Synopsis

A disillusioned computer hacker is drawn into a hidden war after learning that everyday reality is an elaborate digital simulation. Guided by rebels who have escaped the system, he begins to question everything he knows and discovers that his growing ability to manipulate the simulated world may make him humanity's best hope against its machine rulers.

Factoids & Trivia

• Most of the film was shot in Sydney, Australia, with the city standing in for a deliberately generic American metropolis. Several street names used in the story were inspired by Chicago.

• The film's signature "bullet time" effect was created with an array of about 120 still cameras positioned around the action. The technique allowed the camera to appear to move around characters while their movements were shown in extreme slow motion.

• Some action footage was photographed at speeds of up to 300 frames per second, requiring unusually intense lighting on the sets.

• Hong Kong martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping and his team trained the principal cast for several months in martial arts and wire work before filming began.

• The film's lobby shootout used large practical sets and extensive squib effects, with the production designing the action around wide lenses and high-speed photography.

• Released in the United States on March 31, 1999, the film won all four Academy Awards for which it was nominated: Film Editing, Sound, Sound Effects Editing, and Visual Effects.

• The Matrix was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2012 for its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.