Ready Player One

Aech knocks Ladyhawke because he is a philistine who has no appreciation for the sheer awesomeness of that movie!

Also, I owe my editor big-time for turning me on to this book and The Martian. Two of my favorites now.

Funny you mention The Martian. According to Wikipedia, Andy Weir (the author of The Martian) did a fan fiction story called Lacero, which was a bit of a prequel to RPO and it was published with the 2016 edition of the novel, telling the back story of Nolan Sorrento (whom I haven't come across yet in the novel). Not sure how true that is, but it's kinda interesting that Wikipedia has that information of overlapping.

I will admit, reading the novel is making me tempted to open a thread on the forum for writers of the RPF to develop a free-for-all story universe that we could write stories about here.
 
I've got a confession to make....I've never seen Ladyhawke.

It's a pretty good movie from what I remember. It came out in 1985. The premise is that this pickpocket is rescued by a knight, who is out on a quest for revenge, but here's the real kicker: he's in love with this woman, and both of them are cursed. And this curse causes her to be a bird during the day and a woman at night, while during the day, the knight is a man and at night he's a wolf, and thus leading them to never be together as humans as they once were. The knight is going after the man who put the curse on them, who happens to be (my memory is a little fuzzy here since its been a while since I last seen it) a bishop (?). And the score is by Alan Parsons of the Alan Parsons Project.

 
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I just finished the book. So many levels of awesome wrapped into a nice candy-coated shell of epic awesomeness! I'm planning to have my parents read the book... Hopefully, they will, as they were there in the 1980s. :)
 
What does everyone think of John Williams doing the music? Obviously I love me some John Williams but I think this kind of movie needs an electronic score. I don't know if JW is quite right.
 
What does everyone think of John Williams doing the music? Obviously I love me some John Williams but I think this kind of movie needs an electronic score. I don't know if JW is quite right.

I can see the logic behind it: the 1980s so heavily influence the movie and JW scored so many of the movies that were formative to the era, it makes a certain amount of sense to have him on board.
 
I can see the logic behind it: the 1980s so heavily influence the movie and JW scored so many of the movies that were formative to the era, it makes a certain amount of sense to have him on board.

Oh, it certainly makes sense from that standpoint. Especially with the Spielberg connection. I just hope JW can channel his inner 80's sensibilities. Lol.
 
What does everyone think of John Williams doing the music? Obviously I love me some John Williams but I think this kind of movie needs an electronic score. I don't know if JW is quite right.

I like John Williams' scores, especially with the Spielberg connection. However, to me, I think the score needs to be a balance between the classic Williams style and 1980s electronic style (like something along the lines of John Carpenter's work, Tangerine Dream or Vangilis).

And when it comes to the songs of the 1980s, some of the ones used in the novel are good, but there's some that are rather questionable in relation to certain scenes. For example, AC/DC's Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap is an okay song. But that's hardly a song to get yourself psyched up for a fight with. Honestly, for that one, I think another AC/DC song would be more appropriate, as it not only starts off with making a reference to video games, but the fact that it was used in the 1986 Stephen King classic Maximum Overdrive. And that song is "Who Made Who?" and to me, it's rather appropriate as IOI makes Wade the person he is and Wade essentially lead them back into the Hunt in the first place (thus applying to the lyrics, "If you made them and they made you, then what's the deal with who made who?"), and feels more like a "I'm gonna kick some ass" song than DD,DDC. There's some other examples, but I don't want people to knock me for some of the replacements.

But here's some other songs I'd like to see somewhere in the film:
1. "Send Me An Angel" by Real Life (the 1983 version, not the 1988 version, though either can do. May be a double reference, as it can also be a reference to the BMX Boogie scene from Rad.)
2. "The Second Time (Go For It)" by Kim Wilde (I definitely like the extended dance mix)
3. "The Ghost In You" by The Psychedelic Furs
4. "One of the Living" by Tina Turner (yes, I know, it's rather cheesy, but Warner Brothers already owns the rights to it)
5. "Just An Illusion" by Imagination
6. "Hyperactive!" by Thomas Dolby
7. "No Promises" by Icehouse
8. "Land of Confusion" by Genesis (would work great for a montage where the call to arms against the IOI at the third gate spreads and maybe even for the actual fight)
9. "When It's Love" by Van Halen (seriously, this would be perfect for the final scene between Wade and Art3mis)
10. "Don't Change" by INXS
11. "Debaser" by The Pixies
12. "Heaven" by Bryan Adams
13. "Little Lies" by Fleetwood Mac
14. "Never Let Me Down Again" by Depeche Mode
15. "Invincible" by Pat Benetar (Seriously, this one definitely needs to be used for the Battle of the Third Gate)
16. "Don't Answer Me" by The Alan Parsons Project
17. "Self Control" Laura Branigan
18. "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits
19. "The Boys of Summer" by Don Henley
20. "No One is To Blame" by Howard Jones
21. History Lesson from WarGames.

