Robots VS Kung Fu: The Matrix Grindhouse Edition

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Robots VS Kung Fu: The Matrix Grindhouse Edition
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1999
Original Running Time:
136 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
96 minutes
Synopsis:
Thomas Anderson was living the high life. Drugs, women, cash - all for the taking. But when The Man gives him a raw deal, he's on the run for his life. The militant Morpheus transports him to the future world of 1999, and trains him in the savage killing techniques of Kung Fu. Assuming the slasher alias Neo, he then embarks on a deadly game... of death. Trapped in a world of violence, addiction, and perversion, he is pursued by electronic monstrosities, twisted organ thieves, and the telepathic Federal Agent Smith. Now he must make a choice: kill them all... or die trying!
Intention:
I sought out to completely alter the movie as we know it. The presentation is now that of a mid-1980s exploitation film. The famous green tint has been removed and replaced with thick grain and print damage. The plot, character motivations, personalities, and sequence of events have been changed to tell the story in a new manner. Wherever possible, characters are made to be worse people. Everything depicted is - wherever possible - changed to be cheaper (via extensive use of behind-the-scenes footage), sleazier, darker, or simply different from the original version. The soundtrack has been almost completely replaced in favor of new music, with the emphasis on 70's synth to better suit the style and supposed time period. Continuity errors have been created where none had existed. New subplots have been added. Dialogue has been altered. I have changed everything that I possibly can change, while keeping within the context of the purpose of this project.
Other Sources:
The Matrix
The Matrix Revisited
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
The Animatrix
Johnny Mnemonic
Dark City
Highlander 2
Grindhouse
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
Game of Death
Game of Death 2
Rush Hour
The Dynamite Brothers Trailer
Hitman (2007)
The Hit Man (1972) Trailer
Resident Evil (2002)
The Astro Zombies Trailer
Highlander Trailer
Captain America: The First Avenger
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank
Drunken Fist Boxing
Special Thanks:
Leeroy, TM2YC, Rogue-theX, Neglify
Release Information:
  • DVD
  • Digital
Special Features:
Fan Editor's Audio Commentary
Isolated Soundtrack
The original 30 minute long workprint from 2010
Over ten minutes of Deleted, Alternate, and Extended scenes, including an Alternate Ending
Soundtrack Listing
Two trailers for this edit
Two trailers for fan edits from other editors
Editing Details:
Whenever possible, I tried to make the movie "worse", or just plain different. With a stockpile of behind the scenes footage, and obscure Matrix-related media (such as dialogue audio files from the defenct MMORPG), I had plenty of material to work with.
Cuts and Additions:
Too many to list.
Trailer



Full edit, part one of three. Password: fanedit

Full edit, part two of three. Password: fanedit

Full edit, part three of three. Password: fanedit

Robots Vs Kung Fu
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1999
Original Running Time:
136 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
96 minutes
Synopsis:
Thomas Anderson was living the high life. Drugs, women, cash - all for the taking. But when The Man gives him a raw deal, he's on the run for his life. The militant Morpheus transports him to the future world of 1999, and trains him in the savage killing techniques of Kung Fu. Assuming the slasher alias Neo, he then embarks on a deadly game... of death. Trapped in a world of violence, addiction, and perversion, he is pursued by electronic monstrosities, twisted organ thieves, and the telepathic Federal Agent Smith. Now he must make a choice: kill them all... or die trying!
Intention:
I sought out to completely alter the movie as we know it. The presentation is now that of a mid-1980s exploitation film. The famous green tint has been removed and replaced with thick grain and print damage. The plot, character motivations, personalities, and sequence of events have been changed to tell the story in a new manner. Wherever possible, characters are made to be worse people. Everything depicted is - wherever possible - changed to be cheaper (via extensive use of behind-the-scenes footage), sleazier, darker, or simply different from the original version. The soundtrack has been almost completely replaced in favor of new music, with the emphasis on 70's synth to better suit the style and supposed time period. Continuity errors have been created where none had existed. New subplots have been added. Dialogue has been altered. I have changed everything that I possibly can change, while keeping within the context of the purpose of this project.
Other Sources:
The Matrix
The Matrix Revisited
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
The Animatrix
Johnny Mnemonic
Dark City
Highlander 2
Grindhouse
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
Game of Death
Game of Death 2
Rush Hour
The Dynamite Brothers Trailer
Hitman (2007)
The Hit Man (1972) Trailer
Resident Evil (2002)
The Astro Zombies Trailer
Highlander Trailer
Captain America: The First Avenger
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank
Drunken Fist Boxing
Special Thanks:
Leeroy, TM2YC, Rogue-theX, Neglify
Release Information:
  • DVD
  • Digital
Special Features:
Fan Editor's Audio Commentary
Isolated Soundtrack
The original 30 minute long workprint from 2010
Over ten minutes of Deleted, Alternate, and Extended scenes, including an Alternate Ending
Soundtrack Listing
Two trailers for this edit
Two trailers for fan edits from other editors
Editing Details:
Whenever possible, I tried to make the movie "worse", or just plain different. With a stockpile of behind the scenes footage, and obscure Matrix-related media (such as dialogue audio files from the defenct MMORPG), I had plenty of material to work with.
Cuts and Additions:
Too many to list.
Cover art by TM2YC (DOWNLOAD HERE) image

