Depends, in hdr the 4k release has a lower amount of grin tint. But when shown in sdr it seems to have more (likely due to color cut offs and approximations etc, not sure). Just an observation I have had. The original dvd did not have the sickly green tint either, that is something that first appeared on the dvd rerelease close to when the sequels where coming out.
Too bad you can't add an additional 5th window here for the workprint version with the timestamp in the corner. No color timing changes at all. Just perfectly neutral colors whether the characters are in the real world, or the matrix.
I like the 2008 version. Tied it in more with the sequels. But I can certainly see why people like it "untouched". 4K felt like a strange.. in-between. With the wider color range the green starts skewing more cyan and it just looks bizarre sometimes. Very evident in the Morpheus rescue scene here.
A classic scene is when Morpheus is held prisoner and Tank is trying to take care of him inside the ship. He's telling Morpheus to hold on, that help is coming, while Neo and Trinity are entering the building. But as Tank says that, in open matte we see that his mouth doesn't move at all. It was a B-roll audio but with the cut of Morpheus laid down and Tank touching Morpheus's head to try to give him support. And we are able to see Tank's mouth closed. After the open matte disappeared and they've stretched the video, Tank's head was completely cut out, so we don't see this. Whatever, I love Matrix, I've watched it for literally more than 50 times (maybe more than 60), and this is just something that called my attention back then. But I wouldn't dare calling it a mistake. Nothing is by chance. I don't believe in chance :D
Interesting information, I personally never watched the open matte version all the way through, just browsed the light the scenes, as it isn’t my preferred way to watch the movie, regardless I love the movie and have also watched it a lot over the years.
I would say yes the 35mm looks fantastic super pure however , the director meant for it to look like the other ones or at least close to them. Home media and open matte are probably more accurate.
@@chrisjohnson7255 The UHD/4K Blu ray is actually a more accurate representation of the original theatrical release, since the original director of photography oversaw the 4K transfer's color correction and color timing. So the 4K/UHD release is the closest we have to the theatrical version
The green filter was intentional by the directors for any scenes that took place inside the matrix. The "real world" scenes are presented more natural without any green filter.
@@jackthenarrator4735 no, the green filter is in ALL scenes!! just compare the original first dvd version with the blu ray and you will see what I mean!!
@@lucalone Friend, you are wrong, the scenes outside the Matrix dont have the green so saturated, in fact it is not a filter, in the original color correction for the film the green levels were raised and they worked with that aesthetic from the very beginning, BUT at some point for the conversion of home video (made by the distributor apparently without supervision of the directors or the cinematographer), perhaps due to the capacity and quality of the time, the green was "over-exposed" that's why since it came to home video and tv, the scenes have always been seen in the Matrix with the green over saturated, but scenes outside of it, having a different color correction as dictated by the directors, is not visible. the "4K" rescues the original warm color for the Matrix and balances the green that was always there but not so saturated
Fun story...Every time I watch The Matrix I tune the RGB settings on my monitor to fix the issue of that green filter. In the latest Matrix 4 they also play around with audio quality when going in/out of the matrix, that was a bonus not many notice.
The green filter is an intended effect that was mistakingly removed by color-correctors who did not consult the directors and art-designers. Every single piece of Matrix media, from the films to the games, use a strong greenish effect on the Matrix scenes, but none during the "real world".
Interesting. This came out when I was in college, and I clearly remember the tie that Morpheus wore was green, theatrically projected 35mm release print. In fact, I went out of my way to find one at some boutique store in Nashville, lol. I'm not sure what's up with the 35mm print scanned here, but that's not what the buck fiddy theater was projecting back in 1999.
Honestly, I spoke to a few experts on this and they've agreed the scan of the 35mm print is mostly not up to par. It's not that great of a scan. I'd love to see that film re-scanned someday.
I just left the cinema. I went to a 35mm screening of the film. You are right. The tie is green but the sofas in those scenes are also 'reder' so there's something off with that scan. Saying that is still closer to what I watched than any of the other versions.
The actual 4K disc isn't that dark. You can't compare an SDR RU-vid video to the real HDR you would see from the disk. I have this movie on 4K and it's plenty bright.
Open matte in simple terms, is the version of a movie with more picture top and bottom but less on the left and right (don’t quote me on this lol). If you have a 16:9 display as most modern displays are, it will fill the screen, making it more pleasant watch at home, but it’s not the intended way for it to be watched so they may be some errors here and there.
I wish there was a version you can buy without the awful (in my opinion) green filter in every "inside the matrix" scene... I remember seeing it in cinema (twice) in 1999, with the colors just like in the bottom right corner of this video... so nice.
I don't know if that would work for this movie since the green is intentional but I get what you mean. There's so many movies that would look better without the tints. I personally would love to see The Ring (2002) without the tint.
@@BrandonL_00 It is intentional indeed, but for the first one the green tint was added later, after the second and third movies were made. Even if the directors added the green on purpose, I just feel it is too much.
@@PaulMarieVideo Do you have a hdr tv, as in hdr the green is reduced a lot compared to the same disc played in sdr like you are seeing here. The original dvd release also didn't have the green tint. Personally even with a bit of the green tint which I am not a fan of for the first film (as it has been retroactively added) the 4k blu-ray in hdr is the best way to view the film.
Color-wise, that scan is inaccurate to the original theater release. The 4k remaster was supervised by the original cinematographer and is the closest we'll get.
