2 pages of Ender

5/4/2013 8:18:17 PM

this movie will either be awesome or it will suck

5/4/2013 8:54:03 PM

Can we stop pretending Harrison Ford is still a good actor

5/4/2013 8:56:54 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vP0cUBi4hwE

5/7/2013 4:53:59 PM

Man, they kind of just throw the ending of the book right in there, don't they?

5/7/2013 5:00:33 PM

I hate to say it...but this looks average at best after viewing the trailer.

And yes, they through the ending right in your face. I also sort of got the feeling from the trailer that they are explicitly told there will be an actual battle at the end of there training.

5/7/2013 5:31:27 PM

Quote :

"Ender's Game is an '"unfilmable" book, not because it's too much violence but because everything takes place in Ender's head."

— Orson Scott Card

5/7/2013 6:00:28 PM

Quote :

"through"

Quote :

"there"

5/7/2013 6:15:03 PM

/shame

5/7/2013 6:53:14 PM

FWIW, I've never read the book, and the trailer doesn't give away the ending as much as it might appear to someone familiar with the material.

As far as Joe Schmo knows, it's all just whiz bang action stuff in the trailer, and aside from the very obvious simulator shot, there's not much to tip whether said action scenes are real or simulations.

5/7/2013 6:58:09 PM

Quote :

"Card kicked off the conversation by insisting he had long believed “Ender’s Game” to be “unfilmable,” surprising many fans, some already wearing black Ender shirts with the film’s release date “11.1.13.” “Ender’s Game is an ‘unfilmable’ book, not because it’s too much violence but because everything takes place in Ender’s head,” Card said. “The biggest problem is that if you don’t know what’s going on inside Ender’s head, then it’s just the story of an incredibly violent, little kid. Why would you like him? Why would you care? Only when you know what he’s thinking does it become a story that matters.” Movie executives and fans have long talked about turning “Ender’s Game” into a film since the book was published in 1985, but Card said he was the primary obstacle to putting his story on the silver screen. “I became a problem in that we could not sign any deal unless I agreed to certain conditions about [the movie] being true to the story,” Card said. And then a script came along that captured what Card said was the essence of what made the book so beloved to readers of all ages. The issue, according to Card, was whether the movie could successfully recreate the same emotional investment in Ender among audience members who had never read the book. "

http://www.neontommy.com/news/2013/04/orson-scott-card-enders-game-book-and-movie

5/7/2013 10:23:38 PM

Quote :

"Man, they kind of just throw the ending of the book right in there, don't they? "

to be fair ... that's like watching the titanic trailer and saying ... well fuck they just showed the boat sinking didnt they ?

5/8/2013 3:15:03 PM

idk, in the trailer they show Mazer is alive, the Bugger planet blowing up and other small things. It's a bit too much of a spoiler.

5/8/2013 3:17:42 PM

The problem with not revealing that Mazer is alive is that you can market Ben Kingsly.

5/8/2013 5:21:28 PM

that and anyone who hasn't read the book has no idea who mazer is, sooo it'll still be a "surprise" that ben kingsley is important if they go the way of the book

5/9/2013 7:36:03 AM

Anyone going to see this? I'm probably gonna go Saturday or next Wednesday. Reviews seem to range from "it was ok" to "it was great" so I figure at worst it's just a forgettable movie.

10/31/2013 7:39:32 AM

I'm going tonight!

10/31/2013 1:06:10 PM

I have a friend that wants me to come see it with him tonight, but I'm not really into the books so I'm convinced the early showing at Mission Valley will be nerd central. It'll be packed with people and loud reactions to every character's first appearance and I'll just be sitting there wondering what everyone is so goddamn excited about.

10/31/2013 4:38:28 PM

I will absolutely see this next week... working until then

10/31/2013 10:08:34 PM

SPOILER ALERT:

























I have read the book dozens of times. I thoroughly enjoyed the film adaptation. I thought they did a pretty good job. My only complaint was how "compressed" I felt the time table in the movie was. Ender's Game covered several years in the book, which translated into a couple of months in the movie. Battle school was truncated. Ender never joined Rat Army in the movie. Ender's command of Dragon Army was literally 10 minutes of screen time.

Other than that, I thought they did a good job of making Ender's internal struggles apparent. So much of the book was his thoughts and they did a good job framing those with dialogue with Graff, internal dialogue, letters to Valentine, etc.

The mind game was cool too.

(Bean was in Ender's launch group in the movie. Another inaccuracy that bugged me, but not a major storyline flaw)

11/1/2013 10:09:11 AM

SPOILERS







Thought it was good overall.