Trailer



Full edit, part one of three. Password: fanedit

Full edit, part two of three. Password: fanedit

Full edit, part three of three. Password: fanedit

Trusted Reviewer reviews

Overall rating
 
7.7
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
7.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
6.0
Enjoyment
 
6.0
Not completely what I was expecting -- beyond being a grindhouse version of Matrix, this is basically an alternate narrative mashing up Johnny Nemonic and Matrix into something new and much more experimental, including a good chunk of the film that is completely dialogue-free. The drive-in style trailers for 90s/00s movies at the beginning were my favourite part, I'd have happily watched a dozen more of those. Still, I wanted to watch this as an alternative to viewing The Matrix for the dozenth time before Part 4 drops and enough of the original narrative is fresh in my mind, so mission accomplished.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
8.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
Let me preface this by saying that every time I would see someone write "you should do a grindhouse edit of _____" on the forum, I wanted to ban them immediately. There were a lot of hack attempts, but shitty-ing up the picture quality and making a bunch of hard cuts does not a grindhouse film make. Fortunately the trend seemed to fade from the spotlight for a bit. TMBTM's War of the Stars edit was a bit closer to the real deal, and that edit was a lot of fun.

Now, with Robots vs. Kung Fu, we have as close as a true grindhouse film as you are going to get. The editor did a fantastic job with this. The editing was quite good at times, the music choices were great, and it really did feel like a cheap grindhouse film. That said, not everything worked for me (a bit too much Johnny Mnemonic footage was used, and the filters/compression were a bit much for me) but I did really enjoy this. I look forward to watching the bonus features and listening to the commentary. Great job!!!!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
DVD
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
8.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
7.0
Enjoyment
 
7.0
I really struggled writing this review.

The good news is that the editor succeeds in pulling off a grindhouse version of The Matrix. It's obvious that he worked very hard on this and the end result is commendable. Unfortunately, I didn't quite enjoy this as much as I thought I would. Perhaps it's because I'm not a fan of the grindhouse genre, and it's a bit more straightforward (from a comedic standpoint) than The War of the Stars.

Stuff I liked: The intro cast credits made me smile. I generally liked most of the music choices. There were some actual literal laughs out loud on my part. The Animatrix stuff. The ending(s) were fantastic and easily bumped my narrative rating up a few points. The DVD is really well done, and I'm definitely going to listen to the commentary (the parts I sampled were quite interesting).

Stuff I didn't care for: The intro trailers (again, this is more my disinterest in the whole genre more than anything). The melting film parts (seen it before). The Johnny Mnemonic stuff (I'm not sure why but it didn't engage me). The changes to the narrative (maybe my fault, but there was stuff I didn't get until I read the description on IFDb).

Overall, I'm glad I watched this, and I did enjoy it, but not as much as I expected. I do wonder if I had seen this before WOTS if I might have liked it better, because I couldn't help but compare the two. And it's no fault of the editor that my tastes skew more towards WOTS.

Cautiously recommended.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
DVD
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
(Updated: December 25, 2021)
Overall rating
 
9.7
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
2021 Updated Review:

Has it really been 8 years since I left this review? Damn. Time flies. Well, with the release of the "Analogue Demaster" version, I felt this was worth a re-watch/re-review. I'll say that this is still one of the all time great fanedits out there and should be required viewing for everyone reading this. This really shows you what is possible with fanediting and your only limitation is your own creativity. Everything I said below still stands. The absolute highlight is the faneditor commentary track. It' so great to get a peek behind the curtain of a master at work. Brilliant, all around.

Original 2013 Review:

This edit is a blast. The editor has taken The Matrix as we know it, turned it inside out, crushed it with a sledgehammer, set it on fire and up from the ashes rose Robots vs. Kung Fu. What TMBTM was to Jaws and Star Wars, matrixgrindhouse is to The Matrix. Very highly recommended.

Audio/Video Quality: Horrid. Perfect.

Visual Editing: The number of sources blended together in this edit is jaw dropping. Great work.

Audio Editing: Hard cuts, volume fluctuations, stray noises. Everything that makes a grindhouse a grindhouse.

Narrative: The new story that's created is an incredible feat the editor should be commended on his creativity and the technical prowess to be able to pull it off.

Enjoyment: Take the red pill.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
DVD
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
8.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
This was such an amazing edit! Serious skills on hand with you man. I'm so glad I bumped your thread and tagged you that one night.

