Some fans on the western U.S. started lining up as early as 6 a.m. to guarantee admittance. 

Warner Bros. rolled out a record release in what some are dubbing the “the largest day-and-date hour-to-hour feature film release in history”. Expecting high demand, Warner Bros. sent out a record 18,013 prints to 96 countries in 43 languages. 

This new installment of the Matrix easily beats the former record holder, "X2: X-Men United," a film that was opened internationally with 7,585 prints in 80 countries. 

The early numbers are starting to tinkle in and it looks good for Warner Bros. In Australia, the film brought in $465,000 during the opening yesterday with a total of 456 prints. 

Got IMAX?  Special IMAX versions of the film were also sent out to 48 theatres in the U.S. and Canada and 18 internationally. The film opened in 3,502 theaters across North America and is expected to do big business, the critics be damned. 

On the critical side, a majority of early reviews have been less than ecstatic about the film.  Most critics have blasted the film for lack of substance and much like the second installment in the trilogy it focuses too much on visual special effects and not nearly enough on plot. One reviewer did seem to sum up what it was all about, “"Silly humans, Matrix is for kids!", wrote Gregory Weinkauf of the New Times. 

Some were less forgiving. Widgett Walls of Needcoffee.com writes, "I'm warning you: don't see this film--because whatever third movie you envisioned in your head, no matter how lame, has got to be better than this."

"The ultimate triumph of visuals over narrative." Says Daniel Schweiger of Film Threat. 

Andrew O'Hehir at Salon.com seemed content with little substance; "A solid action-adventure flick."

Finally, Rolling Stone’s Pat Travers didn’t take kindly to film and label it with the clichéd “Roller Coaster Thrill Ride”, instead Travers eloquently writes, “"The Matrix Revolutions sucks."