Every week, we in Her.ie towers will provide you with a blast from the past, a film that you cannot live without but nor should you, the classic film that you simply need to watch. This week, we take a look at a film that really did change everything about cinema, special effects, how we view certain films and certainly the sci-fi genre, the brilliant The Matrix. Released in 1999, The Matrix is widely regarded as one of the best action and sci-fi films of all time. Only the second production with the Wachowski brothers behind the camera, the film was made famous by one key, but amazing scene, the brilliant bullet sequence with Neo at the top of a building. The film revolves around Neo, aka Thomas Anderson, a computer hacker who is recruited by a group of rebels who want to show him with life is really like. Their leader, Morpheus, believes that Neo is the chosen One, the One who will bring down the computer-generated world they live in, the Matrix. The cast were utterly brilliant in the film (yes, even Keanu Reeves as Neo) with Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus was a leader that many of us would still follow now, while Carrie-Anne Moss kicked ass as Trinity. However, the real star of the show was the exceptional special effects. The Matrix managed to combine elements of Japanese animation, martial arts, kung fu and everything else in between with simply brilliant slow-motion. The opening scene with Trinity in a basement will simply take your breath away. It's hard to believe now how much of the original film we refer to on an almost daily basis, but The Matrix has worked itself into popular culture in such an extreme way that it is referenced constantly. Deja vu literally became a glitch in the Matrix. If you haven't watched this in a while, it is well worth re-visiting. It is arguably the most influential action film of our time.