[Construct Kung-Fu]
Ah the Dojo…
An amazing set. Laurence gets in our face. There is a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, Heh. I didn't know
Laurence smoked.
Day one of shooting, Keanu looking good in his kung-fu pajamas. He play-fights with Larry. We see some Wo Ping Clan on the blocking tape. Stop biting your nails Keanu!. Laurence says that he and Keanu were in sync by the time shooting came around but they really hadn't gone "full out" until they got there. Joel Silver is concerned about the full contact. "They're going to kill each other," he says. Brushing the nose? Keanu just threw that in, by the way. Triple kick on the wire? 21 takes. Keanu is hard on himself some more. He swears. "I just can't fuckin' do this fuckin' kick, man" He talks about it and gets all worked up, running his hands through his hair. Ah HA! That's how his hair gets like that! I guess they finally get it on Monday after 3 takes. The Brothers make their own sound effects as they watch the fighting. Laurence and Keanu both confess they kicked each other's asses pretty hard. Couch of Wachchowski says they were both covered with bruises. They made it look so easy, huh? Wo Ping says that the Masters should not hit the students, but what the hell, let the American actors whomp on each other a bit.

[El Fight]
Owen Paterson explains why this couldn't be shot in a real subway. He talks over Keanu's stunt guy doing some of the nastier work. Flying into the wall, hitting the ceiling. Props to him, though, for taking all the abuse for the actor.

Larry blocking the leap with Keanu, who does not look so much the superhero in a blue bathrobe. Hugo says the wire work was fun. Nut-crushing, but fun. Keanu agrees. "If you do [the wire stunts] right, they're fun. If you do them wrong, they hurt." Clips demonstrating the "wrong" part. Fine tuning the gun-to-each-other's-temple shot. Don't think I missed that eyebrow action, Reeves. Major contact in this fight, too. And we see Keanu and Hugo kick each other's ass. Larry feels left out, so he gets all up in there with a camera, which is consequently made into a weapon when Hugo backs into it. POINK! Way to be hands-on, Larry. Hugo says, "Taking a hit is more difficult than delivering one."…Um…DUH!!! More ass kicking. When Neo starts getting his ass kicked, not by Smith but by cement walls, in comes his double, Chad Stahelski(edited to get his last name correct, thanks to closed-captioning) . Jebus, this guy REALLY should get some recognition. He really got maimed coming down from the ceiling shot, broken knee, ribs, shoulder. Poor guy.
Keanu tells us about "the monster" which is some sort of hydraulic man jerking device….What? I don't know what else to call it! Get your mind out of the gutter! It yanks a guy into scenery. Anyway it's an evil, evil thing and nearly kills another stunt-Neo. The mood is very glum for a while, until Mr. And Mrs. Wachowski show up for Larry's birthday.
Keanu takes direction on finer points of wiping blood from your mouth, rehearses the "c'mon, muthafukka" hand gesture, and cracks up at the "C'mon, who' not gonna be fuckin' standing in the aisles at that point" comment Larry makes. Really cracks up.

[Helicopter Rescue]

Holy Fuck! That exterior skyline was a scrim? Again, I'm awestruck by the set and cinematography. Hugo corrects me, a "cyclorama" it's called. Hey, my knowledge of set design before watching Revisited was junior year tech theatre with Miss Sabo.
Andrew boasts that it's the biggest one in the world. And Yes, he does seem more manly for it.
Hugo and Laurence talk about the scene. Smith is starting to "feel" and doesn't like it one bit, no sir. Morpheus checks out, or at least the part of his brain that Smith is after does. This further pisses off the already agitated
A.I. ... The final insult comes with the water. Hee! Soggy Smith. Hugo tells us that the water was a little dangerous, what with the lights and wires and stuff. We catch some Wachowski feet in
galoshes,
Mrs. W. must still be in town.
"Andrew! Don't you forget to wear your rubbers today!"
"Aw MOM!"

Joel and Owen both talk about the water. I BET the studio was concerned. The water had to be hygienic, too….that's a lot of Britta filters, folks.
Then the Helicopter, or should I say the full-scale model of the helicopter. "Oh Yeah" says Andrew.
"C'mon honey, take us up" Keanu says to Carrie-Ann. Sigh. Honey. Sigh again.
"Are you in there tight? She asks. "I'm in there tight," he says in a voice that makes me have to go get a towel to sit on. "Snug as a bug in a rug, let's fly." Did I mention, SIGH?
ANYWAY There's lots of little explosions going on in this scene and Laurence wants to know "Who's responsible for all this?" But Bill Pope assures us that everything was done safely with air and sand and AT NO POINT was the talent in any danger.
I almost believe him.