Welcome back to ’99 Rewind, our celebration of 25th anniversaries of the films, TV, and music from 1999. Today, it’s time to once more return to the Wachowskis’ iconic The Matrix.
Liz Shannon Miller (Senior Entertainment Editor): Welcome to a Consequence Chat that spans generations. 25 years down the line, The Matrix remains one of those films where it’s hard to overstate its impact on pop culture, especially when you consider that Keanu Reeves was coming off a series of less-than-well-regarded mainstream films and no one knew who the Wachowskis were, unless they had somehow managed to see the (excellent) indie thriller Bound.
Despite those issues, Warner Bros. created a remarkably effective promotional campaign, built around the very effective tease “What is The Matrix?” I’m old enough to remember that campaign, and how the trailers highlighted both the film’s central mysteries and the revolutionary action in store — which is why my nerdy teenage self could not have been more hyped to finally see the movie on opening night, March 31st, 1999. I was ready, as a wise man said, to free my mind.
Before I tell the story of that life-changing event, though, I have a question for my colleague Jonah Krueger — hey Jonah, when did you first see The Matrix?
Jonah Krueger (Editorial Coordinator): Gosh, this is really gonna out me as an aughts baby. I have this fuzzy memory of a lazy Sunday afternoon when I must have been maybe seven or eight. My dad and I were flipping through the cable channels, not really paying attention, when we stumbled across some dude in latex and leather impossibly dodging bullets.
My dad instantly lit up, leading me to ask what we were watching. “The Matrix,” he said, to which I responded exactly how Warner Bros. would have wanted me to: “What is The Matrix?”After catching maybe the last 20 minutes (not counting commercial breaks), I became obsessed with tracking down the movie. One trip to Blockbuster and a pillow fort-building session later, I finally settled in to take the red pill for the first time, subsequently showing it to as many of my friends as I could before I had to return the DVD.