Audio Video News

If you follow up a great sci-fi movie with two increasingly inferior sequels, how do you keep selling all three titles? You bundle all of them together so no one can skip out on the sequels, of course! OK, I know I'm being cynical. I love The Matrix and am as excited as the next to snatch this title up on HD DVD when it hits stores on May 22nd. And I'll even go so far as to say that I thought its sequel, Matrix Reloaded had some cool fight sequences and stunts. But I wouldn't watch the incomprhensible Matrix Revolutions again on a bet. Even George Lucas thinks it's whack that I have to buy all three movies to own the first.

OK, griping aside, the Matrix trilogy is hitting stores on May 22nd in two forms. The Ultimate Matrix Collection ($119.99) contains over 35 hours of supplements and spans five double-sided discs, two of which are devoted exclusively to supplemental mateiral. All three movies are loaded with Warner's In-Movie Experience (IME) interactivity, which runs video over video in real time with the feature. No word if the double-sided discs are HD DVD on both sides or DVD/HD DVD combi discs. And no, they won't be Warner's debut of the Total HD disc with Blu-ray on one side and HD DVD on the other; Warner's press release states that both collections will be released on Blu-ray later this year.

The Complete Matrix Trilogy is a three disc set that will cost only $20 less at $99.99 before your friendly mega-retailer's discount. These titles won't just be movie only either, as the IME interactivity and "other material" is inlcuded with each film. My guess is that this is the single side of the discs in the Ultimate set.

The only tech spec that's been offered on the presentations is that the video will be 1080p, as is de rigeur on both HD DVD and BLu-ray. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if Dolby TrueHD soundtracks were included as well but we'll have to wait and hear.