Some takeaways from this summer’s Blu-ray release of one of the year’s biggest surprise hits
There has been so much debate about Ready Player One, perhaps more than any movie of its kind deserves. For some, the film felt desperately throwback and shamelessly sentimental, as others felt the blockbuster reinforced their love of the kind of original escapist fare that’s all but gone in the age of the movie franchise. At the same time, those who read the popular Ernest Cline novel on which the movie was based largely disliked Ready Player One for the liberties it took, while the majority who went in cold were left applauding the Steven Spielberg-helmed fantasy adventure.
I had (slowly) begun reading the original novel in the weeks leading up to the film’s release, developing an instant kinship to Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) and his quest to locate the Easter egg hidden in the Oasis by the late video game genius James Halliday (Mark Rydell), prior to the movie’s home video debut. Once I had begun to note the displeasure towards the movie from those who had read the book and the enthusiasm among those who hadn’t, I put away my half-read copy for fear of not enjoying whatever Spielberg had planned for me. While I had devoured enough of the book to understand why people who had read it reacted somewhat unfavorably to the film, I happily fell under Ready Player One’s spell of dizzying elements and pure, unadulterated heart. Out of all the films unleashed onto home video over the summer, not one matched Ready Player One’s blend of imagination, adventure, heart, and telling commentary. Having watched the movie numerous times since receiving the Blu-ray, a great number of thoughts continue to circle my mind after each viewing. Because of this, I thought I’d share some of the biggest elements which helped make Ready Player One one of the most invigorating blockbusters in quite some time.
- Nostalgia Keeps People Going
We always tend to think of our time as unique; and in some ways, that statement is true. Yet whether it’s a yearning for the past, or a fear of the future, nostalgia is at its most potent at this specific moment in time. No movie has ever served as more of a tribute to pop culture of the past than Ready Player One, with its many vintage references in the world of music, film, and video games. To the movie’s credit, the throwback elements function as more than just items for fans to check off or laugh at, but instead serve as a tributes and symbols of a place in time where the complexities of life were easier to decipher. When Van Halen comes on the soundtrack or the T-Rex makes his entrance, the moments overflow with such loving respect and admiration for the history which helped shape it; sentiments no doubt echoed by the gleeful audience.
2. The Shining Sequence is the Movie’s Best Throwback
Most people going into Ready Player One know that the movie is chock full of one glorious pop culture throwback after another, from the ‘80s-themed score, to icons such as The Iron Giant and Mechagodzilla making memorable appearances and items such as a “Zemeckis Cube” existing in the Oasis. Yet none of the nods to pop culture of the past hit as well as the movie’s tribute to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The sequence, which sees the main characters enter the recreated simulated world of the horror classic, is a combination of the surreal, scary, and hilarious. Seeing how the former film is skillfully woven into the present one’s story is nothing short of clever, as are the delicate effects used to recreate the world Kubrick brought to life. However, nothing in all of Ready Player One comes close to beating the sheer thrill of watching one iconic filmmaker pay such a loving tribute to another.
3. The Real World vs The Oasis
I’m still in awe of how much fun BOTH worlds in Ready Player One came across on screen. The Oasis, with its maze of one intricate world after another, comes across as a sort of digital wonderland full of constant surprises. The best thing Spielberg’s incarnation got right is its painting of the Oasis as the kind of utopia where every outsider and misfit tossed around in the real world had the chance to fully thrive. But, in what is perhaps the most Spielberg-esque feature, the harshness of the movie’s real world likewise contains a dark wonder all its own. There’s a definite danger in the apocalyptic wasteland that makes up the society outside of the one Halliday created, but there’s also an undeniable sense of adventure and curiosity too. Similar in some ways to the beautiful and unforgiving worlds of A.I. and Minority Report, the real-life society of Ready Player One, drowned in despair and hopelessness, cannot help but come off as an intriguingly painted landscape.
4. The Horrors of Loyalty
Of all the real world elements seen throughout Ready Player One, the one which comes off as most harrowing is the ever-growing consumption by corporate America. The oftentimes shady practices of big businesses are far from a new threat, yet the movie’s portrait of them of as oligarchies with the power to enslave everyday citizens is nothing short of terrifying. Ready Player One’s Loyalty Center means no one can ever escape the debt accumulated by them and their family, serving as prisoners and working off their servitude until the day they die. Because of this, Wade’s fight to keep the Oasis as a pure, safe, and creatively free entity before close-minded conservatism and greed takes over gives our hero something to fight for that contains both meaning and resonance.
5. Sorrento is a Former Wade Watts
Because Sorrento (Ben Mendehelson) is written less as a moustache-twirling villain and someone who literally believes in the wrongdoing he’s masterminding, the character cannot help but come across as one of Ready Player One’s most realistic elements. As we spend more time with him, one can gauge a time in Sorrento’s past where innocence, idealism, and optimism flowed freely within him which got lost in his ascent to the top as a result of endless compromising and corruption. His recognition of those same lost qualities within Wade makes the teenager Sorrento’s instant enemy, as a special streak of envy and bitterness silently helps drive the villain in his quest to beat the story’s hero. It’s because of all this that when Sorrento’s final on-screen moments happen, the look of longing and sorrow on his face ring so incredibly true.
6. The Blurring of Fantasy and Reality
Ready Player One takes places in a future which is both unrecognizable and totally fathomable, where people are more dependent on technology than ever before. It’s that dependence which gives people purpose and meaning when it comes to their existence in light of what actual society has devolved into. Time after time, the movie makes a point to show how willing people are to forego their real-life personas in favor of their virtual ones. This is done as a means of both combating and coping with the decaying social atmosphere outside, to the point where certain activity in the imagined world could result in death within the actual one. The real world has never been the same since chat rooms and message boards became the norm back in the ‘90s, and the current boom of social media outlets continue to further the allure of a near-absolute virtual presence. But Ready Player One’s look at a way of life where people are willing to lose themselves in a land of make believe almost completely is a frightening depiction of a future very much on its way.
Plenty of critics have pointed out how obvious of a choice Spielberg was when it came to directing Ready Player One. I can’t help but agree with this, especially given the quality of his last three offerings. It’s not that the director has lost his touch, but more like he hasn’t had much chance to shine in quite the same way he did in the past with the likes of Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Munich, or Lincoln. Bridge of Spies was solid, if unspectacular, while The BFG (in which the director re-teamed with E.T. scribe Melissa Mathison) overcame its slight unevenness with a healthy dose of carefully measured magic. Last year’s The Post pleased the majority of critics and audiences, but its period trappings, timely subject matter, and powerhouse Meryl Streep performance drowned out many of the director’s attempts to put his own stamp on the project. By the time Ready Player One reaches its heart pounding climax, giving way to unexpected emotion, the tears shed by the main character are more than felt and deservedly earned. Suddenly the world in which Spielberg helped create, rich in imagination and hyperreality, becomes incredibly real as the power of visceral human connection shows itself in the way few other directors could ever bring to life.
Ready Player One is now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Warner Bros.
