The Animatrix: World Record
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DVD NTSC
Region 1
10-disc box set
for North America
U.S.
U.S.
Canada
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DVD PAL
Region 2
10-disc box set
for the U.K.
U.K.
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(The Animatrix, segment 6)
- written by Yoshiaki Kawajiri
- directed by Takeshi Koike
- produced by Larry and Andy Wachowski, Michael Arias,
Eiko Tanaka, Hiroaki Takeuchi
- music by Don Davis
- 9 min. action plus 8 min. credits
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Story: Star athlete Dan pushes himself to win a sprinting race
and set a new world record.... but the intensity of his efforts are causing him
to begin to wake up to the reality of the Matrix, which brings unforeseen
complications....
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In-Depth Analysis Review
by Martin Izsak
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WARNING: This review contains "SPOILERS", and is intended for
those who have already seen the story.
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This is the point at which some real originality began to show in the story
content for the Animatrix, and I began to get exited about it.
"World Record" neatly builds upon the concepts presented in the first film,
while stretching their applicability with a few interesting "what if" questions,
and this story explores the possibilities fairly successfully.
Our athletic main character, Dan, is also fleshed out fairly well for such
a short film, and has the advantage of having his main goals aligned with
archetypal struggles and good, proactive principles, making it really easy for
the audience to get on side with him, invest in him emotionally, and celebrate
his triumphs. All good.
This film also has a unique "athletic" exaggeration in the style of its
characters, which works for the new ones. It seems a bit out of place on the
agents, making them look a bit too different and unrecognizable from the films,
but this doesn't detract too much as you can quickly figure out who they are
and what they are about.
It is also fascinating to see another example of the agents taking over
people in the story.... although nitpickers may well wonder why they didn't just
directly take over Dan, considering that he was still plugged in at the time.
There may be good reasons for that, but we don't get them in the film itself.
One almost wants this short story to continue, but it leaves off in an
enigmatic and powerful place, and remains kind of cool in its open-endedness.
At any rate, this is the first truly enjoyable Animatrix segment, and thankfully,
it is not the last....
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U.S. 
Canada 
