slikmar Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 So, I have been reading the book on my brothers suggestion prior to the movie being released. First 10% or so is a slog as he gives description to where the world is at the time. Otherwise, very enjoyable. I especially like the 60s - 80s references in the book. I am at where he got the 3rd key, so I don't believe that is a spoiler. I have not finished the book yet. This brings me to my 2 questions: The previews make it look VERY Hunger Games in him leading an army. Maybe that happens in book and the previews are just focusing on it. Do we think that "Suits" make the movie focus on this? Will they keep the obscure 80s video and RPG references or will "Suits" say they are too obscure and force a change to more mainstream? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 The trailers are full of refs to video games and movies. At one point, there's a JOUST knight and ostrich. I haven't read the book, but the trailer makes the setting look like One Piece, and the authority is trying to keep their telecom company to themselves instead of letting some kid win the prize. As an aside, One Piece starts its age of piracy the same way as Halliday. Roger tells the world that he gathered all of the treasure he stole and buried in one piece. That sets off every rival pirate looking for it. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattingly Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 Slikmar, you're about to get to the big army part. Totally fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 If the question is "will the movie resemble the book in any way", the answer is somewhere between "somewhat" and "lol no". At least the opening premise seems similar, judging by the trailer, but I haven't read the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ternaugh Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 Unfortunately, the trailers that I've seen don't give me a lot of hope about the movie. It appears to be an attempt at throwing as many pop culture references at the viewer with the hope that some will resonate (even though any original context will necessarily be lost). I haven't read the book, but there is a copy somewhere in the house from an old Loot Crate box. I'm also getting a bit cynical about books that are published with the movie rights already sold (Ready Player One sold the movie rights on the same day that the publishing deal was finalized--a full year before the book was published). I fell for the hype with a different science fiction novel, and, after slogging through a very predictable and dull 40% of the book, found an article about the movie rights being sold months before that book was released. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slikmar Posted March 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 what was the other book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ternaugh Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 2 hours ago, slikmar said: what was the other book? The Punch Escrow, by Tal M. Klein. It's supposed to be a great book with deep thoughts about teleportation, but the story's been told multiple times and in better ways*. There's a "big reveal" at about the point where I gave up on the book that I would imagine would be pretty impressive to someone who hasn't thought the least bit about the ramifications. And of course, that was telegraphed very loudly in multiple places. I would have thrown the book across the room, but I didn't want to damage my Kindle. Oh, and it's been dubbed "the next Ready Player One" by former Warner Brothers president Greg Silverman. The movie's in development at Lionsgate. *There's a short story that was also a newer Outer Limits episode called "Think Like a Dinosaur" which I'd recommend. The Punch Escrow reads in a few places like this story with the serial numbers filed off, filled out with plots from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, The Sixth Day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlord Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 I'm loving the folks chiming in with statements of the movie not being even close to the book....that they haven't read. Joust? Yeah, that's a major thing in the book (slikmar's been through that part already). Movie references? Yup, those too. I've read the book. It was fun. It was chock full of pop culture references (as noted)...kinda its thing. The trailers thus far are looking to be following the book pretty closely. I haven't seen anything in them that I don't recall from the book, at least....and without seeing the movie, it's impossible to say how much from the book hasn't made it into the movie. slikmar and Boll Weevil 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 37 minutes ago, Simon said: I'm loving the folks chiming in with statements of the movie not being even close to the book....that they haven't read. Joust? Yeah, that's a major thing in the book (slikmar's been through that part already). Movie references? Yup, those too. I've read the book. It was fun. It was chock full of pop culture references (as noted)...kinda its thing. The trailers thus far are looking to be following the book pretty closely. I haven't seen anything in them that I don't recall from the book, at least....and without seeing the movie, it's impossible to say how much from the book hasn't made it into the movie. Did the telecom try to kill the players, Dan? That seems to be one of the things going on in the trailers. I did like the part with the Spartans from what I saw. