Ready Player One (2018) (1 Viewer)

[Colin Jacobson]

Maybe not ET but certainly more “entertaining” than the other films you mentioned.

And Last Crusade is one of his worst I thought. Ugh.

Again, I must resort to these emojis:

"Last Crusade" isn't on a par with the greats like "ET" or "CE3K" or "Jaws" or "Raiders", but it's a very fun ride. The mix of Ford and Connery is worth the price of admission alone!

I'd put "RPO" on the same level as "Tintin": perfectly enjoyable but not "enduring". As soon as "RPO" ended, it vanished into the ether.

Decent ride while it lasted, but it lacked the real impact of Spielberg's better movies...

 

[TravisR]

"Last Crusade" isn't on a par with the greats like "ET" or "CE3K" or "Jaws" or "Raiders", but it's a very fun ride. The mix of Ford and Connery is worth the price of admission alone!

I agree with that. I think Last Crusade is easily in second place in the Indy movies.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Saw it twice. The first time was enjoyable but throws so much on the screen that it blunts the impact of the characters and the actors playing them. The performances came through much better the second time and my enjoyment of the movie increased dramatically. Also, really appreciated the marvelous job Spielberg did directing the movie much more the second time.

As a Stephen King fan, I particularly loved one section of the movie.

This is coming from a book reader. The book is better and has a harsher edge while the movie improved on a few things and did change some problematic areas too that would not work cinematically.

Good, fun movie but not a great, revolutionary one like The Matrix.

 

[Kevin Lamb]

I've seen this twice already, both times in IMAX 3D. I love it! The scenes with Olivia Cooke sneaking around IOI's complex with classic "Alan Silvestri high tension music" was pure Spielbergian bliss for me. It also helped that Cooke bears a strong resemblance to young Lea Thompson. That made for a nostalgic combo every bit as delightful as all the full on 80's references and cameos.

For my second viewing I took my kids (11 year old daughter and 8 year old son) who also loved it and now they can't wait to watch The Shining and AKIRA, lol. I don't expect this film to be remembered as one of Spielberg's top tier efforts (JAWS, Raiders, E.T.) but it's probably the most fun I've had watching one of his films since Temple of Doom. Terrific entertainment.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

So did you read the book? Or are you referring to others who have?

Simply responding to what others who have read the book have posted. Spent a lot of time in video arcades in the 80s but never read the book when it came out, though knew about it. Still have nightmares about losing badly at Missile Command.

I watched the movie with my 21-year-old son, who, though a gamer, wasn't up on all the game references, but had been exposed to The Shining (a dad's got to film library a kid, right?). He enjoyed RPO, as well, but didn't love it. I wondered what Spielberg actually directed in a film that is mostly a CGI comic book, and he reminded me that all the avatar performances were most likely motion capture.

 

[Tino]

Again, I must resort to these emojis:

"Last Crusade" isn't on a par with the greats like "ET" or "CE3K" or "Jaws" or "Raiders", but it's a very fun ride. The mix of Ford and Connery is worth the price of admission alone!

I'd put "RPO" on the same level as "Tintin": perfectly enjoyable but not "enduring". As soon as "RPO" ended, it vanished into the ether.

Decent ride while it lasted, but it lacked the real impact of Spielberg's better movies...

Not surprising but I disagree with every one of your opinions.

 

[Tino]

And regarding Crusade, I didn’t hate it but it was easily the weakest of the Indy films, including Crystal Skull.

I just thought it was a tired retread of the first film (Nazis, religious artifact, desert action) with none of the charm or excitement of the first one.

 

[Edwin-S]

Finally went to see this. Not bad. It was better as a game in spotting the references than as a story. It took me awhile to place Sorrento's avatar. I finally realized he had picked Captain Stern from Heavy Metal as his alter ego. I thought the ending was rather lame, especially their "solution" to

Spoiler

close the Oasis on Tuesday and Thursday

I thought that was laughable. Also, I could have sworn I saw a character from Overwatch in the film.

 

[mattCR]

Well, that ending was never in the book, and it was one thing I had a big problem with

Spoiler

In the book the reason why the Oasis grew was that access to natural resources became limited, and therefore most of the economy had transferred online. People worked, went to school, etc. online. Closing the Oasis two days a week, in the lore of the book, would have been an immediate economic punishment on everyone

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Matt - while I liked the movie, that's why it was more of a popcorn entertainment than something that really stuck with me. I read the book and the movie has stripped all of the motivation and reasoning for why the world is the way it is in the film. The spectacle remains but the underlying premise is almost gone.

 

[Brian L]

Just got around to seeing it. Not a gamer. Never read the book. But the pop culture references seemed pretty cool.

But, I was majorly let down by one omission.

Spoiler: Spolier

What happenned to Rush’s Tom Sawyer that was used so effectively in the trailer?