Excellent A/V quality, damaged effects worked really well. Multiple sources are smoothly mushed together without leaving too many traces. Of course there are intentional errors, which adds to the pleasure. It's obvious a ton of work went into this. There were many moments I marveled at the sound editing; the music, rebuilt sound effects, dialogue mashing, etc. Some of the intentional abrupt or awkward cuts didn't work for me though but nothing major. Nicely done with all the added footage. Really made this a unique version without going too nuts on it.

I had a blast with this. Not everything worked for me but all the genius moments outweighed those easily. I sampled the commentary and will definitely give that a listen, and damn look at that a second disc with goodies! Highly highly recommended.

A/V Quality - 10
Editing - 9 visual, 8 audio
Narrative - 9
Enjoyment - 10 (original 9)

Recommended drink: Absinthe

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
DVD
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
View all Trusted Reviewer reviews

User reviews

20 reviews
 
60%
 
40%
5-7 stars
 
0%
3-5 stars
 
0%
1-3 stars
 
0%
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.1(20)
Audio Editing
 
8.8(20)
Visual Editing
 
9.5(20)
Narrative
 
8.8(20)
Enjoyment
 
9.2(20)
View all user reviews View most helpful
(Updated: January 14, 2023)
Overall rating
 
8.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
7.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I do appreciate that Grindhouse is meant to be downgraded, and thusly allows for inclusion of poor quality video clips. Yet to me (as a newbie and firm sitter on sofa) it seems like this may have been shoddied beyond what was necessary. That said it is but a quibble as the really low definition is used sparingly on film that got alot of colour balanceing and it ends up looking artistic. At least 'The Matrix' footage is high quality, with the snazzy frazzles that mimick well used projectors being artfully done to boot. RVKFU pushes the limits....

Got alot of laughs all the way through. If Grindhouse is about subversion then this is a masterpiece of the vocation. Cutting in those clips from that unoffical Matrix prequel (as other reviewers mention) sets the tone and serves to inglorify the characterization of Neo in the best of ways. Behind the scenes footage at every highly staged juncture keeping one in a relflective mood. With assortments of audio clips filling gaps and adding some extra story (one in particular '... tweny grand' is too good - too bad its partially muffled and its got a tight window to be squeezed into but I wish it was a clearer 'tell him I'll pay....' hehahea) U'll not get bored. Watch it!!!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
6.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Im not familliar with grindhouse movies but basically this was The Matrix as a 70s kung fu movie. This made for a very entertaining edit. The only thing I am on the fence about is the liberal uses of Johnny Nemonic, because it became a bit confusing. But maybe thats just me.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
This edit was hilarious and brilliant. The whole grindhouse style for this edit worked really well especially when blending those behind the scene footage giving the movie that cheap feel. The humour was top notch and ridiculous. The editing was perfectly awful with bad audio jumps, camera angles, continuities and colour grades adding to the fun, A great addition I loved was the fake trailers especially the one for hitman- it really sets the vibe for the edit well. I also laughed so hard at the ending and overall matrixgrindhouse is a genius and has created a perfect parody Matrix movie.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
8.1
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
8.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
7.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
This one was a little tough to review. I'm not a connoisseur of grindhouse films, and fanedits is what's introducing me to the genre.

It's gloriously, gleefully terrible. So, where is that deliberate, and where accidental (and not happy accident). I re-watched with the faneditor's commentary to put that into context.

With that context, the edit is great. The grain & scratch filters are obvious from the start, the liberal use of other movies (mostly Johnny Mnemonic--a guilty pleasure of mine) and unfinished footage jumps out and mostly works. There's a few cuts of behind the scenes that felt a bit over done. The bad audio jumps are just part of the fun, even though a good chunk of Morpheus' lines *really* stand out. The bad color grading, bad camera angles, screwed up continuity is giggle-inducing.

It was fun seeing how a different edit can change the thrust of the story and characters. It took the commentary viewing to really get where matrixgrindhouse was going with it though.

The fake trailers were great. Those really helped you get into the mindset. You could almost smell the burnt/stale popcorn and feel the stick floor by the time the movie started.

In the final assessment, I greatly enjoyed this edit. There were numerous laugh out loud moments. Now I want to see some of those previewed movies.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
(Updated: April 01, 2023)
Overall rating
 
9.3
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Robots vs Kung Fu is really good.

It isn't perfect. It has some awkward edits due to the story, and is really obtuse in places. I don't mind. All of these come from the boldness of the idea, and the glee of seeing something so different with something we know. It has great style and genuinely builds an identity separate from the matrix.

I come back to RvKF a lot. The reason for that has to be the soundtrack. Matrixgrindhouse found music which fits the movie better than its own. I'm so glad for the isolated score audio track The scene where neo fights Morpheus in the dojo I could watch on repeat.

Feels weird to say, but I can't wait for the sequel!

User Review

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Yes
Format Watched
Digital
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