Gadgetopia

Bullet time: A really interesting Wikipedia article. Who knew that bullet time started in Speed Racer?

Bullet time (often hyphenated as bullet-time) is a concept introduced in recent films and computer games whereby the passage of time is displayed as extremely slow or frozen moments in order to allow a viewer to observe imperceptibly fast events (such as flying bullets). It is often used to create a dramatic effect, as in the film The Matrix.

Via Kottke.