MERLIN: The Matrix Reloaded - Extended Edition

Cover art by Nick Mollo

What it's about:
In 2003 'The Matrix Reloaded' was released in cinemas. At the same time a series of animated 'Matrix' based stories, 'The Animatrix', and a PC video game adventure, 'Enter The Matrix', were created to enhance the story line of 'The Matrix Reloaded'.

This edit takes 'The Matrix Reloaded' and extends it with an edited version of 'The Animatrix: The Final Flight of the Osiris', and 18 of the 23 live action scenes from 'Enter The Matrix'. Creating one extended viewing experience, enhancing the main story, but mainly centring on expanding the storylines of Capt. Niobe, Ghost, Sparks, and Cmr. Lock.

My intention for this Fanedit:
There are quite a few edits of the two 'Matrix' sequels available. I had noticed though, that most of these seemed pretty intent on editing together amalgamated storylines from 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'The Matrix Revolutions', and enhancing them with elements from 'The Animatrix' and 'Enter The Matrix'. It occurred to me that nobody had actually done a proper extended version of 'The Matrix Reloaded', but where the original base movie was not edited in anyway, and only the extended elements were added into it.

Original film name:
The Matrix Reloaded.
The Animatrix: The Final Flight of the Osiris.
Enter The Matrix.

New film name:
The Matrix Reloaded â€" Extended Edition.

Film studio name:
Warner Bros. In association with Village Roadshow Pictures & NPV Entertainment.

Edit crew name:
Merlin.

Date original film was released:
21st May 2003 : The Matrix Reloaded.
2nd June 2003 : The Animatrix.
15th May 2003 : Enter The Matrix.

Date edit was released:
12th May 2008.

Original runtime:
133 Mins.

New runtime:
165 Mins.

Amount of time Added:
32 Mins.

Main additions:
· The Animatrix: The Final Flight of the Osiris (Edited).
(and from 'Enter The Matrix')
· Ghost & Niobe Jack In.
· The Last Transmission of the Osiris.
· 72 Hours (Meeting Arrival).
· 72 Hours "It's the Feds").
· 72 Hours (Trainman)/A Clean Exit.
· The Logos Returns to Zion.
· Lock & Niobe.
· Ghost & Trinity, Part 1.
· Ghost & Trinity, Part 2.
· Lessons of the Oracle (Ballard & Seraph fight).
· Lessons of the Oracle (Lock & Niobe).
· A Kiss from Niobe.
· Off to the Freeway (On the Logos).
· Off to the Freeway (Niobe & Ghost contact the Nebuchadnezzar).
· Saving Morpheus.
· Three Hours to Attack.
· EMP Aftermath.
· Picnicking Sentinels.
· Niobe Visits the Oracle (Includes excerpt from 'Ghost Visits the Oracle').
· Niobe Leaves the Oracle.
· One Hell of a Ride.

Persons involved:
1

DVD Features:
Widescreen/PAL/MPEG-2/5.1 Dolby Digital.
Static Menus.
Scene Selection.
Bonus Features.

Software used for the edit:
Nero Vision (Editing & DVD Authoring).
Nero Wave Editor/Aurora Media Workshop (Sound Editing).
Nero Recode (Shrink from DVD9 to DVD5).

Additional information links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix_Reloaded
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Animatrix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Flight_of_the_Osiris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enter_the_matrix

Maybe downloadable from Fanedit.info

How did you deal with the stereo in the deleted scenes? Is it true 5.1 or just upconverted stereo?

Merlin's Extended Matrix Reloaded

I am a Mac user.

I had some issues with the IFO files contained in this Fan-Edit as they were not recognized by my DVD Burn software (First time this had happened) and a pop-up stated they were invalid. Luckily I have another video conversion tool called Visual-Hub which coverts the main feature. So I was able to create a high quality AVI of the Fan-Edit but not view any of the extras.

I have seen Re-Loaded twice and I own the movies in a Box Set. I have seen a few of the Matrix Fan-Edits and was not been too impressed so I thought I would give Reloaded another try with Merlin's Extended Edition.

I am certainly no fan of the Matrix Sequels. I find the whispered and self-conscious performances too much to stomach. I especially loath the earnest, 'I'm Hard' over-acting of Will Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Also the visual effects are too obviously of video game standard, certainly when humans are involved, such as in the massed punch-up with the Agent Smith's. As for the story? It seems to have very little to do with the original Matrix movie.

There are no hard cuts in this edit but there are some serious differences in the quality of footage used. The main film is sharp and clear where as extra shots are often soft and degraded. There is a fight between the protector of the Oracle and another character that is affected by a heavy dose of interlacing.

