Thread by @IWTKQuiz

The Matrix was released 21 years ago on this day.

Special effects, story-telling, action sequences and even memes would never be the same again. Thank you Lana and @lilly_wachowski

We've compiled a megathread on this incredible movie.
Follow the white rabbit. 👇🏾

One of the things the Wachowskis got so right was the casting.

It is tough to imagine anyone other than Carrie Ann-Moss, Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne as Trinity, Neo and Morpheus respectively.

Here's a glimpse of what the movie could've been (and thankfully wasn't!)

The Wachowskis spoke to Will Smith and asked him to play Neo.

He chose to do "Wild Wild West" instead. Other questionable decisions followed -After Earth, Youtube rewind video etc.

Watch him talk about playing Neo -

Three other actors in contention for the role of Neo were Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and Val Kilmer.

Gillian Anderson and Sandra Bullock were considered for the role of Trinity before Carrie-Anne Moss was chosen.

Did you know? This wasn't the first work titled the Matrix that Carrie-Anne Moss starred in.

She played Liz Teel in a Canadian TV series which was also called "The Matrix".

Watch the opening credits of that show -

Russell Crowe was asked to play Morpheus but turned it down. He's reported to have said:

"I just didn't get it. I couldn't get past page 42. That world was just not interesting to me."

Other stars in contention for the role of Morpheus were then young Gary Oldman and the ageless Samuel L Jackson.

The action of the Matrix was a blend of different styles and oeuvres. The Wachowskis watched a ton of anime and were inspired to make action look like IRL.

Ghost in the Shell (1995) was a major inspiration

Another anime influence for the Matrix was Akira

The martial (whew almost spelt it marital there) arts from this Ninja Scroll trailer are kinda reminiscent of the Morpheus Neo kung-fu battle

Speaking of fight sequences, the legend behind the brilliantly choreographed scenes is Master Woo-Ping Yuen.

He didn't want to work on the film even after he liked the script. So he asked the Wachowskis for a huge fees. The Wachowskis agreed.

Yuen then said he wanted complete control of the fight choreography and that all actors had to train for four months before they shot the movie.

The Wachowskis agreed, much to Yuen's surprise.

All the actors trained hard from October 1997 to March 1998.

Woo-Ping Yuen is renowned for other incredible fight sequences.

Check this gif out featuring Zhang Ziyi from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Looks vaguely familiar?

Four months of hard physical training wasn't all that the cast had to get through to be Matrix-ready.

The Wackowskis also expected the cast to do some heavy reading. One of the books was Simulacra and Simulation that also featured in Neo's bookshelf in the movie.

Other books the cast was asked to read were:

Out of Control by @kevin2kelly (who's got a fabulously interesting website - kk.org) and Introducing Evolutionary Psychology.

Each actor had to do more to prep for their character.

Hugo Weaving spoke like a 1950s news reader which Laurence Fishburne said made him sound like Walter Cronkite.

Watch Walter Cronkite speak about humans landing on the moon -

The Wachowskis told Laurence Fishburne to draw inspiration from Morpheus in Neil Gaiman's Sandman @neilhimself

Next up:

Bullet time. You have to admit you were mind blown the first time you saw it. Watch it again, won't you?

Here's an intricate behind the scenes look at how the same sequence was shot using multiple cameras and green screens.

21 years ago!

Among the early instances where bullet time / multiple cameras were used was for this 1996 Smirnoff ad by the legendary @MichelGondry

This is the same @MichelGondry who created the epic Chemical Brothers track Star Guitar.

Watch it. When you "see" it, it will blow your mind.

After Matrix popularized bullet time, many copies and tributes emerged.

Remember this one?

The Simpsons had some amazing Matrix references -

One can argue that this epic scene featuring Quicksilver from X-Men Days of the Future past wouldn't have been possible had the Matrix not been made

Gotta take a break for a bit folks, status reports and all.
The actual movie stuff on The Matrix is yet to come, watch this space!

Meanwhile, watch @akshaykumar in Awara Pagal Deewana and tell us which Canadian did it better - Akshay Kumar or Keanu Reeves?

Back from the break!

Let's get talking about the actual movie a little?

When you rewatch the movie, notice how all the shots in the Matrix have a green tint, while the real world has a blue tint.

The marital arts practice pad is neither and has a yellow tint.

It isn't easy to wrap your head around the plot. To help with that, the Wachowskis used exposition rather cleverly.

Neo asks 44 questions in the first 45 minutes of the movie, most of which are answered by Morpheus.

Did you know?

The legendary Hugo Weaving almost didn't end up being Agent Smith.

Weaving injured his leg on the first day of the shoot. The schedule was rearranged to ensure all the stunts he was in were shot much later.

Watch the iconic "Woman in Red" sequence. Many identical twins were cast in this to give the impression that people had been copy pasted to populate this program.

It blew my mind when I saw it again. You're welcome!

The Wachowskis make a cameo appearance as window cleaners when Neo is being reprimanded by his boss for being late to work.

The squeaking sounds of the windows being cleaned interrupts the conversation and now it all makes sense :-)

Watch!

The Matrix reused some of the sets from the 1998 movie Dark City making people believe that the latter inspired the Matrix.

However, the Wachowskis had the script and screenplay ready before Dark City.

Watch the Dark City trailer -

Those cool spring loaded phones you see in the movie all the time?

They are the Nokia 8110 phones, also called the Nokia stilettos.

Those gangsta glasses each characters wears (including the ones Morpheus has which even Evander Holyfield can wear) were designed by a company ironically named Blinde.

Blinde won against stiff competition from brands such as Ray Ban and Arnette.

Richard Walker of Blinde designed glasses based on the characters' unusual names. He was flown into Sydney where he custom-designing sunglasses for the cast in the back of an Oxford Street optometrist as the movie was being shot.

Transcending all this was the immense cultural impact that the movie had.

The cast of the Matrix had strong race and gender diversity and the way it helped ensure representation has relevance even today.

Contrast that to leading programs such as The Daily Show who took ages to pivot to having a diverse cast.

The Matrix is considered to be an allegory for the transgender experience, further exemplified by how Lilly and Lana transitioned over time after the movie came out.

Read more here - themarysue.com/decoding-the-t…

There are also stories drawing parallels to religion where Neo is akin to a Jesus-like figure, *spoiler alert* since he dies and is resurrected in the movie.

It is unfortunate but shit happens - the Matrix also helped give a name to the red pill community which perpetuates the principle of modern misogyny.

theguardian.com/technology/201…

On a lighter note, the Matrix spawned a ton of memes that many of you may have used. And if you haven't, no time like the present to start!

The Matrix begins with a trace program that begins running to intercept Morpheus and Trinity.

It ends, very book-end style with another trace that fails to run since we now have Neo on our side.

We'd strongly recommend listening to the Matrix 20th anniversary retrospective from the @slashfilmcast for a fabulous discussion on the movie

slashfilm.com/filmcast-ep-51…

If you enjoyed this thread, we've got a BIG Hollywood Quiz coming up featuring star panelists @Su4ita @SukanyaVerma and @ReelReptile

Register now!
insider.in/big-hollywood-…

Thanks @prat0s for sharing this amazing set of additional stories from @ricburton

https://twitter.com/ricburton/status/1259361920127168512