Audio Video News

We've already alerted you to the forthcoming release of the Ultimate Matrix Collection on Blu-ray. Now Warner Brothers is whetting appetites with more details. The seven-disc box set will hit store shelves on October 14. The set will include the trilogy (of course) as well as an hour of special features on each film. This includes the In-Movie Experience, The Animatrix (in high definition), and a whopping 35 hours of various bonus material. You'll also get a digital copy of The Matrix. Perhaps even better, the audio tracks for the trilogy will use 5.1-channel Dolby TrueHD (lossless ) coding. It is gratifying to see that studios are taking advantage of Blu-ray's ability to avoid lossy audio compression. Dolby Digital and DTS were fine, but nothing beats lossless (not even the original tracks).

Anyway, the downside to the whole thing is the breathtaking list price of $129.95. That's just way too much, considering that two movies in the trilogy were mediocre at best. What the world really wants is the original flick on Blu-ray. Meanwhile, you can pony up for this big box version.

However, if you decide to buy it, for heaven's sake, don't pay list. The boxes aren't even on the UPS trucks yet, and the title is already being heavily discounted....

The Warner Home Video 25% off code for august is: AUBM8. Even better, Amazon has it for $90.95 with free shipping.

Not bad, but still a lot of money to see Carrie-Ann Moss in high-def, skin-tight black vinyl. Actually, now that I think about it, 90 bucks is a pretty good deal. -Ken C. Pohlmann