Ready Player One - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Ready Player One

Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Steven Spielberg is undoubtedly one of the kings of American cinematic pop culture. War of the Worlds, Jaws, Indiana Jones, Minority Report, the list goes on and on. He’s also one of the most nuanced directors in hollywood’s long lineup of powerhouse directors, as he is able to switch from a fun adventure film like Raiders of the Lost Ark, to Schindlers List, or the newer Lincoln or Bridge of Spies. I grew up watching all of his early adventure movies ad nausea, but have noticed that the man has pulled away from making pop culture action/adventure movies, and is staying firmly in dramatic films for the most part. It’s not a bad thing, as the man has proven himself in both genres many times over, but I always missed the “fun” side of Steven Spielberg. The side that loved making movies for teenagers and the young at heart. Guns, knives, high flying adventure, and a pure soul were what he founded his empire on, and those movies seemed to be behind the legendary man. That is until Ready Player One.

For those not in the know, Ready Player One is a screen adaptation of Ernest Cline’s 2011 sci-fi novel of the same name. For a breakout author it was a smash hit and has gained QUITE a cult following in just 7 years (right fully so I might add, it’s a fantastic book). The novel was so enthralling because it mixed in a plethora of older 80s and 90s pop culture references in with a story line that was subversive, dealing with race, sexual, and gender issues all in the guise of an adventure book. I was a bit nervous how Spielberg was going to bring the novel to the big screen, as changes HAD to be made. The book by itself is excellent, but it just wouldn’t translate to a 2 hour movie the same way other books could be. The subtext and cultural warnings were sure to be lost in the translation, and I was SURE that we were going to have another “book to film” adaptation that just gets lost in history. Well, I can say with 100% certainty that I was wrong on that last line. Spielberg definitely changed large portions of the book (sometimes drastically), but he took the core essence of the movie and just molded it into something completely unique, but still wildly fun and intoxicating.

Ready Player One was the first movie all year that actually got me to feel excited and “fun” again at the theaters. As a cynical film critic, I enjoy a lot of films, but I have been REALLY worn thin with the blockbuster films we see in theaters these days. Marvel movies are enjoyable, but cookie cutter. DC films are a mess, and a lot of the other summer blockbusters feel well worn and too cliched for me. Ready Player One is the first film since Pacific Rim came out in theaters that had me grinning from ear to ear the entire time I was in my theater seat. In fact, I ended up watching it another 2 times (something I almost NEVER do in theaters) and 2 more times on home video for you guys. Still, that grin and feeling of sheer child like glee never once waned, and each time I watch it I still got that surging feeling of being a young teenager again, watching Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The story is actually really simple. Some time in the near(ish) future, mankind has gotten a little off track. Instead of being space explorers and utopians, we’ve gone backwards in some senses. Technology and virtual reality are an everyday part of our lives, and most of the plebian class has devolved into poverty and servitude to the giant tech firms. A master game inventor by the name of James Halliday (Mark Rylance) one day invents the mother of all gaming experiences. A virtual reality with near LIMITLESS potential called the OASIS. It’s size is unparalleled and the game itself allows for unlimited players. This means a virtual reality world were the masses could escape their dull lives, and the rich tech companies would want to control it. Several years after Halliday’s death, it was revealed that there were a series of easter eggs hidden in the game, and with those easter eggs were three keys. The first person to GET all three keys would become the next owner of Halliday’s giant corporation that he had built with his partner Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg).

The world has been gaming away for 5 years now, and NO ONE has gotten a key yet. The only people still hunting are the “sixers” (goons who work for the second largest tech firm, run by a douche bag by the name of Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), who’s only goal is finding those keys and becoming the BIGGEST tech firm in the world), and the scavenging players who are still hoping for greatness. One of these players is a young man by the name of Wade (Tye Sheridan). He lives with his aunt and her HORRIBLE taste in men, and his only escape from reality is playing in the OASIS under the user name Parcival. He and his best friend (at least in the online world) Aech (Lena Waithe) are searching for the keys when they run across a legendary gamer by the name of Artemis (Olivia Cooke). Smitten with hardcore gamer, Parcival/Wade gets dragged into her fight against Sorrento and his firm IOI, and before long his obsession with the game and her skills allows the two to slowly start unraveling the puzzle that Halliday had built into the game so many years ago.

