofog that deluded everyone else. The Wachowskis do a somewhat better job of explaining that part. They also take a page or two from Alice in Wonderland, The Planet of the Apes, 1984, and even Japanese comic books.

It is the "agents" who give the machines a "human" face. The agents look like feds - replete with ear pieces, sunglasses and interchangeable, nondescript suits - but they are machines; hence their superhuman power and speed. (The Wachowskis also throw in some "shape-shifting," a trope from New Age/American Indian mythology, which was introduced in the movies in Thunderheart.) As "Agent Smith," Aussie actor Hugo Weaving is a memorable heavy.

A hardy band of human freedom fighters traveling around in a rusty old "Mark III" ship and a circa-1965 Lincoln Continental (the Wachowskis evidently have a soft spot for old Lincolns), in addition to those whom we don't see, back in the city of Zion at the earth's core, are humanity's last, best hope.

The picture alternates between didacticism and action. Most of the lessons are taught by "Morpheus" (Laurence Fishburne) who initially seems to be the savior, but who is actually he who will groom the Saviour, "The One."

Enter "Neo" (Keanu Reeves), the hacker whose name is clearly an anagram of One, as in The. The movie hinges on whether Neo is The One.

The other main character, "Trinity" (Carrie-Ann Moss), is a passionate, butt-kicking female member of the rebel troupe.

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of The Matrix, is that within a set-up that could easily have deteriorated into New Age verbal diarrhea and emotionally empty technical effects, the movie makes you -- or at least, me -- care deeply about these people.

The cast does praiseworthy work, especially Fishburne, Moss, and in a brief but moving scene, Gloria Foster ("the Oracle"), a woman of a certain age who still looks great. The stars clearly do a lot of the fighting themselves. Note, too, the forty stunt men who risked their very real butts for your movie-going pleasure.

Now, let's consider the elements that get lost in the sights and sounds of viewing.

The movie suggests a Christ-like savior, but This One has little in common with Christianity's Messiah.

I'm not crazy about Keanu Reeves; he's no Gene Hackman. And as for fictional savior types, I much prefer Lance Henriksen's tortured, all-too-human "Frank Black" from the classic Chris Carter TV series, Millennium.

The science is terrible, but then, it seems that "s/f" almost always gets the "s" wrong. Computers will never be able to initiate thought and action.

A parallel problem is the depiction of human beings learning physical skills without any physical practice, through merely having software downloaded into their brains.

Why is The Oracle fallible, and why does she quote the phrase "Know thyself" in Latin, instead of the original Greek?

As movie critic Steve Sailor pointed out, the movie perfectly matches Hollywood's notions of multiculturalism: The heavies are all pasty-faced white guys, whereas the good guys are a mix of blacks and whites.

All of the above issues must be compartmentalized while watching the movie, in order to enjoy it. (I know - I'm too literal-minded.)

Note that while kids usually love The Matrix, it's also not necessarily a good idea to watch it with very young ones. At its conclusion, my three-year-old started wacking away at me, in his best imitation of kung fu. And so, you might not want to show this to any of your children, prior to their thirtieth birthday.

The DVD is chock full of goodies. One feature allows you to watch the movie with subtitles, in order to see how Don Davis' musical subtly carries it. Davis breaks in at times, with his own commentary. His score is a serendipitous mélange of styles - from classic thriller-style to punk rock - fashioned to match the unique mood of each scene.

Another feature gives you the option of stopping the movie, to view footage of the special effects that went into the scene being shown. The purist in me complains, "That's like a magician explaining how he does his tricks," but the guy who at 18 wanted to become a movie director, says, "More! More! More! The more knowledge, the better!"

Yet another feature, on the making of The Matrix, focuses on the Hong Kong-style kung fu training the cast endured for some six months, and the "bullet-time" special effects invented for the movie.

With this DVD you get your money's worth, and then some.

What if the world you live in is a dream, and you are never going to wake up??? That's the question posed by the Matrix, a film by The Wachowski Brothers. The film has a chilling plot, and lots of philosophy stuff. But, when our hero ( Keanu Reeves) gets into action, we are blown away with a slow- motion effect copied but never matched. The Matrix is the Ultimate adrenaline junkies film.

