 ***PLEASE NOTE: A Blu-ray 3D disc is only compatible with 3D Blu-ray players.*** Tagline: A better reality awaits. From filmmaker Steven Spielberg comes the science fiction action adventure Ready Player One, based on Ernest Clines estseller of the same name. The film is set in 2045, with the world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But the people have found salvation in the OASIS, an expansive virtual reality universe created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). When Halliday dies, he leaves his immense fortune to the first person to find a digital Easter egg he has hidden somewhere in the OASIS, sparking a contest that grips the entire world. When an unlikely young hero named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) decides to join the contest, he is hurled into a reakneck, realitybending treasure hunt through a fantastical universe of mystery, discovery and danger. Storyline: In the year 2045, the real world is a harsh place. The only time Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) truly feels alive is when he escapes to the OASIS, an immersive virtual universe where most of humanity spends their days. In the OASIS, you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone-the only limits are your own imagination. The OASIS was created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance), who left his immense fortune and total control of the Oasis to the winner of a three-part contest he designed to find a worthy heir. When Wade conquers the first challenge of the reality-bending treasure hunt, he and his friends-aka the High Five-are hurled into a fantastical universe of discovery and danger to save the OASIS. Written by Warner Bros. Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, July 21, 2018 Steven Spielberg is one of only a few filmmakers who could make Ready Player One and actually make it mean something, to extract so much humanity from a film about a battle for control of a virtual space where people have gone to escape the hard-luck realities of a sunken humanity. The film, which is based on a book of the same name by author Ernest Cline, is about a boy taking on a well-funded conglomerate for ownership of the world's most profitable enterprise, which only exists in the digital space. It's a film about who wants it more but also who loves it more, who understands it more, who makes and feels a connection with it not through the eyes but rather through the heart; it boils down to who finds themselves inside of it. A near perfect balance of digital extravagance and honest character exploration, Ready Player One is partially a cautionary tale but mostly a touching tribute to the essence of humanity in an increasingly artificial, distant, cold, and make-believe world. In the near future, poverty has risen and OASIS is the only escape. It's a virtual reality paradise where anything can happen and anything goes. People can be what they want and have what they want inside, usually by paying what little real money they have for a digital luxury. When one of the company's co-founders, James Halliday (Mark Rylance), dies, he leaves his company in limbo, willing it to any player who can solve three puzzles and collect three keys and collect the "Easter egg" he las left behind to earn the right to take control of the company, which is worth an obscene amount of money. Users from around the world compete to reach the first key but after five years none have succeeded. The game's leaderboard remains a blank slate and only a few dedicated fortune hunters, known as "Gunters," remain active in the pursuit. One of them is Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), better known by his online avatar "Parzival." He's not just a player but also a student of the life Halliday lived, which he believes will ultimately lead him to a clue on how to retrieve the first key. He's helped by his best friend "Aech" (Lena Waithe) and a mysterious but popular online persona known as "Art3mis" (Olivia Cooke). But standing in their way is IOI, a well-funded enterprise bent on cracking Halliday's code at any price. It's headed by the nefarious CEO Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) who begins pursuing Parzival and his friends when it becomes apparent they are close to solving Halliday's riddles. Ready Player One is Spielberg's most visually ambitious and digitally reliant picture yet. He is certainly no stranger to effects-driven films, whether practical in Jaws or groundbreaking digital in Jurassic Park or seamlessly integrated out-of-this-world in War of the Worlds. But this film goes much further than any of those with heavy integration of motion capture technology as well as digital environmental constructs, a technique Robert Zemeckis, whose name and films are prominent fixtures throughout Ready Player One, brought to the mainstream with films like The Polar Express and Beowulf. The effects are seamless, and they are chaotic. They're abundantly colorful, offering a dazzling array of prominent hues that contrast to the somewhat gray and bleak "real world" that has all but been lost to the make believe. And there's a level of creative freedom here that has heretofore been unavailable to filmmakers and digital artists if only because other movies were not conducive to the most wild and extreme imaginings; the opportunity for OASIS users to choose their own avatars, select their own vehicles, or populate any world where anything is possible means ultimate freedom in pushing boundaries and opening eyes to the possibilities that really exist in today's digital entertainment. It's almost ironic, though, that a movie that is partially a cautionary tale but also so attuned to the human condition -- or what remains of it in the film's world, anyway -- would feature such beautifully prominent digital constructs, but whether there's anything to that is up to the viewer to decide. It does say two things, though: the future of moviemaking is here, and the future of humanity is here, too. And there's great opportunity for both so long as there's balance. If there's not, there's