In the year 2045, the real world is a harsh place. The only time Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) truly feels alive is when he escapes to the OASIS, an immersive virtual universe where most of humanity spend their days. In the OASIS, you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone—the only limits are your own imagination. The OASIS was created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance), who left his immense fortune and total control of the OASIS to the winner of a three-part contest he designed to find a worthy heir. When Wade conquers the first challenge of the reality-bending treasure hunt, he and his friends—known as the High Five—are hurled into a fantastical universe of discovery and danger to save the OASIS and their world.
Steven Spielberg is my favorite director and to say he hasn't been making movies at the level his late 70's through early 90's work isn't a big revelation. While still quality films I don't find myself revisiting his later projects. With Ready Player One he is having a lot of fun and the source material by Ernest Cline is a big contributor to that. The film is a mind bending trip of pop culture references. The best moment in any movie this year is a absolutely stunning scene that takes place in the best horror film ever made, The Shining. The cast is a nice blend of character actors and the film has a fast pace that keeps you engaged. The only shortcoming is I would say is I didn't feel much emotional connection to the main characters thought they are very charming and you will root for them. I think on a third watch I'll connect to them more as all the pop culture easter eggs aren't assaulting your senses. 8/10
Ready Player One arrives on 4K UHD Blu-ray with a 2160p presentation in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The 4K Ultra HD presentation includes HDR 10 and Dolby Vision.
Whew, what a stunner. The real world has a cold industrial look of a world and society that is on the brink of giving up for good. The OASIS has every color in the rainbow at some point. Some moments are cold and blue, other scenes are filled with warm golden tones, The Shining sequence looks spectacular with a nice layer of grain visible behind the crisp VR avatars. Makes me want to have The Shining on a 4K disc by the end of the year. Black levels are consistently inky and deep. With the OASIS being all digital the image is perfection, crisp details abound. I had zero issues with this transfer and it is a noticeable jump in quality over the already fine standard Blu-ray included with the combo pack. 10/10
Audio is provided by a Dolby Atmos track. - For audiophiles with a quality Atmos setup this is a new demo worthy disc. Dialogue reproduction was always crisp and intelligible. Surround and height channels are used in brilliant ways for scenes taking place in the virtual world of OASIS. The room is completely enveloped in sound almost constantly in the OASIS, the real world sounds pretty good too. The score by Alan Silvestri is one of his best since Back to the Future. Deep but never muddy bass thrills with chest thumping beats and powerful explosions. 10/10
* Play All (HD, 1:57:49)
* The 80's: You're the Inspiration (HD, 05:38)
* Game Changer: Cracking the Code (HD, 57:22)
* Effects For a Brave New World (HD, 24:39)
* Level Up: Sound for the Future (HD, 08:03)
* High Score Endgame (HD, 10:04)
* Ernie & Tye's Excellent Adventure (HD, 12:00)
