For questions concerning The Matrix, the 1999 sci-fi film starring Keanu Reeves, its sequels, and its spin-off media. When asking questions about the Animatrix TV show use in conjunction with the [the-animatrix] tag.
Use this tag for questions concerning The Matrix, its sequels, and its spin-off media. Questions about The Animatrix should additionally be tagged the-animatrix.
The Matrix is a 1999 post-apocalyptic science fiction cyberpunk / martial arts film starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving, and written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is noted for its innovative visual effects, including the "bullet time" effect. It inspired two direct sequels (Reloaded and Revolutions), an animated prequel/sequel anthology (The Animatrix), several video games (Enter the Matrix, The Matrix: Path of Neo, and the MMORPG The Matrix Online), and a set of comics called The Matrix Comics.
The film takes place in an uncertain year after a devastating war between humankind and a machine artificial intelligence. What remains of humanity is either imprisoned in "The Matrix", a sophisticated virtual simulation of a late 20th Century Earth city, or are resistance fighters living deep inside the Earth in the city state of "Zion". Those inside the Matrix are kept alive so that their bioelectric energy can be harvested as a power source for the machines. Normally, those in the Matrix are completely oblivious to the reality of their predicament. Resistance fighters travel in vessels up to "broadcast depth" to hack into the Matrix, where they search for and free individuals who can sense the Matrix. Morpheus, a captain in the Zion army and a spiritual leader there, believes it is his destiny to discover "The One", a human in the Matrix who can mould it as he or she sees fit and thereby rescue humanity from the machines. Morpheus believes he has discovered this saviour in Neo. The rescue of Neo in the first film sets in motion a series of events that sees humanity wage a final, pivotal battle against the machines in Reloaded and Revolutions.
