Science fiction (or sci-fi ) is a film genre that uses speculative , fictional science -based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms , spacecraft , robots , cyborgs , mutants , interstellar travel , time travel , or other technologies. Science fiction films have often been used to focus on political or social issues , and to explore philosophical issues like the human condition .
169-515: The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis . It is the sequel to The Matrix (1999) and the second installment in the Matrix film series . The film stars Keanu Reeves , Laurence Fishburne , Carrie-Anne Moss , Hugo Weaving , and Gloria Foster who reprise their roles from the previous film, with Jada Pinkett Smith joining
338-512: A British cinema and media theorist and cultural critic: Science fiction film is a film genre which emphasizes actual, extrapolative, or 2.0 speculative science and the empirical method , interacting in a social context with the lesser emphasized, but still present, transcendentalism of magic and religion , in an attempt to reconcile man with the unknown. This definition suggests a continuum between (real-world) empiricism and ( supernatural ) transcendentalism , with science fiction films on
507-524: A Friend for the End of the World ( 2012 ), Safety Not Guaranteed ( 2013 ), and Pixels (2015), romance films such as Her (2013), Monsters (2010), and Ex Machina (2015), heist films including Inception (2010) and action films including Real Steel (2011), Total Recall (2012), Edge of Tomorrow ( 2014 ), Pacific Rim (2013), Chappie (2015), Tomorrowland (2015), and Ghost in
676-639: A back-up power station to bypass a security system, which will allow Neo to enter the Source. Haunted by a vision of Trinity's death, he asks her to remain on the Nebuchadnezzar . The Logos is successful, but the Vigilant is destroyed by a Sentinel. Trinity replaces the Vigilant crew and completes their mission. Agent Thompson corners her and they fight. As Neo, Morpheus, and the Keymaker try to reach
845-541: A bluepill, he became self-aware and somewhat cognizant of Neo and the Nebuchadnezzar' s exploits. He deliberately committed suicide to free himself from the Matrix just before Agents confronted him, idolizing Neo afterwards. He eagerly volunteers to fight in the Battle of Zion, helping to reload APUs, and is the first to inform the civilian population of Zion that the war has ended. Link (played by Harold Perrineau ) serves as
1014-422: A certain number of humans gradually refusing to accept the simulation. As with the five previous Ones, Neo has a choice: either reboot the Matrix from the Source and pick a handful of survivors to repopulate the soon-to-be-destroyed Zion, as his predecessors all did, or go to save the imperiled Trinity, causing the Matrix to crash and killing everyone in it. Neo chooses the latter, prompting a dismissive response from
1183-491: A challenge handshake authentication protocol, Seraph is effectively a login screen that fights the user to authenticate their identity. He is also the medium through which the Oracle contacts people in the real world. Neo first discovers Seraph after being summoned to his location by the Oracle. After Seraph confirms Neo's identity by fighting him to a stalemate, he takes Neo through one of the Matrix's many backdoors, leading him to
1352-474: A civilization's level of technological advancement into types. Due to its exponential nature, sci-fi civilizations usually only attain Type I (harnessing all the energy attainable from a single planet), and strictly speaking often not even that. The concept of life, particularly intelligent life, having an extraterrestrial origin is a popular staple of science fiction films. Early films often used alien life forms as
1521-675: A critical role during the final battle at Zion, saving the Kid from a Sentinel, allowing him to shoot the dock gates open for the Mjolnir (with Link inside) to enter Zion and deliver the battle-ending EMP. The role of Zee was originally given to singer/actress Aaliyah , who was killed in a plane crash on August 25, 2001, before she could complete shooting her part for The Matrix Reloaded . Many singers and actresses were named as potential replacements, including Eva Mendes , Samantha Mumba , Brandy Norwood and Tatyana Ali . Ali actress Nona Gaye
1690-455: A departure from its predecessor, The Matrix Reloaded is a worthy sequel packed with popcorn-friendly thrills." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score 62 out of 100 based on 40 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, a grade down from the "A−" earned by the previous film. Positive comments from critics included commendation for
1859-487: A lightning rifle, and "unplugging" Switch and Apoc. As he is about to kill Neo and Trinity, a critically injured Tank kills him. Dozer (played by Anthony Ray Parker ) is the pilot and chef of the Nebuchadnezzar. He is Tank's brother, and like him, is unable to enter the Matrix as he was born in Zion and therefore has no mechanical ports that machine-bred humans do. After Cypher attempts to murder Tank, Dozer charges at him and
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#17327824823172028-401: A long tradition of movies featuring monster attacks. These differ from similar films in the horror or fantasy genres because science fiction films typically rely on a scientific (or at least pseudo-scientific) rationale for the monster's existence, rather than a supernatural or magical reason. Often, the science fiction film monster is created, awakened, or "evolves" because of the machinations of
2197-533: A mad scientist, a nuclear accident, or a scientific experiment gone awry. Typical examples include The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), Jurassic Park films, Cloverfield , Pacific Rim , the King Kong films, and the Godzilla franchise or the many films involving Frankenstein's monster . The core mental aspects of what makes us human has been a staple of science fiction films, particularly since
2366-563: A man in the real world, but the producers decided to change this because they thought it would confuse the audience. Tank (played by Marcus Chong ) is the original Operator of the Nebuchadnezzar . Tank watches over not only the jacked-in crewmembers, but also the ship itself in case the Sentinels (killing machines) detect the ship. Like all Operators, Tank is a skilled programmer who can provide jacked-in crewmembers almost anything they need and guides them to and from dangerous events within
2535-462: A moderate success. The strongest contributors to the genre during the second half of the 1980s were James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven with The Terminator and RoboCop entries. Robert Zemeckis ' film Back to the Future ( 1985 ) and its sequels were critically praised and became box office successes, not to mention international phenomena. James Cameron's sequel to Alien , Aliens ( 1986 ),
2704-530: A number of science fiction comic strips were adapted as serials , notably Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers , both starring Buster Crabbe . These serials, and the comic strips they were based on, were very popular with the general public. Other notable science fiction films of the 1930s include Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Doctor X (1932), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), F.P.1 (1932), Island of Lost Souls (1932), Deluge (1933), The Invisible Man (1933), Master of
2873-561: A part of The Matrix Trilogy on 4K UHD Blu-ray on October 30, 2018. Science fiction film The genre has existed since the early years of silent cinema , when Georges Méliès ' A Trip to the Moon (1902) employed trick photography effects. The next major example (first in feature-length in the genre) was the film Metropolis (1927). From the 1930s to the 1950s, the genre consisted mainly of low-budget B movies . After Stanley Kubrick 's landmark 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968),
3042-463: A particular area or time period. This is not true of the science fiction film. However, there are several common visual elements that are evocative of the genre. These include the spacecraft or space station, alien worlds or creatures, robots, and futuristic gadgets. Examples include movies like Lost in Space , Serenity , Avatar , Prometheus , Tomorrowland , Passengers , and Valerian and
3211-500: A particular concern of the writer by serving as a vehicle of warning against a type of activity, including technological research. In the case of alien invasion films, the creatures can provide as a stand-in for a feared foreign power. Films that fit into the Disaster film typically also fall into the following general categories: While monster films do not usually depict danger on a global or epic scale, science fiction film also has
3380-710: A plane crash on August 25, 2001, before filming was complete, requiring her scenes to be reshot with Nona Gaye. Pinkett Smith declined her role in Nutty Professor II: The Klumps in order to star in The Matrix Reloaded . Jet Li was offered the role of Seraph, but turned it down as he did not want his martial arts moves digitally recorded. The Matrix Reloaded was mostly filmed at Fox Studios in Australia . Filming began on March 1, 2001 and ended on August 21, 2002, concurrently with
3549-565: A popular staple of science fiction film and science fiction television series. Time travel usually involves the use of some type of advanced technology, such as H. G. Wells' classic The Time Machine , the commercially successful 1980s-era Back to the Future trilogy, the Bill & Ted trilogy, the Terminator series, Déjà Vu (2006), Source Code (2011), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Predestination (2014). Other movies, such as
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#17327824823173718-543: A reference to the phrase " ghost in the machine ", which describes the concept of mind-body dualism. Ghost's latest appearance was in the MMORPG The Matrix Online . Due to copyright issues with Anthony Wong , Ghost is bald and has been completely shaven of all facial hair. Ghost, along with " the Twins ", are the only recurring characters up-to-date to lack voice actors for The Matrix Online . Ghost
3887-657: A special metal called unobtainium. That same year, Terminator Salvation was released and garnered only moderate success. The 2010s saw new entries in several classic science fiction franchises, including Predators ( 2010 ), Tron: Legacy (2010), a resurgence of the Star Wars series, and entries into the Planet of the Apes and Godzilla franchises. Several more cross-genre films have also been produced, including comedies such as Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), Seeking
4056-467: A split-second before their demise, and then use their bodies for spare parts. Architect (The Matrix) This is a list of characters from The Matrix franchise universe. Many of the characters listed here have names reflecting certain aspects of them, such as their status, personality, or role. Apoc (played by Julian Arahanga ) is a crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar in The Matrix . He
4225-533: A threat or peril to the human race, where the invaders were frequently fictional representations of actual military or political threats on Earth as observed in films such as Mars Attacks! , Starship Troopers , the Alien series, the Predator series, and The Chronicles of Riddick series. Some aliens were represented as benign and even beneficial in nature in such films as Escape to Witch Mountain , E.T.
