Ready Player One: The movie

[Daehawk]

[Holman]

The first part of your post is exactly how I experienced it. My sister passed it on to me, knowing I'd love it and I did. I mentioned it to a friend of mine (that used to post on here quite frequently), and his response was surprisingly meh. "Is that the one with all the 80's crap? Yeah, I got a couple of chapters into it but lost interest."

I was shocked, because he and I grew up gaming together back in the 80's and 90's. He's moved across country and we still talk shop about the games we're playing, and ironically he's become engrossed in VR stuff. It was a huge shock to me when it didn't scratch the same itch it did for me...

I had the same reaction as your friend.

I got all the references, but the writing was so weak and the nostalgia so bluntly obvious that I felt like I was being pandered. A better writer could have made it fun, but Cline doesn't have the wit.

[Jaddison]

I just finished listening to Ready Player One. Overall Will Wheaton made it a very enjoyable listen. I may have enjoyed it even more because the book I listened to before this was so dark, but unfortunately true, that I really needed something that was an escape.
Highly recommend the audio book.

[gbasden]

I just finished listening to Ready Player One. Overall Will Wheaton made it a very enjoyable listen. I may have enjoyed it even more because the book I listened to before this was so dark, but unfortunately true, that I really needed something that was an escape.
Highly recommend the audio book.

Agreed.

Hey, GreenGoo -

[Isgrimnur]

EXCLUSIVE: Contrary to reports spreading now, Disney did let Steven Spielberg use #StarWars in #ReadyPlayerOne. Here, Spielberg explains to me how they snagged IP rights from all the studios and what STAR WARS Easter Eggs to look for in the new film, in theaters 3/29

[Malificent]

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ready_player_one

Early reviews are....good?

83% fresh so far. I might end up going to see it in the theater.

[msteelers]

I read the book and enjoyed it, but I wasn't in love with it and wasn't all that excited for the movie. I spent the weekend visiting with friends though and every single one of them thought the book was amazing and were extremely excited for the movie. Their enthusiasm must have rubbed off on me. I now find myself clicking on more of the trailers and looking into the movie more.

[Rumpy]

The Impossible Fortress by Jason Reklulak was a much better love letter to 80's culture in my mind, and was less in your face about it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/307 ... earch=true

[Jiffy]

Just finished seeing the movie at the premiere in Sydney. They confirmed no embargo prior to the screening, but I won't use any spoilers anyways.

Overall, it was a fun, light-hearted film. Definitely changed from the book when it comes to quite a few plot points, so I'd say don't go in hoping to see specific scenes or elements, but more to see the spirit of the book captured faithfully on film.

All in all, I'd give it a 6/8 tentacles, similar to what I would give the book. Well worth seeing on a big screen for the crazy spectacle of it all.

[tjg_marantz]

Good stuff!

[KDH]

.
... Spielburgers ...

Carl's Jr Honors Steven Spielberg With Spielburgers

How do you properly honor a film legend like Steven Spielberg? You name a burger after him, of course.

What was formerly known as the Charbroiled Slider at Carl’s Jr. has gotten a name upgrade. It's now called the "Spielburger", in honor of the Jurassic Park director.
"Carl's Jr. fans are huge movie buffs so we wanted to pay homage," said chief marketing officer for CKE Restaurants Holdings, Jeff Jenkins.

The name change also correlates with the release of Spielberg’s latest movie Ready Player One, which opens Thursday.

The company hopes to catch the eye of Spielburger with the promotion.


The Spielburger will remain one of the cheapest items on the menu, costing Spielberg fans only $1 to enjoy. It will be available through late April. Although the name change will be promoted on the company’s social media accounts, the in-store menus will continue to refer to the burger by its original name.

[Skinypupy]

I'm honestly more than a little shocked at the positive reception this one is getting. Pleased, but very surprised. It looked to have all the makings of a big-time stinker.

Trying to talk Mrs. Skinypupy into seeing it this weekend.

[Moat_Man]

Moat_Girl read the book over spring break so we are now all primed to see it.

[MonkeyFinger]

Read the book when it first came out and enjoyed it. Somehow I missed all of the "backlash" over the book come 2015 and Gamergate. It closes with this:

"But post-Gamergate, the dark underbelly has become all too apparent. The fun isn’t quite enough to carry the book anymore — so now the onus is on Spielberg’s forthcoming movie to overcome its Gamergate baggage."

