READY PLAYER ONE

[hansolo77]

14 minutes ago, Draco1962 said:

Ya think? 

Meh, I think it was better/funnier having the same perspective as H. 

Alright.. so yeah..  That movie was pretty awesome.  Loved the references.  It'd be fun to watch it and keep a tally of all the ones I see.  I especially like that the real world takes place in my home town.  Troubling thing is that they don't actually have any referencing landmarks, so it could really be anywhere.  We don't have a place called "The Stacks".  I liked the ending but it seemed kinda cliche, like Halliday uploaded his consciousness into the OASIS?  It also sort of got a kinda Willy Wonka vibe, with the test being a test of character and knowledge of the past.  I find it hard to believe too that of the entire world, with "billions" of players, that all of the main cast, including the chief villain, happen to live within 20 miles or so from each other.  But I did appreciate the "hero gets the girl" classic ending, because that's the sort of thing I'm hoping for in my life; to find somebody who's attractive in my own eyes regardless of faults others ignore her for, and to find something of a common ground to share life with.  Someday, I know it!  I also loved how the final key to it all existed in finding the Easter Egg in Atari's Adventure; I've never done it myself but have seen it in videos.  That's a momentous mark in history to acknowledge, and a fine way to tie it in.  Now I understand the icons on the cover art. 

So, um.. 4/5 stars for me.  I'd give it a 5/5 if only it had some pop culture references to Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.  I guess they did say "Millennium Falcon... I'm sure things like that would have been in the book, or in the sequel, etc.  Just due to licensing and what not, they couldn't make it happen.  But with everything else in there, you'd think they could have gotten away with it.

As to why I've not watched it yet.. all I can do is shrug.  I heard about this project years ago on here, when the book was first published.  Then it became so popular they made the movie.  The movie was such a huge hit with you guys, I knew I'd love it, so I bought the 4k Blu-ray without ever seeing it in the theater.  I just opened it up today.  I regret it.  This is a movie that would have been awesome to see in the theater in 3D.  I hope to not make that mistake again if something like this happens in the future (with the sequel).  I know I regretted not seeing Avatar theatrically in 3D, but the sequel is coming soon and I'm gonna go see that!

Thanks everybody for all the hype and recommendations.  And especially thanks for keeping the spoilers down to a minimum as best as possible.

[RIP-Felix]

39 minutes ago, hansolo77 said:

...We don't have a place called "The Stacks".

Give it another 5 years.

[RIP-Felix]

And now you can enjoy the book! Man I'm so jealous that I didn't see the movie first. Your in for a treat. All your gripes with the movie are explained in detail in the book.

As for the home town bit, I get what you mean. That's why I like Armada. It took place in Beaverton Oregon, my hometown (as a kid anyway). It's fun to picture your hometown as the center of events in stories you like. I think that's why there's so many movies that take place in New York or LA. Simply alot of people will get that nostalgia hit and it's a cheap trick to get more views. I thought it was cool that Cline includes some lesser used towns. Columbus isn't exactly small, but it doesn't get that many movie references either. I've been holding off telling you this for years (I didn't want to ruin it for you)...

52 minutes ago, hansolo77 said:

I especially like that the real world takes place in my home town. 

Worth it!

[hansolo77]

Yeah I knew it takes place here.  Draco sort-of dropped that bomb.  And then trailers that I have seen showed that too.  But yeah, I just went back through the entire thread and read all the spoilers.  Having not read the book yet, I can see a lot of the gripe was in the things that changed.  I get that.  As a Tolkien fanboy I was furious at Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies.  But, once I learned in the bonus features that most of the "liberties" were actually in the true canon timeline just not word-for-word written in the book itself (later added in the appendices), I got over it and enjoyed the movies more.  For this movie, I can understand the frustration of things being outright changed.  Like Artemis supposed to be somewhat "fat" instead of a halfway hot looking chick (although I prefer Olivia Cooke over somebody else like Lori Beth Denberg from Nickelodeon's All That [no offense]).  Or key plot points being changed.  I can imagine there being very specific things that happened or were referenced that were completely changed or removed.. and I agree that would piss me off.  But, Cline approved it, so maybe it's for the better?  Maybe the movie is a batter representation of his vision for the book?  I know, probably not, books are always better.  But thanks just the same for the badgering on me to watch it! 

[RIP-Felix]

2 hours ago, hansolo77 said:

...But, Cline approved it, so maybe it's for the better?  Maybe the movie is a batter representation of his vision for the book?  I know, probably not, books are always better.  But thanks just the same for the badgering on me to watch it! 

You're welcome.

I was wondering about Cline signing off on the changes too. I'm sure some of it was down to a fanboy agreeing ton anything his god says (hero worship) - "Yes Mr. Spielberg, whatever you say Mr. Spielberg, I'm just so happy you've graced my story with your golden touch Mr. Spielberg." That kind of thing. Other things were cut for time. Many thing were cut for licensing reasons. One concession leads to a need for a plot-line change, which requires this be cut, that be changed, and then editing for time does the rest. Cline being involved, was privy to the rationale for each decision from the picture/script writing perspective, and was probably influenced by that bias. Whereas for them it was an adaptation of a difficult to translate to the silver screen accomplishment, the end result for fans is a disappointing departure from what we expected.

I for one am not one to believe in the "you can't pleas all the people all the time" argument. It's a cop out. I have seen good and faithful adaptations and bad ones. This one was closer to the bad side IMO. Definitely not faithful, major characters were changed to the point of disservice, and plot-lines were deviated aggressively. They managed to take the idea and translate a different story on scree. One that taken on it's own is good, but if you were hoping for anything faithful too the book you'd be dissapointed. Once I let go of that, I was able to see the movie for what it is, not for what it isn't. I have the book for that. So I'm over it now.