I missed it by 2 days, but 10 years ago, on the 31st of March 1999, The Matrix had it’s US theatrical release. I can’t believe it has been that long. 1999 was also the year of The Phantom Menace, The Sixth Sense and Fight Club’s. In my mind it was a high water mark year for blockbuster movies of quality (Phantom Menace non-withstanding) that wasn’t reached again until a few years ago.
I still remember the absolute electric feeling of walking out of the cinema after the first time I saw the Matrix on the big screen. That are scenes in The Matrix that other movies, including it’s own sequels, have tried to replicate, but never matched. People obviously point to the bullet time effect, however the lobby fire fight, kung-fu training and helicopter is still awesome today.
So will this year be remembered as well in 10 years, there are an interesting crop of movies on the slate, The Watchmen has already had a go (I enjoyed it), we are going to have a few months filled with Terminator Salvation, Star Trek, Wolverine, Transformers and G.I. Joe so hopefully there will be one or two in there.