READY PLAYER ONE

[RIP-Felix]

I've listened to RP1 20 times now and armada at least half that many.

Armada is less original, but still a nostalgia trip. It's probably more special to me because it takes place in my back yard.

Han, you really need to watch that movie! Then read the book...if you call yourself a science fiction / fantasy fan.

[Draco1962]

1 hour ago, hansolo77 said:

Have I mentioned that I've 1) Still not read the 1st book, 2) Still not seen the 1st movie, 3) I preordered and still owned a sealed 4k BluRay?    I need to work on this..

Get busy, my man! Read the book!

[tthurman]

23 hours ago, RIP-Felix said:

I do hope Will wheaton does the voice acting for the audible release.

Agreed 100%, Will brought this book to life.

 

 

[tthurman]

18 hours ago, RIP-Felix said:

Han, you really need to watch that movie! read the book or listen to it first so you will know how great it could've been had they broken the book up into several movies like The Hunger Games.

Fixed that for you

 

Don't get me wrong, I like the movie and I'm glad I bought it, but it's weak compared to the depth the story really contains.  The audio book is fantastic and sucks you completely into the world of the dystopian future and escape of the OASIS.  It's just to much story for one short movie. 

 

The movie is very good and has replay value, so don't read into this that it sucks.

[Draco1962]

I agree. In the movie, they did manage to hit most of the high points of the book.

For those whom did not read the book (i.e., my wife) there was not a sense of "Did I miss something? Why did he/she say that? That doesn't make sense.."

[RIP-Felix]

If you want to have any chance of liking both, watch the movie first. The book upstages it to the point of disappointment, which is usually the case with movies based on books. Then when you're like, "eh, it was okay", read the book.

[Draco1962]

I'd say do whatever order you prefer. In most cases where there is a novel from which a movie is made, I have read it first before watching the movie, even if it means just hearing about it and missing opening day at the theater.

There are some, like Eragon, that I would probably not have bothered reading the books had I seen the movie first.  Not that the movie was gawd awful, or that the books were super fantastic,but compared to the book it wasn't a good adaptation.

[tthurman]

Trying to adapt Ready Player One to the big screen was compounded by the fact that  this book really ignited a lot of emotional imagination fueled by nostalgia.  This particular book made that worse by having ten times what could ever feasibly have been stuffed into even a long movie.

I really like the movie, but realistically speaking it was really more of a "Ready Player One - Re-envisioned" .

[Draco1962]

Agreed. Even if it were "Peter Jacksoned" like "The Hobbit" it would still have been lacking lots of detail. Fortunately, it did well in its reinvisioning.

[RIP-Felix]

Sounds like you two have a better opinion of the movie than I do. While my negative opinion has softened into, "it's fine for what it is", I am still VERY disappointed. Have you seen Scott Pilgrim vs the world? First, I love that movie. Second, it feels like it takes place in the OASIS. THAT is how I envisioned the cinematic transition. Live action, real actors with CGI used to accentuate the world, death animations, weapons, etc. Not CGI Humanoid. There was too much CGI done on the characters themselves and the world inside the Oasis.

I thought that of all the CGI friendly movies, ready player one would be at the top of the list. After all It takes place inside a freaking CGI. But it didn't feel right! It felt like I was watching a CGI film, like final fantasy. In the book, the CGI inside the OASIS was supposed to be so convincing that you couldn't tell the difference from reality, if you had top of the line haptics and VR headset. Scott pilgrim feels right, given what I imagined in my minds eye. Take that cinematic style, and tailor it RP1 and you have the right formula.

I know that Spielberg directed it and Cline signed off on it. I just don't care. It could have been much, much better. I just wish they had chosen a different cinematic style to bring out the characters and world more artfully, instead of taking the obvious and easy overly CGI paved road.

[tthurman]

41 minutes ago, RIP-Felix said:

Have you seen Scott Pilgrim vs the world?

