In 2045, humanity is escaping the desolation of the overpopulated world by living their lives in the virtual game world known as the OASIS created by James Halliday. Halliday left a message after he died leaving a challenge for anyone to collect three keys which will lead them to have control of the OASIS and a fortune of $500 billion. Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), an 18 year old Gunter (egg hunter) whose virtual avatar is Parzival, lives in the Stacks in Columbus, Ohio. Gunters are quest seekers and their big competition is in the form of a corporation known as IOI (who will do anything to win the game and get the prize). Wade/ Parzival has fellow game players in the quest like Aech, Sho, Daito, and Art3mis (who Wade falls in love at first sight in the OASIS). This team of Gunters work together more and more to solve the clues and get all three keys. They access Halliday's Journals which virtually recreates Halliday's memories. IOI's CEO Nolan Sorrento and his army of Sixers step up the pressure as Parzival and his team of friends get closer and closer.

READY PLAYER ONE is loosely based on the novel by Ernest Cline who wrote the screenplay with Zak Penn. It is a fun visual adventure full of movie, TV, video game, and pop culture references from the last 35 years. It is a love letter to 1980s pop culture along with newer movies and video games. Over 100 references to movies, TV shows, horror character icons, and video games are peppered throughout the movie. The first challenge for the first key is a race which has various vehicles from movies, TV shows, comics, and video games. Parzival drives the DeLorean from BACK TO THE FUTURE while Art3mis has the motorcycle from ARIKA. The race has King Kong and the dinosaur from JURASSIC PARK as obstacles. One of the challenges has the players entering the virtual world of Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING while a final battle features a variety of characters from the spectrum of movies, TV shows, and video games. There are also fun game weapons like the Zemeckis Cube which allows you to rewind time in the OASSIS by sixty seconds and the Holy Hand Grenade (Monty Python and the Holy Grail). This is a feel good sugar rush from director Steven Spielberg. READY PLAYER ONE is definitely a movie to watch more than once to spot all of the pop culture Easter eggs. If you want a fun sci-fi adventure movie by the way of TRON meets CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY translated through Steven Spielberg, this is definitely the ticket for you.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
THE 80S: YOU'RE THE INSPIRATION- all about the various things in 1980s pop culture that inspired the novel READY PLAYER ONE and the history of the book and the early history of the movie
GAME CHANGER: CRACKING THE CODE- a detailed 57 minute look at the making of the READY PLAYER ONE from filming on the motion capture stage, shooting the live action segments of it, the cast, costume design, and production design. Interviews with the cast, crew, director Steven Spielberg, and author Ernest Cline are mixed in with clips from the movie and a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage
EFFECTS FOR A BRAVE NEW WORLD- a look at the special effects of the movie
LEVEL UP: SOUND FOR THE FUTURE- sound design of READY PLAYER ONE
HIGH SCORE: ENDGAME- a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of the score with composer Alan Silvestri, director Steven Spielberg, and author Ernest Cline
ERNIE & TYE'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE- Ernest Cline and star Tye Sheridan reminisce about their first meeting as they meet again on the eve of the movie's premiere as Ernest also teases a READY PLAYER ONE sequel aka READY PLAYER TWO.

FINAL ANALYSIS: READY PLAYER ONE is a fun sci-fi adventure which is also an excellent homage to pop culture from movies, TV, and video games for the last 40 years. The behind-the-scenes extras manage to be some of the best making-of extras I have seen this year. Too bad Warner Bros didn't include the theatrical trailers on the blu-ray.

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