Gah! I hate coming to a party late 
too many people to try and quote lol!
Firstly, in the vein of the original post, thanks for the really awesome insights. I was unaware of the meaning of Trinity within buddhist thought, so that was a refreshing new view. Also wasn't directly aware of the color significances... I noticed the colors, just never bothered to look at underlying meaning.
To Shi and Pyraci, I have to say that everything I've heard suggests that the Brothers were aware of EVERY little nuance they put in the film, or nearly all of them. I ometimes think some of this is overinterpreted, but they certainly knew what they were doing.
To Asna I have to say that by the time I got through the second and third films, I was actually really pleased with the endings. Certainly, I am probably not in the moviegoing majority, and I think thats your point. However, I left the the Revolutions slightly dissapointed, but not because the humans didnt win. I think the movies kinda got shot down because, in fact, they had some "flaws" in terms of what makes convincing cinema.
The big one that struck me immediately the first time i saw it was the last exchange between Neo and Trinity. A HUGE part of conveying emotion and character is done through the eyes. With Neo's gone, the audience can't really connect with his pain at losing Trin. Yes, he grimaces and cries, but it just fell flat on screen. And thats a big emotional anit-climax for the audience. I could literally feel the audience NOT connecting with that scene. However, the it was neccessary within the philosophy presented in the movie, to show Neo transcending to further levels of awareness. The story made it neccessary, but it made for poor cinema.
Reloaded makes the same mistake, in having the rather anti-climatic "to be concluded" ending. In cinema, whether part of a series or not, each chapter has to have good closure. These are little things, but they affect the overall feel of a film.
Finally, I really see the second and third films as being divided into audiences anyway. There is a movie going on that has a gangbuster final battle, that ends in victory. There is another movie going on where a character is coming to terms with his role in the universe, and what it really means to win.
Even the charcters in the movie are divided this way. The humans are all pretty philosophically dim, with perhaps the exception of Ghost. They simply fight for freedom and love, cause thats what they do. For that matter, most of the human characters are pretty dull. When you think about the matrix films, do you really come away thinking "wow, Zee was such an interesting character"? I don't, I come away thinking "whoa, Rama-Kandra (the Oracle, the Merovingian, the Architect, Smith, the Twins, Persephone, Sati ) was a cool character!" Almost all of the Exiles are more aware of the philosophical implications of the Matrix reailty. Throughout the movie, it is they who teach Neo the way to decide what HE wants. And, in fact, I would argue that he ends up accepting that he will no longer BE human. AS you put in the first post, he has transcended. But is he a god? no, prolly not, but he might BE the Matrix itself.
I think the idea is that the Audience is supposed to be able to follow Neo's transformation. If they can't, they are supposed to come out of the film like the people in Zion... relieved that the war is over, but with no clue how or why it happened. Unfortunately, most of the Audience fell in the latter category, and felt gipped, like the movie hadn't really been for THEM. And it wasn't...
Which is why it will go down as one of the most significant stories of our time, in my humble opinion. It WASN'T great cinema, but its an INCREDIBLE story. And its NOT supposed to have resolution. What is a Revolution? its going around in a circle! This is exactly what Revolutions does, and its pure genius really.
Finally, I have to say thanks to everyone for posting this stuff and getting me going. You just reminded me why, night after night, I sit (well stand, sciatica) in front of my computer... because I've Found something! lol