No, but I will now!

 

42 minutes ago, RIP-Felix said:

It could have been much, much better.

I completely agree and would go as far to say that I was disappointed with it myself, but still enjoyed it.  On the other hand, it could have been disastrously worse as so many before it. 

To me, RPO sort of took the same route Solo did, it could have been so much more, but instead they just took the safe route and left a lot on the table by doing so.

[RIP-Felix]

I just threw down the gauntlet. We need to remedy @hansolo77 lack of exposure to the RPO universe. I offered him a deal in the Tron thread:

6 minutes ago, RIP-Felix said:

LOL (literally!)

Okay, geez! Don't blow a gasket 3PO, I'll bow to the pressure...I actually just added Disney+ to my Hulu service because it was only $1/mo more than what I was paying for Hulu (No Ads) + Live TV, after I downgraded to Just Hulu (with ADs). The change just went into effect and I haven't noticed any difference!!! There were just as many ads before. TOTAL RIP OFF!...Back to the topic.

I just added Tron & Tron - Legacy to my watch list. Let's make a deal. I will agree to sit through both films back to back IF @hansolo77 agrees to watch Ready Player One! I'm agreeing to watch 2 films in context and post a review of both films if Han old buddy agrees to crack open RP1, watch it, and give us his impressions on the RP1 thread. You really should read the book too, but I won't stipulate it as part of the deal. I mean, come on!  "You owe it to yourself as a retro gamer."

Deal?

[Draco1962]

 

[hansolo77]

Oooooh.. the hammer has been dropped.  It's on now!    I promise, I'll watch it before the month is over.  I'm actually surprised I STILL haven't even taken it out of the overwrap yet.  My digital code is probably expired by now.  Actually, I just opened it.  Got the 4k version.  Coool, gonna enjoy it on my new 4k tv.  Kinda bummed I have like a dozen 3D movies I bought that I'll never get to see in the 3D format since that fad died with home TV's.  Actually, more than kinda.  I have the entire Hobbit set in extended 3D, as well as like 6 of the MCU movies and the first 2 Star Wars "sequels".  Anyway.. stand by.

[RIP-Felix]

I'm curious what you think of the movie having not been spoiled by the book. After the disappointment wore off, I went back and decided the RPO movie wasn't bad, it's just so much different than I was expecting and was trying to appeal to a younger audience than the one Cline intended. Anyway, I don't want to influence your review, so I won't elaborate.

[tthurman]

That would be an interesting take, though I think he absolutely must listen to the audio book at some point.  It was hard to turn it off for me, I binge listened.

 

[Draco1962]

Read/listen to the book! If you liked/loved the movie then prepare to take it to the next level!

 

[hansolo77]

Speaking of the book read by Will Hwheaten? 

[RIP-Felix]

Best narrator for that book, bar none! It couldn't by anyone else. He's the president of the OASIS after all (Inside joke).

[Draco1962]

"Midnight at the OASIS..."

[RIP-Felix]

On 1/10/2013 at 2:25 PM, hansolo77 said:

Sounds interesting, too bad I don't have the ability to sit and focus long enough to read a book. I'll wait for the movie.

2013 became 2014. Then another year went by. And another. And another! Then finally, after 8 long years the thing everyone had been waiting for, and which many believed was a giant hoax, finally happened!

On 7/22/2017 at 7:21 PM, Draco1962 said:

FINALLY! The first teaser for the movie!

 

Suddenly everyone was interested in the contest again.

On 8/26/2017 at 12:04 PM, RIP-Felix said:

I wonder how it will turn out, but man this universe lends itself perfectly to VR. Actually that's why I'm not worried about egregious use of CGI in the movie. It's a world of VR, it's supposed to look computer generated because it is...no shocker there! I think this movie has a real shot at being one of my favorites!

But after the inevitable disappointment...

On 3/31/2018 at 1:21 PM, RIP-Felix said:

Skip the movie, read the book.

