Ready Player One

Matthew Preston: “It ruled.”

Having read the book (something I rarely do), and having it be a near life altering experience, I was very hesitant to see this film based on the previews. I was terrified it wouldn't do the book justice. But I just had to take it for what it is: A two hour film adaptation of a 300+ page book, whose screenplay was co-written by the book's author, Ernest Cline. It captures the spirit of the book and Spielberg makes it epic.

− April 4, 2018 • more by Matthew • log in or create an account to reply

Scott Hardie: I've heard that the movie changes a great deal of the book, possibly for intellectual property reasons, and probably because Spielberg didn't want to get too close to his own work. Did it feel like a different story was being told? − April 9, 2018 • more by Scott

Matthew Preston: Yes, there are major changes to the pacing, concepts, and the challenges that the protagonist faces. Yet, the overall themes remain the same. Ignoring these changes and attempting to appreciate the film on its own was a major hurdle for me to overcome, but it was worth it. I've viewed it mostly like this: The book appeals to a very specific group of people, with very specific interests. The movie broadens the range of appeal to make it more palpable for all audiences. − April 10, 2018 • more by Matthew

Evie Totty: I chuckled a little at your last reply Matthew - because as a fan of The Shining I literally have to forget that it is based on one of my favorite books of all time and enjoy it on its own merits due to the number of changes between page and screen ... and it's in the movie :D

Please note - I have not read RP1 yet. I have it - just haven't made time yet. I will now though :) − April 11, 2018 • more by Evie

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Evie Totty: “It ruled.”

This review contains spoilers. Reveal it.

− April 11, 2018 • more by Evie • log in or create an account to reply

Scott Hardie: This reply contains spoilers. Reveal it. − April 12, 2018 • more by Scott

Evie Totty: LOL I feel like I need to give my 'gamer' card back for not knowing about this! But TBH I'm not passionate about gaming in general. I like to play - I just don't really care about the minutiae like I do movies and television :D − April 12, 2018 • more by Evie

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Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

I wasn't expecting a narrative-driven film so much as the sensation of nostaglia overload, with so many pop-culture references crammed into the margins that they'd feel impossible to count, and Ready Player One delivered on that promise. I don't think I've ever seen this many disparate pop-culture references in a single work before, and I doubt that I noticed even 10% of them at the rate they were stacking up.

If certain turns of the plot (not to mention the premise) seemed quite implausible, well, it didn't really matter to me as long as the movie was entertaining. The race sequence was absolutely fantastic, another masterpiece of action cinematography from Steven Spielberg. The sequence adapted from a particular horror movie was a treat, since I'm a big fan of that film. The corporate villains were a bit of a trope (Ben Mendelsohn can play so much more complex characters than this), but they felt right at home among all of the other 1980s elements that I didn't mind. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this.

− April 13, 2018 • more by Scott • log in or create an account to reply

Scott Hardie: This reply contains spoilers. Reveal it. − April 13, 2018 • more by Scott

Evie Totty: This reply contains spoilers. Reveal it. − April 14, 2018 • more by Evie

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