| Ready Player One | |
|---|---|
| |
| Riffed by | RiffTrax |
| Riffers | Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett |
| Series | None |
| Date Released | October 18, 2018 |
Ready Player One is a 2018 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline, based on Cline's 2011 novel of the same name. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, and Mark Rylance. The film takes place in 2045, when much of humanity uses the virtual reality software OASIS to escape the desolation of the real world. Orphaned teenager Wade Watts (Sheridan) discovers clues to a hidden game within the program that promises the winner full ownership of the OASIS, and joins several allies to try to complete the game before a large company run by businessman Nolan Sorrento (Mendelsohn) can do so.
RiffTrax released their riff in October 2018. Previously, the novel on which it is based was featured in the podcast 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back, featuring Mike Nelson and Conor Lastowka.
Synopsis and Preview[]
RiffTrax Ready Player One - now on the RiffTrax App!-0
In 2045, people seek regular escape from life through the virtual reality entertainment universe OASIS, co-created by James Halliday and Ogden Morrow of Gregarious Games. After Halliday's death, a pre-recorded message left by his avatar Anorak announces a game, granting ownership of OASIS to the first to find the Golden Easter egg within it, which is locked behind a gate requiring three keys. The contest has lured a number of ‘gunters’, or egg hunters, and the interest of Nolan Sorrento, the CEO of Innovative Online Industries (IOI) who seeks to control OASIS himself. IOI uses a number of indentured servants and employees called "Sixers" to find the egg.
Wade Watts is an orphaned teenager living in the slums, or ‘stacks’, of Columbus, Ohio, with his Aunt Alice. In the OASIS, his avatar, Parzival, is best friends with Aech, a virtual mechanic. One day, Parzival befriends Art3mis, a well-known Gunter, sharing a common interest in Halliday's history. They review Halliday's life from the Archives with help of its Curator. They learn Halliday had several regrets in life, including his unrequited love for Morrow’s wife Kira and losing Morrow as a friend after forcing him to sign away his part of Gregarious Games. Using this information, they solve the first two challenges of Anorak's game: a car race across an ever-shifting Manhattan cityscape and a search for Kira in the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. Aech and his friends Daito and Sho follow suit, the group becoming known as the "High Five" on the OASIS scoreboards.
Sorrento learns of Parzival's real-life identity through OASIS mercenary i-R0k, and attempts to sway Wade into joining IOI, but he refuses. In retaliation, Sorrento has IOI's head of operations F'Nale Zandor bomb Wade's stack, killing Alice. Art3mis' player, Samantha Cook, rescues Wade, but they are soon found by IOI. Samantha is captured and forced into IOI's servitude, while Wade is extracted by the other High Five – Helen (Aech), Toshiro (Daito), and Zhou (Sho). The group tracks down Samantha's location at IOI, and they remotely help her escape, allowing her to assist them in the OASIS as Art3mis.
The third challenge requires one to play Halliday's favorite Atari 2600 game, in a castle on Planet Doom, which Sorrento has protected with a force field. Parzival recruits other OASIS players to help the rebels attack the IOI forces around the castle. Art3mis deactivates the force field, allowing Parzival to reach the console, but Sorrento activates the Cataclyst, a bomb that kills all the avatars on Planet Doom. However, due to having won a coin from the Archive's Curator earlier, Parzival gets an extra life, proceeding to play through Adventure to find its Easter egg; he is awarded the last key. He opens the gate and is greeted by Anorak and given a contract to sign; however, he recognizes it as the same contract Morrow signed to turn over his part of Gregarious and refuses. Anorak changes form, becomes Halliday, and reveals that the contract was the final test to make sure Parzival would not make the same mistakes he did. Parzival is given the Golden Egg and control of OASIS.
In the real world, Sorrento and Zandor fail to stop Parzival before he wins; they are quickly arrested for the bombing. Morrow, revealed to have been the Curator, offers his services to Wade; he gladly accepts. Wade decides to run OASIS with the other High Five, agreeing to ban IOI from forcing people into servitude and to shut down the OASIS twice a week for everyone to spend more time in the real world. Meanwhile, he and Samantha move into an apartment together.
Cast and Crew[]
- Tye Sheridan as Wade Watts
- Olivia Cooke as Samantha Cook / Art3mis
- Ben Mendelsohn as Nolan Sorrento
- Lena Waithe as Helen Harris / Aech
- T.J. Miller as i-R0k
- Simon Pegg as Ogden Morrow / the Curator
- Mark Rylance as James Halliday / Anorak
- Philip Zhao as Zhou / Sho
- Win Morisaki as Toshiro / Daito
- Hannah John-Kamen as F'Nale Zandor
Quotes[]
- Aech - "Just gettin' my kills on, bro!" Bill - "Heh, I say that when I play Tetris."
There's no killing in Tetris.
Notes[]
- Mike Nelson and RiffTrax writer Conor Lastowka had previously collaborated on a podcast called 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back, in which they discuss the novel Ready Player One and other works by author Ernest Cline.