...a few more years went by and nothing else materialized. Interest again waned.

On 7/9/2020 at 12:46 PM, hansolo77 said:

Have I mentioned that I've 1) Still not read the 1st book, 2) Still not seen the 1st movie, 3) I preordered and still owned a sealed 4k BluRay?    I need to work on this..

 

That brings us to this day. Just a mere 2 months away from READY PLAYER TWO being released a full 9 years after the first book. I just wanted to reiterate these fine words...

On 8/22/2017 at 5:15 PM, Draco1962 said:

As he noted in he beginning of the video... BUY THE BOOK! READ THE BOOK!  DO IT NOW!!!

 

Meanwhile, in the Tron thread:

On 8/13/2020 at 2:30 PM, hansolo77 said:

@RIP-Felix  What?!  You've never seen the first one?!  As many times as people tell me to read the book and watch the movie (Ready Player One) I still haven't done it.  BUT... there's no excuse to having not seen the original Tron.  And to watch the "sequel" first?  Uhg, blasphemy!  Man I'd mail you my copy of it on Bluray if I didn't have doubts about our postal service.  Even if you don't have Disney+, you can probably get it at the Library, or find it online "somewhere".  You owe it to yourself as a retro gamer.  There's a lot more going on in Legacy that is a direct result of events from the first one.  And a ton of easter egg nods.  That might be why you're rating is so low, because you don't know the previous history.  I'd say hold back the tears of the campy 80's CGI/rotoscoping, legit grin and bear it, and watch the movie for the story. 

Uhg, just can't believe it.

It's like saying Empire Strikes back is a 5/10 because you've never seen A New Hope.  Ok, that's just because I'm a Star Wars fanboy geek, and totally not possible.  But still.  You should always watch a sequel after the first one and not before it lol.  It's like me when I was a kid and watching Temple of Doom before Raiders of the Lost Ark, not knowing it was an Indiana Jones movie (it doesn't say that in the title).  Or watching Two Towers before Fellowship.  I'd slap you if I could! 

On 8/14/2020 at 12:10 PM, RIP-Felix said:

LOL (literally!)

Okay, geez! Don't blow a gasket 3PO, I'll bow to the pressure...

I just added Tron & Tron - Legacy to my watch list. Let's make a deal. I will agree to sit through both films back to back IF @hansolo77 agrees to watch Ready Player One! I'm agreeing to watch 2 films in context and post a review of both films if Han old buddy agrees to crack open RP1, watch it, and give us his impressions on the RP1 thread. You really should read the book too, but I won't stipulate it as part of the deal. I mean, come on!  "You owe it to yourself as a retro gamer."

Deal?

On 8/14/2020 at 3:11 PM, hansolo77 said:

Oooooh.. the hammer has been dropped.  It's on now!    I promise, I'll watch it before the month is over.  I'm actually surprised I STILL haven't even taken it out of the overwrap yet.  My digital code is probably expired by now.  Actually, I just opened it.

• Tron review = Paid.
• Ready Player One review = past due!

So I hired a debt collector for his talent in motivational villainy...

Quote

To those among you not named @hansolo77 , If you weren't already aware the first book included a hidden Easter egg, a contest in which a kid won a fully restored Delorian. It stands to reason that Cline might hide another easter egg in his second novel and knowledge of the fist book might prove useful in solving it. just saiyan. Of course, this is only for those who accept challenges. Not those who back out of them. - Captain

Did you think you were off the hook?

[Draco1962]

SHOW US THE HOOK!

 

[hansolo77]

  I'll make a special attempt to watch it this weekend. 

[hansolo77]

Watching it now.   So far I'm really digging it.  Loving all the pulp culture references!  Just passed a scene with The Shining.  I feel like I should probably have watched it before too lol.

[Draco1962]

52 minutes ago, hansolo77 said:

I feel like I should probably have watched it before too lol.

Ya think?