The Matrix VS. The Lord Of The Rings

Lord of the Rings Trilogy Forum

I recently opened a poll at an internet location that I better not disclose here! The response was tremendous!

The Matrix VS. The Lord Of The Rings. It had 60 votes in no time.
It now has over 115 votes and the results are:

The Lord Of The Rings 70%
The Matrix 30%

I think the matrix is a lot better than the lord of the rings in EVERY way. That means:

*Length!
*Action
*Cast
*Storyline
*Characters
*SpecialEFX
*Entertainment
*Art + The number of times you can watch the damn thing!

I'm not saying I hate the lord of the rings, but its no comparison to the matrix.

Matrix had Keanu Reeves- the worst actor since William Shatner.
There is no comparing LOTR to the Matrix. One is art in the highest form based on the best book ever written, the other is just a movie.

and the only good movie of the Matrix trilogy was the first...the others stunk...
whereas all of LOTR was good. and don't recall seeing the Matrix movies winning 11 academy awards either...your right though...there is no comparison between the 2...LOTR is far above the Matrix.
given that most of us in the LOTR forum are die hard fans, you can kind of expect this sort of responce. and that was all my opinion, and i by no means hate the Matrix. in and of itself, its a perfectly good movie. however i find LOTR to be more epic, the casting to be better, the story to be better, and the battle scenes cooler.

I think we can argue all we want. The truth is this will never be resolved. You will never find out which is "the best." In order to do so you would have to poll everybody in the world, but then people are always changing their votes and some people cannot make up their mind, which is were we get "undecided" from. Also some people will vote Matrix because their buddy is. Also some people just don’t care and click whichever their mouse curser happens to be above. You see it all the time on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. Some guy trying to be funny will vote for one of the answers, which has already been eliminated through 50-50. They just did it to be a wise guy. Just my 2 cents on what I think.

Matrix

Pro's Con's

action trinity dying...
sci fye ummmm noting else
keanu reeves
cool stunts

LOTR

Pros Cons

ORLANDO BLOOM Length
ELIJA WOOD No keanu reeves
Viggo mortensin
adventure

Bad idea posting that you like the Matrix better than LOTR in a LOTR forum!

Has anyone noticed they have the very same thread in the Matrix Forum, except moaning about LOTR getting 11 nominations and Matrix none? The posts on that thread are the exact opposite to those in here...

The Matrix Trilogy is, im my opinion, more of a film for the masses. Sure, it has a lot of philosophy and religious sub-plots, and I love that about the films, it's just the cheesiness in the middle which grates on me. Keanu Reeves is an awful actor, Smith is too cliche in the later films, it just has none of the quality of LOTR.

LOTR on the otherhand is a delecately intricate masterpiece. Peter Jackson has perfectly constructed Middle Earth exactly how it appears in the books, for me, and for most people. Instead of separating the book and the films, he has made them so they combine, each using the other to strengthen Tolkien's story, and indeed world. And that would be a hard thing to do for any book, let alone the greatest book of the last century.

I think comparing LOTR with The Matrix is like comparing apples and oranges. Each have their own good and bad features. And since we are discussing it in the LOTR forum, the reactions will not be unbiased. I know some people will not like me after I say this, but if I am asked to chose between any one of the movies from the Matrix trilogy and any one of the movies from the LOTR movies, I would take The Matrix anyday. I like LOTR, but it will never generate the same reaction from me as The Matrix.

And i think nearly the exact opposite to you Adi!

Yeah, the Matrix is complicated and all, but have you thought how many place, character, race and ages there are in LOTR? Very complicated. The Matrix is just an action movie.
But i do like the Matrix movies

Am, you are right. I have not seen the movies nor will I. Why? Because Keanu is a horrible actor. If he had been in LOTR I would not have watched the series either.

If someone is going to enter a forum I moderate and proceede to stir up negative things about the subject, then I will defend it.

If you pee on the welcome mat, don't expect to be invited to stay for dinner.

Matrix was an awsome movie, don't get me wrong. i just found the 2 follow up movies didn't make any sense, had too little plot to go on, and all around waste of time to see. i really don't hate Reeves, but his acting skill definitely aren't anywhere near as good as the talent in LOTR.

forumuser3, first off... while you might get your cheerio's off, believe that 115 people, OUT OF MILLIONS, voting that The Matrix is a better movie, really isn't a true look at the facts. That isn't enough people to decide much of anything.

Second... I find it almost rude that you would choose to enter a message board, and post in the LotR forum, this message that you have. While it might be your opinion, you've chosen the wrong forum for this conversation. Maybe you should take your whinning into the Matrix forum, and cry over the fact that LotR earned all the awards that it did, and Matrix couldn't touch it. There's a HUGE difference between a movie and an epic. The Matrix being the former.

AM... while I can understand you don't want Sherry to "judge" a movie... she merely shared her opinion about the acting job that Keanu Reeve's does. She has the right to share her opinion... and like she said, you piss on her welcome mat, she will shake it back on you. I believe that I've seen you, and many others, enter a thread and share your .02 cents of information, even if you have no experience on the topic/subject. So, it isn't fair to tell someone else to not make a comment on something that you yourself are guilty of doing elsewhere.

