There was only supposed to be one Matrix movie?

I have read recently that originally, The Matrix was only supposed to be one movie. I only got around to watching it recently, so I've seen all three.

If I remember correctly, the first movie ends right after Neo awakens his super powers, destroys one of the flunkies, and gets back in time for the tohers to save themselves from the Sentinels. It shows him in The Matrix, taking off into the air.

That's all well and good, but who would want to stop there? As far as I could tell, things were just getting started. Why would you stop when they were just getting to the good part, especially when Humanity hasn't been saved.

The first movie makes a good prologue to the other movies. But the other movies are where it really begins, right?

Yes. It is awesome that these movies continued. It was essential. The matrix movies were great, and they would have been stupid to end it after the first one.

Yes, The Matrix was originally just going to be the one movie. I actually would have preferred that. I only saw the second one, and it was pretty terrible. The third, I hear, isn't much better. They pretty much followed the 'let's make some crazy cool visual effects' part, and then tossed everything else like script, story and development out the window.

But it's not that surprising that it was meant to be a one-off. This was before movies were greenlit with the intention to almost automatically developing a franchise.

The movies definatly got worse as the wen along. But i'm still glad they gave us more to watch.
You give the first one a watch. I has a completly different feel than the second and third one.

I actually like Reloaded the best...

The first one was a critical note to society and humanity as a whole. The other two felt like bland superhero movies.

It was one of the best action movie series ever! I can't believe they ever would have stopped it after the first one!

Another interesting Matrix fact: Will Smith was offered the role of Neo first, but turned it down to be in the movie The Legend of Bagger Vance. Clearly, he made the wrong decision. Good thing his wife, Jada Picket-Smith, didn't make the same mistake when she took up the role as Niobe. Just imagine how completely different the role would be with having Will Smith play as Neo. I honestly think of that little fact everytime I re-watch the Matrix now. You just know that if W.Smith was in the movie, it would be a little less-serious because any action movie he's in, he always has to crack a few jokes here and there. [/interuption]

Originally Posted by Chad

That's all well and good, but who would want to stop there? As far as I could tell, things were just getting started. Why would you stop when they were just getting to the good part, especially when Humanity hasn't been saved.

The first movie makes a good prologue to the other movies. But the other movies are where it really begins, right?

The way I see it, maybe when they had the intentions of it being only one movie, they had a different ending. But once the hype of the movie came about, then I'm sure they added in the "Superman" scene in the end (where Neo hangs up in the phone booth and flies away) as if to say "this is only the begining". Now if they were going to make this movie into a one time-deal, the ending would have been different. Maybe show many other ships coming together, unleashing an electro-pulse at the heart of the human harvest (killing all the robots) and then see them rescuing all the mature bodies one by one.

-BGS

The great thing about the first Matrix movie is that it not only tells a self-contained story that could survive on its own, but it also builds a scenario that could easily be expanded upon if demand called for it (which it did).

Originally Posted by BigGoronSword

Another interesting Matrix fact: Will Smith was offered the role of Neo first, but turned it down to be in the movie The Legend of Bagger Vance.

IIRC, they tried to get Tom Cruise as Neo as well, but he turned it down due to a weak check. Here's another supposed botched casting: Samuel L. Jackson as Morpheus.

As much as I loved LF, I don't think Jackson would have folded under the crappy script and shoddy direction like Fish did in Reloaded.

Yes, The Matrix was originally just going to be the one movie. I actually would have preferred that.

Same. The other two movies were very mediocre. In fact, the third was terrible. I remember seeing the Matrix in the theatre when it came out and i was blown away! The others failed to deliver anything really.

I liked the other two just fine, but I thought it was weird when I saw that blonde woman in the second movie, after she died in the first. With a different ending, Matrix would have been fine on its own. But not when it ends right after Neo goes Superman. They could have sped up the story by having Neo struggle less, and have that epic battle with Smith in the second movie, happen in the first.

The original Matrix movie was really high quality. One of the better action movies I've seen. The rest of the series is kinda awful.

Yeah, there was only supposed to be one, but the first one was so popular, the makers felt they should make more, and it was rushed and crap.

That's how things go, more often than not, unfortunately.

Well, actually, the Wachowski Brothers claim they'd always envisioned it as a trilogy. I can't be bothered to look up the quote now, but I heard them say it when I was watching the special features to... Reloaded I think. Of course, it was the special features of the Ultimate Collector's Edition, so I don't know if it'd be on the regular edition DVD. In any case, no matter what they say, I'm going to have to call a bull**it. The theme, quality, and overall style between Matrix one and its sequels is so vast that they could never possibly have been conceived as one whole story.

I still watch and recognize Reloaded and Revolution as legitimate sequels, but to be honest, the first one is infinitely better. And I don't care how the story might have been able to continue, I positively LOVE the ending of the first movie, and I feel that the story could have just stopped there with absolutely no problem. The conclusion of that arc, along with the open-ended manner in which the film closed was just perfect. True brilliance of film-making.

I honestly wish that the second and third ones were never created. Sure they're fun, but they ruin everything the first film had stood for so much that I seriously wondered if the Wachowski Brother's brilliance on the first one was just a fluke. These thoughts were put to rest after they made V for Vendetta, but nonetheless, Reloaded and Revolutions are terrible movies. Fun, but terrible.

Originally Posted by Chad

That's how things go, more often than not, unfortunately.

Well, whatever makes more money. The first Matrix gave a nice fan following. So from a buisness stand point, it made sense to cram out something for more money.

I didn't hate the last two films nearly as much as everyone else but in some ways I think The Matrix could very easily have stopped where the first film ended. In some ways, I would have preferred it that way. I certainly don't see The Matrix as a prologue to the other films; it works as a self contained tale, and sometimes not knowing the end of the story is better.

Perhaps you guys all dislike the other 2 so much because you had such high expectations for it after such an awesome film? I, personally, try to keep my expectations base, so I keep from having that experience, and I thought the other 2 were pretty good.

Another interesting Matrix fact: they continue on the series through an MMORPG called Matrix Online.

Though i admit I like the sequels the first one is the best and it had the cool Lobby sequence

but in Revolutions why the hell did they make Neo die?

PS matrix online is ending pretty soon

Not really sure why they made him die. It did lessen the sadness of that woman's death, though. Now they will still be together.