Ready Player One Trailer Explained: 10 Things We Learned

7. 1980s References To The Max

Ready Player One
Warner Bros.

The key thing about the OASIS is that, dependent on how far players advance, anyone can turn themselves into anything they want. And in 2044, due to the mass idolisation of OASIS creator James Halliday - a child of the 1980s, and a devotee of that era - nothing's cooler than 1980s pop culture.

While it might be argued that Cline was ahead of the game on 1980s nostalgia when Ready Player One was first published, as we enter 2018 it's pretty much de rigueur - and in danger of getting passe. Recently we've seen all things 1980s in It and Atomic Blonde, and perhaps most prominently in Netflix's Stranger Things.

As such, there has been a great deal of eye-rolling at both the Ready Player One trailers thus far; not to mention questions asked about Spielberg handling such material, given what a key figure he was in that era himself.

However, it has been reported that the director insisted on removing references to his own films; although the iconic DeLorean from the Spielberg-produced Back To The Future movies remains (not to mention a hint of that movie's score in the final seconds).

Beyond that, we could literally be here for days listing the existing 1980s properties that show up in this trailer alone. We have the bike from Akira (adorned with Wonder Woman and Ms Pac Man stickers); Mad Max's supercharger; The A-Team van; Mobile Suit Gundam; Child's Play's Chucky... and more besides. And, again, that's just from this trailer.

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Contributor

Ben Bussey hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.