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Ready Player One - SDCC Teaser

E

Erevador

Member
The book has its charms, GAF is being absurdly negative. There is some cringeworthy dialogue, and some clumsy reveals, but it is a charmer from beginning to end. The book is immensely readable. It was the rare kindle book I read without once checking what percentage through it I was. It's a book written to provide pleasure and a sense of recognition for those well-versed in the pop-culture it is a tribute to. It is a fun escapist fantasy that imagines a world in which pop culture trivia has a greater utility than bar trivia, a a world in which the observer is transformed into the hero.

The book has some interesting observations to make about our modern relationship with our digital lives. It deals with a world in which the real world has collapsed while the digital dreamworld has grown more and more satisfying and compelling. There is a tension between the purity of the digital world created for play, and the profit-driven intentions of an evil conglomerate. The hero is entirely isolated and friendless, but completely immersed in a digital quest that provides him with an identity and a sense of purpose. Too close to home, GAF?

I can't understand why the book seems to provoke such ire on GAF. I feel like perhaps GAF is SO entirely the target demographic for the book that they can't help but pick it apart and imagine how THEY would have done it better.

Cline is no Ian McEwan, but he wrote a charming escapist jaunt with its heart in the right place. Good fun if approached in the right spirit.
 
Z

Zakalwe

Banned
Erevador said:
I can't understand why the book seems to provoke such ire on GAF.
Click to expand...


It's not ire, people aren't saying "The book is bad" for any other reason than they think it's bad.

Honestly, there seems to be more hyperbole from you guys moaning about the "hate" than there is from anyone critiquing the book...
 
F

Forkball

Member
DFY828mWAAIo3Ks.jpg
 
F

forgeforsaken

Member
Turin Turambar said:
There are two types of 'references'. The good ones and the bad ones.

The bad ones are bad because they are a lazy attempt of comedy. They are not ingenious or interesting or insightful or intelligent or crafty, they just say Star Wars/Star Trek/Lords of the Rings or whatever reference and that's it. I mean, how witty is to namedrop X-Wing or phaser or whatever. Zero wittiness.
The reader just recognize something he knows from another fiction he likes, and he is happy because of that. "Hey I know KITT. So fun!". Hell sometimes they aren't even lazy comedy, it's just a pop reference put there so people kneejerks as I explained. 'I know that!'.
The author knows people have that kind of gag reflex and (ab)uses that kind of reference.
And I am not even entering in the field fo abusing nostalgia.

Not all references are bad.
The good ones can be real comedy bits that use a pop culture reference, but the core of the joke is a word pun, a double meaning discovered if you know your pop culture, or whatever, they use a reference to work but they aren't funny because of that.
Click to expand...

Compare and contrast to Stranger Things. There's stuff in there because it's a period piece, but also there are many scenes that are filmed and framed in a way as to reference movies of that time period as well. These are done in a way to evoke that nostalgia without hammering you over the head with "hey remember this?"
 
C

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
Looks good.

I've always said the book was good fun but some seem offended by its very existence
 
S

SolidusDave

Member
I don't know anything about the book/plot.
This trailer did tell me nothing what this movie is actually about.

Looks... lame? I mean, I will still watch it at some point for the spectacle but I'm not a fan of VR storylines with no consequences on the real world.

The random action scenes remind me a lot of the the pop culture over the top action dreams in Sucker Punch.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
I love how people get annoyed when people shit on Ready Player 1 and say everyone only shits on it for the references but then can't defend the book beyond,"I like it"
 
M

MrHoot

Member
I had no prior knowledge of anything this is based on, but really it does look messy, and an orgy of references mixed with non-stop excess of action.... I don't really get what's the hook ?

Reminds me of Sucker Punch in a way but even less subtle
 
C

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
MrHoot said:
I had no prior knowledge of anything this is based on, but really it does look messy, and an orgy of references mixed with non-stop excess of action.... I don't really get what's the hook ?

Reminds me of Sucker Punch in a way but even less subtle
Click to expand...

It's a teaser. Guys.... it's a teaser.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
MrHoot said:
I had no prior knowledge of anything this is based on, but really it does look messy, and an orgy of references mixed with non-stop excess of action.... I don't really get what's the hook ?

Reminds me of Sucker Punch in a way but even less subtle
Click to expand...

Imagine if Sucker Punch was a book but even more obnoxious and poorly realized.
 
