One of the top-grossing films of the 1990s, Andy and Larry Wachowski’s The Matrix set a new benchmark in movie special effects. Blending the kind of classic science-fiction stories found in Alien, Soylent Green, and The Terminator with Chinese martial-arts films, Japanese animation, and American comic art, plus a touch of mysticism in the mix, the Wachowskis created an unparalleled vision of a future that seems very like our own present with a surreal twist.