Film and literature buffs have identified countless film
references in the Matrix trilogy. Some of these are mere in-jokes
for fans of certain film genres, such as sci-fi or anime,
but others are more significant. A small sampling of the most obvious
film references includes 2001, TheWizard
of Oz, Star Wars, Alien, Men in
Black, The Terminator films, and The
Truman Show. Some of the most apparent literary references
include George Orwell’s 1984,
Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,
William Gibson’s Neuromancer, and Aldous Huxley’s The
Doors of Perception. The film employs Alice in
Wonderland explicitly to help set the plot in motion with
the White Rabbit.