4394-581: A version of "Komit" featuring Davis' strings is used during a flying sequence, and "Burly Brawl" is essentially a combination of Davis' unused "Multiple Replication" and a piece similar to Juno Reactor's "Masters of the Universe". One of the collaborations, " Mona Lisa Overdrive ", is titled in reference to the cyberpunk novel of the same name by William Gibson , a major influence on the directors. Leitmotifs established in The Matrix return — such as
4563-484: Is a member of the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar . Unlike the mental projections of other crews, who usually wear dark clothes and nearly-opaque sunglasses, Switch wears white clothes and yellow, translucent sunglasses. Switch and Apoc are portrayed as front-line soldiers while inside the Matrix, acting as "point" and "rear guard" in their escape from the Agents and police and providing covering fire as they make their way into
4732-595: Is a popular scientific element in films as depicted in Jurassic Park (cloning of extinct species), The Island (cloning of humans), and ( genetic modification ) in some superhero movies and in the Alien series. Cybernetics and holographic projections as depicted in RoboCop and I, Robot are also popularized. Interstellar travel and teleportation is a popular theme in the Star Trek series that
4901-700: Is a popular theme in Independence Day while invisibility is also popular in Star Trek . Arc reactor technology, featured in Iron Man , is similar to a cold fusion device. Miniaturization technology where people are shrunk to microscopic sizes is featured in films like Fantastic Voyage (1966), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), and Marvel's Ant-Man (2015). The late Arthur C. Clarke 's third law states that "any sufficiently advanced technology
5070-485: Is able to sense the machines in the real world, and telepathically destroys them but falls into a coma from the effort. The crew are picked up by another ship, the Mjolnir . Its captain reveals that other ships defending Zion were wiped out by the machines after someone prematurely activated an EMP . Only one survivor was found: the Smith-possessed Bane. Zee was originally played by Aaliyah , who died in
5239-564: Is achieved through warp drives and transporters while intergalactic travel is popular in films such as Stargate and Star Wars that is achieved through hyperspace or wormholes . Nanotechnology is also featured in the Star Trek series in the form of replicators (utopia), in The Day the Earth Stood Still in the form of grey goo (dystopia), and in Iron Man 3 in the form of extremis (nanotubes) . Force fields
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5408-813: Is an exception. The first depiction of a sophisticated robot in a United States film was Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still . Robots in films are often sentient and sometimes sentimental, and they have filled a range of roles in science fiction films. Robots have been supporting characters, such as Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet , Huey, Dewey and Louie in Silent Running , Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation , sidekicks (e.g., C-3PO and R2-D2 from Star Wars , JARVIS from Iron Man ), and extras, visible in
5577-522: Is enraged when the Mjolnir (piloted by Niobe) miraculously arrives and sets off an EMP, disabling all machines, but also all of Zion's defenses. He then orders Zion to follow the backup plan, a bottlenecked last stand, which is ultimately unnecessary when Neo achieves a truce between the machines and humans. He is nicknamed "Deadbolt" by both Sparks and Captain Ballard, a reference to his uncompromising and abrasive nature. Maggie (played by Essie Davis )
5746-641: Is featured in Minority Report as well as in The Matrix saga (in which precognition is achieved by knowing the artificial world). Robots have been a part of science fiction since the Czech playwright Karel Čapek coined the word in 1921. In early films, robots were usually played by a human actor in a boxy metal suit, as in The Phantom Empire , although the female robot in Metropolis
5915-539: Is forced to retreat. Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity visit the Merovingian , who is imprisoning the Keymaker. The Merovingian, a rogue program with his own agenda, refuses to let him go. His wife Persephone , seeking revenge on her husband for his infidelity, leads the trio to the Keymaker. Morpheus, Trinity, and the Keymaker flee while Neo holds off the Merovingian's henchmen. Morpheus and Trinity try to escape with
6084-506: Is indistinguishable from magic". Past science fiction films have depicted "fictional" ("magical") technologies that became present reality. For example, the Personal Access Display Device from Star Trek was a precursor of smartphones and tablet computers . Gesture recognition in the movie Minority Report is part of current game consoles . Human-level artificial intelligence is also fast approaching with
6253-472: Is killed instantly by Cypher's lightning rifle. Mouse (played by Matt Doran ) is a crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar . In the film, Mouse is the youngest crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar and the programmer of the virtual reality training simulation program . One of his stand-out scenes occurs when he is discussing to Neo whether the Nebuchadnezzar ' s food tastes like "Tastee Wheat" (a brand of cereal , posters of which can be briefly seen in
6422-465: Is murdered by Cypher when the latter forcibly unplugs Apoc's connection to the Matrix in the real world, killing him instantly. Choi (played by Marc Gray) is assumedly a bluepill who appears in the first movie buying illegal software from Neo, for which Choi pays $ 2,000 in cash. Choi, his latex -clad girlfriend DuJour (played by Ada Nicodemou ), and several unnamed and unspeaking friends arrive at Neo's door after he had been mysteriously told to "follow
6591-463: Is overwritten by Smith in the Matrix, allowing Smith to take control of Bane in the real world. He attempts to assassinate Neo, but is foiled by the Kid. He later attempts to convince Captain Ballard to search for the Nebuchadnezzar , but is rebuffed. The Caduceus is then sent to the front lines to defend against the machines, where Bane pre-emptively detonates the EMP, disabling all hovercraft and enabling
6760-504: Is part of the Matrix and instructs Neo to reach its Source with the help of the Keymaker . As the Oracle departs, Smith appears, telling Neo that after being defeated by him, he became a rogue program . He demonstrates his ability to clone himself over other inhabitants of the Matrix, including the new upgraded Agents. He tries to take over Neo's body but fails, prompting a battle between Neo and many copies of Smith. Neo defends himself, but
6929-439: Is regarded as one of the best movies of the period, Planet of the Apes (1968) and Fahrenheit 451 ( 1966 ), which provided social commentary, and the campy Barbarella (1968), which explored the comical side of earlier science fiction. Jean-Luc Godard 's French "new wave" film Alphaville (1965) posited a futuristic Paris commanded by an artificial intelligence which has outlawed all emotion. The era of crewed trips to
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7098-539: Is remote telepresence via androids as depicted in Surrogates and Iron Man 3 . As artificial intelligence becomes smarter due to increasing computer power , some sci-fi dreams have already been realized. For example, the computer Deep Blue beat the world chess champion in 1997 and a documentary film, Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine , was released in 2003. Another famous computer called Watson defeated
7267-447: Is the Mjolnir' s doctor. She takes care of Bane after the Mjolnir find his unconscious body, unaware that Bane is possessed by Smith. She and Roland become suspicious of Bane/Smith after the latter states he remembers nothing from the ambush. Maggie attempts to administer a sedative at a later time to jog his memory, but is stabbed in the abdomen by Bane/Smith with her own scalpel, dying shortly afterwards. The Merovingian (also known as
7436-586: Is the widow of the Nebuchadnezzar 's former pilot Dozer . Ghost (played by Anthony Wong ) is the guns specialist of the Logos ship in the video game Enter the Matrix and the feature films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions . Ghost is described by the Wachowskis as an "ascetic Buddhist killer". A student of philosophy , he quotes and/or refers to Hume , William James , Nietzsche and especially Kierkegaard . Ghost's name may be
7605-410: Is uniquely golden when compared to the rest of the Matrix, which appears as green. The Merovingian and other denizens of Club Hel also note that Seraph is an exiled program formerly employed by the Merovingian, and The Matrix Online hints that he was once a Seraphim, the equivalent to Agents in a previous incarnation of the Matrix. Like other Seraphim, he had wings, which were burnt away when he betrayed
7774-525: Is whether robots will someday replace humans, a question raised in the film adaptation of Isaac Asimov 's I, Robot (in jobs) and in the film Real Steel (in sports), or whether intelligent robots could develop a conscience and a motivation to protect, take over, or destroy the human race (as depicted in The Terminator , Transformers , and in Avengers: Age of Ultron ). Another theme