Four-and-a-half stars

For me, there are two Matrices: The one I lose myself in while watching, and the one that I dissect afterwards. First, The Matrix in action.

The Matrix is the most visually dense, dazzling picture I've ever seen. From the title design of endlessly flowing green numbers, to the fight scene, to the exquisitely choreographed chase, to the bang-up conclusion, the opening sequence is breathtaking. The kinetic action is perfectly accompanied by Don Davis' score, which at that point evokes the dark feel of a classic, Hollywood thriller. And the writer-directors, the Wachowski brothers, make every shot tell.

In the future, humans created machines so intelligent, that the machines won a war which left the world a desert, and humans their slaves. Most of the humans now live in pods, until they are harvested by the machines for energy. The rest live in "the matrix," a virtual world created by the machines to delude the humans that they live in a gleaming, prosperous city -- actually, gleaming Sydney, Australia. (The movie is muddled as to whether or how some humans aren't living in pods. I've seen it twice, and still am not clear on this.)

The idea of "the matrix" as technological dream world, evokes Marxist guru Herbert Marcuse's 1964 book, One Dimensional Man. Marcuse couldn't explain how he was able to see through the technofog that deluded everyone else. The Wachowskis do a somewhat better job of explaining that part. They also take a page or two from Alice in Wonderland, The Planet of the Apes, 1984, and even Japanese comic books.

It is the "agents" who give the machines a "human" face. The agents look like feds - replete with ear pieces, sunglasses and interchangeable, nondescript suits - but they are machines; hence their superhuman power and speed. (The Wachowskis also throw in some "shape-shifting," a trope from New Age/American Indian mythology, which was introduced in the movies in Thunderheart.) As "Agent Smith," Aussie actor Hugo Weaving is a memorable heavy.

A hardy band of human freedom fighters traveling around in a rusty old "Mark III" ship and a circa-1965 Lincoln Continental (the Wachowskis have a soft spot for old Lincolns), in addition to those whom we don't see, back in the city of Zion at the earth's core, are humanity's last, best hope.

The picture alternates between didacticism and action. Most of the lessons are taught by "Morpheus" (Laurence Fishburne) who initially seems to be the savior, but who is actually he who will groom the Saviour, "The One."

Enter "Neo" (Keanu Reeves), the hacker whose name is clearly an anagram of One, as in The. The movie hinges on whether Neo is The One.

The other main character, "Trinity" (Carrie-Ann Moss), is a passionate, butt-kicking female member of the rebel troupe.
Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of The Matrix, is that within a set-up that could easily have deteriorated into New Age verbal diarrhea and emotionally empty technical effects, the movie makes you -- or at least, me -- care deeply about these people.

The cast does praiseworthy work, especially Fishburne, Moss, and in a brief but moving scene, Gloria Foster ("the Oracle"), a woman of a certain age who still looks great. The stars clearly do a lot of the fighting themselves. Note, too, the forty stunt men who risked their very real butts for your movie-going pleasure.

Now, let's consider the elements that get lost in the sights and sounds of viewing.

The movie suggests a Christ-like savior, but This One has little in common with Christianity's Messiah.

Keanu Reeves is no Gene Hackman. In fact, Hugo Weaving is more human, as a machine, than Reeves is as man's savior. As for fictional saviors, I much prefer Lance Henriksen's tortured, all-too-human "Frank Black" from the classic Chris Carter TV series, Millennium.

The science is terrible. Computers will never be able to initiate thought and action. And human beings cannot learn physical skills without any physical practice.

Why is The Oracle fallible, and why does she quote the phrase "Know thyself" in Latin, instead of the original Greek?

As movie critic Steve Sailor pointed out, the movie perfectly matches Hollywood's notions of multiculturalism: The heavies are all pasty-faced white guys, while the good guys are a mix of blacks and whites.

All of the above issues must be compartmentalized while watching the movie, in order to enjoy it. (I know - I'm too literal-minded.)

