Author Topic: Anyone else see Ender's Game?  (Read 5420 times)

jrderego

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on: November 04, 2013, 05:01:14 AM
I have my issues with Card's novel, but it was enjoyable enough. I really liked the film as it excised all of the book elements that irked me. Did anyone else see the film this weekend?

Thoughts?

And before we begin a discussion of "Is Orson Scott Card a homophobe?" let me state that I am aware of his politics and tried not to let my disagreement (and outright revulsion of) with his personal opinions color my reading of Ender's Game or the viewing of the film. Let's leave that discussion off to the side and talk about the work.

Who's with me?
 
(Spoilers probably)

My likes -

1. The removal of almost all of Peter and Valentine and their antics as political pundits

2. Speeding up Battle School (the training battles went on forever in the book)

3. Making Bonzo short

4. Shortening the game sequences but still making them relevant

My dislikes -

1. Not having the "Formic" (Bugger) queen speak
 
2. Bean came early and wasn't consequential to the plot

3. Not having Ender run the other launchies through training after hours (which was how he got his rep)

4. Didn't explain the way the fleet traveled to the battle zone in any detail at all (but that's more a hard science thing for me)

Anyone else got comments?

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Citizen Q

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Reply #1 on: November 04, 2013, 12:02:55 PM
I have not seen the movie yet, but I do like the "fixes" in the movie, as I also had problems with the book...possibly the same ones as you did.

For example, the political nonsense of Ender's siblings seemed like pure padding to me.

I'm looking forward to the film nevertheless. At least it's not a sequel, remake, or reboot!



jrderego

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Reply #2 on: November 04, 2013, 07:19:26 PM
I have not seen the movie yet, but I do like the "fixes" in the movie, as I also had problems with the book...possibly the same ones as you did.

For example, the political nonsense of Ender's siblings seemed like pure padding to me.

I'm looking forward to the film nevertheless. At least it's not a sequel, remake, or reboot!

ender's siblings could have probably been completely removed and it wouldn't have hurt the adaption (just have Ender's mother or father talk to him at the lake...). I liked the way ended was the "best" parts of Peter and Valentine in the book and I liked the way they drove Ender's story. But I hated their punditry story because it went absolutely nowhere.

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Ocicat

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Reply #3 on: November 04, 2013, 10:28:30 PM
Ender's game was originally a novelette published in Analog.  It apparently just had some of the battle school stuff.  The siblings were added when it was fleshed out to a novel.

So ya.  Padding.



InfiniteMonkey

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Reply #4 on: November 09, 2013, 05:21:40 PM
Saw it opening weekend.

I am at a bit of a disadvantage, because I think I was one of the five people in the Western Hemisphere who wasn't blown away by it. I suspect that has to do with reading it at 40 rather than 14. The idea that "grown-ups" - especially the military - exploit the young isn't exactly news to me.

I agree that the whole subplot about Peter and Valentine is a welcome absence. I always found that preposterous. Valentine, though, still works fine in the rest of the story, esp. having her as Ender's grounding, and in the video game (I don't think that Ender's parents replacing her would have worked).

As for not having the Formic queen speak, it's been a while since I've read the book, but I don't recall Ender even actually meeting a real Formic, let alone a talking one. Wasn't that all mental imagery?

All in all, it was a well-made SF film with an excellent cast. Sadly, Card's subsequent politics have probably consigned it to mediocre obscurity.



matweller

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Reply #5 on: November 09, 2013, 06:20:25 PM
He didn't meet the queen IRL, but she told him where to get the egg sack that would help her species go on.

I never minded the Peter/Valentine subplot since it figured so heavily into the other books. I am annoyed to hear Bean is misused since he also figures more heavily in the story beyond, but from what you are saying, it doesn't look like they're setting up to do any more movies beyond this one.

I'm still on the fence about whether I'll see the movie when it comes to Netflix streaming, but I'm glad to hear some people got something out of it.



InfiniteMonkey

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Reply #6 on: November 09, 2013, 09:01:11 PM
He didn't meet the queen IRL, but she told him where to get the egg sack that would help her species go on.

I never minded the Peter/Valentine subplot since it figured so heavily into the other books. I am annoyed to hear Bean is misused since he also figures more heavily in the story beyond, but from what you are saying, it doesn't look like they're setting up to do any more movies beyond this one.