7943-442: The Planet of the Apes series, Timeline (2003) and The Last Mimzy (2007), explained their depictions of time travel by drawing on physics concepts such as the special relativity phenomenon of time dilation (which could occur if a spaceship was travelling near the speed of light) and wormholes . Some films show time travel not being attained from advanced technology, but rather from an inner source or personal power, such as
8112-565: The Power Rangers (2017) reboot was greatly improved as compared to the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995). While "size does matter", a famous tagline of the movie Godzilla , incredibly small robots, called nanobots , do matter as well (e.g. Borg nanoprobes in Star Trek and nanites in I, Robot ). The concept of time travel —travelling backwards and forwards through time—has always been
8281-457: The Star Wars prequel trilogy , or the huge robot probes seen in Monsters vs. Aliens ). In some cases, robots have even been the leading characters in science fiction films; in the film Blade Runner (1982), many of the characters are bioengineered android " replicants ". This is also present in the animated films WALL-E (2008), Astro Boy (2009), Big Hero 6 (2014), Ghost in
8450-427: The Mjolnir' s EMP, saving Zion, and later tells Zee he will never take off the necklace. He also leads Zion's cheer after Neo achieves peace between humans and machines. By the time of The Matrix Resurrections sixty years later, Link is dead, as with everyone else who ever served aboard the same ship as Neo. Commander Jason Lock (played by Harry J. Lennix ) is the supreme commander of all military defense forces of
8619-558: The Mnemosyne' s medical officer, Ellster, reveals she is his granddaughter. Ellster also explains to Neo that Roland did not believe in him until Neo's final sacrifice, and in doing so, Neo had freed Roland's mind a second time. Seraph (portrayed by Collin Chou ) is described as the personification of a sophisticated challenge-handshake authentication protocol which guards the Oracle . As
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#17327824823178788-420: The Oracle . Within the Matrix, the lone ship's crew is encountered by the former Agent Smith , who copies himself over the body of crew member Bane and uses the phone line to leave the Matrix. In Zion, Morpheus announces the news of the advancing machines. The Nebuchadnezzar leaves Zion and enters the Matrix, where Neo meets the Oracle's bodyguard Seraph , who leads him to her. The Oracle reveals that she
8957-466: The Star Wars prequel trilogy began with the release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace , which eventually grossed over one billion dollars. As the decade progressed, computers played an increasingly important role in both the addition of special effects (thanks to Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park ) and the production of films. As software developed in sophistication it
9126-485: The Vigilant crew's mission. Zee (played by Nona Gaye ) is a native Zionite who experienced the pain of losing her brothers Dozer and Tank (from the original Matrix film), both of whom were killed while serving aboard the Nebuchadnezzar . She is Link's superstitious wife, and worries for him as the Nebuchadnezzar returns to Zion less frequently than other ships. She later joins the resistance and plays
9295-412: The Vigilant . As Operator, he remained at the console when the crews of the Vigilant , Nebuchadnezzar , and Logos assisted Neo with reaching the Source. Fellow Vigilant crewmate Axel stayed in the real world as well, owing to a broken leg. Axel stood guard, watching for any Sentinel attacks. He hobbles back to Jax soon after to inform him of an imminent attack, but the catwalk below him collapses from
9464-616: The Washington Monument . Cultural theorist Scott Bukatman has proposed that science fiction film allows contemporary culture to witness an expression of the sublime , be it through exaggerated scale, apocalypse or transcendence. Science fiction films appeared early in the silent film era, typically as short films shot in black and white, sometimes with colour tinting. They usually had a technological theme and were often intended to be humorous. In 1902 , Georges Méliès released Le Voyage dans la Lune , generally considered
9633-470: The Zion hovercraft Caduceus in the film The Matrix Reloaded and the video game Enter the Matrix . He is killed when Bane (possessed by Smith) pre-emptively detonates an EMP, leaving the human crewmembers defenseless against the machines. Bane (played by Ian Bliss ) is a crew member of the Zion hovercraft Caduceus in the films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions . His consciousness
9802-469: The cyberpunk genre spawned several movies on the theme of the computer-human interface, such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day ( 1991 ), Total Recall ( 1990 ), The Lawnmower Man ( 1992 ), and The Matrix ( 1999 ). Other themes included disaster films (e.g., Armageddon and Deep Impact , both 1998 ), alien invasion (e.g., Independence Day ( 1996 )) and genetic experimentation (e.g., Jurassic Park ( 1993 ) and Gattaca ( 1997 )). Also,
9971-452: The virtual reality world became a real-world prison for humanity, managed by intelligent machines. In movies such as eXistenZ , The Thirteenth Floor , and Inception , the nature of reality and virtual reality become intermixed with no clear distinguishing boundary. Telekinesis and telepathy are featured in movies like Star Wars , The Last Mimzy , Race to Witch Mountain , Chronicle , and Lucy while precognition
10140-827: The young adult dystopian fiction subgenre, popular in the early part of the decade. These include the Hunger Games film series , based on the trilogy of novels by Suzanne Collins , The Divergent Series based on Veronica Roth 's Divergent trilogy , and the Maze Runner series , based on James Dashner 's The Maze Runner novels . Several adult adaptations have also been produced, including The Martian (2015), based on Andy Weir 's 2011 novel , Cloud Atlas (2012), based on David Mitchell 's 2004 novel , World War Z , based on Max Brooks ' 2006 novel , and Ready Player One (2018), based on Ernest Cline 's 2011 novel . Independent productions also increased in
10309-412: The " mad scientist " transferring the human mind to another body is as old as Frankenstein while the idea of corporations behind mind transfer technologies is observed in later films such as Gamer , Avatar , and Surrogates . Films such as Total Recall have popularized a thread of films that explore the concept of reprogramming the human mind. The theme of brainwashing in several films of
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#173278248231710478-623: The 1950s, Ray Harryhausen , protege of master King Kong animator Willis O'Brien, used stop-motion animation to create special effects for the following notable science fiction films: It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957). The most successful monster movies were Japanese film studio Toho 's kaiju films directed by Ishirō Honda and featuring special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya . The 1954 film Godzilla , with
10647-476: The 1960s, but some of the films transformed science fiction cinema. Stanley Kubrick 's 2001: A Space Odyssey ( 1968 ) brought new realism to the genre, with its groundbreaking visual effects and realistic portrayal of space travel and influenced the genre with its epic story and transcendent philosophical scope. Other 1960s films included Planet of the Vampires (1965) by Italian filmmaker Mario Bava , that
10816-482: The 1970s included Woody Allen 's Sleeper ( 1973 ), and John Carpenter 's Dark Star ( 1974 ). The sports science fiction genre can be seen in films such as Rollerball (1975). Star Wars ( 1977 ) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind ( 1977 ) were box-office hits that brought about a huge increase in science fiction films. In 1979 , Star Trek: The Motion Picture brought the television series to
10985-408: The 1980s. Ridley Scott 's Blade Runner (1982), an adaptation of Philip K. Dick 's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? , examined what made an organic-creation a human, while the RoboCop series saw an android mechanism fitted with the brain and reprogrammed mind of a human to create a cyborg . The idea of brain transfer was not entirely new to science fiction film, as the concept of
11154-443: The 2000s-era films Donnie Darko , Mr. Nobody , The Butterfly Effect , and X-Men: Days of Future Past . More conventional time travel movies use technology to bring the past to life in the present, or in a present that lies in our future. The film Iceman (1984) told the story of the reanimation of a frozen Neanderthal . The film Freejack (1992) shows time travel used to pull victims of horrible deaths forward in time
11323-579: The 2010s, with the rise of digital filmmaking making it easier for filmmakers to produce movies on a smaller budget. These films include Attack the Block (2011), Source Code (2011), Looper (2012), Upstream Color (2013), Ex Machina (2015), and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017). In 2016, Ex Machina won the Academy Award for Visual Effects in a surprising upset over
