fbpx

Article
Ready Player One: New York at 88 miles per hour

Movie
In March 2018, Steven Spielberg's film Ready Player One starring Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke was released, adapted from Ernest Cline's novel, Player One. The feature film pays tribute, through a crazy race, to the city of reference in terms of pop culture: New York.
Réalité/Fiction Ready Player One
Réalité/Fiction Ready Player One

Ready Player One in New York City

In 2045, multiple wars and crises caused the world serious damage, but above all led humans to find a new way out. Two video game designers, James Halliday and Ogden Morrow, invented a virtual reality game called O.A.S.I.S. It allows anyone to become who they want to be and do absolutely anything they want in this world. Ogden Morrow is fired by James Halliday. Then he died in 2040. Before his death, Halliday hid three keys in the game giving access to an Easter Egg, which gives its owner all the shares that James Halliday owned and thus the total ownership of the O.A.S.I.S. Parzival is part of the “egg hunters”, people looking for any clue to reach the goal of this quest.

Every minute of this blockbuster production contains at least one reference to the world of video games, literature, comic books or films that have marked the last few decades. A pinch of Space Invader, a zest of Batman and a slice of Ninja Turtles, all the ingredients are there for a more than successful feature film. But to talk about pop culture without talking about New York is mission impossible.

In the first minutes of the film, Parzival is about to compete in the toughest race of the O.A.S.I.S. to access the first key hidden by James Halliday leading to the famous Easter Egg. Parzival won’t melt asphalt with just any vehicle, but with the legendary DeLorean from the movie Back to the Future. The playground? Big Apple.

Start of the race

The race starts on the Manhattan Bridge. The Statue of Liberty kicks off with a firework display from the torch it proudly holds. Many competitors are directly eliminated after only a few meters on this bridge where the subway runs alongside the cars. Parzival notices Art3mis, a player he is a fan of, among the participants.

Start of the race - Ready Player One
Start of the race – Ready Player One

Ratner’s, the monument of cinema

The competitors then pass Ratner’s. Now closed, this kosher restaurant, originally located at 138 Delancey Street, appears in French Connection, the Naked City series and Boiler Room. His neon sign was part of the New York landscape. In front of this restaurant, a truck gets in the way of the racers, and Parzival narrowly passes underneath it thanks to the DeLorean’s retractable tires.

Ratner's - Ready Player One
Ratner’s – Ready Player One

Passing Fifth Avenue and then Chinatown, Parzival sees King Kong atop the Empire State Building, probably the most cult scene in the history of cinema. The giant gorilla then sets off in pursuit of the drivers, partially destroying the Queensboro Bridge and passing in front of Silvercup Studios. These mythical studios have been used by the productions of Sex and the City, Gossip Girl, Quantico, but also Gangs of New York, Highlander or The Devil Wears Prada.

Empire State Building - Ready Player One
Empire State Building – Ready Player One

A well-deserved arrival

The finish line seems so close, and yet our heroes are not going to cross it, King Kong is blocking the way. After 4 minutes and 53 seconds of an amazing race, Parzival will stubbornly try to find a new clue on how to win this race. It is while plunging into one of James Halliday’s memories that our hero hears the creator of the O.A.S.I.S. say “Backwards, really fast. Fast as we can. Really put the pedal to the metal.”. Parzival then understands how to win the race and manages to cross the finish line, located at the Bethesda Fountain in the heart of Central Park.

Bethesda Fountain - Ready Player One
Bethesda Fountain – Ready Player One

Ready Player One?

The course of the race is not the most realistic in New York geography, this sequence even gave the decorators and special effects teams a hard time, but the stunning graphics combined with multiple references and such a fast-paced city, could only give an extraordinary cinematic moment. Ready player one?

The Fantrippers Buying Board

Fanspots Stories New York

Fanspots Stories New York

Discover the secrets of the cult places of the greatest masterpieces of pop culture in New York!

The world capital of pop culture, New York embodies unbridled creative freedom. The city that never sleeps has been the muse of a large number of directors, actors, screenwriters, singers, musicians, cartoonists and writers…

Many have passed on their fascination for the city to the general public and made some of its places famous worldwide, making them into the legend of pop culture. These are the secrets of a hundred of them revealed in this first volume of the Fanspots Stories collection.

Did you know that?
Did you know that the filming of Rage Against The Machine’s Music Now in the Fire caused Wall Street to shut down for the first time since 1929?

Fanspots Stories New York is also
Spider-Man, Ghostbusters, Superman, Leonard Cohen, Led Zeppelin…

Directed by a team of pop culture specialists and embellished with many anecdotes, Fanspots Stories New York tells more than just a story: these are some of the most fascinating stories in pop culture.

Fanspot Stories New York
100 pop cults
a unique and new concept
224 pages of fun
a beautiful large-format book 24 x 30, round back slicefil

Fantrippers' opinion
Content quality

Interest for fans

Value for money

Facebook Twitter Instagram

By Damien Duarte

Friday, November 2, 2018

Passionné par la culture pop depuis son enfance, ses références vont de Donald Duck à Batman en passant par Marty McFly. Fantripper dans l'âme, voyager sur les traces de Ghostbusters, James Bond ou des héros de romans comme Cotton Malone fait partie d'un séjour idéal et réussi !

Let's discuss this article

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Commentaires
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments