| image=
| caption=
| director= [[The Wachowskis|The Wachowski Brothers]]| producer= [[Joel Silver]]
| writer= The Wachowski Brothers
| narrator=| starring= [[Keanu Reeves]]<br />[[Carrie Anne Moss]]<br />[[Laurence Fishburne]]| music= [[Don Davis]]| cinematography= [[Bill Pope]]| editing= [[Zach Staenberg]]
| distributor= [[Warner Bros.]]
| released= March 31, 1999
| budget= $63 million
| gross= $463,517,383
| preceded_by=| followed_by= [[The Matrix: Reloaded]]
| website=
| amg_id=
| imdb_id= 0133093
}}
'''''The Matrix''''' is a film released in 1999, produced by Joel Silver, and distributed by Warner Bros. It stars [[Keanu Reeves]], Carrie Anne Moss, and [[Laurence Fishburne]]. The concept of the movie presumes that life as we know it is merely a [[virtual reality]] simulation, run by a race of [[sentient]] machines cultivating humans for electricity. In the film, Neo (Reeves) discovers this and is rescued from the virtual reality world and brought into the real world, a dystopian future where the survivors of Mankind fight against the machines. Through his training, Neo learns that, because the Matrix is a virtual reality world, that the "rules" of the world can be bent, allowing for superhuman strength and speed. He ultimately learns that he is "The One", a [[Jesus Christ|Christ]]-like figure who has the ability to manipulate the Matrix beyond the capabilities of even the machines that control it, and is destined to lead all of humanity out of the Matrix.
The Matrix spawned two three movie sequels ([[: ''The Matrix: Reloaded]] '', ''The Matrix Revolutions'', and [[''The Matrix: Revolutions]])Resurrections'', three [[video gamegames]]s, and an [[Japanese animation|anime]].
==Religious influences==
Similar to [[George Lucas]]'s references to the Force in the ''[[Star Wars]]'' trilogy, there were several [[New Age ]] references throughout the films, being primarily a hodge-podge of different religions. The Wachowski brothers, however, indicated that the primary belief system of the film was "know yourself" when asked about it.
Leo K. O'Drudy, III also deduced that described the Matrix films were likely to be fims as [[Marxist ]] [[propaganda.]]<ref>httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20041117232802/httphttps://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPrint.asp?Page=\Commentary\archive\200307\COM20030718d.html</ref>.
In addition, some Christian groups, including Christian Broadcast Network, also criticized ''The Matrix Reloaded'' for the Architect scene, citing that it depicted him as being "God-like" yet malevolent and not inherently good, as well as the hints from the exchange of Eastern mysticism, in particularly the implication that Zion may be an illusion, and even that all of reality is an illusion.<ref>http://www.cbn.com/entertainment/screen/Ans_matrix_reloaded.aspx?option=print</ref>
==Political==
There were several hints at Marxism, [[nihilism]], and [[anarchism ]] throughout the films. The Wachowskis also implied that the works of [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] played a role in the creation of the franchise alongside Cornel West's ''Prophecy Deliverance'' and Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation. In addition, the films were rather infamous for causing people to commit murder in inspiration of the messages in the movie, which eventually caused the judicial system to create a new court defense called "The Matrix defense", a variation of the [[Insanity defense]] plea.<ref>httphttps://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/21/ctv.matrix.insanity/</ref>.
==The Matrix Precursor: Prescient Quotes on Police State Computer Surveillance==
** [[Louis Brandeis]]''' (1856-1941), [[United States Supreme Court]] [[Associate Justice]] Dissenting, ''[[Olmstead v. United States]]'', 277 U.S. 438 (1928).
==See Alsoalso==
* [[The Terminator]]
* [[Survivalist fiction]]: [[Dystopia]]
* [[1984]]* [[Essay:Worst Liberal Movies]]* [[Essay:Greatest Conservative Movies]]
==External links==
*[http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=2879 Charles Colson's commentary concerning "The Matrix"]
*[httphttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/ The Matrix] at the Internet Movie Database on [[Imdb|IMDb]]
==References==
[[Category:Movies]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[categoryCategory:Marxism]]
[[Category:Police State]]
[[Category:Survivalism]]
[[Category:Dystopian Fiction]]
[[Category:Survivalist Fiction]]
[[Category:Worst Liberal Movies]]