11492-477: The Architect is emotionless, analytical, logical, and pragmatic. He generally views humanity and human emotion with contempt if not outright misanthropy. Originally, Sean Connery was offered the role but turned it down because he didn't understand the story. Axel (played by Leigh Whannell ) is a crew member of the Vigilant . When the crews of the Vigilant , Nebuchadnezzar , and Logos go to help Neo reach
11661-405: The Architect. Neo's vision of Trinity comes true as she is shot by Agent Thompson while falling off a building. Before she hits the ground, Neo arrives and catches her. He then removes the bullet from her chest and restarts her heart. They return to the real world, where Sentinels attack them. The Nebuchadnezzar is destroyed, but the crew escapes. As the Sentinels catch up to them, Neo realizes he
11830-579: The Burly Brawl, a scene in which Neo had to fight 100 Agent Smiths. To develop technologies for the film, Warner Bros. launched ESC Entertainment. The ESC team tried to figure out how to bring the Wachowskis' vision to the screen, but because bullet time required arrays of carefully aligned cameras and months of planning, even for a brief scene featuring two or three actors, a scene like the Burly Brawl seemed almost impossible as envisioned and could take years to composite. Eventually John Gaeta realized that
11999-623: The Christ the next year. For over a decade, The Matrix Reloaded held the record for being the highest-grossing R-rated film worldwide before Deadpool took it 13 years later. The film sold an estimated 46,695,900 tickets in North America. Following re-releases, the worldwide gross of the film is $ 741.8 million. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 74% based on 246 reviews, and an average score of 6.80/10. The site's critical consensus states: "Though its heady themes are
12168-515: The City of a Thousand Planets . More subtle visual clues can appear with changes of the human form through modifications in appearance, size, or behavior, or by means a known environment turned eerily alien, such as an empty city The Omega Man (1971). While science is a major element of this genre, many movie studios take significant liberties with scientific knowledge. Such liberties can be most readily observed in films that show spacecraft maneuvering in outer space . The vacuum should preclude
12337-539: The Clones to have the highest Thursday opening. It would hold this record for two years until it was taken by Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in 2005. Additionally, the film had the highest opening weekend for an R-rated film, overturning the previous record held by Hannibal . With a total gross of $ 146.9 million, The Matrix Reloaded held the record for having the biggest six-day opening until 2004, when it
12506-568: The Earth Stood Still , and The Watch , the aliens were nearly human in physical appearance, and communicated in a common earth language. However, the aliens in Stargate and Prometheus were human in physical appearance but communicated in an alien language. A few films have tried to represent intelligent aliens as something utterly different from the usual humanoid shape (e.g. An intelligent life form surrounding an entire planet in Solaris ,
12675-772: The Extra-Terrestrial , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , The Fifth Element , The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Avatar , Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets , and the Men in Black series. In order to provide subject matter to which audiences can relate, the large majority of intelligent alien races presented in films have an anthropomorphic nature, possessing human emotions and motivations. In films like Cocoon , My Stepmother Is an Alien , Species , Contact , The Box , Knowing , The Day
12844-789: The Frenchman) is a character in The Matrix Reloaded , The Matrix Revolutions and The Matrix Resurrections . He is portrayed by French actor Lambert Wilson in all three films and voiced by Robin Atkin Downes in The Matrix: Path of Neo . He also played a prominent role in The Matrix Online role-playing game. According to the Oracle, he is one of the oldest programs in the Matrix, and he himself states that he has survived multiple incarnations of
13013-401: The Keymaker, pursued by several Agents and the Merovingian's chief henchmen, the Twins . After a long chase, Trinity escapes, Morpheus defeats the Twins, and Neo saves Morpheus and the Keymaker from Agent Johnson. The crews of the Nebuchadnezzar , Vigilant , and Logos help the Keymaker and Neo reach the Source. The Logos crew must destroy a power plant and the Vigilant crew must disable
13182-401: The Machine and Marilyn Manson , had also appeared on the soundtrack for The Matrix . Rob Dougan also re-contributed, licensing the instrumental version of " Furious Angels ", as well as being commissioned to provide an original track, ultimately scoring the battle in the Merovingian's chateau. A remixed version of " Slap It " by electronic artist Fluke — listed on the soundtrack as "Zion" —
13351-434: The Matrix and confrontations with previous Ones. He and his wife Persephone operate a smuggling ring providing a haven for other exiled programs. He is subtly rude, quite arrogant, and certain that causality is the only real truth of the Matrix (as opposed to choice, which the Oracle believes), despite the fact that previous iterations of the Matrix failed because of a lack of choice given to its bluepill inhabitants. He despises
13520-568: The Matrix main theme, Neo and Trinity's love theme, the Sentinel's theme, Neo's flying theme, and a more frequent use of the four-note Agent Smith theme — and others used in Revolutions are established. As with its predecessor, many tracks by external musicians are featured in the movie, its closing credits, and the soundtrack album, some of which were written for the film. Many of the musicians featured, for example Rob Zombie , Rage Against
13689-417: The Matrix to assist Neo in reaching the Source, but is immediately killed alongside them when the Vigilant is destroyed by Sentinels in the real world. This forces Trinity to enter the Matrix and complete the Vigilant crew's mission. The twins (portrayed by identical twins Neil and Adrian Rayment), are henchmen of the Merovingian. They are believed to be older versions of Agents from a previous iteration of
13858-416: The Matrix, before they became "Exiles", or rogue programs. Vector (played by Don Anjaya Battee) is a crew member of the Vigilant . He, Binary, and Soren attack a backup power generator for the local power plant in the Matrix to assist Neo in reaching the Source, but are all immediately killed when the Vigilant is destroyed by Sentinels in the real world. This forces Trinity to enter the Matrix and complete
14027-405: The Matrix. Tank (and his brother Dozer) is unable to enter the Matrix, as he was born in Zion, and therefore without the mechanical ports which machine-bred humans such as Neo or Morpheus have. After Cypher betrays the crew, Tank becomes his first attempted victim in the real world. Cypher blasts an unaware Tank from behind with a lightning rifle, gravely injuring him. He then takes Tank's place in
14196-419: The Merovingian. Nevertheless, Seraph remains one of the most powerful entities in the Matrix, being capable of defeating or stalemating all opponents with no apparent injury other than Smith, whom he claims he had defeated before. The role was initially offered to Michelle Yeoh , but she declined due to a scheduling conflict. The character was changed to a male, with Jet Li being offered a role. As Li declined
14365-739: The Moon in 1969 and the 1970s saw a resurgence of interest in the science fiction film. Andrei Tarkovsky 's Solaris ( 1972 ) and Stalker ( 1979 ) are two widely acclaimed examples of the renewed interest of film auteurs in science fiction. Science fiction films from the early 1970s explored the theme of paranoia, in which humanity is depicted as under threat from sociological, ecological or technological adversaries of its own creation, such as George Lucas 's directional debut THX 1138 ( 1971 ), The Andromeda Strain ( 1971 ), Silent Running ( 1972 ), Soylent Green ( 1973 ), Westworld ( 1973 ) and its sequel Futureworld ( 1976 ), and Logan's Run ( 1976 ). The science fiction comedies of
14534-466: The Operator's chair after murdering Dozer, taunting Neo and Trinity as he "unplugs" Apoc and Switch. As Cypher is about to unplug Neo, Tank recovers enough from his injuries to stand up and kill Cypher with the lightning rifle. He then rescues Neo and Trinity, providing them weapons and valuable information needed in the film's climax. Tank dies after the events in The Matrix but before the events in
14703-403: The Oracle, asking Trinity to bring him "the eyes of the Oracle" as payment for freeing Neo from Mobil Avenue. He is also cynical and hedonistic, viewing love as an emotion equal to insanity, frequently committing adultery, and generally being pompous to all those around him. By the time of The Matrix Resurrections , the Merovingian is shown to have lost much of his power, prestige and sanity over
14872-403: The Oracle. He later accompanies Morpheus and Trinity to Club Hel and successfully convinces the Merovingian and Trainman into releasing Neo from Mobil Avenue. He then guards Sati, but is unable to stop the rapidly multiplying Smiths from assimilating both of them. He is set free after Neo reloads the Matrix. He appears again in The Matrix Online , protecting the Oracle. Seraph's code appearance
