When The Matrix first came out, I remember it being simultaneously praised and panned as creative-yet-shallow eye candy, when it was neither original nor mindless. The Matrix is a remix of genre films and fiction, with an emphasis on Hong Kong cinema:
0:27 – Fist of Legend (1994)
0:38 – Tai-Chi Master (Twin Dragons) (1993)
0:44 – Fist of Legend (1994)
0:48 – Tai-Chi Master (Twin Dragons) (1993)
0:53 – Drunken Master (1978)
1:02 – Fist of Legend (1994)
1:09 – The Killer (1989)
1:19 – Fist of Legend (1994)
1:21 – Iron Monkey (1993)
1:31 – Once Upon A Time In China (1991)
1:36 – Fist of Legend (1994)
1:41 – Tai-Chi Master (Twin Dragons) (1993)
1:45 – Philip K. Dick Speech (1977)
2:18 – Strange Days (1995)
2:24 – Akira (1988)
2:30 – Total Recall (1990)
3:24 – Alice In Wonderland (1951)
3:42 – The Killer (1989)
3:53 – A Better Tomorrow (1986)
4:05 – Ghost In The Shell (1995)
4:32 – Akira (1998)
4:39 – Koyannisqatsi (1982)
4:49 – Dr. Who: The Deadly Assassin (1976)
5:10 – Ghost In The Shell (1995)
And so is Pulp Fiction for example.
7 Classic Movies You Didn’t Know Were Rip-Offs
The Matrix is number six. They compare the movie to a comic book called The Invisibles. Its author had this to say:
He goes on saying:
Referring to Reloaded and Revolutions which he considers wrecked.