Predictable problem is that the movie had a hard time conveying the weight of the genocide. You see how it bothers Ender but it doesnt have time to be addressed or fleshed out. To convey this they could have had an emotional reaction of some sort from his toon among other things. Instead you got a lot of blank stares.

They switched it up where the command school is on another planet outside our solar system rather than in our solar system. (I cant remember exactly where it was. Moon of Jupiter? mars? asteroid belt?) This allowed them to get Ender the queen in this story arc instead of travelling to a new colony.

They are suggesting another film. I wonder if they will try to convey the effects of travel through the galaxy and the passage of time. Its an enormous concept that drastically effects everything they do and how disconnected Ender becomes from humanity. If that ship he is on at the end is a long distance flight, it doesn't seem like they put Ender with Valentine because hes writing to her in the monologue.

After reading Enders game and then Bean's arc that takes place on earth, Ender's storyline sort of becomes a giant philosophical argument and is rather boring. I have no idea how you make an entertaining movie out of that. Its a completely different movie which will really turn off any audience that goes to see it because they like the first.

Definitely a hard franchise to turn into a movie.

11/2/2013 4:20:57 PM

They completely left out everything about Peter and Valentine taking over the world and the ensuing civil war that happened after Ender's victory.

All in all though I thought it was a pretty good adaptation.

11/3/2013 1:50:31 AM

^iirc, that only happened in the Shadow series and wasn't discussed in Ender's Game.

I'm having trouble remembering if Achilles was mentioned in Ender's Game or if he was just an add on as part of Bean's storyline.

I personally enjoyed Bean vs Achilles so much more than Ender vs Bonzo as a nemesis story.

11/3/2013 1:04:14 PM

spoilers

Remind me, ender kills 2 people in the book. Bonzo in the shower and someone in the training room right?

They didnt have the training room one in the movie. But they did have bonzo. The thing I didnt like about Bonzo's death in the movie was that it seemed more of an accident than a result of Ender's attack. Which undermined the significance of it and the resulting decision for Ender to leave battle school.

Overall Card rejected a ton of scripts because they weren't focused on Enders mental and emotional state.. But even with a script that he approved it seems to have fallen short with really driving it home to the audience.

11/3/2013 3:40:22 PM

Spoilers

^^Achilles isn't mentioned in Ender's Game, just Ender's Shadow (unless Ender's Game has been revised since my copy/the audiobook).

^Ender kills Stilson on earth and Bonso at Battle School. I never really felt like what he did to Stilson was enough to kill anyone though.

11/3/2013 5:58:37 PM

No it happened in Ender's Game in the final chapters. I re-read it about a month ago. As soon as the buggers are defeated the world erupts into civil war with everyone wanting Ender to fight for them so he just kind of hides out on the asteroid until the dust settles. Peter and Valentine take over.

Also, Ender doesn't realize that he killed Bonzo and Stilson -- he just is really scared of turning into Peter.

11/4/2013 9:42:49 AM

he also breaks a guys arm on the transport, that got left out of the movie

i'm disappointed that they shortened battle school, I don't think my wife appreciated how hard they pushed Ender in the book. They also completely left out the part with Ender holding his training sessions, and I thought that was an important part that showed his rising leadership abilities.

11/4/2013 9:53:56 AM

i thought the movie was fantastic...

11/6/2013 1:49:03 PM

So for the first 90% of the movie, I thought it was fantastic for what the amount of content. It did feel a bit rushed and I think they could have done better with at least making it feel like there was a longer timeline, but it was much better than I was expecting.

(Spoilers)
...but why the hell did they have to go and screw up the climax? Ender doesn't shoot the weapon at the planet to kill the queens and successfully pass the simulation. He does it because he sees the last "test" as an impossible win scenario that is ridiculous and wants to give them one last act of defiance. He assumes the planet in the background is just there for decoration, so hitting it with the Little Doctor wouldn't be accounted for and will break the simulation. He wants to beat them, not the bugger simulation.

And after ending the simulation, everything was completely reversed (IIRC). In the book, after hitting the planet they turn around defiantly and see the leaders crying and cheering. In the movie, the kids immediately start cheering and turn to see the leaders with stern faces whispering to each other. I was astounded at how awkward that was. "Mmk, just defeated the entire enemy army. Mission over."

11/9/2013 11:56:36 PM

^ that is EXACTLY what I told my girlfriend (who hadn't read the books). That was my only complaint with the entire movie.