15041-584: The Pole (1912), Himmelskibet (1918; which with its runtime of 97 minutes generally is considered the first feature-length science fiction film in history), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Mechanical Man (1921), Paris Qui Dort (1923), Aelita (1924), Luch Smerti (1925), and The Lost World (1925). In the 1930s, there were several big budget science fiction films, notably Just Imagine (1930), King Kong (1933), Things to Come (1936), and Lost Horizon (1937). Starting in 1936,
15210-502: The Sea ( 1916 ) is a film based on Jules Verne ’s famous novel of a wondrous submarine and its vengeful captain. In the 1920s, European filmmakers tended to use science fiction for prediction and social commentary, as can be seen in German films such as Metropolis ( 1927 ) and Frau im Mond ( 1929 ). Other notable science fiction films of the silent era include The Impossible Voyage (1904), The Motorist (1906), The Conquest of
15379-530: The Shell (2017) and in Next Gen (2018). Films like Bicentennial Man , A.I. Artificial Intelligence , Chappie , and Ex Machina depicted the emotional fallouts of robots that are self-aware. Other films like The Animatrix (The Second Renaissance) present the consequences of mass-producing self-aware androids as humanity succumbs to their robot overlords. One popular theme in science fiction film
15548-1076: The Shell (2017). The superhero film boom has also continued, into films such as Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013), several entries into the X-Men film series , and The Avengers (2012), which became the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time. New franchises such as Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy also began in this decade. Further into the decade, more realistic science fiction epic films also become prevalent, including Battleship (2012), Gravity (2013), Elysium (2013), Interstellar ( 2014 ), Mad Max: Fury Road ( 2015 ), The Martian ( 2015 ), Arrival ( 2016 ), Passengers (2016), and Blade Runner 2049 ( 2017 ). Many of these films have gained widespread accolades, including several Academy Award wins and nominations. These films have addressed recent matters of scientific interest, including space travel, climate change, and artificial intelligence. Alongside these original films, many adaptations were produced, especially within
15717-410: The Source, Axel is the only non-Operator human other than Trinity to not enter the Matrix, owing to a broken leg. Instead, he stands guard, watching for any Sentinel attacks. He hobbles back to Jax soon after to inform him of an imminent attack, but the catwalk below him collapses from the weight of his leg brace, and Axel falls to his death. Captain Ballard (played by Roy Jones Jr. ), is the captain of
15886-580: The Source, the Smiths ambush them. The Keymaker is killed after unlocking the door to the Source for Neo. Neo meets a program called the Architect , the creator of the Matrix, who explains that as the One, Neo is himself an intentional part of the design of the Matrix, which is now in its sixth iteration. Neo is meant to stop the Matrix's fatal system crash that naturally recurs due to humans' free will, leading to
16055-658: The United Kingdom, the film topped the box office for four weeks until it was overtaken by 2 Fast 2 Furious . The film ultimately grossed $ 281.6 million in the US, and $ 739.4 million worldwide, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 2003 , after Finding Nemo and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King . It would have the highest domestic gross for an R-rated film until it was taken by The Passion of
16224-697: The World (1934), Mad Love (1935), Trans-Atlantic Tunnel (1935), The Devil-Doll (1936), The Invisible Ray (1936), The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936), The Walking Dead (1936), Non-Stop New York (1937), and The Return of Doctor X (1939). The 1940s brought us Before I Hang (1940), Black Friday (1940), Dr. Cyclops (1940), The Devil Commands (1941), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), Man Made Monster (1941), It Happened Tomorrow (1944), It Happens Every Spring (1949), and The Perfect Woman (1949). The release of Destination Moon (1950) and Rocketship X-M (1950) brought us to what many people consider "the golden age of
16393-776: The Worlds (1953), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), This Island Earth (1955), Forbidden Planet (1956), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) and On the Beach (1959). There is often a close connection between films in the science fiction genre and the so-called " monster movie ". Examples of this are Them! (1954), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and The Blob (1958). During
16562-534: The advent of smartphone A.I. while a working cloaking device / material is the main goal of stealth technology . Autonomous cars (e.g. KITT from the Knight Rider series) and quantum computers , like in the movie Stealth and Transcendence , also will be available eventually. Furthermore, although Clarke's laws do not classify "sufficiently advanced" technologies , the Kardashev scale measures
16731-576: The background to create a futuristic setting (e.g., Back to the Future Part II (1989), Total Recall (2012), RoboCop (2014)). As well, robots have been formidable movie villains or monsters (e.g., the robot Box in the film Logan's Run (1976), HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey , ARIIA in Eagle Eye , robot Sentinels in X-Men: Days of Future Past , the battle droids in
16900-691: The ball shaped creature in Dark Star , microbial-like creatures in The Invasion , shape-shifting creatures in Evolution ). Recent trends in films involve building-size alien creatures like in the movie Pacific Rim where the CGI has tremendously improved over the previous decades as compared in previous films such as Godzilla . A frequent theme among science fiction films is that of impending or actual disaster on an epic scale. These often address
17069-708: The big screen for the first time. It was also in this period that the Walt Disney Company released many science fiction films for family audiences such as The Black Hole , Flight of the Navigator , and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids . The sequels to Star Wars , The Empire Strikes Back ( 1980 ) and Return of the Jedi ( 1983 ), also saw worldwide box office success. Ridley Scott 's films, such as Alien ( 1979 ) and Blade Runner ( 1982 ), along with James Cameron 's The Terminator ( 1984 ), presented
17238-469: The cars in their start position would take too long". General Motors was hired to donate over 300 cars to be used during production, destroying them for the sake of creating art. MythBusters would later reuse the Alameda location in order to explore the effects of a head-on collision between two semi trucks, and to perform various other experiments. It took 27 days to film the Burly Brawl sequence, which
17407-525: The cast. The film premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California , and had its worldwide release by Warner Bros. Pictures on May 15, 2003, including a screening out of competition at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival . The video game Enter the Matrix and The Animatrix , a collection of short animations, supported and expanded the film's story. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, although most felt it inferior to
17576-540: The electronic band Röyksopp to create the soundtrack, but this offer was turned down. The Matrix Reloaded earned an estimated $ 5 million during Wednesday night previews in the United States and Canada. It grossed $ 37.5 million on its Thursday opening day from 3,603 theaters, which was the second-highest opening day after Spider-Man ' s $ 39.4 million. The film earned $ 91.7 million during its opening weekend and $ 134.3 million in its first four days, including
17745-435: The ensuing battle. Binary (played by Tahei Simpson) is a crew member of the Vigilant . She, Vector, and Soren attack a backup power generator for the local power plant in the Matrix to assist Neo in reaching the Source, but are all immediately killed when the Vigilant is destroyed by Sentinels in the real world. This forces Trinity to enter the Matrix and complete the Vigilant crew's mission. Cas (played by Gina Torres )
17914-427: The equations" of the Matrix while she unbalances them. The character first appears in The Matrix Reloaded when Neo encounters him while looking for The Source. The Architect tells Neo that he must choose between saving the Matrix and saving Trinity. After Neo chooses the latter and surrenders himself to the machines to reload the Matrix, the Architect tells the Oracle that he will honor the truce. As expected from an AI,
18083-557: The film ), but is killed by the police. Neo (born as Thomas A. Anderson, also known as The One, an anagram for "Neo") is the protagonist of the Matrix franchise . He was portrayed as a cybercriminal and computer programmer by Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Trilogy , as well as having a cameo in The Animatrix short film Kid's Story . Andrew Bowen provided Neo's voice in The Matrix: Path of Neo . In 2008, Neo
