This book was basically a giant (and entertaining) adventure in nostalgia. And the film was fairly similar. Of course, the book was better. And I do not say that because they changed things (you have to) or because books are usually better (they are). The issue here: the book fades over the second half when the conceptual novelty wears off...the film starts so fast that it fails to establish the characters all that well in the first place. So while the adventure is fun and the references are great, that lack of exposition leaves you caring less as the story goes on. The concept was still inventive and the story still worked, but the stakes would have been higher with more complex characters and more developed relationships. Also, Cline's preachiness in the hands of Spielberg leads to this movie trying just a BIT too hard at points. Shocking, right? All that said, I still mostly enjoyed the ride, and you will too.