Chodder... I loved that post from you Good points...

Lastly, I have seen, and own the Matrix movies... so, guess that could make my comments valid, you think?! The Matrix trilogy went 'down hill' with each new movie. Like Shadow stated, the first movie was the best.... they were entertaining, but they can NOT touch the amazement of the LotR trilogy.

I've decided to take the approach of trying to actually "earn" them then just beg

I should have seen all that coming. Sorry I got a bit carried away.

It cool. Everybody is entitled to their opinions.

I am one of the small percentage that likes the Matrix Trilogy better. http://community.the-underdogs.org/smiley/celeb/matrix.gif

I do however, enjoy the Lord of the Rings. AWESOME trilogy also.

But for the life of me, I can't figure out why someone would come into the Lord of the Rings Forum and start a thread telling the fans of the movie that it can't compete with the Matrix.

I know if someone came into the Matrix forum and started cracking on our movie, we would jump all over their sorry butts. We would put the hammer drop on them!

Darn tootin', it just shows how well disciplined the LOTR fans are. Us matrix fans are violent and will slash for blood if they say the matrix is simply "o.k."

But I think this is a good debate

I wish I hadn't said all that. Now I feel like a fool.

I just didn't "get" Matrix. I'm sure it's a good movie, I just wasn't able to appreciate it. I couldn't relate to it. Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, any one can relate to at least one character or one sub plot. It's timeless.

Hey don't feel bad Adi. we still love ya! kudos for sticking up for the Matrix though!

To get back on topic:

Does anybody think that IF the matrix was nominated for a few awards to go up against LOTR that it would win? I think it would be a great battle, but I’m sorry to say but LOTR would win. They just have too many fans. The Matrix only has a small percent that actually care about the plot and not just action. Plus it has more of a plot that is hard to follow and we are still figuring things out as we speak. LOTR is just a movie about an adventure that is easy to follow and doesn’t take any great thinkers to figure out. As for the matrix, there are questions that only the directors can answer That’s why I think the matrix would loose. But I wish it would win because I’m a big fan. Mahesh was just trying to stick up for us fans because we don’t get the respect we disserve. It takes a lot of work to try and figure out this stuff

It's just called "constructive critism" No reason to take it personally. You did fine.

I am glad you guys still like me. For a few hours I was afraid I would get pounded upon. I would have taken the challenge, but I would have hated to go against my friends here. All in all, I am glad it didn't turn ugly and you guys understood my intentions behind my post.

Anyway, I wonder what Neo will say to this debate? She loves both of them. I will ask her to say what she thinks.

AM, there is no reason for people to jump on you. You stated your opinion, but did it without being rude.

I will watch it this summer, or during Ron's next big time off just for you. K?

Hey, I am not trying to pressurise you. I just thought it would help you understand why people like me, Neo and chodder feel the way we do about the movie.

LOTR is a good gripping movie, but Matrix isn't bad too.

My nephew has it on DVD. So, since so many of my friends have encouraged me to see it, I will.

Your nephew seems to be your DVD supplier. Wasn't he the one who showed you The Two Towers extended edition?

Yes, I had watched it in the theater, but he bought it before I did. My kids were sick, and he bought it early so that I could see it again. Love that kid. He is the best.

Advice: Watch it with nothing interfering. Your not going to get it the first time you watch it. The more and more you watch it the more you understand. So don’t get frustrated and give up if you are having trouble understanding I’ve seen it happen. And I’m sure if you have any questions you could just ask one of us over in the matrix forum. We would be more than glad to help. Nothing better then recruiting another matrix fan

That is one reason I have not watched it yet. With two kids it is hard to watch a movie. I am going to try sometime soon. Thanks guys.

Good advice chodder. I didn't get it the first time either. My head was spinning too fast to understand everything at first. Watching it a second time helped a lot, since I wasn't distracted by the fast pace of the movie.

Sherry... chodder is very right about that. You can't watch it with distractions.
The kids will keep you from seeing it all... and let me tell you, miss a minute here and there, and you've lost the entire movie. It takes really watching it... paying attention to it.

And, chodder is also right about that you won't "get it" the first time. I have watched the first Matrix over and over. There's a lot to it.

Hey KJ, why don't we ever see you in the Matrix forum? You seem to like the first one. Were you disappointed by the second or the third one?

I know because I tried to get my mom to watch it and she was trying to cook at the same time and she got really confused and I had to explain basically the whole movie to her.

Yeah, when you watch it for the first time, at certain points of the movie you tend to think, 'What in the world is going on?' But it becomes clear later.

i started to understand it the second timei saw it. the 3rd time most of it clicked. i must admit, the one on one battle scenes are excellently done in the Matrix.

There have been some interesting opinions in this thread, some I agree with, others I don't. I am not going to try to change anyone's opinions about what they think is good cinema. Each to his own I say. personally I like both and would not seek to compare and criticise.