Note that while kids usually love The Matrix, it's also not necessarily a good idea to watch it with very young ones. At its conclusion, my three-year-old started wacking away at me, in his best imitation of kung fu. And so, you might not want to show this to any of your children, prior to their thirtieth birthday.

The DVD is chock full of goodies. You can watch the movie with subtitles, in order to see how Don Davis' musical subtly carries it. Davis breaks in at times, with his own commentary. His score is a serendipitous mélange of styles - from classic thriller-style to punk rock - fashioned to match the unique mood of each scene.

Another feature lets you stop the movie, to view footage of the special effects that went into the scene being shown. The purist in me complains, "That's like a magician explaining how he does his tricks," but the guy who at 18 wanted to become a movie director, says, "More! More! More! The more knowledge, the better!"

Yet another feature focuses on the Hong Kong-style kung fu training the cast endured for some six months, and the "bullet-time" special effects invented for the movie.

With this DVD you get your money's worth, and then some.

For me, there are two Matrices: The one I lose myself in while watching, and the one that I dissect afterwards. First, The Matrix in action.

The Matrix is the most visually dense, dazzling picture I've ever seen. From the title design of endlessly flowing green numbers, to the fight scene, to the exquisitely choreographed chase, to the bang-up conclusion, the opening sequence is breathtaking. The kinetic action is perfectly accompanied by Don Davis' score, which at that point evokes the dark feel of a classic, Hollywood thriller. And the writer-directors, the Wachowski brothers (Bound), make every shot tell.

The story is about a future in which humans created machines so intelligent, that the machines won a war which left the world a desert, and humans their slaves. Most of the humans now live in pods, until they are harvested by the machines for energy. The rest live in "the matrix," a virtual world created by the machines to delude the humans that they live in a gleaming, prosperous city -- actually, gleaming Sydney, Australia. (The movie is muddled as to whether or how some humans aren't living in pods. I've seen it twice, and still am not clear on this.)

The idea of "the matrix" as technological dream world, evokes Marxist guru Herbert Marcuse's 1960s book, One Dimensional Man. Marcuse couldn't explain how he was able to see through the technofog that deluded everyone else. The Wachowskis do a somewhat better job of explaining that part. They also take a page or two from Alice in Wonderland, The Planet of the Apes, 1984, and even Japanese comic books.

It is the "agents" who give the machines a "human" face. The agents look like feds - replete with ear pieces, sunglasses and interchangeable, nondescript suits - but they are machines; hence their superhuman power and speed. (The Wachowskis also throw in some "shape-shifting," a trope from New Age/American Indian mythology, which was introduced in the movies in Thunderheart.) As "Agent Smith," Aussie actor Hugo Weaving is a memorable heavy.

A hardy band of human freedom fighters traveling around in a rusty old "Mark III" ship and a circa-1965 Lincoln Continental (the Wachowskis evidently have a soft spot for old Lincolns), in addition to those whom we don't see, back in the city of Zion at the earth's core, are humanity's last, best hope.

The picture alternates between didacticism and action. Most of the lessons are taught by "Morpheus" (Laurence Fishburne) who initially seems to be the savior, but who is actually he who will groom the Saviour, "The One."

Enter "Neo" (Keanu Reeves), the hacker whose name is clearly an anagram of One, as in The. The movie hinges on whether Neo is The One.

The other main character, "Trinity" (Carrie-Ann Moss), is a passionate, butt-kicking female member of the rebel troupe.

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of The Matrix, is that within a set-up that could easily have deteriorated into New Age verbal diarrhea and emotionally empty technical effects, the movie makes you -- or at least, me -- care deeply about these people.

The cast does praiseworthy work, especially Fishburne, Moss, and in a brief but moving scene, Gloria Foster ("the Oracle"), a woman of a certain age who still looks great. The stars clearly do a lot of the fighting themselves. Note, too, the forty stunt men who risked their very real butts for your movie-going pleasure.

Now, let's consider the elements that get lost in the sights and sounds of viewing.

The movie suggests a Christ-like savior, but This One has little in common with Christianity's Messiah.

I'm not crazy about Keanu Reeves; he's no Gene Hackman. And as for fictional savior types, I much prefer Lance Henriksen's tortured, all-too-human "Frank Black" from the classic Chris Carter TV series, Millennium.

The science is terrible, but then, it seems that "s/f" almost always gets the "s" wrong. Computers will never be able to initiate thought and action.

A parallel problem is the depiction of human beings learning physical skills without any physical practice, through merely having software downloaded into their brains.

Why is The Oracle fallible, and why does she quote the phrase "Know thyself" in Latin, instead of the original Greek?

As movie critic Steve Sailor pointed out, the movie perfectly matches Hollywood's notions of multiculturalism: The heavies are all pasty-faced white guys, whereas the good guys are a mix of blacks and whites.

All of the above issues must be compartmentalized while watching the movie, in order to enjoy it. (I know - I'm too literal-minded.)

Note that while kids usually love The Matrix, it's also not necessarily a good idea to watch it with very young ones. At its conclusion, my three-year-old started wacking away at me, in his best imitation of kung fu. And so, you might not want to show this to any of your children, prior to their thirtieth birthday.

The DVD is chock full of goodies. One feature allows you to watch the movie with subtitles, in order to see how Don Davis' musical subtly carries it. Davis breaks in at times, with his own commentary. His score is a serendipitous mélange of styles - from classic thriller-style to punk rock - fashioned to match the unique mood of each scene.

Another feature gives you the option of stopping the movie, to view footage of the special effects that went into the scene being shown. The purist in me complains, "That's like a magician explaining how he does his tricks," but the guy who at 18 wanted to become a movie director, says, "More! More! More! The more knowledge, the better!"

Yet another feature, on the making of The Matrix, focuses on the Hong Kong-style kung fu training the cast endured for some six months, and the "bullet-time" special effects invented for the movie.

With this DVD you get your money's worth, and then some.

What if the world you live in is a dream, and you are never going to wake up??? That's the question posed by the Matrix, a film by The Wachowski Brothers. The film has a chilling plot, and lots of philosophy stuff. But, when our hero ( Keanu Reeves) gets into action, we are blown away with a slow- motion effect copied but never matched. The Matrix is the Ultimate adrenaline junkies film.

Four-and-a-half stars

For me, there are two Matrices: The one I lose myself in while watching, and the one that I dissect afterwards. First, The Matrix in action.

The Matrix is the most visually dense, dazzling picture I've ever seen. From the title design of endlessly flowing green numbers, to the fight scene, to the exquisitely choreographed chase, to the bang-up conclusion, the opening sequence is breathtaking. The kinetic action is perfectly accompanied by Don Davis' score, which at that point evokes the dark feel of a classic, Hollywood thriller. And the writer-directors, the Wachowski brothers, make every shot tell.

In the future, humans created machines so intelligent, that the machines won a war which left the world a desert, and humans their slaves. Most of the humans now live in pods, until they are harvested by the machines for energy. The rest live in "the matrix," a virtual world created by the machines to delude the humans that they live in a gleaming, prosperous city -- actually, gleaming Sydney, Australia. (The movie is muddled as to whether or how some humans aren't living in pods. I've seen it twice, and still am not clear on this.)

The idea of "the matrix" as technological dream world, evokes Marxist guru Herbert Marcuse's 1964 book, One Dimensional Man. Marcuse couldn't explain how he was able to see through the technofog that deluded everyone else. The Wachowskis do a somewhat better job of explaining that part. They also take a page or two from Alice in Wonderland, The Planet of the Apes, 1984, and even Japanese comic books.

It is the "agents" who give the machines a "human" face. The agents look like feds - replete with ear pieces, sunglasses and interchangeable, nondescript suits - but they are machines; hence their superhuman power and speed. (The Wachowskis also throw in some "shape-shifting," a trope from New Age/American Indian mythology, which was introduced in the movies in Thunderheart.) As "Agent Smith," Aussie actor Hugo Weaving is a memorable heavy.

A hardy band of human freedom fighters traveling around in a rusty old "Mark III" ship and a circa-1965 Lincoln Continental (the Wachowskis have a soft spot for old Lincolns), in addition to those whom we don't see, back in the city of Zion at the earth's core, are humanity's last, best hope.