[pr0ner]

[Skinypupy]

Read the book when it first came out and enjoyed it. Somehow I missed all of the "backlash" over the book come 2015 and Gamergate. It closes with this:

"But post-Gamergate, the dark underbelly has become all too apparent. The fun isn’t quite enough to carry the book anymore — so now the onus is on Spielberg’s forthcoming movie to overcome its Gamergate baggage."

[Pyperkub]

And +1 for Rush - how have they not been used in movies up till now?!?!

Fan Boys
Limelight, Tom Sawyer

The Waterboy
Tom Sawyer

Trailer Park Boys
The Spirit of Radio

I Love You, Man
Limelight, Tom Sawyer

Goon
Working Man

Small Soldiers
Tom Sawyer

Probably more. Most of them are Tom Sawyer but others make it in there as well.

Edit: Updated a bit

Where the heck is 2112? It's kind of important. ..

[hentzau]

And +1 for Rush - how have they not been used in movies up till now?!?!

Fan Boys
Limelight, Tom Sawyer

The Waterboy
Tom Sawyer

Trailer Park Boys
The Spirit of Radio

I Love You, Man
Limelight, Tom Sawyer

Goon
Working Man

Small Soldiers
Tom Sawyer

Probably more. Most of them are Tom Sawyer but others make it in there as well.

Edit: Updated a bit

Where the heck is 2112? It's kind of important. ..

The TV series "Chuck" used Tom Sawyer in the episode "Chuck vs Tom Sawyer." One of my favorite episodes. Man, I need to go back and re-watch this show.

[pr0ner]

Read the book when it first came out and enjoyed it. Somehow I missed all of the "backlash" over the book come 2015 and Gamergate. It closes with this:

"But post-Gamergate, the dark underbelly has become all too apparent. The fun isn’t quite enough to carry the book anymore — so now the onus is on Spielberg’s forthcoming movie to overcome its Gamergate baggage."

A+ meme

I thought I did pretty good with my response. I think you topped me.

[hitbyambulance]

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/exc ... girl-stuff

[KDH]

.
... With Regards to the previous Spielbugers post
.
... 27, 2018</a>

[killbot737]

Saw it. It's the story, not the book. Not going to elaborate on that given the insane spoiler psychos here.

[Kurth]

Saw it yesterday and really, really liked it. It's not going to set the world on fire or win any Oscars, but I thought Spielberg did a great job in translating the essence of the book to the screen.

My wife and daughter had no interest, so I took the boys (4th grade and 8th grade). They thought it was meh, which probably just goes to show that outside of the awesome 80s pop culture references, there's not a whole lot of meat there. Pretty much just like the book, but that was what I came to see, so I left happy.

[Hyena]

Saw it yesterday and really, really liked it. It's not going to set the world on fire or win any Oscars, but I thought Spielberg did a great job in translating the essence of the book to the screen.

My wife and daughter had no interest, so I took the boys (4th grade and 8th grade). They thought it was meh, which probably just goes to show that outside of the awesome 80s pop culture references, there's not a whole lot of meat there. Pretty much just like the book, but that was what I came to see, so I left happy.

I like this response. This is what I'm hoping for, so looking forward to it.

[gameoverman]

I saw this over the weekend. I think what it's missing is a central character for the audience to invest in. It's kind of weird seeing a movie where the bad guys are bad because they want to charge for access the network and because they want to 'monetize' the network(Oasis). Um, that's what we have now! It's like someone making a sci fi movie where the bad guys want to show commercials when television shows are broadcast.

The flip side is what is the good guy fighting for, why does he get up in the morning, why should I root for him? He doesn't want to be poor! That's it, that's his character's motivation. What's likable about him, why should I want him to succeed? You got me there, he's not unlikable, but he doesn't even have any personal charm to make up for the lack of substance to his character. I have no problem rooting for anti-heroes, or even straight up villains, but the character needs something going for them. This is more of a problem because the characters of his friends are all more interesting than him. So he looks even more dull than he otherwise would be.

All that said, the movie is well made and well paced. It improves on the book in many ways. It's just that, well imagine Close Encounters if Roy Neary was played by some generic actor instead of Richard Dreyfuss. That's how this movie feels to me.

