http://www.thedigitalbits.com/rumormill.html#0812From the Digital Bits
Anyone out there up for The Ultimate Matrix Collection? According to the Wachowski Brothers, who made a rare public appearance at the recent Comic-Con to talk about the DVDs, it's on the way in December. They were part of a Warner Bros. DVD panel on Saturday, which happened right before the big Lucasfilm Star Wars panel, so it seems not many people from the online DVD world were in attendance to hear them talk (including us). But faithful Bits reader Doug S. was there and sent us all the details, some which confirm things we'd heard before (click here and here) and some of it new information.
A promo was shown revealing two versions of the set, including a more expensive Collector's Edition Gift Set that includes a Neo minibust from Gentle Giant and a soundtrack CD. As we've heard before, this will be a 10-disc set as follows:
Disk 1 - The Matrix (digitally remastered and recolored)
Disk 2 - The Matrix Revisited (The SAME disc already released)
Disk 3 - The Matrix Reloaded
Disk 4 - The Matrix Reloaded Revisited
Disk 5 - The Matrix Revolutions
Disk 6 - The Matrix Revolutions Revisited
Disk 7 - The Animatrix (The SAME disc already released)
Disk 8 - The Roots of the Matrix
Disk 9 - The Burly Man Chronicles
Disk 10 - The Zion Archive
Here's additional information the Wachowskis revealed at the panel:
Despite rumors, there will be no new director's cuts. The brothers said they were very happy with the original theatrical versions.
There will be two audio commentaries for each film - one from philosophers Ken Wilber and Cornel West (who analyze the meanings behind the films), and one from three professional critics who hated all three films (no names given). According to Andy Wachowski, "It's the best idea we've ever had. It's hilarious. They just sit there and rip the **** out of us for six hours."
All the footage shot for the Enter the Matrix videogame is present on the DVD for Matrix Reloaded. However, it is not cut into the film - it's a separate special feature you can view scene-by-scene.
Finally, the Wachowskis said that none of the special features from the original DVD releases of the trilogy will be reproduced except for what you find on Discs 2 and 7. You may see some of the same footage re-edited, but if you want to own all of the extras you'll need to keep your original DVDs too.
So there you have it, straight from a Bits reader who was there. Todd and I actually saw the Wachowskis at the Burly Man booth in the dealer room, so we know there were on hand for all the Comic-Con fun. Our thanks to Doug for his efforts and for sending all this information to us to post for all of you.
