20 Most Important Blockbusters That Changed Cinema Forever

14. The Matrix

The same year The Phantom Menace hit screens so did The Matrix. A film with an idea that didn't let its smarts get in the way of its kinetic action, it took the world by green-lit rain storm. The concept of our reality not being as it seems was far from new, but the presentation of The Matrix that really got everyone talking.

And it really got studios acting. Not leading to the long list of imitators most majorly different hits spawn, The Matrix instead worked its way into all manner of mainstream Hollywood. Wire effects and more creative choreography quickly became the order of the day, while soon everyone was using slo-mo.

When you think direct influences of the bullet-time effect it tends to be the parodies that exploded and quickly grew tired; everything, from Shrek to Scary Movie, tried to get in on the party. But it's much wider reaching than that. Slow motion wasn't anything new in cinema, but in action blockbusters The Matrix was red letter film. It's now nigh on impossible to find a big summer blockbuster that doesn't used slo-mo in some way - it's a ubiquitous effect bordering on cliché - born from the realisation in The Matrix that it looks bloody cool.