Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity - Best of Awards 2018
Synopsis

Secrets Sponsor

In the year 2045, the real world is a dirty and unattractive place. The only time Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) truly feels stimulated is when he dons his VR glasses and escapes to the virtual OASIS, a virtual universe where a lot of humanity spends their free time. In the OASIS, you have virtual friends, participate in adventures and live a life free of the physical world. The OASIS was created by the brilliant and rather eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance), who left his billions and total control of the OASIS to the winner of a three-part quest he designed to find a worthy person to donate his fortune and technology to. But, he’s challenged by the current owners of the OASIS and he must beat them to the treasure to save his virtual world.

Ready Player One

Specifications
Ready Player One Movie
Warner Brothers Studio
2018, PG-13, 1080p, Dolby TrueHD, Aspect Ratio 2.40:1, 2 hours 20 minutes
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Oliva Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Simon Pegg
Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Rating

Entertainment:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:

Violence: Yes (cartoonish violence)
Sex: No
Language: Yes

Commentary

I am greatly conflicted by this film. It is an amazing audio and video showcase with some of the most advanced and creative use of CGI I’ve ever seen. However, the film runs on for far too long and it feels like a patch of Sci-Fi films that have come before it… a little Tron here, a dish of Avatar there, parts of The Last Starfighter squeezed in-between.

Ready Player One Review

So not a lot of original story. The big bad corporation vs. the nerds. Still, Ready Player One is an amazing visual trip and you can’t take your eyes off the dense visuals. Look closely and you’ll see the Batmobile, Star Trek logos and I’m pretty sure I caught the Martian War Machine from the 1950s War of the Worlds movie. King Kong is on hand and dozens more iconic characters. It’s a festival of fun trivia. What a nightmare it must have been to license all those logos and characters. The video game generation will love it. Those looking for a deeper story won’t be as thrilled. Still, it’s a must see if you have a good home theater setup and most of our reader do. Watch it on the biggest screen you can and crank up the volume while you nerd out.

Secrets Sponsor

Technical

As I’ve said, this is a terrific production. The CGI looks flawless and I’ve never seen such a high density of objects flying around the screen, from armies of avatars to dust and explosion effects.

Ready Player One Movie Review

I listened to the film on a 7.1 system, so I did not get the full Atmos effect, but it still sounded great. There’s an amazing car race which really puts you inside the action and as the scene changes from the interior of the car to a wider perspective, the sound filed changes to match the environment.

Extras

Featurette-The ’80s: You’re the Inspiration (5:38)
Featurette-Making Of-Game Changer: Cracking the Code (57:22)
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Effects for a Brave New World (24:39)
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Level Up: Sound for the Future (8:03)
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-High Score: Endgame (10:04)
Featurette-Ernie & Tye’s Excellent Adventure (12:00)