Ready Player One (2018)

2 character mistakes - chronological order

★★★★☆

(15 votes)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Simon Pegg, T.J. Miller, Olivia Cooke, Hannah John-Kamen

Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-fi

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Character mistake: After Wade is going over the second clue in his mind and trying to figure out what part of Halliday's past is he trying to escape from, he looks over the wall of article clippings and notes he has hung up. When the camera stops on Karen Underwood's obituary, there is a hand written note beside it listing movies set in New York, with the sentence "Set in New York" underlined. This apparently him looking for clues in films set there for the race challenge that is in Manhattan. However, one of the films he has written on that list is Mad Max, which takes place in Australia, not New York. (00:35:00)

Quantom X ★

Character mistake: When Wade is trying to figure out the second clue in his van, he scans his bulletin board that has Karen Underwood Morrow's Obituary. The dates show 1975 - 2034 which would make her 59 (or 58) at the time of her death, but the article to the left of the obituary states that she was fifty six years old at the time of her death.

Mistakes

Plot hole: During the final battle, we see all the other players charging over the hill and running into battle. We later see that these are just players standing on the streets wearing VR visors. But unlike our hero who is dangling on wires (and used a treadmill earlier on)...nobody on the streets is using any such thing. Which means when they are charging or running, they would all be crashing into walls or any obstacles that get in their way. Certainly nothing like the film.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: How much you have to move in the real world depends on how much and what kind of haptic gear you're wearing. If you have a boot suit and an omnidirectional treadmill, for example, you do all your own walking, running, and jumping, because you have the space to do it and the haptics to respond to your movements. People with minimal gear-like those we see on the streets-might have only a visor and gloves, say, and they have to do all their "running", "fighting" etc. with signals from their hands. It's like if you don't have a joystick, you have to use the arrows on the keyboard.

Aerinah

I disagree with this. At one point during the big fight you see a group of players as Spartans running along the street, with visors on. They definitely would have run into a wall or other person at some point. I'm sure they were not the only ones. I'm sure it's possible to use something for movement control besides actual physical movements but that scene shows not everybody is using it and there should be a lot of accidents with people running into things and each other. At the start of the movie you see a mom climb upon her couch to imitate climbing up a rock in the game, physically imitating the movement. The lack of showing this disability for players on the streets might not be so big as to be a plot hole, but definitely a factual error.

lionhead

Here's a clip of the Spartans https://youtu.be/D_eZxSYRhco?t=1m36s that shows they are definitely moving in exactly the same way in the Oasis as they are in real life, so even though yes it would make perfect sense for there to be different control schemes depending on the level of technology a person has, the film appears to show that it's a one-to-one translation of movement regardless of practicality or safety.

Rosco

I don't think it's an issue. Note that several times in the movie people are also shown to be playing the game while just sitting down at a table. Case in point, the guy that dies on Planet Doom and then immediately jumps up from his work desk and tries to run to the window to jump out. He was sitting down but still playing in the PVP on planet doom. Same is true for right as Wade is telling that when you die all your money and everything you work for is gone. The scene shows Sho stabbing a person's avatar on Planet Doom that then shows the person who was playing that character falling out of a chair he was sitting in. With another person sitting across from him also in a chair.

Quantom X ★

Adding to this point, Sorento himself plays the game from a chair.

Quantom X ★

I think in the end we can all agree its a mistake in the movie but not as big as a plot hole. Some people running, some people sitting down whilst playing, could be a matter of taste, but the Spartans running across the street with a visor on is definitely not logical.

lionhead

I would agree that it seems the mistake only applies to them in particular as shown in the film. At least on that level.

Quantom X ★

The players have the ability to see the real world because the glasses of most people are transparent, Art3mis even looks at Sorrento approaching in IOI, which Wade even asks why she is looking in that direction if there is nothing there, so the players would not hit the wall when running.

Quotes

Halliday: She wanted to go dancing, so we watched a movie.

Trivia

Trivia: In the video that Halliday left behind after his death, you see floral arrangements around his coffin that are in the shape of the Star Trek's Federation symbol and one of the Enterprise. But the really cool thing is his coffin is actually a photon torpedo, exactly like Spock was put in after his death at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Complete with the blue Federation flag draped over the end of it. (00:08:05)

Quantom X ★

Questions

Question: When Sorrento activated the Cataclyst, why didn't i-R0k immediately log out of the oasis by removing his VR Visor like Art3mis did in AECH's shop instead of trying to reach a portal?

Answer: I think on Battleworld it's not that simple, or anyone about to be killed can just log off before it happens. On Battleworld you need to reach a portal to log off. It's basically a PvP area. Aech's shop isn't (safe zone) and you can just simply log off directly there.

lionhead

Answer: This is something that's answered in the book, but was left out in the film. In PvP areas such as Battleworld, you can't remove your visor to log out, removing your visor just leaves your character open for attack.

MasterOfAll

More questions & answers from Ready Player One

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