Trivia: After Wade's punched by his Aunt's boyfriend, he's lying on his makeshift bed on top of the washing machine as he's thinking about what Art3mis had said to him about Halliday making rules. He leans forward and pulls his OASIS visor out of his backpack, and on it is the logo for the classic arcade game Joust. In the book of Ready Player One, the first challenge wasn't a race like in the movie, but rather having to beat a certain DnD character in a game of Joust to get the copper key. Wade was the first to be able to do so. (00:22:35)
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)
Trivia: Sorrento goes into the Oasis to meet with I-R0k to get the artifact from him. When he emerges from the portal, there is a downed space craft in flames behind him. This is one of the alien space ships from the original 1953 War of the Worlds film. These ships known as "The Flying Machines" or "Tripods". (00:31:00)
Continuity mistake: As the camera pans over to the box holding the Orb of Osuvox, there is a large yellow weapon with an ammo drum sitting to the right of the box. Under the stock of this weapon is a red piece of metal or glass. When Sorrento bends down to open the box and pull the orb out, this piece of metal or glass vanishes. (00:32:15)
Continuity mistake: The area in front of the race's finish line is different when seen in the first race than when seen the second time as Parzival figures out how to get to it. When the camera zooms in on the Finish Line Gate in the first race, there is a train track or something similar right in front of the gate running parallel to the gate and wall. But as Parzival is driving backwards towards it in the second race, this track is gone, and instead there is a small drive path with small railing along it leading perpendicularly right to the gate. (00:15:40 - 00:27:15)
Trivia: Among the other races and cars in the Manhattan race, there is a red 1958 Plymouth Fury. This is the sentient car known as Christine from the horror film and book of the same name. The killer car is seen several times through out the race, with the best view of it being right after the race starts and Aech drives past the camera in her Bigfoot, with Christine right behind Aech. (00:10:40 - 00:12:50)
Trivia: Once Parzival enters the portal taking him to the race, the camera pans over the vehicles and you can see the A-Team van in the line up. You get a more clear view of it when the bridge comes out and connects to the street they are on. And then once again as the cars are reaching the "hotwheels" jump in the race, the van is on the DeLorean's left. (00:10:30 - 00:12:30)
Trivia: The car that Parzival uses in the race is the DeLorean, complete with all it's customization and advances, from the Back to the Future movies. Steven Spielberg, the director of Ready Player One, was also the Executive Producer of the Back to the Future trilogy with his company Amblin Entertainment. Spielberg only allowed the DeLorean to appear as a reference and tribute to BTTF director Robert Zemeckis, rather than himself. Despite Spielberg's overwhelming impact on pop culture throughout the decades, direct Spielberg references were rather deliberately omitted from "Ready Player One" by Spielberg himself. Ironically, he intended to include references to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (Spielberg's second blockbuster after "Jaws"), but he couldn't negotiate a licensing agreement with Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. (00:11:25)
Trivia: After Wade puts on the face sensor around his neck, he sets down his glasses on a lunch box. This is a He Man Masters of the Universe Lunch Box, complete with its cup next to it. (00:02:55)
Continuity mistake: Surrento is meeting with I-R0k to get the orb and I-R0k holds up the Steam Punk Pirate King's head. In the close up as he holds the head up, its somewhat above him and close. When the angle changes in the next shot, suddenly he's holding it almost level with his own head and further out. (00:31:55)
Trivia: After buying the Holy Hand Grenade in the shop, Parzival excitedly runs around that display of other items. One such item is the Chucky doll from Child's Play complete with the large kitchen knife iconic to him. This item is also used in the final battle and seen taking out several Sixers just by itself. (00:30:05)
Trivia: While Parzival is showing off Aech's shrunken ships to Art3mis, there are some full ships in the background. One of which is Lone Star's RV from Spaceballs seen while Parzival is showing off the ships in the lunchbox. The clearest view of it is when Art3mis fixes Parzival's hair by the Iron Giant's legs. (00:17:20 - 00:20:00)
Trivia: As Parzival is approaching Aech at the race and asks how she got there before him, there is a blue ninja walking behind Aech's monster truck. This is Sub Zero from Mortal Kombat in his latest design from Mortal Kombat X. (00:11:25)
Answer: It's a virtual reality world. Machines can do anything the programmer wants them to.