But that's just me, and there's tons more of songs from my childhood in the 1980s I'd love to hear in this film.
 
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I agree, Dirty Deeds is overplayed and kind of seemed out of place in the novel. Who Made Who is great as well as a ton of other AC/DC tunes. They've got to get a killer soundtrack for this.

They've also got to use the Rush stuff as well. They're usually pretty cool with projects like this (I Love You Man, The Goldbergs) so I hope all that stuff makes it in the movie.
 
I agree, Dirty Deeds is overplayed and kind of seemed out of place in the novel. Who Made Who is great as well as a ton of other AC/DC tunes. They've got to get a killer soundtrack for this.

They've also got to use the Rush stuff as well. They're usually pretty cool with projects like this (I Love You Man, The Goldbergs) so I hope all that stuff makes it in the movie.

I agree in both points. And I agree, I hope the 2112 scene ends up in the film. For Rush, seriously, I'm glad that "Subdivisons" was referenced instead of "Tom Sawyer." I cannot tell you how annoying and cliched I find the use of "Tom Sawyer" and scenes where people play arcade games (two such offenders are Futurama and Chuck). There's tons of 80s songs that you can play an arcade game to. "Subdivisons" rocks out harder than "Tom Sawyer" and the music video features the arcade game Tempest (which the author may have remembered).

I think they've already casted someone for Halliday, but I came across an article where it stated that Spielberg was considering Gene Wilder for the role. I think it's a good thing that Wilder isn't casted for the role, as it'd be too much on the nose (seriously, the cover of the copy of the book I got has the novel described as "The Matrix meets Willy Wonka). Though I like Simon Pegg for Og, I think Wil Wheaton would be a better choice (since he's mentioned in the book as being someone fighting for the rights of the users in OASIS, casting him as Og and helping out the High Five would, literally, have Wil Wheaton helping the users of OASIS).

Also, I am tempted to make one of those online petitions to send to Spielberg about using old-school effects as I've mentioned previously mentioned for the 80s astethic, maybe even forward the link to Ernest Cline, but I really don't want to be THAT guy, you know what I mean?
 
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I just read the fan fic by Andy Weir. And I've got to admit something. I apologize, but I hated it. It was okay, but it completely degrades the Sorrento character. It pretty much makes him into a "hero of his own story" cliche. I'm not sure how many people know what I mean, but I'll try to explain. I'm not sure how many people have seen the Disney movie Big Hero 6. If you haven't, then you may want to avoid reading this next bit.

In Big Hero 6, there's a character named Professor Robert Callahan. We see him as a nice guy, but then we discover he's the villain of the story, using Hiro's microbots in order to get revenge on Alistar Krei, the man who was responsible for sending his daughter through a portal, knowing that the portal wasn't ready for testing and leading to what he thought was his daughter's death. He wears a kabuki mask, typically worn by lead characters in Japanese operas. Basically, for him, he sees himself as a good guy getting revenge on the man who may have killed his daughter. In his mind, he's basically the hero of his own story, despite the things he does (which he probably chalks up to being necessary sacrifices). However, he's the villain of the story, as he got Hiro's brother killed by setting the fire to fake his own death and then stole Hiro's microbots to use in his plan, and then proceeds to try to kill Hiro and his friends multiple times. And then, at the end, he finds out that his daughter is still alive and Hiro rescues her, basically destroying the very reason why he was getting revenge in the first place.

Now, for Sorrento, in his head, his plan to win the game and then shutting down OASIS is just as evil as the plan from Big Hero 6. He may think he's doing the right thing, that he's "the hero in his own story", but the fact is that he's not. He shuts down OASIS, not only will he be destroying his company's means of making money, but he'd pretty much destroy the entire WORLD'S economy. He might as well destroy all technology on Earth and send mankind back to the stone-age while he's at it . He's got it in his head that he's doing the right thing by getting revenge for his sister, and killing innocent people in his quest to get the Egg. But the truth is, the short story degrades his character.

