The Matrix (1999)
Keanu Reeves: Neo
Photos
Quotes
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[last lines]
Neo : I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid... you're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.
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Morpheus : I imagine that right now, you're feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole? Hmm?
Neo : You could say that.
Morpheus : I see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that's not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo : No.
Morpheus : Why not?
Neo : Because I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.
Morpheus : I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo : The Matrix.
Morpheus : Do you want to know what it is?
Neo : Yes.
Morpheus : The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo : What truth?
Morpheus : That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.
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Morpheus : The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.
[Neo's eyes suddenly wander towards a woman in a red dress]
Morpheus : Were you listening to me, Neo? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?
Neo : I was...
Morpheus : [gestures with one hand] Look again.
[the woman in the red dress is now Agent Smith, pointing a gun at Neo's head; Neo ducks]
Morpheus : Freeze it.
[Everybody and everything besides Neo and Morpheus freezes in time]
Neo : This... this isn't the Matrix?
Morpheus : No. It is another training program designed to teach you one thing: if you are not one of us, you are one of them.
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Oracle : I'd ask you to sit down, but, you're not going to anyway. And don't worry about the vase.
Neo : What vase?
[Neo turns to look for a vase, and as he does, he knocks over a vase of flowers, which shatters on the floor]
Oracle : That vase.
Neo : I'm sorry...
Oracle : I said don't worry about it. I'll get one of my kids to fix it.
Neo : How did you know?
Oracle : Ohh, what's really going to bake your noodle later on is, would you still have broken it if I hadn't said anything?
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Agent Smith : We're willing to wipe the slate clean, give you a fresh start. All that we're asking in return is your cooperation in bringing a known terrorist to justice.
Neo : Yeah. Well, that sounds like a pretty good deal. But I think I may have a better one. How about, I give you the finger
[He does]
Neo : and you give me my phone call.
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Agent Smith : You hear that Mr. Anderson?... That is the sound of inevitability... It is the sound of your death... Goodbye, Mr. Anderson...
Neo : My name... is Neo.
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Neo : Yeah. That sounds like a really good deal. But I got a better one. How about... I give you the finger... and you give me my phone call?
Agent Smith : Mr. Anderson... you disappoint me.
Neo : You can't scare me with this Gestapo crap. I know my rights. I want my phone call.
Agent Smith : Tell me, Mr. Anderson... what good is a phone call... if you're unable to speak?
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Trinity : I know why you're here, Neo. I know what you've been doing... why you hardly sleep, why you live alone, and why night after night, you sit by your computer. You're looking for him. I know because I was once looking for the same thing. And when he found me, he told me I wasn't really looking for him. I was looking for an answer. It's the question that drives us, Neo. It's the question that brought you here. You know the question, just as I did.
Neo : What is the Matrix?
Trinity : The answer is out there, Neo, and it's looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to.
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Tank : We're supposed to start with these operation programs first. That's major boring shit. Let's do something a little more fun. How about... combat training.
Neo : Ju jitsu? I'm gonna learn Ju jitsu.
[Tank winks and loads the program]
Neo : Holy shit!
Tank : Hey Mikey, I think he likes it. How about some more?
Neo : Hell, yes. Hell yeah.
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Morpheus : We've survived by hiding from them, by running from them. But they are the gatekeepers. They are guarding all the doors, they are holding all the keys. Which means that sooner or later, someone is going to have to fight them.
Neo : Someone?
Morpheus : I've seen an agent punch through a concrete wall; men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air; yet, their strength, and their speed, are still based in a world that is built on rules. Because of that, they will never be as strong, or as fast, as *you* can be.
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Oracle : OK, now I'm supposed to say, "Hmm, that's interesting, but... " then you say...
Neo : ..."but what?"
Oracle : But... you already know what I'm going to tell you.
Neo : I'm not The One.
Oracle : Sorry, kid. You got the gift, but it looks like you're waiting for something.
Neo : What?
Oracle : Your next life, maybe. Who knows? That's the way these things go.
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[Neo sees a black cat walk by them, and then a similar black cat walk by them just like the first one]
Neo : Whoa. Déjà vu.
[Everyone freezes right in their tracks]
Trinity : What did you just say?
Neo : Nothing. Just had a little déjà vu.
Trinity : What did you see?
Cypher : What happened?
Neo : A black cat went past us, and then another that looked just like it.
Trinity : How much like it? Was it the same cat?
Neo : It might have been. I'm not sure.
Morpheus : Switch! Apoc!
Neo : What is it?
Trinity : A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.
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Tank : Neo, this has to be done.
Neo : Does it? I don't know. This can't be just coincidence. It can't be.
Tank : What are you talking about?
Neo : The Oracle. She told me this would happen. She told me that I would have to make a choice.
Trinity : What choice?