S

Steiner84

All 26 hours. Multiple times.
why is there a car chase? Has nothing to too with the book. my hype went away completly.

the book was so awesome, but this, not so much.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Discotheque said:
that chase was the best part of this trailer lol (aside from that charlie and chocolate factory song)
Click to expand...

I've said it before but I hope Spielberg dumps most everything from the book but the basic premise and themes and to does his own thing with it. That's our best hope for the film.
 
Kadayi

Kadayi

Banned
HStallion said:
I love how people get annoyed when people shit on Ready Player 1 and say everyone only shits on it for the references but then can't defend the book beyond,"I like it"
Click to expand...

I think in large part it's because it highlights the paucity of their critical tastes which is why they get so thorny about it. I mean jeez, you look at the youtube comments and there are people declaring it their favourite book evar, and it does kind of make you think 'what kind of word garbage must you have been reading to declare this your cultural highlight? '

HStallion said:
I've said it before but I hope Spielberg dumps most everything from the book but the basic premise and themes and to does his own thing with it. That's our best hope for the film.
Click to expand...

TBH I suspect that's largely what he will have done. Keep the premise, have a few nods to appease the vocal minority and dump the bulk of the storyline.
 
C

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
MrHoot said:
Consider me not really teased :V

I'll keep an open mind once it releases and look at the critics tho, but it's not something that makes me want to go see it on release
Click to expand...

I think there's an interesting tale to be told that could make a good movie. If they focus on plot and not references. We will see.
 
B

bjork

Member
It's been awhile since I read the book, but I feel like it had to specifically point out every reference; explaining what Joust in greater detail than needed, going like "I heard [song], that was [album], [year]" and so on. For something that relied on that stuff so much to pad out a pretty basic fantasy story, I kinda get it, because it isn't a visual medium, and maybe someone doesn't know what KITT looks like or whatever.

But if it's going to work in the visual form of a film, it needs to either
- just have the stuff appear and they don't call it out and go HEY LOOK A GOBOT

- when shit does appear, there's just a brief bio that appears down in the lower corner or something. Maybe that's an extra feature on a home release.
 
C

CHC

Member
I wonder how much they're going to change with the old DnD references, namely Tomb of Horrors and Acererak being a major character. Can't imagine movie-going audiences (or Hollywood executives) would be up for all that stuff as-is.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
bjork said:
It's been awhile since I read the book, but I feel like it had to specifically point out every reference; explaining what Joust in greater detail than needed, going like "I heard [song], that was [album], [year]" and so on. For something that relied on that stuff so much to pad out a pretty basic fantasy story, I kinda get it, because it isn't a visual medium, and maybe someone doesn't know what KITT looks like or whatever.

But if it's going to work in the visual form of a film, it needs to either
- just have the stuff appear and they don't call it out and go HEY LOOK A GOBOT

- when shit does appear, there's just a brief bio that appears down in the lower corner or something. Maybe that's an extra feature on a home release.
Click to expand...

They'll hand out cards before the show listing all the references and what they are like they did for Dune and all the crazy language and ideas.
 
B

bjork

Member
HStallion said:
They'll hand out cards before the show listing all the references and what they are like they did for Dune and all the crazy language and ideas.
Click to expand...

Ha, that would be something. It's like

"Cy-Kill: HEY LOOK A GOBOT."

I'm guessing this is going to do well purely because it looks fun to look at. Like how Sucker Punch wasn't the best story ever told, but it was fun to watch it go.
 
C

Catvoca

Banned
"A world where the limits of reality are your own imagination"

*proceeds to be a bunch of references to old movies*
 
E

ElMexiMerican

Member
bjork said:
Ha, that would be something. It's like

"Cy-Kill: HEY LOOK A GOBOT."

I'm guessing this is going to do well purely because it looks fun to look at. Like how Sucker Punch wasn't the best story ever told, but it was fun to watch it go.
Click to expand...
But Sucker Punch did poorly at the box office. Clearly this is different bc Spielberg is attached, but who knows.
 
MrS

MrS

Banned
Legitimately looks like it could be a Bay Transformers film based on that trailer. Suffice to say it didn't do anything for me. I also found the self-congratulatory title cards ('from cinematic game changer Steven Spielberg') offensive.

wazoo said:
Yes, one single film made directly for kids audience should erase 30 years of success..
Click to expand...
Have you seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull my dude?
 
Jme

Jme

Member
SolidusDave said:
I don't know anything about the book/plot.
This trailer did tell me nothing what this movie is actually about.

