Visionary

For the sake of those who don't want anything spoiled, here are various rankings of the shorts:

Best Action:
1 - Final Flight of the Osiris
2 - Program
3 - Matriculated
4 - A Detective Story
5 - Second Renaissance part II
6 - Kid's Story
7 - World Record
8 - Second Renaissance part I
9 - Beyond

Most Thought-Provoking:
1 - Beyond
2 - Second Renaissance part I
3 - Kid's Story
4 - Matriculated
5 - Second Renaissance part II
6 - A Detective Story
7 - Program
8 - Final Flight of the Osiris
9 - World Record

Most Relevant to the Movies {for continuity tracking, The Matrix is 1.0, and Reloaded is 2.0}:
1 - Second Renaissance parts I & II {.1 and .2}
2 - Final Flight of the Osiris {1.9}
3 - Kid's Story {1.8}
4 - A Detective Story {1.5}
(The following are related to the world of the movies, but not directly to its characters):
5 - Matriculated
6 - World Record
7 - Program
8 - Beyond

Suitability for different age groups:
Likely R rating:
Second Renaissance parts I & II
Kid's Story

Official PG-13 rating:
Final Flight of the Osiris

Likely PG-13 rating:
Program
World Record
Detective Story
Matriculated

Likely PG rating:
Beyond (in fact, if you show this short to a child, please post a comment about their response)

The following reviews don't spoil much, but some may want to stop reading now.

Final Flight of the Osiris
Since the makers of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within are involved (trailer here http://www.apple.com/trailers/columbia/final_fantasy/trailer_hi.html), you know the CG will be beautiful. But does the film work on any other level? Actually, it works on all levels. The Wachowski brothers' script allows a simple plot to unfold from a dire premise through interesting characters that you feel for. If you've seen Reloaded and/or played Enter the Matrix, you know the basics of the plot already. The Osiris, captained by Thadeus, discover an army of sentinels, drilling toward Zion. They decide to send one of their own into the matrix to drop off a tape, hopefully to be picked up by other Zionists, so that they can warn everyone else of the attack. Final Flight of the Osiris major triumph is its deft usage of silent moments between the characters. The "acting" done by the digital characters is very good.
4.5 stars

The Second Renaissance Parts I & II
In the first movie, Morpheus gives Neo a basic rundown of how the Matrix came to bet. Here you given some details (via a Wachowski script). In part I, you learn how machines with AI are initially integrated into society, ostricize themselves through violent exertion of free will, then form their own society. Interesting, the machines' society, called "01," Is centered in Iraq, and "the leaders of men" use naval blockades and other measures to limit 01 economically which are similar to those used against Iraq over the last 10-15 years. This section is rife with social commentary and has a personal feel to it. Part II, on the other hand, is essentially a war documentary. There are quite a few gruesome battle scenes, followed by gruesome demonstrations of how human bodies are integrated into the matrix. This section doesn't really have much narrative thrust, but it certainly has interesting elements and striking visuals. It should be noted that part I spun off of material written by the Wachowskis about the first murder trial involving a robot. You can find news articles here: http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/cmp/searchResults.html
and the comic book here: http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/cmp/page1.html
part I - 4 stars
part II - 3 stars

Kid's Story
Animated in a manner similar to Waking Life, this Wachowski scribed, Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop) directed little gem, follows a young man struggling with reality. Played both here and in Matrix Reloaded by Clayton Wilson, Michael Popper is struggling with reality, and his search for meaning brings him to the attention of Neo. His death-defying escape from the matrix surprises even those on board the Nebuchadnezzar. Like Waking Life, the animating over video approach supports the themes of dream vs. reality very well. I still don't see why this kid's scene were plugged into Reloaded (maybe he'll have some purpose in Revolutions?), but this short on it's own is quite interesting.
4 stars

Program
Of these shorts, this one is the most tied to traditional anime in general and it's directors previous work in specific. Program has a very similar visual feel to its writer/director Yoshiaki Kawajiri's action masterpiece, Ninja Scroll. Here, in order to get his characters into feudal Japan, Kawajiri takes the leap that one of them, Cis, simply likes the setting as a combat training background. After dispensing of the training opponents, Cis meets up with Duo, with whom she spars. Then Duo reveals that, like Cypher from the first film, he has made a deal to go back to the Matrix, and invites Cis to join him. The outlandish action, in vast, CG-augmented setting is quite fun, but the plot may be a bit melodramatic for some. I prefer the Japanese language track for this one.
3.5 stars

