Action: ‘The Matrix’ Lobby Shootout & Bullet Time
When you consider what a fantastic year 1999 was in film (small sample: Fight Club, American Beauty, Toy Story 2, Election, The Green Mile, The Insider, Magnolia, The Sixth Sense, Three Kings, Being John Malkovich), it might be somewhat surprising that The Matrix will, at least in my estimation, be the movie that people hold onto going forward. We’re still getting “there is no spoon” and bullet time jokes 11 years after the fact.
But how did the film’s two iconic action sequences look on the page? The draft dated April 8, 1996, (when the Wachowskis were likely working on their directorial debut, Bound) shows the rooftop “bullet time” scene to be pretty close to the finished work.
EXT. ROOF (MATRIX) - DAY The roof-access tower is now engulfed in flames as Neo and Trinity lay waste to a dozen more Marines. Guns and knives, like extensions of their bodies used with the same deadly precision as their feet and their fists. Across the roof, the pilot inside the army helicopter watches the ferocious onslaught. PILOT I repeat, we are under attack! Suddenly his face, his whole body dissolves, consumed by spreading locust-like swarm, of STATIC as -- Agent Jones emerges. Just as she drops the last Marine, Trinity sees what's coming. Neo sees her, the fear in her face, and he knows what is behind him. Screaming, he whirls, GUNS filling his hands with thought-speed. Fingers PUMPING, SHELLS ejecting, dancing up and away, we look through the sights and gun smoke at -- The Agent blurred with motion -- Until the HAMMERS CLICK against empty metal. NEO Trinity! Agent Jones charges. NEO ... help. His GUN BOOMS as we enter the liquid space of -- Bullet-time. The AIR SIZZLES with wads of lead-like angry flies as Neo twists, bends, ducks just between them. Agent Jones still running, narrows the gap, the BULLETS coming faster until -- Neo bent impossibly back, one hand on the ground as a spiraling gray ball shears open his shoulder. He starts to scream as another digs a red groove across his thigh. He has only time to look up, to see the barrel when Agent Jones, standing over him, pulls the TRIGGER the final time. CLICK. Empty. Neo rolls, reaching for another gun when around-house kick snaps his jaw. Agent Jones grabs the gun and levels it at Neo. AGENT JONES Only human... Suddenly Agent Jones stops. Something is wrong. He scans the roof. Trinity is gone. Immediately, he whirls around and turns straight into the muzzle of her .45 -- Jammed right into his head. TRINITY Dodge this, motherfucker! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The body flies back with a flash of mercurial light and when it hits the ground -- It is the pilot. Trinity helps Neo up. NEO Thanks. TRINITY You're hit -- NEO I'm fine. Neo is already looking at the helicopter.
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Looking at the 1997 and 1998 drafts of the screenplay, I only see two significant changes made from 1996 version. The biggest change, which first appears in the 1997 draft, is the addition of Trinity commenting on what Neo just did (“You move like they move. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast.”) to underscore that Neo is, indeed, beginning to grasp his prophesized powers. Small addition, but important because Trinity and others have already bent the rules of the Matrix to accomplish the impossible. If Trinity (who leaps buildings in the opening scene) doesn’t point out that Neo just did something crazy and new, how would the audience/reader make the distinction?
Second change is the removal of the beat where Agent Jones pulls the trigger on an empty gun. Nice little moment of suspense, but it undermines Trinity coming to the rescue. And, of course, there is the deletion of a certain colorful colloquialism from Trinity’s “Dodge this!” quip.
I really like the description of the morphing effect when an agent takes over a body. I also find it really intriguing that the words “slow motion” are never used to describe bullet time. Having seen the finished product, it’d be easy to say this was a fine example of showing instead of telling, but I really wonder if any studio execs truly understood what was being described, or even if the Wachowskis envisioned something different at the time. Air sizzling with wads of lead like angry flies? Sure, okay.
Whereas the bulk of the bullet time scene is remarkably similar to the film, the preceding lobby shootout is much more of a perfunctory build-up scene in the 1996 draft.
INT. MAIN DECK Tank sits down beside Morpheus whose face is ashen like someone near death. He takes hold of his hand. TANK Hold on, Morpheus. They're coming for you. They're coming. EXT. NIKO HOTEL (MATRIX) - DAY A dark wind blows. INT. NIKO HOTEL (MATRIX) - DAY In long, black coats, Trinity and Neo push through the revolving doors. Neo is carrying a duffel bag. Trinity has a large metal suitcase. They cut across the lobby drawing nervous glances. Dark glasses, game faces. Several plainclothes cops try to stop them. They are met by the MUTED SPIT of a SILENCED GUN and the RAZORED WHISTLE of THROWING STARS. The cops slump down to the marbled floor while Neo and Trinity do not even break stride.
That’s it. No army. No running up walls. No bullet ballet. I’m guessing the Wachowskis wanted it to be a quick “Oh, it’s on!” type of moment before the main rooftop and helicopter action.
The 1997 draft changes the locale from hotel to a government building, inserts the metal detector gag (“Would you please remove any metallic items you are carrying…”), and has a second wave of guards fall just as quickly. The 1998 production draft finally expands it into an action scene that has its own identity with description like “Slate walls and pillars pock, crack, and crater under a hail storm of EXPLOSIVE-tipped BULLETS.” I wonder if the Wachowskis were writing specifically for The Propellerheads at that point…
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- 1996 draft from SciFiScripts via Drew’s Script-O-Rama
- 1997 and 1998 drafts from MyPDFScripts
Unwritten By 