Spoiler alert! The beloved video game "Minecraft" has hit the big screens. Variety's Minecraft expert breaks down all of the fun easter eggs in the movie, from chicken jockey, ender pearls, diamond armor, piglins, and so much more! The film stars Jack Black as Steve, the game's original avatar.
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00:00A wonderland where anything you can imagine is possible.
00:05As long as what you imagine can be built out of blocks.
00:09Atta boy!
00:10Watch out for piglins!
00:12After 14 years of games, the blocky world of Minecraft has finally hit the big screen.
00:17We tried to find every reference a Minecraft movie makes to the iconic game.
00:21The film begins with a pixelated loading screen, just as it would when starting a new game.
00:32The loading screen shows the dimensions of blocks and loads your terrain,
00:35making the film feel just like the start of a game.
00:38Who are you?
00:39I am Steve.
00:45Jack Black's character is Steve, the game's original avatar.
00:48And he's even wearing the same blue shirt that Game Steve wears.
00:51While Game Steve doesn't have a personality or a backstory,
00:55Jack Black's Steve has a compelling origin story as a burnt-out office worker,
00:59craving a more creative world.
01:01The world where gameplay begins is called the Overworld.
01:04It serves as a hub world that connects all locations in Minecraft.
01:08Garrett the Garbage Man Garrison, played by Jason Momoa,
01:11owns a gaming store called Game Overworld,
01:14which is eventually renamed to Overworld once our heroes return to the real world.
01:19As a child, I yearned for the mines.
01:22But something always got in the way.
01:24Go on! Get out of here!
01:26Steve first enters the Overworld through an actual mine in the real world,
01:30with the Orb of Dominance.
01:32The orb is an artifact in the spin-off Minecraft Dungeons.
01:35Though for an orb, it still looks like a block to me.
01:38The movie stays true to how you begin a Minecraft game.
01:41Steve and Henry create their own world using items they found in the environment,
01:45like trees and rocks.
01:47This is a crafting table.
01:49Here's how it works.
01:51You place these elements in different patterns, and...
01:55The crafting table is the key to building tools
01:58and unlocking your creativity in Minecraft.
02:00And that's true for the characters in the movie, too.
02:03The crafting table in the movie plays a pivotal role for the main characters.
02:06Steve shows off his secret stash of creations,
02:09just like any player would.
02:11This includes the Boots of Swiftness for a four-second speed boost,
02:14TNT, fireworks,
02:16his sword referred to as a sweet blade,
02:19and an Ender Pearl, which teleports the user wherever it's thrown.
02:22Everything will need to make it to Woodland Mansion.
02:25Whoa.
02:26Once you have your craft table and have built your tools,
02:28the next step is hunting for food.
02:30In the movie, the characters do this by stabbing a piglin,
02:33which then turns into a pork chop, just like in the game.
02:36Another way is to cook a chicken in a furnace.
02:39In the game, you cook food by building your own furnace out of mined stone.
02:43In the movie, Jack Black has his own lava chicken shack.
02:47Everyone knows in Minecraft, it can go from day to night very quickly.
02:51Every 20 minutes, to be exact.
02:53In a Minecraft movie, when the human characters first arrive in the overworld,
02:57they react to the quick change from day to night,
03:00which happens a lot throughout the movie.
03:02That feel quick to anyone else?
03:04Nighttime can be dangerous in the world of Minecraft.
03:07You have to watch out for zombies, creepers, and skeletons.
03:11In the movie, the presence of these creatures
03:13is what prompts Henry to begin building a barrier.
03:16This is also one of the essential first steps in the game,
03:19to build shelter for protection.
03:21If the name of the game didn't make it obvious enough,
03:24mining is a huge part of Minecraft.
03:27In order to mine iron, diamonds, and coal,
03:30you dig into the ore of that type.
03:32We can see Garrett punching his way through the ground here.
03:35Another key mission in the game is traveling through the redstone mines.
03:40This is an adventure that Henry, Steve, and Garrett go on in the movie.
03:47Diamonds are an essential item to mine in the game,
03:50and a huge plot point in the film.
03:52Every Minecraft player knows that one of the strongest armors
03:55your avatar can wear is crafted out of diamonds.
03:59In the movie, we see Steve wearing this diamond armor in the final battle.
04:04Diamonds are also useful for building powerful weapons.
04:07In the movie, Emma Meyer's character Natalie
04:09crafts her sword out of diamonds
04:11for the final battle with piglin villain Malgosia.
04:17Malgosia is a piglin from the nether
04:19whose goal is to destroy all creativity in the realm.
04:22Piglins are a popular creature in the game.
04:25The leader of the piglin army is named General Chungus.
04:28The name Chungus is an internet deep cut
04:31and refers to the popular Big Chungus meme
04:33of the Looney Tunes character Bugs Bunny.
04:46In the game and movie, the nether is a world with no joy or creativity,
04:50just a lust for gold.
04:52In order to travel to the nether,
04:54you have to find obsidian and set it on fire
04:57with flint and steel to create a portal.
04:59We see Steve do this in the movie
05:01before a piglin army from the nether
05:03travels to the overworld to rid it of creativity and joy.
05:13Garrett starts a fight in the boxing ring
05:15with what appears to be a baby zombie
05:17riding on top of a chicken,
05:19which Steve refers to as a chicken jockey.
05:22This is something a player can fight in the game as well.
05:29Another form of jockey in the film and game
05:32is called spider jockey.
05:34In Minecraft, a spider jockey is a rare mob
05:37consisting of a skeleton riding a spider
05:39with a 1% chance of spawning naturally.
05:42Once the human crew enters the overworld and meets Steve,
05:45he shows them around and takes them to a village
05:48where viewers meet the gentle villagers,
05:50iconic beings from the Minecraft universe.
05:53They are known for their large, awkward heads
05:55and love for bread.
06:08One of the villagers accidentally ends up in the real world
06:11and starts a romance with Jennifer Coolidge's character,
06:14who points out the size of his head
06:16and what a good listener he is.
06:18One thing to know about the villagers in Minecraft
06:21is that they love bread, which is depicted in the movie.
06:29In the game, in order to make bread,
06:31you put three wheat stalks on your crafting table
06:34and it's essential to survival.
06:36To create more villagers in the game
06:39or create more of any living creature,
06:41you must give them food to make them willing to breed.
06:44In the movie, this is shown when two pandas
06:47eat a bamboo stalk and immediately produce a baby panda.
06:50For a villager to breed in the game,
06:52it needs a certain amount of food in its inventory,
06:55three breads or the equivalent of that,
06:5812 carrots, 12 potatoes or 12 beetroots.
07:01While in the village, Henry spots a pig wearing a crown.
07:05Steve calls the crowned pig a legend,
07:08which references a well-known streamer
07:10in the Minecraft community named Technoblade,
07:13who sadly passed away in 2022.
07:15The Minecraft game similarly added a pig wearing a crown
07:18to the loading screen after Technoblade passed away.
07:21There's even a fun reference in the film's post-credits scene.
07:25Back in the real world,
07:27Steve meets a mysterious red-headed character.
07:30We only see the back of her head,
07:32but she reveals herself to be Alyx.
07:34Gamers will know Alyx as the female default avatar you can play as.
07:38This leaves the Minecraft world open to more films
07:41and adventures with Steve.
07:44Biocon Dios.
07:46It means goodbye, brother.
07:48No, it doesn't.
07:49Don't look at her. It does.
07:51That's everything we found.
07:53Let us know what we missed
07:54and what elements you want to see in a Minecraft sequel.