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 Oh yeah...that was a major part of it. It's been a while, but from what I recall, the latter...half?...quarter?...of the book was mixed between real-world and the Oasis. csyphrett 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 The stacks being blown up in the trailer is the overt beginning of that. csyphrett 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 Thanks, Dan. I have been interested in this movie and watched the trailers and the easter egg things. The fact they brought back the Iron Giant is like whoa. CES wcw43921 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 IG was direct from the book -- IIRC, a victory prize for one of the other players. Wait'll you see one of the others....it's mechanized...and bigger...and bigger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 It's VOLTRON Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted March 11, 2018 Report Share Posted March 11, 2018 IP negotiations must have been a nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ternaugh Posted March 11, 2018 Report Share Posted March 11, 2018 42 minutes ago, Michael Hopcroft said: IP negotiations must have been a nightmare. Probably not as bad as you'd think. Anything controlled by either Warner Brothers or Amblin' Entertainment was probably automatically allowed. Iron Giant's owned by WB, as are the rights to Joust, the DeLorean from BttF is Amblin'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slikmar Posted March 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2018 I am actually now at the point where the big battle is going on. It's funny, and Simon will get this, but when my brother told me about the choice they get that is used in the final battle, my first thought was to use the one being used by the head bad guy. mattingly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slikmar Posted April 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2018 So, who has seen the movie and read the book? Opinions? I am almost done with tax season and only 2 movies I have seen are Black Panther (thought was excellent and a very good addition to the MCU) and Tomb Raider (made me want to go play the new reboots again, not sure I am happy about the relatively unskilled Lara). I am hoping to still catch in theaters RP1, Pacific Rim uprising and Rampage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted April 14, 2018 Report Share Posted April 14, 2018 We're about 1/4 of the way through the book, and we saw the movie the night it came out. I can't say yet how much the film diverges from the book, but it seems to have stuck with the overall tone despite some significant plot changes. The Tomb Raider film was clearly an origin story for a new franchise, especially given the credits sequence. I'd expect Lara to have spent some XP by the next film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slikmar Posted May 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 Finally got around to being able to see this before it left theaters. I agree they kept the tone and idea of the book, but there was a lot of diverting. It felt very denerdified, to use a made up term. The contests were completely different. the 4 main characters at the end don't each have a giant robot, though 1 uses IG as that person built it. They did a lot more "real" world stuff then was in the book. I liked the characters and the movie, I just felt disappointed at the complete lack of gaming (non video) stuff taken out and some of the other references removed. Part of that is probably being someone who not only was a late teen during the early 80s, but also someone who got 90% of the references in the book as a video/rpg/movie goer person. The book felt like it was about my crowd, but this doesn't really. And the first contest in the movie is stupid, to me. I really missed Tomb of Horrors in the book, especially as they gave a reason for where it was located. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattingly Posted May 9, 2018 Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 I finally saw the movie too, after reading the book many times. It had some good parts, but I was fairly disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted May 9, 2018 Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 Finally finished the book last night. The ten-year-old loved it so much that it was counterproductive--it was keeping him awake. The book and the film diverged more and more as the plot went on, but while the movie was different, I can't say it was exactly worse than the book. A direct conversion from book to film would not have worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slikmar Posted May 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 I was talking to a friend who was also same era as me and felt same way about the movie. We decided it probably would have made a much better limited series, so you could actually do real clues and figuring out the contest. In the book, it was 5+ years before anyone (Parzival in this case) figured out Tomb of Horrors was the answer to the first clue, it took him a while to figure out where it was. It was 6+ months after they all solved the first clue and his home was destroyed before Artemis figured out the second clue. In the book things took a while, in the movie, once he figured out the first clue it was days till everything was done. And I really looked forward to the giant robot fights, but 2 of the 4 robots were removed because of rights OR because some exec decided no one will recognize those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattingly Posted May 9, 2018 Report Share Posted May 9, 2018 A trilogy would have rocked. One key per film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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