Ready Player One

[Crumm]

I am pretty excited for this.

Spielberg is by far my favourite director, and it looks like he is going back to the kind of stuff he does really really well with RPO. The kind of films that he made so well and broke all the records back in the late 70' and early 80's.

He has also proved, contrary to many people's opinion, that he can comfortably handle the "grown up stuff" as well, but I believe he has more fun with this kind of project.

To me, the guy is an absolute genius, he can do things in film-making that no-one else can, he can push buttons that as a viewer you never knew you had. I think being able to pull from the last 30-odd years of popular culture (much of which he has inspired and been involved with) will be a great sandbox for him to play in

 

[apack7229]

I really enjoyed reading the book and I got excited when I heard they were making a movie. Really looking forward to it.

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

I've just started reading the book today coincidentally. Got it for Christmas and have heard so many great things about it. Will be really looking forward to the film if Spielberg is directing. So many of my favourite films were directed by him. What a legend.

 

[Dr_Ball_MD]

Yes it's a great read, very nostalgic.

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

Only a few chapters in but shaping up to be a great read. Already a few references to Star Wars.

 

[pizzathehutt]

I hope it lives up to the hype and the amount of time this film has been in the works for. my mate makes costumes for the film industry and was working on the ones for this film 2 years ago!

 

[Crumm]

Finally it releases this week!

The latest "dreamer" trailer has only made me even more excited.

Bought my tickets already for Saturday night! can't wait!

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

I was a bit sceptical when they released the short trailer because it hardly had any nods to the retro 80s music, tv and gaming that was so apparent in the book, but the full trailer and subsequent ones were so much better. Hoping to go soon if I can convince my mates or wife.

 

[Crumm]

**NO SPOILERS BELOW**

Well, it's out, and I saw it.

Sad to say it pleased me in one respect, and disappointed me massively in another.

I was pleased by the fact that the action scenes and effects are amazing, it is a pure visual treat. There are some genuinely thrilling scenes and some great references to popular culture, some pretty funny gags in there too.

However, the story Ernest Cline wrote has been utterly decimated. This I can't understand, because with a little bit of re-writing and the odd tweak here and there, it was perfect for turning straight into a film that could closely follow the book. I also cannot understand the fact that Cline himself was one of the scriptwriters and decided to excise or allow to be excised so much of his own material.

There is roughly about 20% of the novel that remains in the film, and it suffers greatly for it, because many of the scenes in the novel add back-story to the characters (all the characters, not just the main few). This leaves the film feeling like a huge, shiny, well wrapped Christmas present box under the tree, but when you open the box it is empty.

The spectacle in the film is great, the action, effects and camerawork during them are flawless. But ultimately, the story had it's guts ripped out.

If you are planning to see the film and have not read the novel then I would recommend seeing the film first.

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

That's a shame. I'm seeing it tomorrow.

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

Wow that was nothing like the book :lol:

 

[weasel]

**NO SPOILERS BELOW**

Well, it's out, and I saw it.

Sad to say it pleased me in one respect, and disappointed me massively in another.

I was pleased by the fact that the action scenes and effects are amazing, it is a pure visual treat. There are some genuinely thrilling scenes and some great references to popular culture, some pretty funny gags in there too.

However, the story Ernest Cline wrote has been utterly decimated. This I can't understand, because with a little bit of re-writing and the odd tweak here and there, it was perfect for turning straight into a film that could closely follow the book. I also cannot understand the fact that Cline himself was one of the scriptwriters and decided to excise or allow to be excised so much of his own material.

There is roughly about 20% of the novel that remains in the film, and it suffers greatly for it, because many of the scenes in the novel add back-story to the characters (all the characters, not just the main few). This leaves the film feeling like a huge, shiny, well wrapped Christmas present box under the tree, but when you open the box it is empty.

The spectacle in the film is great, the action, effects and camerawork during them are flawless. But ultimately, the story had it's guts ripped out.

If you are planning to see the film and have not read the novel then I would recommend seeing the film first.

Wow that was nothing like the book :lol:

Not to hijack your thread, but is that not par for the course when Holywood gets its hands on a "good" book? There are a lot of film adaptations out there that have taken massive liberties with the source material/book and severely pissed off fans. 'I am Legend' being a prime example. The follow up to Trainspotting being another.

LOTR was brilliant but they spent how many years making it and I think the film company risked insolvency if it didn't come off. Dune was ok, though it's pretty hard to adapt for the big screen. Fight club was fairly faithful to the source material and it is a classic film. American Psycho was meh.

There are dozens of others but I either havent read the book or seen the film, or so much time has passed I can't remember how faithful/good either was.

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

Yeah I guess, I was just surprised how little 80s there was in it given Spielberg was the king of 80s movies, but then I suppose he was aiming it at the kids market just like Goonies was aimed at us growing up, and this generation want modern gaming and not retro. The two kids I went with both said it was the best film they'd ever seen.

 

[Crumm]

Yeah I guess, I was just surprised how little 80s there was in it given Spielberg was the king of 80s movies, but then I suppose he was aiming it at the kids market just like Goonies was aimed at us growing up, and this generation want modern gaming and not retro. The two kids I went with both said it was the best film they'd ever seen.

When I heard Spielberg was getting his hands on it I was really excited. If there was one guy that could bring RP1 to the big screen in astounding fashion it was him. I do fully understand that books never make it to the cinema intact, it is not usually viable for story, budget, and many other reasons to do that. However, I thought the team behind the RP1 film would have more integrity than they have shown.

Many, many parts of the book which would have been perfect on the big screen were simply dumped. RP1 the movie literally bears no resemblance at all to its written counterpart save for the characters, basic premise and a handful of scenes.