Looks... lame? I mean, I will still watch it at some point for the spectacle but I'm not a fan of VR storylines with no consequences on the real world.

The random action scenes remind me a lot of the the pop culture over the top action dreams in Sucker Punch.
Click to expand...

There 100% is real-world consequences. If you're not going to read the book you could at least read the dust jacket
 
E

Erevador

Member
kurahador said:
Spielberg name doesn't mean much these days. Remember BFG?
Click to expand...
I think Spielberg's name will go further with this kind of material, since it is obviously in his wheel house. His name lends legitimacy to an adaptation that has enormous appeal to the fanbase of his most well-loved films.

Awkward creepy psuedo CG children's book adaptations are an unsurprisingly tough sell in today's market, hence the failure of BFG.
 
W

wazoo

Member
kurahador said:
Spielberg name doesn't mean much these days. Remember BFG?
Click to expand...

Yes, one single film made directly for kids audience should erase 30 years of success.

In fact, Spielberg had its fair share of flops, compensated by insane success.

I imagine people saying in 81 "Spielberg name does not mean much these days. Remember 1941 ?"

Those people are forgotten.
 
R

RoninChaos

Member
Erevador said:
The book has its charms, GAF is being absurdly negative. There is some cringeworthy dialogue, and some clumsy reveals, but it is a charmer from beginning to end. The book is immensely readable. It was the rare kindle book I read without once checking what percentage through it I was. It's a book written to provide pleasure and a sense of recognition for those well-versed in the pop-culture it is a tribute to. It is a fun escapist fantasy that imagines a world in which pop culture trivia has a greater utility than bar trivia, a a world in which the observer is transformed into the hero.

The book has some interesting observations to make about our modern relationship with our digital lives. It deals with a world in which the real world has collapsed while the digital dreamworld has grown more and more satisfying and compelling. There is a tension between the purity of the digital world created for play, and the profit-driven intentions of an evil conglomerate. The hero is entirely isolated and friendless, but completely immersed in a digital quest that provides him with an identity and a sense of purpose. Too close to home, GAF?

I can't understand why the book seems to provoke such ire on GAF. I feel like perhaps GAF is SO entirely the target demographic for the book that they can't help but pick it apart and imagine how THEY would have done it better.

Cline is no Ian McEwan, but he wrote a charming escapist jaunt with its heart in the right place. Good fun if approached in the right spirit.
Click to expand...


Absolutely agreed. I can't believe the negative reactions here.
 
G

gamz

Member
MrS said:
Legitimately looks like it could be a Bay Transformers film based on that trailer. Suffice to say it didn't do anything for me. I also found the self-congratulatory title cards ('from cinematic game changer Steven Spielberg') offensive.


Have you seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull my dude?
Click to expand...

If there's a director living today that deserves it it's him. Nothing offensive about it and he's earned whatever title they give him on a title card. Kids....Pffft!
 
Kadayi

Kadayi

Banned
RoninChaos said:
Absolutely agreed. I can't believe the negative reactions here.
Click to expand...

What part it having no redeeming features is hard to understand? It's a bunch or name checking 80s references woven into a mediocre writers puerile wish fulfilment fantasy. Sorry.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
RoninChaos said:
Absolutely agreed. I can't believe the negative reactions here.
Click to expand...

People have given many tear downs in this very thread. The book is riddled with problematic writing from the prose that relies on "I this" and "I that" to the main character being a nerdy gary stu and of course the book relies on references to hold up all the other crap without actually doing much with said references.
 
C

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
HStallion said:
People have given many tear downs in this very thread. The book is riddled with problematic writing from the prose that relies on "I this" and "I that" to the main character being a nerdy gary stu and of course the book relies on references to hold up all the other crap without actually doing much with said references.
Click to expand...

You've posted so many negative things in this thread - we get it. You didn't like it. Man hahha. It's as if the author stole your lunch money and pushed you down.
 
J

jack_package_200

Banned
This might be a very nitty nitpick, but I hate that they had a few notes of Pure Imagination in the trailer before moving to a bombastic cover of a Rush song.

If you are going to use Pure Imagination in your trailer, fucking use it. Don't just take few notes.
 
B

Bluth54

Member
I'm surprised people are so negative about the book. It wasn't the greatest novel ever but I had fun reading it. I did like it when the references were integrated into the story (like where the keys were located) but I do agree when the author just lists references to 80s pop culture it was lazy and bad writing and if I was the editor I would of cut out a ton of those kind of references.