[disarm]

I saw this in IMAX this afternoon and really enjoyed it. There are a lot of pretty major deviations from the book, but I can see where most of it was necessary to keep the movie accessible to a larger audience and fit it into a reasonable length. Overall, I think Spielberg did a good job of showing us the spirit of the book...a fast-paced adventure through a world of nostalgia. The visuals are pretty amazing, and all the references packed in are cool to see. While a little more depth or character development might have been nice, I don't see how it would have been possible without making the movie longer than it's already 2+ hour runtime.

What I don't understand are the many harsh criticisms of both the book and the movie. I've read the book twice (most recently last week to prep for the movie) and enjoyed it both times. While some people seem to be reading way too much into the story (like that crazy Vox editorial relating it to Gamergate), I see it as a simple, fun romp through the decade in which I grew up...no strong political statements, negative attitudes toward women, or need to be taken for anything more than a quick bit of fun.

[hitbyambulance]

saw this today with coworkers in the VR group (as part of 'work research' lol). it was mediocre and exceedingly formulaic with lazy characterization - i think the Atari 2600 had more depth than most everyone else - but it was better than the book ...admittedly not a high bar.


i assume the Prince song was in the soundtrack because it was released by Warner Bros and Prince wasn't alive to object.

how many CGI animators were listed in the credits? it looked like many hundreds.

"Reality... it's really real!"

ok so now on Tuesdays and Thursdays let's all go cuddle with our terribly disfigured girlfriends with horrifically superficial colorings on their faces, because we've so boldly accepted them like a normal person. every woman's dream, right? christ.

[gameoverman]

That's the guy's character though. He's dirt poor and lives in a hellhole. He has no outside contact with anyone that isn't terrible in some way, except that one older woman. He's doomed to relate to her in a socially inept way. She realizes this, cuts him some slack, and takes him on as a reclamation project. That's how I saw it.

[pr0ner]

That's the guy's character though. He's dirt poor and lives in a hellhole. He has no outside contact with anyone that isn't terrible in some way, except that one older woman. He's doomed to relate to her in a socially inept way. She realizes this, cuts him some slack, and takes him on as a reclamation project. That's how I saw it.

+1

[Isgrimnur]

It looks like a movie version of Ready Player One is finally moving forward. Warner Bros. has finally stepped it up:

http://www.blastr.com/2014-6-24/warner- ... player-one

Can we get a title change?

[Hyena]

I saw this over the weekend. I think what it's missing is a central character for the audience to invest in. It's kind of weird seeing a movie where the bad guys are bad because they want to charge for access the network and because they want to 'monetize' the network(Oasis). Um, that's what we have now! It's like someone making a sci fi movie where the bad guys want to show commercials when television shows are broadcast.

The flip side is what is the good guy fighting for, why does he get up in the morning, why should I root for him? He doesn't want to be poor! That's it, that's his character's motivation. What's likable about him, why should I want him to succeed? You got me there, he's not unlikable, but he doesn't even have any personal charm to make up for the lack of substance to his character. I have no problem rooting for anti-heroes, or even straight up villains, but the character needs something going for them. This is more of a problem because the characters of his friends are all more interesting than him. So he looks even more dull than he otherwise would be.

All that said, the movie is well made and well paced. It improves on the book in many ways. It's just that, well imagine Close Encounters if Roy Neary was played by some generic actor instead of Richard Dreyfuss. That's how this movie feels to me.

I completely agree with you on most of your points. I know it would have required more backstory and they had to hit the ground running to cover everything, but the once piece I thought they could have developed more was his dire financial situation. In the novel he was so poor he couldn't even get off his own school planet, and he still had the most basic gear possible. Most other gunters could at least afford a teleport to another world so they could continue the hunt, but he had to borrow cash from Aech to be dropped off on other worlds. In the movie, he starts off with a Delorean, and the means to portal pretty much anywhere. We see one instance of him with an empty "fuel tank" of credits and one mention of staying behind to suck up coins from wrecks, but other than that, you are correct; his entire reason for being a gunter isn't his passion or his devotion to Halliday, it's so he can get rich and get the girl.

All that said, I enjoyed the movie, would have enjoyed it more had I not read the book first. I will be reading it again very soon so I can re-live it. I loved the book.