18252-463: The film carries a profound message - that the evolution of a species toward technological perfection (in this case exemplified by the disappeared alien civilization called the "Krell") does not ensure the loss of primitive and dangerous urges. In the film, this part of the primitive mind manifests itself as monstrous destructive force emanating from the Freudian subconscious, or "Id". Some films blur
18421-642: The film scored the highest international opening weekend, breaking the previous record held by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers . In Japan, it had the biggest opening of any film in the country, earning $ 11.5 million and smashing the previous record held by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . There were other opening records in Russia and South Korea. The Japan and South Korea opening records were both given to Spider-Man 3 in 2007. In
18590-429: The film, giving it three and a half stars out of four. He described it as "an immensely skillful sci-fi adventure, combining the usual elements: heroes and villains, special effects and stunts, chases and explosions, romance and oratory" and praised the fact that "it develops its world with more detail than the first movie was able to afford, gives us our first glimpse of the underground human city of Zion, burrows closer to
18759-423: The film, he regrets being "unplugged" and entering the real world. He betrays the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar , offering to give up Morpheus to the Agents in exchange for being inserted back into the Matrix with no memory of his time outside the Matrix. In the climax of the film, after the visit to the Oracle, he exits the Matrix and murders members of the crew by leading Mouse into a trap, blasting Dozer and Tank with
18928-574: The filming of the second sequel, Revolutions and the live-action footage for the Enter the Matrix video game. The freeway chase and "Burly Brawl" scenes were filmed at the decommissioned Naval Air Station Alameda in Alameda, California . The producers constructed a 1.5-mile freeway on the old runways specifically for the film. Some portions of the chase were also filmed in Oakland, California , and
19097-564: The films were often well-photographed in colour ... and their dismal dialogue was delivered in well-designed and well-lit sets." With the Space Race between the USSR and the US going on, documentaries and illustrations of actual events, pioneers and technology were plenty. Any movie featuring realistic space travel was at risk of being obsolete at its time of release, rather fossil than fiction. There were relatively few science fiction films in
19266-400: The first film. It grossed $ 741.8 million worldwide, breaking Terminator 2: Judgment Day ' s record for becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, until Deadpool surpassed it in 2016. In addition, it was the third-highest-grossing film of 2003 , behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Finding Nemo . A direct sequel titled The Matrix Revolutions
19435-440: The first science fiction film, and a film that used early trick photography to depict a spacecraft's journey to the Moon. Several early films merged the science fiction and horror genres. Examples of this are Frankenstein ( 1910 ), a film adaptation of Mary Shelley 's novel, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), based on the psychological tale by Robert Louis Stevenson . Taking a more adventurous tack, 20,000 Leagues Under
19604-885: The future as dark, dirty and chaotic, and depicted aliens and androids as hostile and dangerous. In contrast, Steven Spielberg 's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ( 1982 ), one of the most successful films of the 1980s, presented aliens as benign and friendly, a theme already present in Spielberg's own Close Encounters of the Third Kind . James Bond also entered the science fiction genre in 1979 with Moonraker . The big budget adaptations of Frank Herbert 's Dune and Alex Raymond 's Flash Gordon , as well as Peter Hyams 's sequel to 2001 , 2010: The Year We Make Contact (based on 2001 author Arthur C. Clarke 's sequel novel 2010: Odyssey Two ), were box office failures that dissuaded producers from investing in science fiction literary properties. Disney's Tron ( 1982 ) turned out to be
19773-421: The genre. In the monster films of the 1950s, the scientist often played a heroic role as the only person who could provide a technological fix for some impending doom. Reflecting the distrust of government that began in the 1960s in the United States, the brilliant but rebellious scientist became a common theme, often serving a Cassandra -like role during an impending disaster. Biotechnology (e.g., cloning )
19942-442: The heart of the secret of the Matrix, and promotes its hero, Neo, from confused draftee to a Christ figure in training." He also compared the choreography of the "Burly Brawl" fight to that of Yuen Woo-ping in the 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , and called the scene "one of the three great set pieces in the movie" (along with Morpheus' announcement to the people of Zion and the freeway chase). Negative comments included
20111-563: The human city Zion . His character appears in The Matrix Reloaded , Enter the Matrix , and The Matrix Revolutions . He was born naturally in Zion and cannot enter the Matrix, nor is he familiar with it. Therefore, he has a practical mind dedicated to defending Zion and keeping its location a secret. Lock is in a relationship with Niobe, who was previously in a relationship with Morpheus. Lock also finds Morpheus's faith in Neo and
20280-490: The human fleet) through a cramped maintenance shaft to save time, but eventually relents and mans the guns with everyone else during the journey back to Zion. The Mjolnir arrives in Zion just in time to detonate a critical EMP, and Roland, along with everyone else, is overjoyed when it is revealed Neo has achieved peace between humans and machines. Roland does not appear in The Matrix Resurrections , but
20449-464: The idea of reprogrammable reality and memory. The idea that a human could be entirely represented as a program in a computer was a core element of the film Tron . This would be further explored in the film version of The Lawnmower Man , Transcendence , and Ready Player One and the idea reversed in Virtuosity as computer programs sought to become real persons. In The Matrix series,
20618-560: The industry. The Matrix Reloaded and Finding Nemo both teamed up with Bruce Almighty , X2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl to become the first five films to make $ 200 million at the box office in a single summer season. This was also the fourth R-rated film to cross that mark, just after Beverly Hills Cop , Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Saving Private Ryan . It would remain as
20787-399: The line between the genres, such as films where the protagonist gains the extraordinary powers of the superhero . These films usually employ quasi-plausible reason for the hero gaining these powers. Not all science fiction themes are equally suitable for movies. Science fiction horror is most common. Often enough, these films could just as well pass as Westerns or World War II films if
20956-425: The machines to massacre everyone. Bane/Smith is the only survivor and is found unconscious by the Mjolnir . He then kills Maggie and stows aboard the Logos just before Neo and Trinity depart for the machine city. He holds Trinity hostage and fights Neo, blinding the latter by cauterizing Neo's eyes. Despite this, Neo's real-world powers revealed that he could still see auras of all machines, and he kills Bane/Smith in
21125-458: The much higher-budget Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). Science fiction films are often speculative in nature, and often include key supporting elements of science and technology. However, as often as not the "science" in a Hollywood science fiction movie can be considered pseudo-science, relying primarily on atmosphere and quasi-scientific artistic fancy than facts and conventional scientific theory. The definition can also vary depending on
21294-540: The previews. This made it not only the second-highest opening weekend of all time, but also the biggest opening weekend for any Warner Bros. film, beating Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone . For six years, the film would hold the record for having the largest number of screenings for an R-rated film until the opening of Watchmen in March 2009. The Matrix Reloaded also surpassed Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of
21463-456: The prophecy of the One irrational, and is frequently at odds with him and others who also believe in the prophecy. After the Council asks two ships to search for the Nebuchadnezzar , Lock states that he finds it difficult to believe anyone would volunteer for such a daring mission, Niobe volunteers out of spite from being patronized. He continues leading the defense during the battle of Zion, but
21632-480: The quality and intensity of its action sequences, and its intelligence. Tony Toscano of Talking Pictures had high praise for the film, saying that "its character development and writing...is so crisp it crackles on the screen" and that " Matrix Reloaded re-establishes the genre and even raises the bar a notch or two" above the first film, The Matrix . Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times also commended