/SPOILERS


it completely undermines the struggle Ender goes through in Command School, and makes the adults congradulating him in the next scene really fucking confusing... Why are they saying he did well if they were just talking in hushed tones and looking concerned.

but given that they didnt really have the time to go into just how hard they pushed the kids in command school (ie they never showed Petra washing out and bean having to take over her command as well) maybe they thought it made more sense in the context of the movie to have Ender think he triumphs.

11/9/2013 11:58:45 PM

I enjoyed the film, however, I did have several complaints about it.

1. Bean - They basically destroyed his character, honestly, they should have just left him out and given his lines to Alai

2. Bonzo - Couldn't take him seriously because of his height, he was supposed to be someone bigger and stronger than Ender

3. Everyone knew the fleet had been sent ahead to destroy the bugger planet

4. I didn't get the whole FTL, Hypersleep travel thing, why not have Command school on Eros like in the book? If everything can travel FTL, why did they bother sending the fleet early before they had a commander.

5. Drone Fighters, sure they made a mention of some of the ships have crews, but I didn't like the fighters being drones.

6. Everything felt extremely rushed, "The enemies gate is down" sure it was said, but never really used, they didn't orient themselves down.

11/10/2013 12:03:59 AM

Quote :

"If everything can travel FTL, why did they bother sending the fleet early before they had a commander. "

FTL doesn't mean instant.

Quote :

"Drone Fighters, sure they made a mention of some of the ships have crews, but I didn't like the fighters being drones."

They weren't drones... that's the point. Graff and Rackham lied to Ender and the other kids. Did you read the books? Same thing happens in the book. That's why Ender gets so upset at the end. Not only did he whipe out an entire species, but he also sent countless people in their fleet to their deaths at whim because he didn't know there were people in the planes in the simulations.

Quote :

"6. Everything felt extremely rushed, "The enemies gate is down" sure it was said, but never really used, they didn't orient themselves down. "

yes he did, they just did a really shitty job of showing it. I only picked up on it because I was looking for it. Right before Petra's carrier begins moving towards the planet, Ender takes his hand over his head and shifts the "simulation" screen so they're staring face down into the planet.

Because of the way their command platform is set up it was difficult to tell wtf he was doing other than making really elaborate hand motions... you probably just saw it, and thought he was being overly dramatic.

11/10/2013 12:12:01 AM

^ No, those fighters were drones, the capital ships were crewed and I meant they gate is down tactic wasn't emoloyed in the battle room

[Edited on November 10, 2013 at 12:18 AM. Reason : a]

11/10/2013 12:17:25 AM

no, they were not

as I said... they SAID they were drones... because they're fucking liars.

I agree, however, that they never acctually showed why the enemy gate being down is important in the movie.

I even went out of my way to tell my girlfriend to remember the opening line put on the screen about the gate being down... only to not have it play a role in the movie almost at all

11/10/2013 12:23:08 AM

Who do you think the guys were on the side in the super high tech helmets were if not drone pilots?

11/10/2013 12:27:22 AM

They said explicitly who they were in the movie... like literally verbatim.

Ender relays commands to the battle commanders (the kids), they relay commands to the squad commanders (crazy helmet people), they relay commands to the squads (the people flying the ships, carriers, etc.)

This is another point of emphasis in the movies that kinda got lost in the action ... Ender was trying to control EVERY SINGLE squad by himself, instead of letting his commanders (who were controlling multiple squads) direct them as they saw fit, Ender wasn't trusting his commanders to improvise and institute the plan.

11/10/2013 12:30:06 AM

saw the movie last night....pretty cool! Reading the book now

11/12/2013 2:47:34 PM

just redboxed it, glad I didn't buy it
-I feel like anyone who hasn't read the book will just be clueless throughout the entire movie
-you don't even know most of the characters names unless you have read the book, then there they are in the credits.
-they needed to do more with ender in battle school, cause it just doesn't show him working his way up.
-and the buggers attacked twice, not once, and it was more than 50 years ago
-I like how they worked in the line "someone has to speak for the dead" but still, if you haven't read the book, it means nothing to you
-this is one of my favorite books of all time, I give the book 9.5/10, the movie 4/10
-unless they are going to make ender's shadow, they should have incorporated more of that into this movie
-also, the planet should have gone Praxis, not Genesis (yeah, I went there)
-I really wish they had at least done a little with Locke and Demosthenes, but I guess not
-it was 1:45 or so, easily could have been 3 hours, and all of it be relevant



and most of all...





