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The Matrix trilogy in 7 places
Matrix in 7 locations
Red pill or blue pill? Anyway, nothing must prevent you from discovering these 7 places of the cult trilogy.
Matrix
Forty One Restaurant (closed)
Cypher (Joe Pantoliano) makes a deal with Constable Smith (Hugo Weaving) while enjoying a fictional steak at this restaurant. Closed since then, the establishment on the 41st floor has hosted this landmark scene. Among all the actors considered for Neo (Keanu Reeves) are Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, but also Sandra Bullock. Faced with the rejection of all the actors they had cast, the two director brothers were ready to completely overhaul the script to make Neo a female character and offer the role to Sandra Bullock.
1 Martin Place, Sydney, Australia
Neo’s small team is ambushed by agents in the old post office. Converted for a time into a luxury hotel, The Westin Sydney, the building is now closed to the public. The total budget for the film requested by the Wachowskis was $80 million. Warner Bros. only gave them 10. A risky gamble, the directors decided to use the entire budget for the first sequence of the film, the continuation with Trinity. Faced with the incredible work, the producers decided to grant the entire 80 million to the Wachowski brothers.
Telephone booth
At the southeast corner of Pitt and Hunter Streets, on O’Connell Street, Neo calls the machines one last time from a phone booth, now gone. The famous scene called “Bullet Time” in which Neo manages to dodge several bullets, was filmed in front of green backgrounds with 120 special cameras and two cameras capable of capturing 12,000 images per second. The same technique was used by the French director Michel Gondry for his advertising and music videos.
Matrix Reloaded
For the film’s famous major action scene, a highway was specially built, none of the existing ones were suitable for the directors. After seven weeks of work and a total cost of $2.5 million, the logs used for the decorations were sent to Mexico to build about 100 houses for modest families.
Power station
28 Robert Street, Rozelle, Australia
The power station that must be destroyed to prevent the bombs from being detonated is the White Bay Power Station at Rozelle. Inactive since 1983, the building is a World Heritage Site. Two deaths plunged the filming of the last two Matrix movies into mourning. The singer Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in 2001, was to play the role of Zee, while the first Oracle, Gloria Foster, fell victim to diabetes.
DID YOU KNOW THAT?
The green computer code on a black background present in each of the Matrix films has real meaning. It was inspired to Simon Whiteley by a Japanese cookbook owned by his wife. “I like to tell everyone that the Matrix code is made from Japanese sushi recipes,” the designer told Cnet in an interview.
Matrix Revolutions
Royal Botanic Gardens
Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, Australia
The Oracle (Mary Alice) and the Architect (Helmut Bakaitis) meet in these gardens. Covering an area of 30 hectares, the Royal Botanic Gardens are the most central of the three major botanic gardens open to the public in Sydney. For the famous kick, the Scorpion Kick, given by Carrie-Anne Moss at the beginning of Matrix Reloaded and in a scene from Matrix Revolutions, the actress had to undergo six months of training to master it.
Final battle
The final battle between Neo and Agent Smith creates a huge crater at the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney.
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LONDON map of 100 cult places (French Edition)
The London Fantrippers map, an original way to discover the British capital! Through 100 pop culture places, walk through its streets from another angle. Movies, TV shows, music, comics and novels, will allow you to spend a pleasant moment in the World City. With a folded format of 10 x 18 cm and an unfolded format of 60 x 54 cm, it slips easily into your pocket or your bag for easy reference.
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By Anthony Thibault
From the "Casimir generation", Anthony has kept (in addition to a passion for Goldorak) a taste for inventive images, experimentation and curiosity. Passionate about travel and pop culture, he co-founded Fantrippers with Nicolas Albert to share his passion with as many people as possible.