The picture alternates between didacticism and action. Most of the lessons are taught by "Morpheus" (Laurence Fishburne) who initially seems to be the savior, but who is actually he who will groom the Saviour, "The One."

Enter "Neo" (Keanu Reeves), the hacker whose name is clearly an anagram of One, as in The. The movie hinges on whether Neo is The One.

The other main character, "Trinity" (Carrie-Ann Moss), is a passionate, butt-kicking female member of the rebel troupe.
Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of The Matrix, is that within a set-up that could easily have deteriorated into New Age verbal diarrhea and emotionally empty technical effects, the movie makes you -- or at least, me -- care deeply about these people.

The cast does praiseworthy work, especially Fishburne, Moss, and in a brief but moving scene, Gloria Foster ("the Oracle"), a woman of a certain age who still looks great. The stars clearly do a lot of the fighting themselves. Note, too, the forty stunt men who risked their very real butts for your movie-going pleasure.

Now, let's consider the elements that get lost in the sights and sounds of viewing.

The movie suggests a Christ-like savior, but This One has little in common with Christianity's Messiah.

Keanu Reeves is no Gene Hackman. In fact, Hugo Weaving is more human, as a machine, than Reeves is as man's savior. As for fictional saviors, I much prefer Lance Henriksen's tortured, all-too-human "Frank Black" from the classic Chris Carter TV series, Millennium.

The science is terrible. Computers will never be able to initiate thought and action. And human beings cannot learn physical skills without any physical practice.

Why is The Oracle fallible, and why does she quote the phrase "Know thyself" in Latin, instead of the original Greek?

As movie critic Steve Sailor pointed out, the movie perfectly matches Hollywood's notions of multiculturalism: The heavies are all pasty-faced white guys, while the good guys are a mix of blacks and whites.

All of the above issues must be compartmentalized while watching the movie, in order to enjoy it. (I know - I'm too literal-minded.)

Note that while kids usually love The Matrix, it's also not necessarily a good idea to watch it with very young ones. At its conclusion, my three-year-old started wacking away at me, in his best imitation of kung fu. And so, you might not want to show this to any of your children, prior to their thirtieth birthday.

The DVD is chock full of goodies. You can watch the movie with subtitles, in order to see how Don Davis' musical subtly carries it. Davis breaks in at times, with his own commentary. His score is a serendipitous mélange of styles - from classic thriller-style to punk rock - fashioned to match the unique mood of each scene.

Another feature lets you stop the movie, to view footage of the special effects that went into the scene being shown. The purist in me complains, "That's like a magician explaining how he does his tricks," but the guy who at 18 wanted to become a movie director, says, "More! More! More! The more knowledge, the better!"

Yet another feature focuses on the Hong Kong-style kung fu training the cast endured for some six months, and the "bullet-time" special effects invented for the movie.

With this DVD you get your money's worth, and then some.

For me, there are two Matrices: The one I lose myself in while watching, and the one that I dissect afterwards. First, The Matrix in action.

The Matrix is the most visually dense, dazzling picture I've ever seen. From the title design of endlessly flowing green numbers, to the fight scene, to the exquisitely choreographed chase, to the bang-up conclusion, the opening sequence is breathtaking. The kinetic action is perfectly accompanied by Don Davis' score, which at that point evokes the dark feel of a classic, Hollywood thriller. And the writer-directors, the Wachowski brothers (Bound), make every shot tell.

The story is about a future in which humans created machines so intelligent, that the machines won a war which left the world a desert, and humans their slaves. Most of the humans now live in pods, until they are harvested by the machines for energy. The rest live in "the matrix," a virtual world created by the machines to delude the humans that they live in a gleaming, prosperous city -- actually, gleaming Sydney, Australia. (The movie is muddled as to whether or how some humans aren't living in pods. I've seen it twice, and still am not clear on this.)

The idea of "the matrix" as technological dream world, evokes Marxist guru Herbert Marcuse's 1960s book, One Dimensional Man. Marcuse couldn't explain how he was able to see through the technofog that deluded everyone else. The Wachowskis do a somewhat better job of explaining that part. They also take a page or two from Alice in Wonderland, The Planet of the Apes, 1984, and even Japanese comic books.