Ready Player One is probably Spielberg’s most visually intense and technologically advanced film project to date. The film is just awash with digital magic, and switches seamlessly between the brightly colored digital OASIS, and the dim and grungy outside world. The amount of freedom in the digital world makes it so that Spielberg can just have FUN with anything he wants to do. Race tracks, a trip through The Shining, a battle in the real world, and COUNTLESS pop culture references throughout. In fact, that’s one of the biggest pulls of the movie. The pop culture references are hot and heavy, as it’s actually a theme in the movie itself. The world has become stagnant culturally, but advanced technologically. The outside world is addicted to 80s and 90s pop culture, talking non stop about Duran-Duran, or the Atari 2600, and the Ninendo gaming system. But in the digital world, they are SOOOOOO much more advanced. Which is once again, another lesson of the film. Humanity has gotten so out of wack with reality that the past is all they have to hang on to. The virtual world of the OASIS has taken over everything in their lives, and it is nothing but an escape from they life they should be living.

Tye Sheridan is awesome as Parcival, and Olivia Cooke is making huge leaps and bounds in the cinematic community in her post Bates Hotel acting career. However, it’s really one man that is the heart and soul of the film. James Halliday, the man who grew up in the 80s itself playing all of those video games, and tried to make a life out of it. In some ways he succeeded. He made the most popular gave ever created, but in doing so he gave up his own LIFE. Mark Rylance owns the role of Halliday, allowing the nerdy old man to come through as incredibly sympathetic in his flashback videos. You see a man who had it all. Money, power, fame, respect, but also a man who gave up all that mattered. All those dreams that he had as a family man, all of the friends he wished he had, and all that he would never have. The most touching moments of the film are between Halliday and Wade near the end of the movie, and it ties the film up magnificently as he tries to impart the wisdom of balance to his young protege.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action violence, bloody images, some suggestive material, partial nudity and language





4K Video: Video:

Ready Player One is another in a long list of films that is finished in 2K instead of 4K (the 35mm film portions would have easily made the transition, but the 2.8K digital camera captures would have been the limiting factor), but the upgrade from 1080p to 4K UHD is actually quite substantial. The vibrant colors of the OASIS and the use of HDR and Dolby Vision REALLY boost this one into the upper echelons of the 2K-4K conversions. The use of HDR in the imagery really gives a vibrant and rich look in the OASIS, with the deep reds of Artemis’s avatar shining through and the deeper blacks showing a noticeable improvement. The dull and bland real world scenarios are still a bit soft at times, but the textural details are visibly impressive, and the shadow detail in the dark world of Planet Doom are jaw dropping. Simply put, this is a stunner of a 4K disc with all of the shiny colors that HDR and DV are able to boost, and I find it one of the most impressive conversions as a result.





Audio:

Both the Blu-ray and the 4K UHD disc contain identical Dolby Atmos tracks (yup, with the obligatory 5.1 DTS-HD MA track as well that Warner has been using for their new releases), and it is a DOOZY. The film opens up with all of the channels at its disposal and makes GOOD use of them. The opening race with Artemis is jaw dropping, filled with heavy bass and a wide open sound stage that really excites the blood. Overheads are used with incredible panache, as the racers leap over bridges, King Kong smashes down from above, and the roaring sounds of the cars whistling across the track flit from one end of the room to the other. The film does quiet down a good bit on the outside world moments, and there is the softer aspect of the film. Dialog is always crisp and clean, and the minimal action out there is still making good use of the surrounds (although much less of the overheads than compared to the digital world of the OASIS). One thing I noticed was the LFE’s intensity. It’s powerful, heavy, and throbbing at times, but there are also large portions of the movie without much at all. The end battle in Chapter 10 is the most prodigious though, as it has some wallops that will literally knock you out of your seat. My complaint with the LFE being absent in some scenes is very minor in reality, and the only reason I rate it 4.5/5 instead of a perfect 5/5.





