Ender's Game: Reviews Are Out!

[smackababy]

There was that and other differences, but IMO the entire story has always revolved around Ender and his reactions to his crapsack world, so I think what others do is secondary.

Wasn't Ender's motivation to sacrifice his troops and blow up the planet his plan for getting expelled? He wasn't so much as trying to win, but trying to win in a way that wouldn't be "right" and he wouldn't make it any further. Thus, this realization he had actually caused all those people to lose their lives AND eradicate an entire species, plus anything else on that planet, all the more chilling to the deception. The fact that everyone thought it was a great victory only reinforced the idea this military was about winning at all costs.

They also left out his writings and everything about his brother except he was overly violent.

I saw this last weekend and it wasn't awful. They left out a lot of stuff, but most of it was too scifi for the average audience anyway. Look at some of the greatest (IMO) scifi stories that were made into movies: Total Recall, Blade Runner, Minority Report. They all were much more about the effects of society, technology, and conciseness; but Hollywood made them action movies.

More people equate Star Wars with scifi than actual scifi.

 

[HumblePie]

Wasn't Ender's motivation to sacrifice his troops and blow up the planet his plan for getting expelled? He wasn't so much as trying to win, but trying to win in a way that wouldn't be "right" and he wouldn't make it any further. Thus, this realization he had actually caused all those people to lose their lives AND eradicate an entire species, plus anything else on that planet, all the more chilling to the deception. The fact that everyone thought it was a great victory only reinforced the idea this military was about winning at all costs.

They also left out his writings and everything about his brother except he was overly violent.

I saw this last weekend and it wasn't awful. They left out a lot of stuff, but most of it was too scifi for the average audience anyway. Look at some of the greatest (IMO) scifi stories that were made into movies: Total Recall, Blade Runner, Minority Report. They all were much more about the effects of society, technology, and conciseness; but Hollywood made them action movies.

More people equate Star Wars with scifi than actual scifi.

Yep, Ender did blow it all up as a fit of being pushed too hard as well as "winning" while doing it. The biggest part of the book was all the pushing and various pressures put on him were about to break him. It was because they realized f they didn't put on such extreme pressure he might be smart enough to figure out it wasn't a simulation anymore.

But this was a sci fi action ish flick as you said. They didn't do the drama bit as much. Of course most of the book is from the internal monologue of Ender so that is hard to project upon a screen. But I think they could have explained a FEW more things without adding more than a few minutes to the movie. Like the ancible. Instead of saying the word and moving on, at least do a 5 second explanation of it being a device they discovered recently that allows for faster than light communications.

 

[l0cke]

Just saw this

Spoiler

They didn't say "buggers" once!

1/10

 

[Pulsar]

All in all, it was a pretty good movie. I enjoyed watching it.

I was curious, however, about how it got such bad critic reviews on rotten tomatoes. I understand not particularly liking Asa what-his-nuts as the main character. He could have done it better.

What I absolutely do NOT understand is the number of critics who complained about the book! If you didn't like the book, how exactly does that carry over to the production value of the movie? If you didn't like the book, why are you even reviewing the movie? It's one thing to walk into a movie and give an unbiased review. Quite another to walk in already knowing you dislike the source material.

How do I get a job reviewing movies? It seems the only requirement is having the IQ of a stump. One 'hot reviewer' basically came out and said she doesn't like Sci-Fi. WTF?

 

[Pulsar]

Another difference from the book was that after he nukes the ah heck planet, the audience (including the attending Stategos and generals) breaks out into cheers in the book. Cheering that Ender just ended the war by killing the entire Formics species. In the movie, it's the kids who break out into cheers while the audience gallery is silent, the Strategos and most of the crowd realized the gravity of what was done and only Graff seemed to think the genocide was something good. That change IMHO was a good one and puts an entirely different spin on the story than how it was originally told in the book.

You saw that wrongly.

They didn't cheer because they weren't sure they'd won. They were trying to get the probe feed back up and running. Then, when they reconnected and saw the pictures of the destroyed formic homeworld, they start clapping and hugging and cheering.

It's a bit of a different format than the book - but it's the same thing.

 

[Pulsar]

Yep, Ender did blow it all up as a fit of being pushed too hard as well as "winning" while doing it. The biggest part of the book was all the pushing and various pressures put on him were about to break him. It was because they realized f they didn't put on such extreme pressure he might be smart enough to figure out it wasn't a simulation anymore.

But this was a sci fi action ish flick as you said. They didn't do the drama bit as much. Of course most of the book is from the internal monologue of Ender so that is hard to project upon a screen. But I think they could have explained a FEW more things without adding more than a few minutes to the movie. Like the ancible. Instead of saying the word and moving on, at least do a 5 second explanation of it being a device they discovered recently that allows for faster than light communications.

This is what I most missed from the book. In the book, Ender was a genius, but he was tortured by the experiences. I remember vividly the portion of the book where he wakes up chewing his fist bloody, how he starts getting nosebleeds, not waking up fully, and just generally starts to break down.

THAT is what this movie missed, and I don't think you would have had to add much of anything to capture that feeling - just a change in how the actors conversed and acted would have done it.

I still enjoyed it though.

 

[JEDI]

1) so were there other genius's b4 ender doing the 'simulations'? or was that another lie?

I think it was a lie. if there were others, then their molecular beam wouldn't have been as effective since the buggers would know not to cluster.


