i think there was an advert for 'gap' that was the real pioneer of 'bullet time' of course if that was the general perception it would be called 'jumpy clothes horse model time' which is nowhere near as cool.

still the effects used in the matrix (the original) were pioneering at the time and should be a landmark for movies in a similar way that jurassic park is considered to be.

the subsequent 2 movies are ok but not as good effects wise but the biggest dissapointment is that the myriad story possibilities that could have been used were discarded in favour of low brow violence and a bit of quickfire doubletalk.

the animatrix is ok but not really that great compared to some anime that's been produced - to be honest i preferred the animation from kill bill.