The original film is a narrative jumble but with these new sequences, some help with clarification others do not. Such as the new opening, which worked very well at explaining and showing the impending threat. The extras involving Niobe simply impede the flow of an already lumbering story.

One of the best scenes in Re-Loaded involves the beautiful Monica Bellucci asking Neo to kiss her in front of Trinity. This scene is a blatant piece of wish fulfilment yet it never the less works very well. To follow that with a very similar scene involving Niobe (which is certainly not wish-fulfilment) seemed to detract from the power of the preceding version and only goes to show all to clearly the fine line between a scene that works and a one that does not.

This version is for completeists and for that reason this Fan-Edit does everything it says on the tin but that does not hide the fact that Matrix: Reloaded is very poorly conceived motion picture.

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Hi Nick

OK...I know the Matrix sequels have bever been popular, maybe I'm in the minority, but I do genuinely enjoy them. That's not to say that I haven't also enjoyed some of the Matrix sequel edits that are available, Evolutions to name but one.

However, I saw an opportunity to do an edit that nobody else had done - leaving The Matrix Reloaded in its raw unedited form, and adding the extra stuff into it. Some of the sequel edits available do use some Enter The Matrix and Animatrix material, but they all also edit the base movie or movies.

So, to answer some of your comments:

The burning issue - you are by no means the first person to raise this point. I use Nero Vision to author and encode my DVDs, and for some reason Nero does not encode a 0 numbered VTS file for each title, VTS_01_0 for example. I have spoke to Nero about this, and they say that it is not an error. Since I started editing and providing my fan film DVDs, I have had other people telling me that they have had problems burning my stuff, with their PCs saying that they can either not recognise files or that a VTS file is missing. These few do seem to be in the minority though, and for the most part they do then find some way of burning the discs.

Extra scenes quality and interlacing - The reason for the quality drop in the extra scenes from Enter The Matrix is due to the fact that in the box set they are presented in 4:3LB ratio. I therefore had to crop them to true WS using Virtualdub which converts the MPEG files to AVI to do the crop. I then obviously had to convert the cropped files back to MPEG for putting in the edit. I did keep the encoding process a its highest possible rate for both of those processes, but there is gonna be some drop in quality. So what you're seeing in the edit is a copy of a copy, so to speak, because those scenes have already been encoded twice before making it to the DVD. The problem with the interlacing that appears on some of the Enter The Matrix scenes. Well this is a problem that dogged me from day 1 doing this edit. I'm glad to say I did get some advice on how to use the filters in Virtualdub to stop interlacing, but no matter how I had them set, I couldn't eliminate it entirely. Luckly it only seems to be evident when large movements are seen, like you said, in the Ballard vs Seraph fight.

The narrative - I tried to fit the scenes from Enter The Matrix in where they made most sense, or if it was more obvious where they should be. For example, in the first scene with Lock and Niobe talking, Lock asks Niobe if he can see her after the temple meeting, so it seemed obvious that the second extra scene between the two of them (when Lock tells Niobe about the EMP plan) should follow shortly after the temple gathering. Or on the other side, it is quite obvious that the scene when we see Niobe & Ghost speeding off in their car to find Morpheus should come just before the start of the highway chase. The only two scenes that I was really unhappy with where I placed them was 'Picknicing Sentinals' and 'Niobe Meets The Oracle'. Mainly 'Niobe Meets The Oracle', I would've liked to have placed that scene slightly earlier, but it had to be placed where it was because The Oracle tells Niobe that Neo has separated his mind from body, and is trapped. So this obviously had to be placed after Neo passes out at the end of the movie.

Persephone - maybe there was no real need to include the scene between Persephone and Niobe. But only think that it seems to go on and show what a strange character she is. The goddess Persephone was goddess of fertility and queen of the underworld in ancient cuture. I think showing this extra scene only goes to show that the Persephone of the Matrix is deffinately queen of the underworld. If you also watch the scene between her and Ghost, which I have put on the disc as an extra, her character only seems to deepen. She obviously posseses some sort of intuative ability, as she can tell a lot about people from the physical contact. So the question only remains, what type of program is she? Maybe an earlier version of the program that became The Oracle, who knows? Just the same as its been suggested that The Merovingean could be an earlier 'The One' that decided to stay in the Matrix and use it for his own gains.

Anyway, thanks for the review. This seems to be the only one so far. Hopefuly we'll see some other comments. It's always good to see what other people think about my work. By the way Nick, I noticed you hadn't penned any thoughts of other aspects of the edit - sound quality, other disc content etc. Any particualr reason for that?

