The Matrix and the Wachowskis
San haiti
26-05-2005, 22:50
I recently heard that the Wachowskis may not have written the the first Matrix movie and rather stole it from some woman because it sounded like rather a good story. Being as the internet is filled with rumours like this I wondered if any of you guys had heard this. According to this site she's actually won the lawsuit but it doesnt say if she's been paid.
http://www.slccglobelink.com/media/paper442/news/2004/10/28/Entertainment/mother.Of.The.Matrix.Victorious-785067.shtml
According to the link they cut 30 minutes out of the movie to try and get round the copywright restrictions, but apparently it didnt work.
Sdaeriji
26-05-2005, 22:52
Ever play Shadowrun? I bet the Wachowskis did.
San haiti
26-05-2005, 22:57
Ever play Shadowrun? I bet the Wachowskis did.
No, I've never heard of it. Is it similair to the matrix?
Sdaeriji
26-05-2005, 22:59
No, I've never heard of it. Is it similair to the matrix?
Down to the word "Matrix".
Copyrighted 1993.
Bodies Without Organs
26-05-2005, 23:04
Down to the word "Matrix".
Copyrighted 1993.
Which first appeared as a name for a virtual reality environment in The Deadly Assassin series of Doctor Who, which first broadcast in October and November 1976.
I recently heard that the Wachowskis may not have written the the first Matrix movie and rather stole it from some woman because it sounded like rather a good story. Being as the internet is filled with rumours like this I wondered if any of you guys had heard this. According to this site she's actually won the lawsuit but it doesnt say if she's been paid.
http://www.slccglobelink.com/media/paper442/news/2004/10/28/Entertainment/mother.Of.The.Matrix.Victorious-785067.shtml
According to the link they cut 30 minutes out of the movie to try and get round the copywright restrictions, but apparently it didnt work.
They stole the origional script for the Matrix then used it for II and III? What a surprise given the low quality of the two sequels.
Cannot think of a name
26-05-2005, 23:20
Down to the word "Matrix".
Copyrighted 1993.
Okay, but it shares that similarity with just about every cyberpunk story ever. Including the CyberPunk game that predates Shadowrun and books like Cybermancer.
My friend had the idea for the Matrix (though for him it was people in orbital stations) a while ago, there are a lot of similar stories. The difference being the Wachowskis never met my friend. The 'common wisdom' among screenwriters is that your ideas are going to get stolen, but if you are a writer you are more than one idea.
The reported quality drop off in the sequels (I didn't like the first one, so I didn't see the second two) would be explained nicely by them stealling the first story.
Bodies Without Organs
27-05-2005, 02:05
Okay, but it shares that similarity with just about every cyberpunk story ever. Including the CyberPunk game that predates Shadowrun and books like Cybermancer.
Are you talking about the novel 'Neuromancer' here? If so it predates the game Cyberpunk by roughly seven years.
Sdaeriji
27-05-2005, 02:06
Okay, but it shares that similarity with just about every cyberpunk story ever. Including the CyberPunk game that predates Shadowrun and books like Cybermancer.
My friend had the idea for the Matrix (though for him it was people in orbital stations) a while ago, there are a lot of similar stories. The difference being the Wachowskis never met my friend. The 'common wisdom' among screenwriters is that your ideas are going to get stolen, but if you are a writer you are more than one idea.
The reported quality drop off in the sequels (I didn't like the first one, so I didn't see the second two) would be explained nicely by them stealling the first story.
I know. It's a common theme for cyberpunk stories everywhere. I was just commenting that they actually used the word Matrix (although BWO said that was taken from Doctor Who). The Wachowskis didn't even come up with a new name.
Cannot think of a name
27-05-2005, 08:06
Are you talking about the novel 'Neuromancer' here? If so it predates the game Cyberpunk by roughly seven years.
Yep, got the name wrong. Sorry.
Cannot think of a name
27-05-2005, 08:10
I know. It's a common theme for cyberpunk stories everywhere. I was just commenting that they actually used the word Matrix (although BWO said that was taken from Doctor Who). The Wachowskis didn't even come up with a new name.
I think a lot of them use the name Matrix-it's not a specific enough part of the story to be really considered stolen, though. Especially considering that more than one story uses it. We don't consider every mention of 'robot' to be a rip-off of R.U.R. even though thats where the term comes from.
I don't even know that unconscious people in an artificially constructed reality is enough. I think it was really the discussion about how her story was used as a template and the decision to cover that (I have to wonder if that half hour of movie would have made it better, but I didn't like the movie so it may just be me)
Lacadaemon
27-05-2005, 08:13
You can't copyright ideas. Only expression.
New Granada
27-05-2005, 08:14
I always fall back on the old adage "you can't trust two poles to make three movies"
;)
Wisjersey
27-05-2005, 09:22
Well, the Wachowskis did not only borrow from Neuromancer/Shadowrun, there's also heavy influence from the anime/mangas "Appleseed" and "Ghost in the Shell". If you've seen any of those, you'll know what i mean... :rolleyes: