My thoughts: I just didn't care for it much at all, at least as a part of the trilogy. It wasn't bat for a sci-fi flick and there were parts I really enjoyed, but it didn't "feel" matrix at all. At the end I was disappointed and felt that the story-line ended up in a much worse place than if they'd just stopped after the first movie.

It does seem clear to me, however, that they planned all three movies from the outset. The reason I say this (and I touched on this in the other thread) is that they (not so subtly) changed philosophies from the first to the third. Normally this type of thing would make you think the two follow ups were "bolted on", but in this case I really think they were trying to make a point: the "faith overcomes" theme in the first movie was exploded and replaced with a more existential philosophy. This doesn't bother me much (as a matter of fact I find it the most intriguing aspect of the trilogy), but the execution of it wasn't that well done. Losing the awe and "coolness" of the Matrix really made the third movie fall flat for me.

In the end, I never did purchase the Matrix on DVD. Once the second one came out, I figured I'd wait and buy them as a set once they all came out. Now I feel free to buy just the first one, as I have no real interest in seeing the latter two again.