There’s Dark City, for one. In the Mouth of Madness did it with horror novels. There’s The Truman Show, which is a similar idea with television.
You could even argue that the TV series The Prisoner is a lot like The Matrix in the idea of a ‘real world’ and then a simulated world that looks like the real one that the protagonist is trapped in.
Ah, Dark City. Came out not long before The Matrix and was largely overshadowed/ignored. I hold that it’s a better film overall. For it’s innovation and Keanu’s 2nd big break brought out by The Matrix, it’s a weaker story. Plus, Dark City has Riff Raff and Jennifer Connelly. No contest.
Edit: Forgot that the Matrix actually reused some of Dark City’s sets for the rooftop scenes.
That always bugged me. Must have been some yokels during test screenings that complained they didn’t “get it”, so some suit at the studio made Kiefer Sutherland lay out the entire plot in the beginning monologue.
The way they do a lot of test screenings is having people standing in shopping malls (usually ones with movie theaters) offering free tickets to any takers.
Stupidest possible way to test your movie with an audience. Get the bored people with nothing better to do than accept a free ticket to a random movie.
That’s how I saw The Rock’s “Gridiron Gang”, meandering a mall. It was a bloated mess and I hear the finished product, while trimmed, still wasn’t worth it.
There are other antecedents to The Matrix.
There’s Dark City, for one. In the Mouth of Madness did it with horror novels. There’s The Truman Show, which is a similar idea with television.
You could even argue that the TV series The Prisoner is a lot like The Matrix in the idea of a ‘real world’ and then a simulated world that looks like the real one that the protagonist is trapped in.
Ah, Dark City. Came out not long before The Matrix and was largely overshadowed/ignored. I hold that it’s a better film overall. For it’s innovation and Keanu’s 2nd big break brought out by The Matrix, it’s a weaker story. Plus, Dark City has Riff Raff and Jennifer Connelly. No contest.
Edit: Forgot that the Matrix actually reused some of Dark City’s sets for the rooftop scenes.
The Dark City director’s cut improves the film immensely just by taking out the opening narration.
That always bugged me. Must have been some yokels during test screenings that complained they didn’t “get it”, so some suit at the studio made Kiefer Sutherland lay out the entire plot in the beginning monologue.
I used to live in L.A.
The way they do a lot of test screenings is having people standing in shopping malls (usually ones with movie theaters) offering free tickets to any takers.
Stupidest possible way to test your movie with an audience. Get the bored people with nothing better to do than accept a free ticket to a random movie.
That’s how I saw The Rock’s “Gridiron Gang”, meandering a mall. It was a bloated mess and I hear the finished product, while trimmed, still wasn’t worth it.
The Thirteenth Floor.
There is also “The futurological congress” by Stanislaw Lem