It seems to me like the Matrix would be a lot more efficient if it had been set in the Middle Ages or earlier.
But then you wouldn't have plot contrivances like requiring special telephones to get out of the matrix. :P
But seriously, it was set in the 90s because it was filmed in the 90s. And it was very apparent by the late 90's that machines were one the cusp of thinking for us. Which they pretty much are now and makes Smith's lines even more poignant now. Think about how smart phones have taken over society. It's insane.
Look, this movie was a bit high-concept as it was. If all the sudden this beet farmer we couldn't really relate to ended up being a computer simulation, it would be tonally very "off" and wouldn't have worked as well I think.
However, I did think it would have been cool if the matrix was very old and Jesus was the first guy that figured it out, which is why he could perform the miracles he did. That would have probably triggered outrage though.
I had an idea for a similar concept, it was actually a combo of the ideas of The Matrix, Forever (TV series), and Total Recall, and sprinkles of others. Feel free to steal and make this into a book/movie, I don't have the time. I had a theory that Henry in "Forever" was stuck in a video game simulation gone wrong, and that's why whenever he died, he'd respawn in water. Water was his "spawn point", set after his initial death. Sadly, that show got cancelled early and the fantasy/science aspect behind it was never really explained.
So my idea was, a guy goes into a company that offers a total VR experience, requests to be put in a fantasy world MMO-type game, and is immediately placed in a desolate, cold area with absolutely NOTHING, no one for miles, no gear, no food, NOTHING, as a "level 1" player. Dies repeatedly (explosure, starvation, bears, etc), HATES it, but can't get out because something wrong happened with the game. Eventually he progresses, even becomes a king in his old age. Then is devastated when he finally wakes up.
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