-THE LITTLE FUCKING DOCTOR WAS A FUCKING PROJECTILE MISSLE WEAPON, NOT A DAMN RAIL GUN THAT YOU HAVE TO CHARGE UP, AND WHY DIDNT THEY SHOW THAT ENDER ALWAYS LEFT AN ESCAPE ROUTE AND THATS WHY THE BUGGERS DIDNT REALIZE HIS PLAN AT THE END WHEN HE DIDNT IN THE LAST BATTLE.

which, takes away my favorite line from all the books:
Do not launch the MD device, activate it on your ship, God be with you!


hopefully they do a better remake after OSC is dead and gone in 25 years or so, this could have rivaled Harry Potter's financial success if had been done correctly, and have made a shitload of movies

3/23/2014 8:57:50 PM

OK, I haven't seen the movie because Africa. But I can't agree with this line at all:

Quote :

"this could have rivaled Harry Potter's financial success if had been done correctly, and have made a shitload of movies "

No, it couldn't. I'm not saying Harry Potter has a better story, but it does have a far more filmable story. It sounds like they eked past with Ender's Game -- the only story in the universe that has a reasonable balance of action to philosophy -- but none of the other ones stand a chance with a broad audience.

The storyline that follows Ender (Speaker, Xenocide, Children of the Mind, etc) is incredibly dense and abstract. How exactly do you make a movie about future Japanese philosophy, genetic engineering of tree pigs, guilty old guys with bitchy Brazilian wives, and Nordic words for aliens into a movie that is going to be compelling for large numbers of people? Maybe you could make a good movie out of that. But you wouldn't make the billions of dollars that Harry Potter made. You almost certainly wouldn't even make enough to justify multiple sequels.

On the flip side you have the Shadows storyline, which has the action component but frankly shit-all for story. I like OSC. He's an interesting cat. But those books were just not very good. They simplified the earth into a parody of the "clash of civilizations" and left plot holes you could drive a truck through. I think of them as movies and I immediately think of a long list of sci-fi plots that made some moron think "It'll be the next star wars!" before they ended up with John Carter or ... fuck, what was that one based on a video game that had Freddy Prinze, Jr?

Let's face some reality here. The Ender universe was never going to be a film juggernaut, certainly nothing like Harry Potter. You know how I know? Because deserved or not, the last HP sold about a trillion copies and all of the Ender books together don't come close. And within that universe, only Ender's Game itself had any hope of being a decent movie. I hope it is as good as some of you people say it is, and I hope someone brings a copy to Benin, like, now. I've reread all the books here and I've got a hankerin'.

3/24/2014 5:57:01 PM

Fantasy will always outsell sci-fi.

3/24/2014 6:54:01 PM

Enders game had weak, forgettable characters.

3/25/2014 2:25:14 AM

the movie, done right, could have spawned other movies, miniseries, etc

this movie was not done right, so we will never know

if the first harry potter film had of had a bad script and/or a shitty director,
then it would have ended there, with lots of potential unrealized

which is sadly, what happened here

3/25/2014 8:41:27 AM

I like Ender's Game (the movie) so much I decided to read the books.

Which were horrible.

[Edited on March 25, 2014 at 11:32 AM. Reason : Other than Ender's Game, I mean]

3/25/2014 11:32:43 AM

what? which ones did you read?

3/25/2014 12:14:40 PM

Quote :

"the movie, done right, could have spawned other movies, miniseries, etc"

I guess that's true, but those movies, miniseries, etc would not be based on the books, which are not successful film material.

3/25/2014 2:46:31 PM

The Shadow spinoff series (all about Bean) were way better than the Ender books, in my opinion.

3/25/2014 2:55:53 PM

Quote :

"I feel like anyone who hasn't read the book will just be clueless throughout the entire movie"

I haven't read the books and don't think I was clueless in the least bit. It's tough to say for certain because I don't know what leads you to believe that. But I always felt like I knew what was going on throughout the movie. There were aspects that seemed rushed and which I would have liked for them to "slow down" and explore more. Or I think would have had more impact on character development and empathy for the characters. But I was by no means confused about anything.

[Edited on March 25, 2014 at 8:56 PM. Reason : .]

3/25/2014 8:55:51 PM

Speaker for the Dead is good and then things get real weird real fast. I loved all the Ender books when I was younger but rereading Xenocide and Children of the Mind made me never want to reread them again. The Shadow series was definitely better (although Ender's Game is still the best of all of the books).

3/26/2014 7:56:05 AM

i liked speaker for the dead more than ender's game

3/26/2014 9:09:38 AM

as soon as they said the MD device had to recharge, I immediately thought about Megamind

3/26/2014 4:35:22 PM