IMHO the 4K remaster looks way better than this. I think maybe you have it confused with the Blu Ray release ? The Blu Ray release was a cheap cash grab (over tinted in green to match up with the sequels) where the 4k release was overseen by Bill Pope (the original cinematographer) and has far more diverse colour palette similar to what Is seen in the 35mm print.
I looked forward to the original DVD after having seen it in the theaters multiple times... Got the DVD after the delayed release... Popped out in and immediately noticed the colors were much different than what I had seen in the theaters... Beyond that I can't remember specifics.
So, open matte is more "complete" than the actual 35mm scan? I'm talking about the top and bottom. How did they "complete" the missing top and bottom visual? Or the 35mm print was scanned in a cropped aspect ratio as 4k remaster? And the open matte was scanned with a full-frame scan?
I'm guessing this was shot in Super 35? Which allows the film to be shown full frame without actually losing any of the picture. Essentially, letterboxing it crops off the top and bottom. The open matte version is showing you the entire frame which is (apparently) cropped even in theaters. I believe this was done to mitigate the problems home video versions suffered due to pan and scan VHS. Basically, the full frame version is still giving you the complete picture. At least as far as I understand it.
It was shot with super 35 which is a square format (see the new Snyder Cut for an example of a film that released with everything that was shoot shown in frame). But hat is misleading it is shot like this with intended headroom, if you go and watch the trailer for the snyder cut you will notice the corners of the film are damaged etc, as it was not ever intended to be seen like that when they where actually shooting the film. It was intended to be headroom that in post you then choose more precisely how you want the frame to align exactly. More isn't strictly better, I really feel you have to go to what the film maker intended.
@@arrowknee7356 matrix was still in the era of 4:3 televisions. It was part of broadcast standards to make sure you had open matte versions of your films. There’s a niche hobbyist collector community for these open matte versions. One of my favourites is David Fincher’s SEVEN. It’s gorgeous in open matte.
I know the cropped version is the "intended" way to show the movie but I think the 2.35 framing didn't suit the image well. I've seen examples of the 4x3 vhs and those often look better composed. This is a movie that should have gotten a 4x3 release on dvd.
Even though you really can't see what a real 35mm print would look like in this comparison ..it still is better than any home video release . 4k is unnecessarily too dark . Just not a fan of 4k home video releases period .
in the uk the matrix has been rereleased to cinemas i attended a screening yesterday but i would love to know that transfer they used as it didnt have the look of the 33mm
@Mee Omi 35mm film is the standard that many studios used to make movies . Compared to current digital cameras , film gives a better look and it’s easier to use. This is the stock film used most probably in the original run of the Matrix. That’s why when it came out on dvd and Blu-ray , I knew something was off about the picture. That was not the coloring they used at the movies.
For those that like the green tint, I thought the whole idea was that the people in the Matrix didn't know they were in a Matrix. If the Matrix is easily identified because it has a green tint, then it's a bad replica of the real world. Certainly if someone had the technology to create a Matrix fake world, then they would certainly be able to recreate the world with true colors. I have no problem knowing when Keaunu is in the Matrix and when he isn't. The green tinted master on blu ray is not sharp. It loses picture detail. It also changes the lighting to a much darker hue, which also ruins it.
@@mikebliss3153 you totally missed my point. Are you speaking of the Movie?? or of the scenes in the movie where he's in the matrix. Yes, in those scenes there is a green tint.
Can confirm. I saw a 35mm release print in theaters twice last year (old film prints get screened regularly at certain revival cinemas in L.A.) and there was definitely a green tint present, albeit much subtler than the 2008 Blu-ray.
The 35mm scan is not correct. Those a did that scan colour corrected every scene in the wrong colour space. Ofcourse it is closer to what the theatrical looked but you have to use correct colourspace/gamut settings for the particular scanning sensor.
@Daniel Long its done way worse imo, even more so in the sequels 4k blu rays, like theirs moments where we see the matrix code in reloaded and its fucking blue on the 4k blu rays
As far as I know the open matte version didn’t get released on physical media, it was present on some streaming services, however I don’t know which ones or if it is still available on those services in open matte.
Film scan is always better for me. Having the look of the film in the hands on of the Lab and Chemistry is very bold. It adds magic and mystery. Digital is calculated and sterile.
The green tint isn’t as strong as it is in the 2008 blu ray release and open matte, you can observe this in the construct scene, although it does have a lot of scenes where there is still a green tint.
The green filter was intentional by the directors for any scenes that took place inside the matrix. The "real world" scenes are presented more natural without any green filter.
@Daniel Long Also technically incorrect, the dvd rerelease that came out just before the sequels was where we first saw the first film having the green tint. I do wonder why they made the sequels with the green tint then added it to the first film. At least with the sequels it is intended, but it shouldn't be present at all with the first film.
FFS, Who cares if the 4k doesn't have the green tinge to it and people think it looks more natural.... Got news for you all...it is NOT meant to look natural....it is the matrix....when they are IN THE MATRIX it is supposed to look green. This is one time where the green looks like it is supposed to be there. If the 4k takes it out, it will just look stupid. Who wants to see smith IN the matrix with perfect real world flesh tones? not me..I want green when they are IN THE MATRIX.
![The Matrix [1999] Blu Ray vs Open Matte vs 4K Remaster vs 35mm Film Scan [Side by Side Comparison]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