World Record
One of the weaker of the bunch, this short portrays a track star's quest to break the world record in the 100m dash. In the end, it's main significance is that it shows how someone could defy the physical limits of their bodies within the matrix without coming to a full realization of the truth about the world.
2.5 stars

Beyond
Kids in a Japanese city find a haunted house where the matrix is buggy, and they can play without much regard for physics. Have you ever watched a foreign film, and when it was over, thought, "That was interesting, but I'm not sure I could understand unless I had a better understanding of the culture that spawned it"? That was my reaction to this short. Upon repeated viewings, one learns to let go of literal interpretations of the actions on screen. At this point the viewer can begin to fall into a child's world and wonder and enjoy this film for the gem that it is.
4.5 stars

Detective Story
Written and directed by the man behind the wonderful anime series, Cowboy Bebop, Shinichiro Watanabe, this engrossing short simultaneously pays homage to the scifi and film noir genres. The film opens with an ominous shot of Ash pointing his gun and smirking at an unknown target while light a cigarette. Then we cut to Ash's office, where he reveals that he became a private investigator because of the romantic visions of the industry in such film noir classics as The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep. But he's now broke and sick of tracking down women to see if their husbands' suspicions of infidelity are accurate. Then he is commissioned to track down Trinity. Lots of Through the Looking Glass allusion follow, as does a thrilling chase, and an elegant resolution. From the intentionally grainy animation that evokes newsprint stock, to the typewriter keyboard, to the wonderful closing shot of the film, this one is jam-packed with style. It is not without its flaws, though. Because of his world-weary attitude, it would have made more sense to have an older (maybe even slightly Bogart-esque) design and voice for the main character, Mr. Ash. This problem is negated by the excellent voice-acting in the japanese track. As you can tell by the fact that I can't stop talking about Detective Story, it's one of my favorites on the disc.
5 stars

Matriculated
Like the scene in Matrix Reloaded between Neo and Councillor Harmann, this short deals with the delicate relationship between humans and machines. A group of rebels have taken it upon themselves to knock out attack machines, then "convince" them to fight on the side of humanity. After capturing "a walker," their technician makes it clear that he'd rather persuade it to join their side than simply reprogram it. This leads to an extremely psychedelic - and long - brainwashing sequence. Though long, it flows very well, though. Matriculated brings up interesting ideas, and, like Final Flight of the Osiris, uses its silent moments to good effect.
4 stars

SPECIAL FEATURES

Voices
Here you will find audio commentaries to four of the shorts, all in Japanese with English subtitles.
> Mahiro Maeda (director) - The Second Renaissance part I & II
Maeda is the least shy of the commentators, expounding on the creative process, criticism of his work, and particularly the symbolic meaning of many of the images nonstop. It makes for two very interesting and informative tracks.
> Yoshiaki Kawajiri (writer/director) - Program
Producer Hiroaki Takeuchi moderates this commentary, asking Kawajiri leading questions when the track starts to lull. Unfortunately, when prodded, Kawajiri responds with rather dense, technical statements. There are a couple interesting spots, but it's not a great track.
> Takeshi Koike (director) - World Record
Takeuchi moderates this track as well. He and Koike talk mainly about the choices Koike made in director and how they fit in with his general style. This commentary is more interesting than Kawajiri's, but less so than Maeda's.

Scrolls to Screen: The History and Culture of Anime
The highlight of the special features, this featurette discusses anime's influence on the Wachowski brothers as well history and analysis of trends within anime. If you are largely unfamiliar with anime, you may want to watch this before you watch the shorts. If you have a moderate knowledge of anime, this doc will likely open your eyes to a couple facts you weren't aware of. And if you consider yourself an expert, you'll love watching the interviews with legendary directors that are interspersed throughout.

Creators
Standard biographies of the directors. Verbatim copies of the ones you can currently find at www.theanimatrix.com.

Execution
A collection of small featurettes, one for every creator. These are much like Scrolls to Screen, but more focused on the directors' past works, and the process they went through in making the shorts for this disc. Many of them, particularly the one for Beyond, are very helpful to those who might feel a little lost after watching the short on its own.

Enter the Matrix: In the Making
Trailer for the video game which was released in tandem with Matrix Reloaded. You get an idea of how the game smooths out the link between Final Flight of the Osiris and Matrix Reloaded.