However there is one comment I would like to make. What is the point of comparing two completely dissimilar movies? If both were of the same genre, or style, then I could understand. But due to the fact that the Matrix and LOTR trilogies are completely different - I do not see the point of this thread.

Neo

Because, while the Matrix (the first one) was a great movie... I just felt no interest in truly conversing about the movie. I have posted in the forum though... it's just been a long time. My interests on INR are in other subjects.

Good point Neo

The point of discussion is because we are bored and have nothing else to do what would you be doing right now? Watching t.v. probably or doing work who wants to do work? Plus life is full of “random” discussion. A complete stranger could be standing next to you on the check out line and out of nowhere spark up a conversation about the weather. It’s just useless chatter to pass time. Plus it establishes interaction amongst people. The more you share information and knowledge the more you learn. The good part of discussion two complete opposite movies is because you can try and figure out why they are both good and which has better music, computer graphics, etc. I like to think that using your brain is healthy and should be encouraged even if it is random chatter leading to no where.

I think The Lord of the Rings is far more interesting than The Matrix but maybe thats only because whenever i watch the matrix something bad happens to me. I swear that movie is cursed or something!

What kind of bad things happened to ya?

well in the first film i was dumped by my boyfriend of 2 years. The second I fell down the stairs of the cinema and broke my leg and the third I got off with my best friend who then admitted that he fancied me and I felt awful as I couldn't like him that way back.

Wow. Sounds like you were not meant to watch the movies. Sorry you were hurt.

HI everyone, this is my first post in the LOTR forum.

I am better known in the Matrix forum where I have spent all my time on at INREVIEW.

I loved both the Matrix and LOTR trilogies. Well I had to decide what I wanted to talk about the most LOTR or Matrix. Well I read the LOTR trilogy a very long time ago and I have to say they were the best fantasy I ever read. Also my "real-life" friends were happy to talk about LOTR but were ready to kill if I even mentioned the Matrix so I decided to focus on the Matrix here on INREVIEW.

It was a good choice since I have spent horrendous amounts of my time arguing all the subtle points of that trilogy because since LOTR, this story has captured my imagination the most. I would never had the time to talk both LOTR and Matrix and I was always tempted to come in here. Well I'm glad I did this is a great forum with people who are really passionate about the movies. I think I'll read my way through this forum now (hope it's not too late to add anything useful) actually don't know if can since you all seem to have worked out everything! The artwork and story of LOTR are unsurpassed in my opinion. It's is really great and accessible to people of different ages and I think it is less intimidating than the Matrix movies may have been. Also there is a lot of violence in the Matrix which some may have not liked.

I think The Matrix is comparable to LOTR since it IS an excellent story if you went to see it to understand the story rather than the action. I think it is often underrated as peole often see nothing more than the action. It has very deep symbolism and multicultural influences with different religions, philosophy and science intertwined as well as a visual feast of special effects and action.

You already know this but I'll say it anyway: You're all welcome to browse the Matrix FORUMS and don't forget the sub forums of symbolism and philosophy. Also the Matrix phenomenon extends beyond the trilogy into the "Enter the Matrix" game which allowed us to feel like we were part of the story line with clues to the movies and an hour of extra footage not seen in the movies. Also there were the Animatrix shorts which were also interesting.

The fan community also had additional entertainment from hacking the game and the websites for special content such as the "Zion Archives" but the hacking has become more of a challenge and this was from the very first movie release. There was aso an ARG Alternate Reality Game made by a group of fans on the web which puzzled us fans for months at the time of the release of Revolutions. The story will continue with the upcoming release of THE MATRIX ONLINE which is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game MMORPG. The matrix obviously has a huge following and it's because of the excellence of production, the storyline and the action.

LOTR also offered a visual feast and arguably the best story of the 20th century. It translated to film better than anyone could have expected and matched the detail-level what you'd imagine as reading the book. I went to the LOTR exhibition and the stories and exhibits of just how much work went into making these movies astonished me. Before LOTR and the MATRIX I was eagerly waiting for movies this good and I have been very well satisfied. I only hope movie-makers find more stories as good amazing as these and produce them to this quality.

I'd also like to say as Chodder did that if people bash the Matrix movies in the Matrix forum, we will generally pull out the katanas and slash away,j/k but we're very happy to debate anything and we have pushed the meaning of anything to the smallest possible details in there! Oh and *sorry* for the long post but that's something we wouldn't say in there either as we often have very very long posts - we have a lot to say!

Welcome to The LOTR forum!
you make some very good points above. Indeed, movies as good as these are fast becoming a rarity.

Aslo, I agree that the Matrix had a phenominal story. It just seems that M1 told it better IMO.

Thanks Shadow Stalker - I know I've seen you in there before also

I realise that it's gonna take a lot of reading and watching the movies a few times more to get back up to speed. But I am glad you are all here! Aww a new family! I hope the Matrix crew don't get jealous ;P

Hey welcome to the LOTR forum neo!!! Take a look around. Great points as well

Hey thanks

I am gonna read every post!

That might take awhile Feel free to revive any threads, that would be great!!!