The Matrix (1999)
dpgSingularity
When a disillusioned hacker discovers that the world he accepts as real is a virtual simulation, he struggles to develop the power to liberate humanity from its enslavement to computers.
Share
Have an account? Sign In Now
This has been loglined here before, but I think it’s worth a second look because:
1] It’s a challenging story to summarize for the purpose of ?a ?logline or for any other purpose. ?The one liner on IMDB (“A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers”) is, btw, a blurb not a logline, and a rather inadequate one, imho.
2] Truly novel sci-fi ?or fantasy scripts are hard to logline, hard to pitch, hard to sell. ?Such was the case for the Wachowski brothers ?– in spite of the fact that they had already established industry credibility and contacts through the sale and production of an earlier script “Assassins” (1995).
It will be observed that the logline I have posted seems to be a spoiler. ?It seems to give away the Big Reveal, that the “real world” is really a virtual world, a computer simulation. ?I seem to be inconsistent with my oft asserted position that the loglines should never contain a spoiler, should never disclose the Big Reveal. My counter argument is:
1] Yes it’s a Big Reveal, and a?great one, one of the biggest in the history of cinema. ?But it’s also the story hook. ?It is infinitely superior to ?”The true nature of his reality” — how vapid, how vague, ?how utterly useless to serve the purpose of a story hook in a logline.
2] I believe that it’s “legal” and necessary to reveal The Big Reveal in the logline because it occurs at the end of the 1st Act after Neo swallows the red pill — in the 30th minute of the film. ?It’s the plot element, the film beat that ?immediately and completely hooks you into the story.
Were this Big Reveal to occur at the end of the 2nd Act or early in the 3rd, then I would not include it in the logline. ?It wouldn’t qualify for a logline hook because it would occur too late in the story to be the primary hook for an audience’s attention and curiosity.
I believe that to be included in a logline, to qualify as the hook , the event must transpire in the 1st Act (or no later than early in the 2nd Act).
(But I’m not entirely satisfied with the wording of this logline.)
Great analysis of a great movie, dpg. Thanks.
Your first point is very true in that so much of what we already see or reference back to as a logline for a story we know or love, is not really helpful for logline building — because they aren’t even close to being what was probably used as an initial pitch.
Matrix was worked on for years, that’s why it was so good of a story. The sequels… Rushed ugh.
Thx for the analysis regarding the reveal. Makes sense.
I recall wanting to see the movie solely on the camera technology, not the story. And of course the tagline…
What is the Matrix?
I had to know.
Good first draft, but I think it’s lacking in Neo’s action.
As you wrote the hook is important in this case, but equally is what he does – “…strugles to develope the power…,” is too vague and lacks in interest. Perhaps best to include ‘ the prophecy’ so as to alude to the culture that has developed outside of the VR world.
My try:
After a disillusioned hacker discovers the world is a virtual simulation, he must fight the machines that have enslaved all of humanity, as told in a prophecy of the survivors.
And alternative version incorporating ?the prophesy:
When a disillusioned hacker discovers the world is a virtual simulation, he must struggle to fulfill the prophesy to ?become the one who liberates humanity from its enslavement to computers.
(30 words)
The shocking discovery is the inciting incident even though it ?occurs a half hour into the film and is the transition/threshold event from Act 1 to Act 2.
Fulfilling the prophesy is the expectation placed upon him by Morpheus. ?Is Neo “The ?One”? ?That’s the dramatic question Neo and the film must answer.