Without the short story, however, it makes his character better. The reason why is because, in the novel alone, it makes him a force to be reckoned with. He'd be like the truck driver from Duel and the Great White Shark from Jaws. In Duel, there's a truck driver that antagonizes and chases down a businessman without any rhyme or reason. But if you notice at the front of his truck, you see license plates on the bumper, which Spielberg stated were from "states where the truck driver driven down and killed other motorists." There's not reasoning behind why he chooses David Mann or why he runs motorists off the road. And we never get an answer in the story, nor does it need it. In Jaws, the Great White Shark isn't evil. It's just a shark. It doesn't knowingly go after human beings. It's just going after what it considers food. Hooper in the film explains it best to the Mayor: "Mr. Vaughn, what we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks, and that's all."

With how Sorrento is shown in the novel, he's just is. He's a cruel man who will kill anyone in his way in completing his goal. By accepting the fan fic as canon, it removes that aspect of him just being a force to be reckoned and loses what makes him such an interesting character (I've seen this happened before. Many people hated Hannibal Rising because it explains Lector's background and pretty much ruins any mystery behind the character, and trying to give a reason behind his madness. The same is true with the Halloween remake. Rob Zombie tried to make Michael Myers into a run-of-the-mill serial killer with a backstory, while what makes Michael Myers such a thing to fear in John Carpenter's Halloween was because we never get anything about him and his motive, and he kills people without any reason).

Not to mention the glaring illogical plot hole that was written in the story as a plot point. And I mean the entire Harmonic Convergence and riddle from there. Why the hell would Halliday put in that hidden riddle to pretty much announce that whoever wins the Hunt would also be able to receive the ability to shut it down? It makes no sense in the fan fic. In the novel, when the button's revealed to Wade by Halliday's NPC, the live broadcast about it was cut (Wade's pretty much told that they lost visual and audio when the NPC headed to the bookshelf). For the novel, it comes off as a "hey, if something goes way wrong and you have no other choice, this is the self-destruct. No one else knows of it. Use it only when you've got no other option." Halliday wouldn't be stupid enough to include that riddle anywhere in the OASIS. Because if anyone else found it, then that would give every Gunter MORE reason to fight against IOI out of fear that they could not only make OASIS available for those who could afford it, but could shut it down at any time if anyone tried to oppose them and lead a mutiny against them and even give IOI even more reason to kill people, even those who weren't the High Five, to win the Hunt out of fear that someone could knowingly shut down their primary source of income.
 
I have a question: I know that it states in the final fight that the Voltron bots were all destroyed quickly in the fight. So, it got me wondering: does the Voltron bots (either together or separately) have a weakness? I mean, it seems odd that they all would be taken out so quickly unless they had some sort of weakness that only a fan of the show would know. And I'll admit, it's been decades since I last saw an episode of Voltron (seriously, I haven't seen an episode of Voltron since it was on the air back in the 1980s).
 
I have a question: I know that it states in the final fight that the Voltron bots were all destroyed quickly in the fight. So, it got me wondering: does the Voltron bots (either together or separately) have a weakness? I mean, it seems odd that they all would be taken out so quickly unless they had some sort of weakness that only a fan of the show would know. And I'll admit, it's been decades since I last saw an episode of Voltron (seriously, I haven't seen an episode of Voltron since it was on the air back in the 1980s).

Um... Not that I know of? I think it was primarily just because they were among the weaker mechs on the field and there were so many gunters attacking them. Also, the author probably wanted to keep the battle a bit shorter.
 
Um... Not that I know of? I think it was primarily just because they were among the weaker mechs on the field and there were so many gunters attacking them. Also, the author probably wanted to keep the battle a bit shorter.

Okey dokey. I just thought that maybe one of those Gunters may have been a die-hard fan and knew how to quickly take out the Voltron mechs because of some weakness that was presented in the show and that IOI didn't think about the weaknesses of their mechs, only their strengths.
 
Okey dokey. I just thought that maybe one of those Gunters may have been a die-hard fan and knew how to quickly take out the Voltron mechs because of some weakness that was presented in the show and that IOI didn't think about the weaknesses of their mechs, only their strengths.

Oh, it's not to say there wasn't, I just can't recall one and I didn't find it noted on the Voltron wiki. :)
 
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