Ready Player One (2018)
RT Audience Score: 77%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Ready Player One is a cinematic kaleidoscope of nostalgia, a dizzying array of pop culture references that will leave you feeling both exhilarated and exhausted. Spielberg’s direction is masterful, seamlessly blending CGI and live-action to create a world that is both familiar and otherworldly. While the film may not be without its flaws, it is undeniably entertaining, a love letter to the geek culture that has become so pervasive in our society. Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the book or a casual moviegoer, Ready Player One is a must-see for anyone who has ever dreamed of escaping into a virtual world.
Ready Player One is like a giant bowl of your favorite childhood cereal, with all the marshmallows and none of the boring flakes. It’s a wild ride full of nostalgia and action, with nods to all your favorite movies and games. Spielberg proves once again that he’s the master of spectacle, and the CGI is so good you’ll forget it’s not real. Sure, it’s not perfect and some of the themes are a bit outdated, but it’s still a blast to watch. So grab your popcorn and settle in for a fun ride through the Oasis.
Production Company(ies)
Amblin Entertainment, Amblin Partners, De Line Pictures, Farah Films & Management, Village Roadshow Pictures, Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Pictures
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
United Kingdom
MPAA / Certificate
PG-13
Year of Release
2018
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:NA
-
Runtime:2h 20m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 29, 2018 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 5, 2018
Genre(s)
Sci-fi/Adventure
Keyword(s)
starring Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, T.J Miller, Simon Pegg, directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Ernest Cline, Zak Penn, sci-fi, adventure, action, fantasy, PG-13, box office gross $137.0M, budget, reviewed by Heather Hogan, Robert Daniels, Jonathan Romney, Alison Willmore, Adam Nayman, Pamela Hutchinson, Maia Rose, Tony Black, Brian Eggert, Cory Woodroof, Joe Lipsett, produced by Steven Spielberg, Donald De Line, Dan Farah, Kristie Macosko Krieger, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, De Line Pictures
Worldwide gross: $582,890,172
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: $137,690,172
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $175,000,000
3D RELEASE:
Yes
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Olivia Cooke – Art3mis, Samantha
Ben Mendelsohn – Sorrento
Lena Waithe – Aech, Helen
T.J. Miller – I-R0k
Simon Pegg – Ogden Morrow
Director – Steven Spielberg
Producers – Steven Spielberg, Donald De Line, Dan Farah, Kristie Macosko Krieger
Writers – Ernest Cline, Zak Penn
Director(s)
Steven Spielberg
Writer(s)
Ernest Cline, Zak Penn
Producer(s)
Steven Spielberg, Donald De Line, Dan Farah, Kristie Macosko Krieger
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (448) | Top Critics (80) | Fresh (322) | Rotten (126)
A heckin fun movie, full of stunning action sequences and laughs and winks at the kids who grew up watching Back to the Future and Jurassic Park and E.T. and Indiana Jones.
August 27, 2021
Heather Hogan
Autostraddle
TOP CRITIC
It’s pure entertainment, and gives Spielberg an easel to prop his sentimental painting on, and all the colors on his palette to do so.
August 27, 2018 | Rating: 3/4
Robert Daniels
812filmreviews
TOP CRITIC
For all its ferocious energy, Ready Player One strikes me as the product of a cinema of exhaustion-it’s a film about having come too far and being at the end of something, where extraordinary things no longer mean much, or have become toxic.
April 5, 2018
Jonathan Romney
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
It is, despite Spielberg’s claims, neither a purehearted popcorn flick nor a Paul Verhoevenesque subversion, but something uneasily in between, cowed by the idea of the fanboy demographic.
April 4, 2018
Alison Willmore
BuzzFeed News
TOP CRITIC
Turns out that treating the movies entirely as a jungle gym brings out Peter Pan’s inner brat. He’s made a movie for lost boys.
April 4, 2018
Adam Nayman
The Ringer
TOP CRITIC
Ready Player One is a pageant of now-dated pop culture references, an elaborate feat of CGI and copyright clearance, with images from games and movies speeding past, to the tune of Van Halen and A-Ha.
April 4, 2018 | Rating: 5
Pamela Hutchinson
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
While the first half of [Ready Player One] is all trivia is the superior form of geekdom and awkward geekboy somehow managing to get the geekgirl interested the second half shows how you can form real communities online.
January 21, 2023 | Rating: 5/10
Maia Rose
But Why Tho? A Geek Community
Steven Spielberg delivers the ultimate expression of why we digest media, and possibly a glimpse into a world we could all be heading towards.
April 3, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/5
Tony Black
Cultural Conversation
With Ready Player One, you can feel director Steven Spielberg pushing to reclaim his status as Hollywood’s crowned head of spectacle as he pours his considerable talent into another memorable science-fiction fantasy.
March 14, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
What Ready Player One does through its story is never quite as interesting as what it means, but its a Spielberg science-fiction pop culture souffle…
February 11, 2022
Cory Woodroof
Curnblog
An ugly FX monstrosity that misunderstands the misguided message of the book & fails to address its antiquated notions of race, gender and capitalism. Abysmal fan service from Spielberg, who should be able to shoot and edit a climax better than this
November 17, 2021 | Rating: 1.5/5
Joe Lipsett
Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr Podcast
Steven Spielberg has basically made the best possible version of this material with the serviceable-at-best script he was given.
August 21, 2021 | Rating: B
Kip Mooney
College Movie Review…
Plot
In a dystopian future, a young man named Wade Watts joins a virtual treasure hunt in a vast virtual reality universe called the OASIS, created by the late James Halliday, in order to win his fortune and save the world from chaos and collapse in Ready Player One.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy, funny, or odd comment about the film Signed in on Fresh Kernels.
Steven-Spielberg.jpg