I’m not going to make a habit of reviewing films, but sometimes one gets under your skin either for better or worse. This time, it’s better. Ready Player One has been criticised for relying too heavily on nostalgia and pop culture. It certainly uses both to its advantage. I don’t think I’ve come across a film so synced with gaming and other films. Where else have you ever heard a reference to folding space and a Harkonnen drop ship? This is edge case film references and I loved it.

I’d made a note of some of the mentions while watching the film, and these include:

• Dark Crystal
• Dune
• Battlestar Galactica (kinda)
• Breakfast club
• Ferris Bueler
• Silent Running
• Fast times at Ridgemount High
• Aliens
• Animal House
• The Fly (remake)
• The Iron Giant

With a special mention going to “The Shining”. I’ll not spoil it but I bet you go on YouTube halfway through watching to have a look at some clips. I know I did.

The film is not perfect, there’s a couple of scenes where you think, the user would just pull the plug rather than losing all their coins by being killed, but most of the time the essence of the film is true to it’s own rules. The graphics are nicely done, the characters are good and the dialogue not stilted.