Hard to say how the movie will be with the trailer, it seems like they're changing a lot since I don't remember that race being in the book.
 
B

Banderdash

Member
I don't get why people get upset about the book...
It's young adult fiction... it's not like it's The Old Man & The Sea.
It's the equivalent of being pissed that the writing is crap in a babysitters club book.


Back on topic... i liked the trailer.
I'm not looking to it for anything beyond entertainment...
 
R

Random Human

They were trying to grab your prize. They work for the mercenary. The masked man.
Banderdash said:
I don't get why people get upset about the book...
It's young adult fiction... it's not like it's The Old Man & The Sea.
It's the equivalent of being pissed that the writing is crap in a babysitters club book.
Click to expand...
Ready Player One is an adult science fiction book, not YA. The Babysitters Club is for 11 year olds.

There are also many, many YA books with better writing than RPO.
 
Laieon

Laieon

Member
Like I said in the thread a few days ago, I thought the book was an incredibly fun read even if the writing itself wasn't the best. Can't wait for this.

Erevador said:
The book has its charms, GAF is being absurdly negative. There is some cringeworthy dialogue, and some clumsy reveals, but it is a charmer from beginning to end. The book is immensely readable. It was the rare kindle book I read without once checking what percentage through it I was. It's a book written to provide pleasure and a sense of recognition for those well-versed in the pop-culture it is a tribute to. It is a fun escapist fantasy that imagines a world in which pop culture trivia has a greater utility than bar trivia, a a world in which the observer is transformed into the hero.

The book has some interesting observations to make about our modern relationship with our digital lives. It deals with a world in which the real world has collapsed while the digital dreamworld has grown more and more satisfying and compelling. There is a tension between the purity of the digital world created for play, and the profit-driven intentions of an evil conglomerate. The hero is entirely isolated and friendless, but completely immersed in a digital quest that provides him with an identity and a sense of purpose. Too close to home, GAF?

I can't understand why the book seems to provoke such ire on GAF. I feel like perhaps GAF is SO entirely the target demographic for the book that they can't help but pick it apart and imagine how THEY would have done it better.

Cline is no Ian McEwan, but he wrote a charming escapist jaunt with its heart in the right place. Good fun if approached in the right spirit.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree with this post any more if I tried.
 
K

kubus

Member
Banderdash said:
I don't get why people get upset about the book...
It's young adult fiction... it's not like it's The Old Man & The Sea.
It's the equivalent of being pissed that the writing is crap in a babysitters club book.


Back on topic... i liked the trailer.
I'm not looking to it for anything beyond entertainment...
Click to expand...
Whenever this book is criticized for its (ab)use of pop culture references people defend it saying that you're not the target audience if you weren't born in the 80's, it's a "fun nostalgia trip".

When the book is criticized for its writing, people defend it by claiming it's young adult fiction.

Pretty sure the author didn't write a book about 80's pop culture for teens, so yeah the writing is just bad. I can accept that people still like the book as a guilty pleasure thing or just for the nostalgia porn, but it's... pretty bad. There's no way around that.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
commish said:
You've posted so many negative things in this thread - we get it. You didn't like it. Man hahha. It's as if the author stole your lunch money and pushed you down.
Click to expand...

Nerds eat their own lol. Never read the book, but the teaser seems like a love letter to nerd culture. The good, irreverent aspects.
 
S

StrangeRoboMemory

Member
I think the reason that many people hate on this book is that it's one of the "best" recent examples of a self-referential bullshit "nerd culture" that:

A) takes cool stuff and boils it down to an empty, lifeless reference in a completely meaningless way (remember Boba Fett, heh heh...yup, I said it! Star Wars, man!);

B) elevates a number of horrible films, games, cartoons, etc. to some godly status just because they are old and have artificial nostalgia value;

C) replaces critical thinking and taste with a catch-all "if it's nerdy crap, it's good" mentality, so that many people I've met will go see clearly awful films or own clearly awful pieces of media out of some sort of obligation;

D) equates buying a bunch of toys and movie tickets into an exercise in self-identity, i.e. Wil Wheaton, one of the most self-congratulatory peddlers of this stuff, going on about how "this is who we are" at comic conventions...nah, I'm good, I like lots of "nerd" stuff but I'm not going to boil my self-hood down to a pile of plastic crap

For the past ten years, comic book shops, card shops, game stores, etc., have just been this, over and over:

tumblr_n4vk97Vws21r0fb2jo1_500.jpg
 
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