great opportunity to lose everything. And that's really the film's central theme, that need for balance, for understanding, for using technology to compliment, not dominate, one's life. In the film, society has deteriorated to the point that trailer parks are built within crude high-rises, where trash is piled high outside, and the only escape is in the digital realm, which is of course more affordable, apparently, than most any of life's necessities, for it has become just that rather than a pricey luxury. And even as the film largely takes place in that digital environment, and all of the worlds that exist within it, the film's heart is found in the now non-beating heart of an elderly man, a man who grew up playing video games and absorbing pop culture, but who has come to realize how much he has truly missed in life, how much he has never had, and will never have, even as he has held just about all the money in the world in his hands. Mark Rylance's James Halliday is one of the great characters in any Spielberg film, a man whose unassuming and disheveled outward appearance reflects who he is inside: a bit broken and full of regret. He's created something wonderful and worth an unimaginable amount of money, but the film is not about his technology but rather his wounded soul. For all of the dynamic visuals, large-scale action scenes, and striking digital character renditions, Ready Player One finds its center in a socially awkward genius who is a surprisingly real person who wears his emotions, as muted as they might seem, on his sleeve, for the world to see, and to learn from, if the world can open its eyes, step away from the virtual playground, and try to find him, and itself, for just a moment. Beyond its effects-happy extravaganza and heartfelt human connection, Ready Player One is a treasure trove of newly classic music and semi-modern popular culture references that feel entirely random in isolation but work very well in a movie about the virtual world where anyone can be anything, drive anything, have anything. Parzival drives the DeLorean from Back to the Future, and there are several instances when refrains from Alan Silvestri's score for that film can be heard in this film, particularly when a character uses something called "The Zemeckis Cube" which is a necessary virtual tool at one critical point in the movie. A scene in which the heroes must select a movie to find a clue has the feel of the scene in which Indiana Jones chooses the real Grail in The Last Crusade; it's a wonder that the Curator doesn't say something about "choosing wisely." A key sequence takes place in a digitally recreated Overlook Hotel. Minor reference to Alien, BattleStar Galactica, Terminator 2, and countless other subtle little hints and winks and nods populate the movie. But as with everything else, such asides -- many of which are more than that -- give way to the essential building blocks that truly form the narrative's core; they're all just structural pleasantries in the larger picture. Ready Player One may be a digital extravaganza, but it's all Spielberg and all heart. The film's superficialities deliver spectacular entertainment with endless winks and nods to popular culture, but the film's center is an unassuming and quiet old man whose regrets, and the understanding of life he gained from them, truly propel the story. This is exactly the sort of narrative depth and digital opulence that has driven PIXAR to the top of the film industry. Its only real flaw is that it's a little overlong, but there's no mistaking the film's visual grandeur and its close-knit connection to the human heart in a world where it otherwise barely exists anymore. Warner Brothers' Blu-ray release of Ready Player One delivers top-rate video, near reference Atmos audio, and a handful of featurettes. Very highly recommended. Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Michael Reuben, August 4, 2018 Ready Player One 3D is one of the most enjoyable 3D discs I've had the pleasure of viewing. Its visuals are an apt demonstration of what can be achieved in post-production with a director who understands 3D and is willing to provide the conversion technicians with good raw material. If Warner's Ignorati weren't continuing to cheat 3D fans out of the best available audio, the disc would have my highest recommendation. As things stand, I still recommend it—but make sure you're getting the two-disc version, because the extras are well worth your time. Trivia:
[CSW] -3.8- If you are not a gamer or not still in your teens, then all the visuals may be a bit over-stimulating and overwhelming. Spielberg paints a very dismal dystopia in which everyone escapes into a virtual world known as Oasis because reality is just so bad. Spielberg is back in the game with this movie. He has managed to make a movie that is appealing to the Post-Millennials and well as the Millennial and Generation X. However, Baby Boomers will definitely enjoy all the references to pop culture from the last 40 years that only people who have been around for decades can really appreciate. Worth watching and rewatching to catch all the pop references. And, don't be deceived, Spielberg is still leery about Technology, just catch the last few minutes and you'll know what I mean. I rented the 2D version on 07/26/2018 to see if I wanted to get the 3D version and the answer was yes. This movie should be seen in 3D and I will add the 3D version to my library if the price is reasonable. [V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box Cast Notes: Tye Sheridan (Parzival / Wade), Olivia Cooke (Art3mis / Samantha), Ben Mendelsohn (Sorrento), Lena Waithe (Aech / Helen), T.J. Miller (I-R0k), Simon Pegg (Curator / Ogden Morrow), Mark Rylance (Anorak / Halliday), Philip Zhao (Sho), Win Morisaki (Daito), Hannah John-Kamen (F'Nale Zandor - of Killjoys and Ant-Man and Wasp), Ralph Ineson (Rick), Susan Lynch (Alice), Clare Higgins (Mrs. Gilmore), Laurence Spellman (Lame Tattoo Guy [Reb]), Perdita Weeks (Kira). IMDb Rating (10/22/18): 7.6/10 from 232,414 users
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