Matrix, The Easter Egg - Street Names

Since the movie was filmed in Australia, Im sure it was a a huge pain in the arse to temporarily change the street names to that of the streets of Chicago.

Thats not the only reference to Chicago.. In the begining of the movie where Trinity is caught she is in the "Heart-o-the-City Motel" which was taken from the "Heart-of-Chicago Motel" in North Chicago... this is also the same place that Neo's exit is when he frees his mind. I think the reason everything was modeled after Chicago was because the city was supposed to be Chicago, but made differently. Remember when they are eating the "snot in a bowl" and Mouse says maybe they didn't know what chicken tasted like so it tastes like everything? Maybe they didn't know what Chicago looked like, so they made it like that but used the same names.

Hey Camjturner, Speaking from experience it's not even a tiny hassle to change street signs when making a film. It pretty much happens every time. In fact, it's rare that any sign you see in a movie was there before they started filming. It's pretty standard to provide all the signage for every image in a film. That's their job, controling the images you see on film.

The road names have nothing directly to do with where the Bros were raised. The Story is supposed to be set IN CHICAGO!!! It did not specify this in the movie for the specific reason that the Matrix needed to fit any generic city the viewer was in to make the story more interesting, and not draw attention to unnecessary and pointless details. How do I know it was set in Chicago? Read the official Matrix script written by the bros themselves available on web sites, it says right there in the beginning! So all they did was not specify the place in the film, but they probably couldn't be bothered changing the street names from the script when it came to making the movie. Another interesting twist to the script were scenes removed completely. In the beginning Neo met Apock before Trin, and that was in a subway, where they fought against a big group of cops. When Neo went to see the Oracle, there was no apartment, well, it was in an apartment, but the interior was a marble palace, and that palace was half of the city Zion(Virtual half). Morpheus had to type a passcode into a laptop behind a pub before they could access the Oracle, thus Morpheus's passcode Agent Smith wanted! When Neo was running from the agents near the end, there was a major car-chase scene ending with a large truck explosion. There were 2 other characters in the script which helped Neo find the Nebachanezza. And one VERY interesting thing I noticed were the names of the Agents! They were Smith, Jones, and Brown, and as you can all see they are very bland and common names, which makes the Matrix are very common and repetitive program.

Maybe they'll use that stuff in the sequel. That would be cool. P.S. In the credits they say agents Jones and Brown (in addition to Smith).

I just thought I'd mention, about the streets and all, the part before Neo is freed where Trinity tells him (in the car) not to "go down that road, you know where it leads", well myself and many other Sydney-siders know where it leads too - directly onto the Harbour Bridge.... Well my friends and I thought it was funny :)

"...I'm sure it was a a huge pain in the arse to temporarily change the street names to that of the streets of Chicago." Hmm, They can make people disappear into thin air, blow up helicopters against the sides of buildings, and simulate a massive alien power plant, but when it comes to a small sign in a subway or something someone says over the phone, it becomes "a huge pain in the arse". Not to be mean or anything, but you have to think these things through, I'm not sure if you actually SEE any of the street signs, but even if you did it's still not that difficult, just put some blue paper with a different word on it over the sign.

While you're at it, the street signs aren't the only thing that refer to Chicago. In the subway scene as the trains approach if you pause the movie and look at the destination on the train it reads "Loop".

Actually they are all Sydney street names as well check out www.whereis.com.au with some of the names of the streets. it is just a co-incidence. (this was on nitpickers.com as well but it is incorrect)

The hotel is actually called HEART OF THE CITY, not HEART OF CHICAGO.

Ummm, there is no concrete place where the movie takes place. You see the street names are from Chicago, but the spellings on the signs are British, eg, when Neo jumps from the helicopter and lands on the building, you can see a sign which reads, "Authorised personnel only", lending that "the Matrix" is not modeled after a particular place.

The spelling "authorised" is also used in Australia where the movie was shot. Another scene shows an elevator with the sign "In case of fire do not use lift" attached. You may also notice that in some scenes showing the streets below buildings, the cars are driving on the left, pretty dangerous for Chicago!

Yes, I noticed this as well when I saw the movie. Being from Chicago, it was easy. Also, the mother of one of our school's students apparently goes way back with Andy Wachowski, and he confirmed that the streets were taken from Chicago. Good catch!!! S2T

the street names are from Chicago in the area where the 2 brothers grew up it says so in the book The Art of the Matrix pray to god you people can get your facts right!

what's so funny about the Harbour Bridge?

I would like to set the record straight. The city featured in The Matrix is not any particular city. It is meant to represent a city created by the machines. Even the phone books (in the subway scene) are labeled "City." It was filmed in Sydney, but all landmarks in Sydney were purposely removed from the film. The street names are from Chicago, but many of these are also names from streets in Sydney.

It's not only the street names that make me belive they got the names from the city of Chicago but that all the intersections are correct as well. Yes, I live in Chicago.

I am a long time nqative of Chicago and the intersections from the movie work. Another thing that is funny is that the subway station looks like a Chicago station. It reminfs me of the State/Lake station in downtown. Another thing to look at is the train. The front of the train has a sign that says LOOP on it, a trademark of Chicago. Another typical "L" signature is the colered markerlights next to the sign. This is something very unique to Chicago and isn't found in Boston or New York.The actual subway car looks like Toronto or maby even Philadelphia. The marker lights as well as the "LOOP" give it away. You can go to chicago-l.org to find more info about marker lights. Also pictures to confirm.

I forget who said was the land marks of sydney were taken out but not all of them were... Centrepoint tower is left in when the cityscape of the "real world" city is shown. Also in the agent training program Morpheus and Neo walk past the Commonwealth Bank head office... quite a distinctive building really. Also, at least two, at least that's as many as I have noticed Australian company logos are left in reflections. The commonwealth bank logo is left in a reflection in the agent trainging program (It's a yello diamond, but with one corner black), and also the AMP logo is left in as well. WEll I'm from Aus and found these interesting that tehy wren't taken out. Had no idea on the chicago street names however.