I'm still on the fence about whether I'll see the movie when it comes to Netflix streaming, but I'm glad to hear some people got something out of it.

I never went beyond Ender's Game, so it's all a big shrug to me. The idea that a 15-year-old would "take control" of world politics is beyond laughable. He simply wouldn't be allowed to take the reins of power, and even if he *could* convince an entire population of a planet to do that, he'd probably be a terrible ineffectual leader if he got *everybody* to like him, because he's going to end up pissing off *somebody* (the curse of popular leaders from time immemorial).

I didn't think Bean was misused. It's only a two hour movies. Things are gonna get cut.



lowky

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Reply #7 on: November 10, 2013, 12:21:58 AM
Saw it opening weekend.

I am at a bit of a disadvantage, because I think I was one of the five people in the Western Hemisphere who wasn't blown away by it. I suspect that has to do with reading it at 40 rather than 14. The idea that "grown-ups" - especially the military - exploit the young isn't exactly news to me.

the only impressive part of Ender's Game at this point is the prediction of the military turning to games to entice young to join/carry out military missions.  With UAVs and the Americas Army video games as recruiting device/training device.


Swamp

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Reply #8 on: November 11, 2013, 04:46:40 AM
I also saw Ender's Game on the opening weekend and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Solid performances by all of the actors, the themes were well expressed, the tension and the emotions were spot on. On the downside, there was a lot of stuff from the book that I missed, particularly regarding Valentine and Peter (not the political stuff, but their relationship with Ender). 

Actually, I felt the pacing was a bit too fast, but i totally understand there is only so much you can do given the time constaints; and it is a movie, not a book.

All in all I thought it was an impressive adaptation of the story, better than what I was suspecting given the current movie industry, and the economy of time and content. In my opinion, you couldn't really have asked for a better Ender's Game movie.

And it was 20 times better than the Hunger Games adaptation.

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jrderego

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Reply #9 on: November 11, 2013, 05:20:20 AM
I also saw Ender's Game on the opening weekend and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Solid performances by all of the actors, the themes were well expressed, the tension and the emotions were spot on. On the downside, there was a lot of stuff from the book that I missed, particularly regarding Valentine and Peter (not the political stuff, but their relationship with Ender). 

Actually, I felt the pacing was a bit too fast, but i totally understand there is only so much you can do given the time constaints; and it is a movie, not a book.

All in all I thought it was an impressive adaptation of the story, better than what I was suspecting given the current movie industry, and the economy of time and content. In my opinion, you couldn't really have asked for a better Ender's Game movie.

And it was 20 times better than the Hunger Games adaptation.

It definitely felt like they kept Peter in the film just for the fans of the book. It never really explored the depth of his viciousness in the whole 2 minutes he had in the film, and as such it never really conveyed Ender's fear that he was turning into Peter as he went through Battle School. All that said, I think though, that it didn't hurt the film any. I read the book as an adult, this summer, and thought of it as low rent Heinlein, lots of the same types of imagery, less of the panache (and leaden dialogue... LOL), but it was enjoyable enough to keep me turning pages. So my expectation for the film were sort of middle I guess and it surpassed them.

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ArbysMom

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Reply #10 on: November 12, 2013, 08:21:01 AM
In one of the articles I read about Card's initial attempts at writing a screenplay, he said one of his toughest obstacles was how to externalize what Ender was thinking and feeling. Considering how much of a difference there is between what he's thinking, what his reasoning is for his behavior, and what he lets others see in his actual behavior, it was hugely helpful to read the book before seeing the movie. I don't know if I would have appreciated Asa Butterfield's acting (as Ender) nearly as much without that insight.


Kwisin

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Reply #11 on: November 13, 2013, 01:33:57 AM
no

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Scatcatpdx

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Reply #12 on: November 16, 2013, 03:30:40 AM
I saw it today.
Peter and Valentine  I find  both Peter and Valentine is import to formation of Ender's story  and other books. I agree  the pacing was a bit to fast. In addition I did not like how the movie glosses over Bean, the formation of Ender's jeesh, and why Ender did not return to earth, fearing being a tool for the worlds leaders.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2013, 05:59:03 AM by Scatcatpdx »



FosteronFilm

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Reply #13 on: March 25, 2014, 07:27:18 PM
Just saw this.  The real problem with the film is they failed to make Ender appear particularly smart. It is a hard thing to show in a film, but they failed.