Extras:

• Game Changer: Cracking the Code
• Effects for a Brave New World
• Level Up: Sound for the Future
• High Score: Endgame
• Ernie & Tye's Excellent Adventure
• The '80's: You're The Inspiration
• BD Languages: English, Latin Spanish, Canadian French, Brazilian Portuguese
• BD Subtitles: English, Latin Spanish, Canadian French, Brazilian Portuguese

Final Score: ​

Ready Player One is hands down my favorite movie of the year. It was the first film since 2014’s Pacific Rim to really infuse me with that sense of childlike excitement and glee that films used to have on me. It’s fun, exciting, and Spielberg back to his old form once again. I find it amusing that Spielberg is actually responsible for much of the pop culture nature of films today, as he was a pioneer in the world adventure films. His obvious enthusiasm for the film, and his judicious changes (I’m one of the people who firmly believe that his changing good portions of the book was a necessity for the film to be as enjoyable as it is) made Ready Player One an EXCELLENT film to watch. I can’t honestly say in good conscience that it is a perfect 5/5 film, but it the most enjoyable film of the year so far, and along with the stunning audio and video specs on the 4K UHD and t he Blu-ray, it garners my recommendation of MUST OWN.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Zak Penn, Ernest Cline
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English, DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Thai, Turkish, English DVS DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Italian SDH, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Thai, Turkish
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: R
Runtime: 105 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: Own Ready Player One on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack, 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD on July 24, or Own It Now on Digital!

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Must Buy

 

[Jon Liu]

I haven't watched the movie yet, but I am picking up a copy for myself tomorrow morning on my way to work. I'm looking forward to watching this!

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will get this one.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I'm with Jon. Haven't seen it... going to see it!

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

I was excited for this one. Missed it in the theaters as I was finishing the book.

A few notes on the book. As a guy who grew up in the same era as the character Halladay, every moment rings true. I really enjoyed it, if for no other reason than the nostalgia. My biggest pet peeve about the book was that it seemed like every other chapter contained a huge retro-dump. The story and action would be trucking along, then we'd get a 3-paragraph dump of countless nostalgic details, then it went back into the story. They could've been scattered throughout, instead of piled up every couple chapters.

So, on to the movie. I ordered it on VUDU so I could watch it sooner, and the UHD will be waiting when I get home today. A little more expensive, but I can usually make some of that back with the extra digital code that arrives with the disc.

I thought the movie was really good. It had the same nostalgic feeling as the book, and, being a movie, it was better at evenly sprinkling the retro-dumps throughout.

Obviously there was a lot missing from the book. Some things were done out of order. Some sequences were completely different. From what I understand, there were a ton of licensing issues, and some IP owners simply chose to not allow inclusion. Their loss, frankly.

 

[Michael Scott]

you actually make a point that I actually forgot about when I was writing this review. The "retro dump" as you called it. That was one of my pet peeves with the book. Instead of interspersing the retro winks and nods throughout the book, we'd go large sections of the book without any real retro references, and then he'd DUMP huge amounts of them in a 2-3 page monologue. It was a bit irritating, even though I really love all the retro references in and of themselves.

 

[JBrax]

I’m also looking forward to this one. I’ll be adding it to the collection.

 

[Jon Liu]

I never read the book, but my wife did. She grew excessively tired of the "retro-dumps." She said that, there was too much exposition in trying to explain all the "80-90's" pop culture that it really slowed the pace of the book down. When we heard that the movie was going to come to fruition, she even said, this will probably be better served as a movie because it really doesn't have to explain the references, they can just show it.

She hasn't seen it yet, but I did watch it last night and absolutely loved it. I'm not a huge fan of the 80's, but the amount of appreciable nods and references to that era was very cool. Not only that, the amount of modern day references were additionally pretty awesome. It references pop culture today as much as it does to the 80s-90s pop culture. Plenty of video game references, from Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Gears of War, Halo, Overwatch, Tomb Raider. And the list goes on and on. I'm sure there are hundreds of homages and easter eggs hidden all through the movie that warrant rewatching this movie again and again.

All these references and easter eggs are well and good, but the implementation of it was much more impressive. The story was plenty engaging, despite me not really caring for Ben Mendelsohn or Tye Sheridan as actors.

 

[JBrax]

Watched last night and it did not disappoint. I loved all of the nostalgic references. I’ll be giving this multiple spins.

 

[Michael Scott]

glad you liked it!

 

[mechman]

I'll have to pick this one up since we enjoyed it so much at the theater. And I hate going to the theater!

 

[Asere]

Thank you for the review. I did a blind buy based on your review. I hope I'll like it.

 

[Tony V.]

Liked this movie alot,one of the better ones of the year. The LFE in parts was really good. We sat and watched it as a family and everyone thought it was better than they thought it would be.