It is the "agents" who give the machines a "human" face. The agents look like feds - replete with ear pieces, sunglasses and interchangeable, nondescript suits - but they are machines; hence their superhuman power and speed. (The Wachowskis also throw in some "shape-shifting," a trope from New Age/American Indian mythology, which was introduced in the movies in Thunderheart.) As "Agent Smith," Aussie actor Hugo Weaving is a memorable heavy.

A hardy band of human freedom fighters traveling around in a rusty old "Mark III" ship and a circa-1965 Lincoln Continental (the Wachowskis evidently have a soft spot for old Lincolns), in addition to those whom we don't see, back in the city of Zion at the earth's core, are humanity's last, best hope.

The picture alternates between didacticism and action. Most of the lessons are taught by "Morpheus" (Laurence Fishburne) who initially seems to be the savior, but who is actually he who will groom the Saviour, "The One."

Enter "Neo" (Keanu Reeves), the hacker whose name is clearly an anagram of One, as in The. The movie hinges on whether Neo is The One.

The other main character, "Trinity" (Carrie-Ann Moss), is a passionate, butt-kicking female member of the rebel troupe.

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of The Matrix, is that within a set-up that could easily have deteriorated into New Age verbal diarrhea and emotionally empty technical effects, the movie makes you -- or at least, me -- care deeply about these people.

The cast does praiseworthy work, especially Fishburne, Moss, and in a brief but moving scene, Gloria Foster ("the Oracle"), a woman of a certain age who still looks great. The stars clearly do a lot of the fighting themselves. Note, too, the forty stunt men who risked their very real butts for your movie-going pleasure.

Now, let's consider the elements that get lost in the sights and sounds of viewing.

The movie suggests a Christ-like savior, but This One has little in common with Christianity's Messiah.

I'm not crazy about Keanu Reeves; he's no Gene Hackman. And as for fictional savior types, I much prefer Lance Henriksen's tortured, all-too-human "Frank Black" from the classic Chris Carter TV series, Millennium.

The science is terrible, but then, it seems that "s/f" almost always gets the "s" wrong. Computers will never be able to initiate thought and action.

A parallel problem is the depiction of human beings learning physical skills without any physical practice, through merely having software downloaded into their brains.

Why is The Oracle fallible, and why does she quote the phrase "Know thyself" in Latin, instead of the original Greek?

As movie critic Steve Sailor pointed out, the movie perfectly matches Hollywood's notions of multiculturalism: The heavies are all pasty-faced white guys, whereas the good guys are a mix of blacks and whites.

All of the above issues must be compartmentalized while watching the movie, in order to enjoy it. (I know - I'm too literal-minded.)

Note that while kids usually love The Matrix, it's also not necessarily a good idea to watch it with very young ones. At its conclusion, my three-year-old started wacking away at me, in his best imitation of kung fu. And so, you might not want to show this to any of your children, prior to their thirtieth birthday.

The DVD is chock full of goodies. One feature allows you to watch the movie with subtitles, in order to see how Don Davis' musical subtly carries it. Davis breaks in at times, with his own commentary. His score is a serendipitous mélange of styles - from classic thriller-style to punk rock - fashioned to match the unique mood of each scene.

Another feature gives you the option of stopping the movie, to view footage of the special effects that went into the scene being shown. The purist in me complains, "That's like a magician explaining how he does his tricks," but the guy who at 18 wanted to become a movie director, says, "More! More! More! The more knowledge, the better!"

Yet another feature, on the making of The Matrix, focuses on the Hong Kong-style kung fu training the cast endured for some six months, and the "bullet-time" special effects invented for the movie.

With this DVD you get your money's worth, and then some.

What if the world you live in is a dream, and you are never going to wake up??? That's the question posed by the Matrix, a film by The Wachowski Brothers. The film has a chilling plot, and lots of philosophy stuff. But, when our hero ( Keanu Reeves) gets into action, we are blown away with a slow- motion effect copied but never matched. The Matrix is the Ultimate adrenaline junkies film.