IFC has put together a list of the “50 Best Trailers of All Time” and of course our favorite little Sci-Fi movie is featured. Coming in at number 32 on the list, “The Matrix” theatrical trailer is among such classic films as Alien, Dr. Strangelove and Pulp Fiction.
Being 15 years old at the time of “The Matrix” release I clearly remember the impact this trailer had on me. It wasn’t like many trailers we see today where the plot is completely revealed. After seeing this trailer and hearing Laurence Fishburne say the now famous line “No one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself” I was ready to go to the theater and find out. And then I went four more times just to be sure.
The film was built up as a mystery and then showed you why you wanted to solve it. Many of the main action scenes were shown but without the context of what the Matrix actually is within the plot you don’t really understand what is happening. I remember a ton of wild theories going around my school at the time and the feeling of going to the theater and seeing those first few minutes of bullet-time action without understanding how any of this was possible was truly magical and something I wish more movies could replicate.
I would say that the sequels had amazing trailers as well, but nothing can beat the mystery of that first glimpse of the world we would all come to know and love.