Customer Reviews

The Matrix: The Shooting Script

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A word for those out there who are tempted to buy anything/everything related to _The Matrix_: the complete contents of _ The Matrix: The Shooting Script_ (including the scene notes) can be found in _The Art of the Matrix_, which contains additional material, both written and pictorial. I enjoy the material in _The Shooting Script_ version, but prefer the more detailed treatment in the bigger book.

Even the text of William Gibson's introduction appears in _The Art of the Matrix_, as an afterword. The author of _Neuromancer_ was slow to see _The Matrix_ when it first came out, knowing that it was in his own genre - although he'd been exposed to the screenplay, he hadn't anticipated how well the story would translate to film. Not only did he enjoy it when first persuaded to see it in theatrical relese, he promptly turned around and dragged others out to see it. :)

The scene notes following the body of the script aren't written by the Wachowski brothers, but by their assistant Phil Oosterhouse - the brothers being busy at the time with making the sequels. The notes accompanying _The Shooting Script_ omit discussion of some deleted scenes, but otherwise tally with the more complete version in _The Art of the Matrix_.

Essentially, this book is for anyone who's interested only in the no-frills text of the script, without the storyboards that were essential to the Wachowskis' campaign to persuade Warner Brothers to actually make the film, and without any extra discussion of scenes that were cut before the movie was actually shot. As far as it goes, it's fine.

I highly recommend the Matrix Shooting script. It not only covers the scenes that were in the movie, but also bits that had to be excluded.

The Forward is written by none other than Willaim Gibson [how's that for a seal of approval]. He says that 'Keanu's Neo is my favourite-ever science fiction hero, absolutely!'. You can't ask for anything more.

I also love the commentary by Phil Oosterhouse, who was Assistant Director on the movie. He gives wonderful insights into little nuances of the scenes and the commitment of the actors and directors to produce the very best movie they could.

The book also has stills from the movie in cool black and white. It's a book any true Matrix fan should be without.

Enjoy!