Cheers.

MERLIN. 8)

There are no faults as far as the sound and audio editing goes. It faultless. If there was a problem I would have mentioned it. As for disc extras, I could not view them as the DVD files were invalid. I had to make an AVI with VisualHub which only converts the feature and not the extras, so I can't comment.

Hi again Nick.

OK mate. I remember previously when somebody mentioned the problem with the burning issue, one of the other editors mentioned a piece of DVD burning software that would allow the full DVD to be burned. I'm gonna see if I can find the post with that on, and then I'll post back here what its called.

M.

Merlin,

I'm a Mac User so I am very limited on what software I can use.

Hi Nick

The software I was mentioning is called DVDFab, but I've checked out the site for it and it is not Freeeware. You could try looking here http://www.videohelp.com/tools I've just had a look and there's a lot of freeware DVD burning software available there, and it tells you what O/S's it's compatible with.

Alternatively, when I sometimes have trouble burning DVDs with my Nero, I turn to a piece of software I have called DVD Santa.

So there's a few choices for you. Or if you want, send me a blank disc, I'll burn you the full DVD and then send it back to you.

Cheers.

M.

y'all need to use PGCEDIT to fix these ifo errors. simple. easy. works perfectly. (and for windows/mac/linux, too)

http://download.videohelp.com/r0lZ/pgcedit/

just load the VIDEO_TS folder, do a full scan (like 2 mins) and save. it will pop out updated IFO files. it will automatically move the original files which are changed into a backup folder and i always add this directory to the DVD_ROM folder on the DVD project when burning (just for completeness).

Finally got this one down and watched it the other night and I really liked it. I've been a fan of the game sequences being used to extend the experience.

Ever since the first time I played the game, I wanted those cutscenes back where they belonged in the Reloaded. Thanks for bringing us that vision.

Another fanedit of Reloaded I remember totally removed the Persephone kiss as an unneeded deviation. I felt it flowed much better when cut so that they just left the elevator and went straight to the keymaker with none of Persephone's BS.

The only other question I have is in the final Niobe scene of this edit. After her final scene with the Oracle she's back in 'the hallway' after we see the hallway and the building explode as Neo leaves the Architect to save Trinity. Minor continuity gaffe or am I a fool?

IMHO this is the current standard for Matrix Reloaded/Enter The Matrix combo. No one else has given the footage this very needed attention - at least none that I've found so far. Thanks again.

ps- also a mac user and had no issue burning this as dvd-rom udf with toast 8.

Hey Merlin,

One of the rar files seems to be corrupt. I think it's the 2nd or 3rd file. VOB 1 VTS 1 something like that. All the others unzip fine. Can you take a look and check it out. Thanks!

Hi Humdinger

I had no problem with this when I proof downloaded and unpacked them before I posted here on the site, and so far as I'm aware, nobody else has reported any problems.

Sorry you're having problems with this, maybe it's something on your PC that's the problem.

I'll keep my eye on it anyway, and I'll do another download of it myself to make sure it's OK.

Cheers.

MERLIN. 8)

an md5 would be helpful. The files are all intact, just sometimes during a download something can come down wrong. With an md5 people can check if all files came down alright.

Hi Boon

An md5 is included. As I said, I did check everything (including an md5 check) before posting.

Cheers.

M. 8)

sorry, I should have checked first.
Then there can actually be no problem. Humdinger, use the md5 to check your files, use the download guide to download the corrupted files again.

Hi Scooge

I think you're getting your scenes mixed up. The scene between Niobe and The Oracle doesn't happen until nearly the end of the film after Neo collapses from stopping the Sentinals.

Try watching again my friend.

MERLIN. 8)

Hi Merlin, as a long time fan of the trilogy from day one, I probably have fewer complaints with the Wachowski's direction/production of the films than many other fans... even though they state that they have never done a "directors cut"/extended version because they were very satisfied with the product, I am still curious to see what your vision of Reloaded... so Where can I download/view it??
Thanks

Lol 7 year bump.

Also...
[MENTION=35345]MkWeb[/MENTION], if this is your first time here please read Using This Site. It's full of useful information that will get us all off on the right foot. This site has many rules in place to protect itself and its users. Should you ever need a reminder look no further: General Rules and Own the Source Rule. If you do not understand any of these rules send a private message to an admin for further details.

10 year bump
Does this edit still exist anywhere?

3 years later, the rules haven't changed. Read them.

https://www.fanedit.org/rules/