 

[Jake Lipson]

My local theater occasionally sells T-shirts to accompany big movies. These are usually $15. Currently, they've got Black Panther, Avengers, and The Incredibles 2 shirts on sale at the box office. I also saw, today, that they put out a Ready Player One shirt, now priced at $10. I'm not sure how many people actually buy T-shirts at the movie theater, but I thought this was weird that they still had it, since they've already stopped playing the actual movie. Of the others, Avengers is obviously the big attraction right now, Black Panther is still playing in one screen too, and Incredibles is coming soon with posters and standees all over the place. So selling those makes sense, but I was a bit surprised to see Ready Player One still there. They must sell at least some shirts, though, since this isn't the first time I've seen them do this, but I've never actually bought one there.

 

[Rodney]

The wife and I rented this movie on Vudu last night, and to say we were disappointed would be an understatement.
I had read the book, and while I didn't think it was great, I did enjoy it. My wife hadn't read the book yet. 45 minutes into the movie, we both looked at each other and shook our heads. She didn't care for this at all, I liked visually what was accomplished but felt the screenplay watered down the book. We finished the film but were both very unimpressed.

I just read this thread, staying away before as I didn't want to ruin any surprises for me, and other than how much he liked the book, I find that I agree closely to Dave's response, and the the review on Ars Technica. I'm glad I didn't waste money on buying the blu-ray of this, as I was originally going to do as, come on, it's Spielberg!

 

[Sam Posten]

I could have sworn I saw a character from Overwatch in the film.

Tracer and Mercy.

 

[Malcolm R]

Watched this tonight in 3D and enjoyed it more than I thought I might. I read the book a few months back, but am far enough removed that I don't recall all the specific details so the changes didn't really register too much. Given the nature of the Oasis, I can't imagine watching this any way other than 3D.

I do remember one of the First Five died in the book but did not in the film, and in the book it was Wade that ended up in the IOI building under other circumstances. They also shortened some of the challenges and changed some of the references, but overall I think it was a pretty good adaptation. I was kind of frustrated that Wade seemed to have no sense of urgency at the end even though he knew his friends were in danger. He seemed to do everything in slow motion, with many dramatic pauses, just so the film could stretch the tension.

 

[hanshotfirst1138]

I had quite a bit of fun with this. It’s not top-tier Spielberg, but he’s clearly enjoying the hell out of himself and inviting you to as well. It has little of the gloriously analog white-knuckle thrills of say Raiders or the intelligence of Minority Report, but it’s lots of fun. My tolerance for Cline’s interminable pop culture references wears a little thin, but that’s just me. Either way, I thought it was frankly an improvement over the book, and it was cool to see Spielberg pay tribute to his old buddy Kubrick with The Shining sequences.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I admired this one on a technical level, it was well made, but it left me completely cold.

 

[sleroi]

Where to start with this movie. The screenplay was just awful. The first 18 minutes was all annoying narration. There should have been a flashing "warning: exposition" subtitle on the bottom of the screen.

And then the clue to solving the first challenge was so obvious. How many years and no one had figured that out. How many times had Wade watched that scene?

And while I understand the necessity of a CGI environment to represent virtual reality, watching the race was like watching my son play a video game. Kind of boring. Which is a weird ctiticism because I liked Speed Racer.

The Shining segment was fun, and so were some of the hidden references and music cues, but only to a point. The movie was far too long and really began to drag by the time they got to third challenge.

There was no emotional resonance for me. The Stacks were too bright and sunny and the people too happy. Poor but not depressed or dystopian. The Aunts reaction to her boyfriends losing everything was ho hum.

And Artemis was starting this revolution because her Dad died in a loyalty center, yet she had her own henchman and quite a sweet pad and a pretty decent life. And her big embarrasing trait was a mild birthmark on a beautiful face.

This film was too on the nose and saccharine for the story it was telling. Big spectacle, some fun moments for sure, but it should have been so much more.

 

[TonyD]

I love it.

 

[Malcolm R]

Where to start with this movie. The screenplay was just awful. The first 18 minutes was all annoying narration. There should have been a flashing "warning: exposition" subtitle on the bottom of the screen.

And then the clue to solving the first challenge was so obvious. How many years and no one had figured that out. How many times had Wade watched that scene?

And while I understand the necessity of a CGI environment to represent virtual reality, watching the race was like watching my son play a video game. Kind of boring. Which is a weird ctiticism because I liked Speed Racer.

The Shining segment was fun, and so were some of the hidden references and music cues, but only to a point. The movie was far too long and really began to drag by the time they got to third challenge.

There was no emotional resonance for me. The Stacks were too bright and sunny and the people too happy. Poor but not depressed or dystopian. The Aunts reaction to her boyfriends losing everything was ho hum.

And Artemis was starting this revolution because her Dad died in a loyalty center, yet she had her own henchman and quite a sweet pad and a pretty decent life. And her big embarrasing trait was a mild birthmark on a beautiful face.

This film was too on the nose and saccharine for the story it was telling. Big spectacle, some fun moments for sure, but it should have been so much more.

They changed a number of things from the novel that might have addressed some of your deficiencies.