Best SF movie I've seen in years!

Rating: 10/10 (16 April 1999)

This is a classic movie - a beautiful and powerful movie. There is so much packed into it, that I had to see it twice in a week. It is a unique success!
You can enjoy it as an action-film, or as a serious SF drama, or as a graduate course in philosophy and literature. It is densely packed with ideas and questions as to the meaning of "reality". Of all the SF films I have seen in the last 50 years, I have to put this one in the top 10.
Yes, it is a complicated story and, yes, you have to pay attention, but it is all tied logically together. The fight scenes are choreographed as beautifully as a ballet. (The actors trained for 4 months just to ensure that they used the minimum amount of fight doubles.) The special effects are seamless and greatly enhance the story. The enemy forces lead by Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) are fascinating, dangerous, and remorseless. All actors hit their marks and deliver.
It is a "dense" movie with many layers and literary and cultural allusions. Example, Neo (Keanu) apartment number is 101. That is the same room number used in Orwell's 1984 in which Winston Smith faces his worst fears and is broken.
Don't miss it - or you will never get free of the Matrix!