21801-457: The reflectance of the human face and Borshukov's work was strongly based on the findings of Debevec et al. They developed "Universal Capture", a process which samples and stores facial details and expressions at high resolution, then capture expressions from Reeves and Weaving using dense capture and multi-camera setup (similar to the bullet time rig) photogrammetric capture technique called optical flow . The algorithm for Universal Capture
21970-473: The release of Transformers (2007) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), both of which resulted in worldwide box office success. In 2009, James Cameron 's Avatar garnered worldwide box office success, and would later become the highest-grossing movie of all time. This movie was also an example of political commentary. It depicted humans destroying the environment on another planet by mining for
22139-586: The repetitions of the Korova Milkbar make the alien decor seem more familiar. As well, familiar images become alien, as in the films Repo Man and Liquid Sky . For example, in Dr. Strangelove , the distortion of the humans make the familiar images seem more alien. Finally, alien images are juxtaposed with the familiar, as in The Deadly Mantis , when a giant praying mantis is shown climbing
22308-482: The rest of the film: "I know. This never happened. You don't exist", "You need to unplug", and "Hallelujah. You're my savior, man. My own personal Jesus Christ." These names would appear to be inspired by French language ; "Choi" and "DuJour" resembles the French phrase " Choix du jour ", meaning "Choice of the day". Mr. Reagan ( a.k.a. Cypher) (played by Joe Pantoliano ) is a central character in The Matrix . In
22477-483: The role, Chou signed on. Soren (played by Steve Bastoni ) is the captain of the Vigilant . He is the first captain to volunteer to help find the Nebuchadnezzar, and is seen conversing with Morpheus when all the captains meet, implying they are either friends, Soren is a believer in the prophecy of the One, or both. He leads Binary and Vector in an attack on a backup power generator for the local power plant in
22646-694: The science fiction film genre was taken more seriously. In the late 1970s, big-budget science fiction films filled with special effects became popular with audiences after the success of Star Wars (1977) and paved the way for the blockbuster hits of subsequent decades. Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identifies science fiction films as one of eleven super-genres in his screenwriters’ taxonomy , stating that all feature-length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres. The other ten super-genres are action , crime , fantasy , horror , romance , slice of life , sports , thriller , war , and western . According to Vivian Sobchack ,
22815-403: The science fiction film". In the 1950s, public interest in space travel and new technologies was great. While many 1950s science fiction films were low-budget B movies , there were several successful films with larger budgets and impressive special effects. These include The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Thing from Another World (1951), When Worlds Collide (1951), The War of
22984-429: The science fiction props were removed. Common motifs also include voyages and expeditions to other planets, and dystopias , while utopias are rare. Film theorist Vivian Sobchack argues that science fiction films differ from fantasy films in that while science fiction film seeks to achieve our belief in the images we are viewing, fantasy film instead attempts to suspend our disbelief. The science fiction film displays
23153-463: The scientist has varied considerably in the science fiction film genre, depending on the public perception of science and advanced technology. Starting with Dr. Frankenstein , the mad scientist became a stock character who posed a dire threat to society and perhaps even civilization. Certain portrayals of the "mad scientist", such as Peter Sellers 's performance in Dr. Strangelove , have become iconic to
23322-484: The sentiment that the plot was alienating, with some critics regarding the focus on the action as a detriment to the film's human elements. Some critics thought that the number of scenes with expository dialogue worked against the film, and the many unresolved subplots, as well as the cliffhanger ending, were also criticized. Other criticisms included the film's perceived lack of pacing. Entertainment Weekly named it as one of "The 25 Worst Sequels Ever Made". The film
23491-574: The sequel, The Matrix Reloaded . The character's duties as ship's Operator are handed over to Link , who is married to Tank and Dozer's sister, Zee . The demise of the character was reportedly due to actor Marcus Chong's salary demands and conflicts with the Wachowskis , the writers and creators of the Matrix series, leading to his removal. Portrayed by Helmut Bakaitis . He is the "father" of The Matrix and its predecessors, and an exceptionally powerful AI. The Oracle states that he tries to "balance
23660-401: The sewers. Switch's weapon of choice is a Browning Hi-Power pistol. Switch also pokes fun at Mouse , calling him "the digital pimp". Switch is killed when her mind is forcibly pulled from the Matrix by Cypher , who betrayed the crew in an attempt to return to the Matrix as a permanent resident himself. The character was supposedly originally meant to be a feminine character in the Matrix and
23829-546: The ship's pilot and operator for the crew of the Zion hovercraft Nebuchadnezzar , replacing Tank and Dozer. He is a man with questionable faith in those around him, as Morpheus is far more daring than any other captain he previously served under, and is not a believer in his wife's superstitions, initially refusing to wear her fortune necklace. However, by the end of The Matrix Revolutions , he appears much more confident in those around him. He wears Zee's fortune necklace (saying "it can't hurt" at first) as he personally detonates
23998-437: The side of empiricism, and happy films and sad films on the side of transcendentalism. However, there are numerous well-known examples of science fiction horror films, epitomized by such pictures as Frankenstein and Alien . The visual style of science fiction film is characterized by a clash between alien and familiar images. This clash is implemented when alien images become familiar, as in A Clockwork Orange , when
24167-500: The sixties and seventies including A Clockwork Orange and The Manchurian Candidate coincided with secret real-life government experimentation during Project MKULTRA . Voluntary erasure of memory is further explored as themes of the films Paycheck and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . Some films like Limitless explore the concept of mind enhancement. The anime series Serial Experiments Lain also explores
24336-524: The sixty years that have passed since the end of the Machine War. Captain Mifune ( Nathaniel Lees ) is the head of Zion 's Armored Personnel Unit (APU) corps. He is one of the last APUs standing, but is killed when a massive amount of Sentinels swarm and maim him. Roland (played by David Roberts ) is the captain of the hovercraft Mjolnir . He appears in the feature films Reloaded , Revolutions and
24505-525: The technology he and his crew had developed for The Matrix ' s bullet time was no longer sufficient and concluded they needed a virtual camera (in other words, a simulation of a camera). Having before used real photographs of buildings as texture for 3D models in The Matrix , the team started digitizing all data, such as scenes, characters' motions, or even the reflectivity of Neo's cassock . The reflectivity of objects needs to be captured and simulated adequately and Paul Debevec et al. captured
24674-640: The title monster attacking Tokyo, gained immense popularity, spawned multiple sequels, led to other kaiju films like Rodan , and created one of the most recognizable monsters in cinema history. Japanese science fiction films, particularly the tokusatsu and kaiju genres, were known for their extensive use of special effects , and gained worldwide popularity in the 1950s. Kaiju and tokusatsu films, notably Warning from Space (1956), sparked Stanley Kubrick 's interest in science fiction films and influenced 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). According to his biographer John Baxter , despite their "clumsy model sequences,
24843-600: The train stations shown in The Matrix Revolutions ), and adds to the theme of subjective reality by suggesting that the flavor associated with both is not the 'true' flavor, but the Machines' error. He is the creator of the program Woman in the Red Dress , which is used as a distraction in part of Neo 's training. He is a very eager young man, excited to see the possibility that Neo could be the one to end
25012-649: The transmission of sound or maneuvers employing wings, yet the soundtrack is filled with inappropriate flying noises and changes in flight path resembling an aircraft banking. The filmmakers, unfamiliar with the specifics of space travel , focus instead on providing acoustical atmosphere and the more familiar maneuvers of the aircraft. Similar instances of ignoring science in favor of art can be seen when movies present environmental effects as portrayed in Star Wars and Star Trek . Entire planets are destroyed in titanic explosions requiring mere seconds, whereas an actual event of this nature takes many hours. The role of