[Neo walks away]
Trinity : What are you doing?
Neo : I'm going in.
Trinity : No, you're not.
Neo : I have to.
Trinity : Neo, Morpheus sacrificed himself so we could get you out. There is no way you're going back in.
Neo : Morpheus did what he did because he believes something I'm not.
Trinity : What?
Neo : I'm not the one, Trinity. The Oracle hit me with that too.
Trinity : No, you have to be.
Neo : I'm sorry, I'm not. I'm just another guy.
Trinity : No, Neo, that's not true. It can't be true.
Neo : Why?
[no response, Neo walks away again]
Tank : Neo, this is loco. They've got Morpheus in a military-controlled building. Even if you somehow got inside, those are agents holding him. Three of them. I want Morpheus back too but what you're talking about is suicide.
Neo : I know that's what it looks like, but it's not. I can't explain to you why it's not. Morpheus believes in something and he was ready to give his life, I understand that now. That's why I have to go.
Tank : Why?
Neo : Because I believe in something.
Trinity : What?
Neo : I believe I can bring him back.
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Neo : Mr. Wizard, get me the hell out of here!
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Agent Smith : [Seeing the slide of Neo's gun is locked back on an empty magazine] You're empty.
Neo : [Seeing Smith's gun is also empty] So are you.
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Neo : What are you doing?
Trinity : I'm going with you.
Neo : No you're not.
Trinity : No? Let me tell you what I believe. I believe that Morpheus means more to me than he does to you. I believe if you are really serious about rescuing him, you are going to need my help. And since I am the ranking officer on this ship, if you don't like it... I believe you can go to hell. Because you're not going anywhere else. Tank, load us up.
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Morpheus : I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he's expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo : No.
Morpheus : Why not?
Neo : 'Cause I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.
Morpheus : know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. Like a splinter in your mind - driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
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[Neo receives a cell phone in an overnight-mail envelope. As soon as he's holding it, it rings]
Neo : Hello?
Morpheus : Hello, Neo. Do you know who this is?
Neo : Morpheus?
Morpheus : Yes. I've been looking for you, Neo. I don't know if you're ready to see what I want to show you, but unfortunately, you and I have run out of time. They're coming for you, Neo, and I don't know what they're going to do.
Neo : Who's coming for me?
Morpheus : Stand up and see for yourself.
Neo : What, right now?
Morpheus : Yes, now.
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Mouse : [to Neo] So I understand that, uh, you've run through the Agent Training program. You know, I, um... I wrote that program.
Apoc : Here it comes...
Mouse : So, what did you think of her?
Neo : Of who?
Mouse : The woman in the red dress. I designed her. She, um... Well, she doesn't talk very much, but-but if you'd like to meet her, I can arrange for a much more personalized milieu.
Switch : The digital pimp hard at work.
Mouse : [annoyed at Switch] Pay no attention to these hypocrites, Neo. To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human.
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Neo : I used to eat there. Really good noodles.
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[after the truth of the Matrix has been revealed to Neo, he lies in his bunk with Morpheus in the room with him]
Neo : I can't go back, can I?
Morpheus : No. But if you could, would you really want to? I feel I owe you an apology. We have a rule: we never free a mind once it's reached a certain age. It's dangerous, the mind has trouble letting go. I've seen it before and I'm sorry. I did what I did because... I had to. When the Matrix was first built, there was a man born inside who had the ability to change whatever he wanted, to remake the Matrix as he saw fit. It was he who freed the first of us, taught us the truth. As long as the Matrix exists the human race will never be free. After he died, the Oracle prophesized his return and that his coming would hail the destruction of the Matrix, end the war, bring freedom to our people. That is why there are those of us who have spent our entire lives searching the Matrix looking for him. I did what I did because I believe that search is over.
[beat]
Morpheus : Get some rest. You're going to need it.
Neo : For what?
Morpheus : Your training.
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[Neo has just been revived after escaping from the machines]
Neo : Morpheus, what's happened to me? What is this place?
Morpheus : More important than 'Where?' is 'When?'
Neo : When?
Morpheus : You believe it's the year 1999 when in fact it's closer to 2199. I can't tell you exactly what year it is because we honestly don't know. There's nothing I can say that will explain it for you, Neo.
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Neo : Okey dokey... free my mind. Right, no problem, free my mind, free my mind, no problem, right...
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Neo : I have these memories from my life. None of them happened.
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[after landing the Nebuchaunezzer to hide from the Sentinels]
Morpheus : How we doing Tank?
[Tank types on the keyboard and the main power goes off]
Tank : Main power offline. EMP armed...
[Tank opens the cover to the EMP switch]
Tank : and ready.
Neo : EMP?
Trinity : Electro-Magnetic Pulse, disables any electrical system within the blast radius, only weapon we have against the machines.
Morpheus : Quiet.