[silverjon]

That's the guy's character though. He's dirt poor and lives in a hellhole. He has no outside contact with anyone that isn't terrible in some way, except that one older woman. He's doomed to relate to her in a socially inept way. She realizes this, cuts him some slack, and takes him on as a reclamation project. That's how I saw it.

Well yippity fucking skip, women sure don't like anything better than fixing broken men.

That in itself is a repugnant culturally toxic trope.

[gameoverman]

Well like I wrote in my review, his character is not one that audience can easily identify with. A bit of personal charm would have gone a long way to giving the audience a reason to believe Artemis saw something worthwhile in him. An example of what I mean is John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. His character has rough edges, and is desperate to get out of the life he's trapped in. Travolta makes him likable, enough so that I'm interested in seeing him figure a way out. I'm probably being unfair to the actor. Spielberg has his pick of people to work with, and he chose this guy. He directed the movie so the performance must have been what he wanted.

I think Spielberg did lighten up the despair. The Stacks weren't anywhere near as bad as I had pictured in my mind. In the book he was afraid to simply walk down the stairs due to the chance of being robbed or killed. In the movie he's the typical teenager who likes to exit his home through a window and climb down(Dawson's Creek style). It makes for a lighter, more fun movie but at the cost of understanding just how bad this guy has it.

[Isgrimnur]

That's the guy's character though. He's dirt poor and lives in a hellhole. He has no outside contact with anyone that isn't terrible in some way, except that one older woman. He's doomed to relate to her in a socially inept way. She realizes this, cuts him some slack, and takes him on as a reclamation project. That's how I saw it.

Well yippity fucking skip, women sure don't like anything better than fixing broken men.

That in itself is a repugnant culturally toxic trope.

Welcome back.

[Skinypupy]

Saw this today and really enjoyed it. Even Mrs. Skinypupy - who hasn't played a video game since the Atari 2600 - thought it was great. Just a fun popcorn flick with a ton of "did you see that?" moments. Speaking of:

Spoiler:

When Serenity showed up to drop in the Gundam, Mrs. Skinypupy leaned over and whispered "I'm a leaf on the wind". Made my geeky heart skip a beat.

I only wish I could have gotten rid of the guy next to me who laughed WAY to loud and long at every single joke and game cameo.

[Jaymann]

Saw this today and actually enjoyed it more than the book. The 80's references were kept to a dull roar, and it moved along smartly. They wisely omitted the part that an in-game death would delete all of your academic records.

[Carpet_pissr]

It was just poorly written. It "feels" amateurish. Like something a night creative writing class might produce after several drafts. "Hey remember when this happened in the 80's?" For 75% of the book does not make for great fiction.

And just to throw some gasoline on the fire, Wheaton's reading made it worse.

As I've said elsewhere, I'm the exact target audience. I came of age during the 80's and not only remember but actively participated in most of what he writes about. Tomb of Horrors was my favourite module, for example. But the excitement of a near constant nostalgia run wore thin after awhile, at which point it actually started to detract from the story telling.

Don't get me wrong, it's far better than anything I could do, but when you have so many great authors to choose from...this doesn't make the list.

All this is imo of course, but I feel my opinion is more valid than usual, as the book practically has my name in it, along with millions of other children of the 80's.

Just finished reading the book in anticipation of watching the movie. Completely agree with your assessment (and I am also squarely in the target demo). Writing is extremely poor. Reminded me a lot of The Martian:

"I just ate breakfast (Cap'n Crunch). And then I stopped to put my gear on (Roombio 3220). It was late, so I headed out. I headed out and went to the book store."

I love the premise of the story. The clunky writing and overt references killed it for me though. Very much reads like a YA novel, and not a very good one at that.

[Pyperkub]

My biggest complaint was that the 2 things I most wanted in the movie weren't there.

Tomb of Horrors /D & D
2112/Any Rush songs as part of the story

Was still fun.

[Carpet_pissr]

Yeah, my harsh criticism of the book above aside, I fully look forward to enjoying the movie. Trailer looks awesome.

[Moliere]

The Impossible Fortress by Jason Reklulak was a much better love letter to 80's culture in my mind, and was less in your face about it.

Thanks for the recommendation. Finished it in 2 days. Quick easy read. And I scored 8921 points my first time playing the game.