25181-477: The tunnel shown briefly is the Webster Tube , which connects Oakland and Alameda. Some post-production editing was also done in old aircraft hangars on the base. The city of Akron, Ohio was willing to give full access to Route 59 , the stretch of freeway known as the "Innerbelt", for filming of the freeway chase when it was under consideration. However, producers decided against this as "the time to reset all
25350-460: The two best human Jeopardy (game show) players in 2011 and a NOVA documentary film, Smartest Machine on Earth , was released in the same year. Building-size robots are also becoming a popular theme in movies as featured in Pacific Rim . Future live action films may include an adaptation of popular television series like Voltron and Robotech . The CGI robots of Pacific Rim and
25519-535: The unfamiliar and alien in the context of the familiar. Despite the alien nature of the scenes and science fictional elements of the setting, the imagery of the film is related back to humankind and how we relate to our surroundings. While the science fiction film strives to push the boundaries of the human experience, they remain bound to the conditions and understanding of the audience and thereby contain prosaic aspects, rather than being completely alien or abstract. Genre films such as westerns or war movies are bound to
25688-438: The use of still camera arrays or, in some scenes, cameras altogether. The ESC team rendered the final effects using the program Mental Ray . Don Davis , who composed for The Matrix , returned to score Reloaded . For many of the pivotal action sequences, such as the "Burly Brawl", he collaborated with Juno Reactor . Some of the collaborative cues by Davis and Juno Reactor are extensions of material by Juno Reactor; for example,
25857-439: The video games Enter The Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo . He is an older, hard-boiled captain who is initially skeptical of Neo and the One. He later welcomes the crews of the Nebuchadnezzar and Logos aboard on the way to Zion, as the former was destroyed and Niobe gives the latter to Neo and Trinity to reach the machine city. Roland initially flat-out rejects Niobe's plan to fly the Mjolnir (the largest hovercraft in
26026-444: The viewpoint of the observer. Many science fiction films include elements of mysticism, occult , magic, or the supernatural , considered by some to be more properly elements of fantasy or the occult (or religious) film. This transforms the movie genre into a science fantasy with a religious or quasi-religious philosophy serving as the driving motivation. The movie Forbidden Planet employs many common science fiction elements, but
26195-417: The war. He also offers Woman in the Red Dress in a private session to Neo saying, "To deny our impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human". Mouse is the first victim of Cypher 's betrayal of the crew. As Agent-led SWAT team members storm the building used by Neo and the others as an entry/exit point, Mouse attempts to stop their initial approach wielding dual automatic shotguns (custom made for
26364-534: The weight of his leg brace, and Axel falls to his death, while a piece of the broken catwalk impales Jax through his chair, killing him. His death prevents him from warning Soren, Vector, and Binary of the imminent Sentinel attack, and all three perish shortly afterwards when the Vigilant is destroyed. Michael Karl Popper ( a.k.a. The Kid), played by Clayton Watson , a Zion-dwelling self-substantiated exile, appears in The Matrix Reloaded , The Matrix Revolutions , and The Animatrix short, " Kid's Story ". Once
26533-458: The white rabbit" through his computer . When Neo notices that Dujour has a tattoo of a white rabbit on the back of her left shoulder, he accepts their offer to go with them to a goth club, where he is approached by Trinity. Going to the club and subsequently waking up late for work the following day set the stage for the rest of the film, though Choi, Dujour, and their friends are never seen or alluded to again. Much of Choi's dialogue foreshadows
26702-563: The year's top-grossing film until Finding Nemo overtook it in July. Internationally, The Matrix Reloaded opened in 13 territories, including Australia and France, and grossed $ 37.5 million in its first week. It expanded to most international territories (62) the following weekend, except Japan and India, and became the first movie to earn more than $ 100 million outside the U.S. in one weekend, taking its overseas total to $ 176 million and worldwide total to $ 385 million. Grossing over $ 113.2 million,
26871-434: Was combined with motion capture and CGI . This would become one of the most expensive action scenes, costing $ 40 million to make. Around 97% of the materials from the sets of the film were recycled after production was completed; for example, tons of wood were sent to Mexico to build low-income housing . Following the success of the previous film, the Wachowskis came up with extremely difficult action sequences, such as
27040-420: Was completed (although it was later continued, but at the time it was not intended to be) with the darkly themed Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith . Science-fiction also returned as a tool for political commentary in films such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence , Minority Report , Sunshine , District 9 , Children of Men , Serenity , Sleep Dealer , and Pandorum . The 2000s also saw
27209-510: Was initially banned in Egypt because of the violent content and because it put into question issues about human creation, "which are related to the three divine religions." The Matrix Reloaded was released on VHS and DVD on October 14, 2003. On the first day release, the DVD release sold over 4 million units. A Blu-ray release followed on September 7, 2010. The Matrix Reloaded was released as
27378-514: Was released six months later on November 5, 2003. Six months after the events of The Matrix , Neo and Trinity are now romantically involved. Morpheus receives a message from Captain Niobe of the Logos calling an emergency meeting of all ships of Zion . An army of Sentinels is tunneling towards Zion and will reach it within 72 hours. Commander Lock orders all ships to return to Zion to prepare, but Morpheus asks one ship to remain to contact
27547-526: Was selected by Empire as the 68th Greatest Movie Character of All Time. Neo is also an anagram of "one", a reference to his destiny of being The One who would bring peace. There are claims that a nightclub in Chicago inspired the name of the character in the Matrix. Neo is considered to be a superhero . Mr. Rhineheart (played by David Aston ) is Thomas Anderson 's boss at the software company Metacortex . Switch (played by Belinda McClory )
27716-400: Was surpassed by Spider-Man 2 . The film held the number one spot during its opening weekend, taking the position from X2 . This would be handed to Bruce Almighty , which would be later dethroned by Finding Nemo . The opening weekend represented roughly 60% of that weekend's box-office tally, but some box-office prognosticators noted it fell short of lofty expectations set by some in
27885-467: Was the first to encounter "Trinity" inside the Matrix after her death, although it was not made clear whether this Trinity was 'real' or a simulation. Councillor Hamann (played by Anthony Zerbe ) is a senior member of the Zion Council. He is supportive of Neo even though, by his own admission, he does not understand the nature of Neo's abilities. Jax (played by Socratis Otto ) is the operator of
28054-454: Was used during the rave scene. Linkin Park contributed their instrumental song "Session" to the film as well, although it did not appear during the course of the film. P.O.D. composed a song called " Sleeping Awake ", with a music video which focused heavily on Neo, as well as many images that were part of the film. Both songs played during the film's credits. It was originally planned for
28223-403: Was used to produce more complicated effects. It also enabled filmmakers to enhance the visual quality of animation, resulting in films such as Ghost in the Shell (1995) from Japan, and The Iron Giant (1999) from the United States. During the first decade of the 2000s, superhero films abounded, as did earthbound science fiction such as the Matrix trilogy. In 2005 , the Star Wars saga
28392-534: Was very different from the original film, falling more into the action/science fiction genre, it was both a critical and commercial success and Sigourney Weaver was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards . The Japanese cyberpunk anime film Akira ( 1988 ) also had a big influence outside Japan when released. In the 1990s, the emergence of the World Wide Web and
28561-465: Was written by George Borshukov, visual effects lead at ESC, who had also created the photo-realistic buildings for the visual effects in The Matrix . With this collected wealth of data and the right algorithms, they finally were able to create virtual cinematography in which characters, locations, and events can all be created digitally and viewed through virtual cameras, eliminating the restrictions of real cameras, years of compositing data, and replacing
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