What If I Told You We Have 37 Behind the Scenes Photos From the Set of “The Matrix”

John Summers • Contributor

Jun 24, 2024 9:00 PM EDT

No one will ever experience watching "The Matrix" the same way my friends and I (and everyone else) did back in 1999. It was a complete revelation then, and I'm not just talking about the plot twists or special effects. I mean the very concept of the Matrix—the idea of people living in a simulated reality, the notion that the world around us might not be real. These concepts weren't part of the conversation yet. Today, people use expressions like "escaping the Matrix" or "taking the red pill" in everyday conversations, but these ideas didn't exist before "The Matrix" came out.

In this listicle, we have gathered 37 behind-the-scenes photos from the set of "The Matrix," along with some interesting trivia about the making of the movie, So as you scroll through these photos, you can also expand your knowledge about this, frankly, masterpiece of modern cinema.

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Most scenes were filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney and the city itself, avoiding recognizable landmarks to maintain a generic American city feel.
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Filming began in March 1998 and wrapped in August 1998, taking 118 days for principal photography, with some scenes shot at Culver Studios.
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The subway scene was filmed on a set built around a train storage facility due to the complexity of the fight and wire work.
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The filming helped establish New South Wales as a major film production center.
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The rooftop set used for Trinity's escape from Agent Brown was left over from the production of Dark City.
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Due to Reeves's neck injury, action scenes were rescheduled to start with less physically demanding scenes, such as Thomas Anderson's office and the interrogation room.
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The dojo set was built well before actual filming.
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The helicopter used in the film was a full-scale, lightweight mock-up with a real minigun side-mounted to it, cycling at half its regular firing rate.
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The office building where Smith interrogated Morpheus was a large set, with the outside view created by a three-story high cyclorama.
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Carrie-Anne Moss performed her own wire stunts for the shots featuring Trinity at the beginning of the film.
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The bullet-time fight scene was filmed on the roof of the Symantec Corporation building in Kent Street, opposite Sussex Street.
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Actors sustained bruises due to significant physical contact during action sequences.
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To prepare for the scene where Neo wakes up in a pod, Reeves lost 15 pounds and shaved his whole body to give an emaciated look.
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The scene where Neo fell into the sewer system concluded principal photography.
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During the rehearsal of the lobby scene, Moss injured her leg and was unable to film the shot in one take.
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The Matrix opened in US theaters on March 31, 1999, to widespread acclaim for its visual effects, action sequences, cinematography, and entertainment value.
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Chad Stahelski, Reeves's stunt double, sustained several injuries during the scene when Neo slammed Smith into the ceiling.
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Reeves's injury and insufficient wire training caused frustration and delays in filming the triple kicks scene, which was successfully shot a few days later.
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During the rooftop scene, extra footage was filmed of Neo dodging bullets as a contingency in case the bullet-time process did not work.
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The film grossed over $460 million on a $63 million budget, becoming the highest-grossing Warner Bros. film of 1999 and the fourth-highest-grossing film of that year.
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In 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."