I think i'm beginning to understand the whole deception.
the buggers weren't launching a 2nd attack. Earth was the aggressor this time and was attacking their homeworld.
they needed a child genius to lead the fleet and the battle camp was suppose to find him/her.

but why send the fleet to attack b4 a child was selected? cutting it awfully close?


2) as i'm thinking more about this, I think there were other child geniuses. they didn't have the molecular weapon but probably something else. or even just a conventional fleet.

any which way, that suggests that after the initial invasion of the buggers, Earth went on the counter offensive. and have been for the last 50yrs or however long the Battle Camp program was in effect.
and the buggers repelled earth's attack each time.

that's why the buggers were waiting for Ender's fleet. to them, it was yet another wave of attack?

 

[jaedaliu]

1) so were there other genius's b4 ender doing the 'simulations'? or was that another lie?

I think it was a lie. if there were others, then their molecular beam wouldn't have been as effective since the buggers would know not to cluster.


I think i'm beginning to understand the whole deception.
the buggers weren't launching a 2nd attack. Earth was the aggressor this time and was attacking their homeworld.
they needed a child genius to lead the fleet and the battle camp was suppose to find him/her.

but why send the fleet to attack b4 a child was selected? cutting it awfully close?


2) as i'm thinking more about this, I think there were other child geniuses. they didn't have the molecular weapon but probably something else. or even just a conventional fleet.

any which way, that suggests that after the initial invasion of the buggers, Earth went on the counter offensive. and have been for the last 50yrs or however long the Battle Camp program was in effect.
and the buggers repelled earth's attack each time.

that's why the buggers were waiting for Ender's fleet. to them, it was yet another wave of attack?

You have excellent questions, I would suggest reading the book. Much more enjoyment from reading that than getting quick answers here.

 

[smackababy]

You have excellent questions, I would suggest reading the book. Much more enjoyment from reading that than getting quick answers here.

I think the book answers the questions better than I could anyway (being as it's like 10 years since I read the book).

 

[Pulsar]

1) so were there other genius's b4 ender doing the 'simulations'? or was that another lie?

I think it was a lie. if there were others, then their molecular beam wouldn't have been as effective since the buggers would know not to cluster.


I think i'm beginning to understand the whole deception.
the buggers weren't launching a 2nd attack. Earth was the aggressor this time and was attacking their homeworld.
they needed a child genius to lead the fleet and the battle camp was suppose to find him/her.

but why send the fleet to attack b4 a child was selected? cutting it awfully close?


2) as i'm thinking more about this, I think there were other child geniuses. they didn't have the molecular weapon but probably something else. or even just a conventional fleet.

any which way, that suggests that after the initial invasion of the buggers, Earth went on the counter offensive. and have been for the last 50yrs or however long the Battle Camp program was in effect.
and the buggers repelled earth's attack each time.

that's why the buggers were waiting for Ender's fleet. to them, it was yet another wave of attack?

I'll be a dick and explain the book =).

Spoiler

Immediately following the first war, Earth started building ships and sending them out to attack the buggers. They continued to build faster and better ships and sending them. The end result was timed so that all the ships would be arriving at their attack locations at about the same time. Each person on those ships knew that they wouldn't be returning to earth because there wouldn't be anyone in their family to return to (because of relativity). The fleet that attacked the ah heck's home world was actually the oldest and worst equipped of the entire invasion.

The ansible was tech stolen from the buggers, and it allowed faster-than-light communication.

There was no person before Ender. They had to train the best they had and them throw them into command school as the fleet began to arrive. If it hadn't been Ender, it would have been Alai. He was very close to Ender's level of ability. Bean was actually smarter than Ender, but didn't have nearly as good a strategic grasp and wasn't as good a commander. He was actually a genetic experiment gone wrong.

Maser was alive because they threw him on a ship and got him up to the speed of light to keep him around for Ender's training. Maser was the only other person alive capable of understanding where the queen was located based on how the ah heck fleet decisions were being made.

Ender had no chance of winning the final battle ship to ship because the buggers had ALL their queens on their home world. He couldn't blow up one ship to kill the fighters.

In the book, they use the MD device early on. It didn't really matter, because the planet couldn't dodge anyway. It's kind of sick and twisted because in the book the 'adults' admit they couldn't have made the decision to commit genocide and wipe out the buggers. So they took a kid and lied to him so he would do it to win the 'game'.

The buggers knew they would lose. They could see inside Ender's mind. They forgave him before he destroyed them because they understood his actions. They also saw compassion there and knew he'd protect their last queen and find her a new home.

On another note, the following books, especially Ender's Shadow, help build another picture of Ender. They also explain what happened immediately following the war.

 

[JTsyo]

1) so were there other genius's b4 ender doing the 'simulations'? or was that another lie?

I think it was a lie. if there were others, then their molecular beam wouldn't have been as effective since the buggers would know not to cluster.


I think i'm beginning to understand the whole deception.
the buggers weren't launching a 2nd attack. Earth was the aggressor this time and was attacking their homeworld.
they needed a child genius to lead the fleet and the battle camp was suppose to find him/her.

but why send the fleet to attack b4 a child was selected? cutting it awfully close?


2) as i'm thinking more about this, I think there were other child geniuses. they didn't have the molecular weapon but probably something else. or even just a conventional fleet.

any which way, that suggests that after the initial invasion of the buggers, Earth went on the counter offensive. and have been for the last 50yrs or however long the Battle Camp program was in effect.
and the buggers repelled earth's attack each time.

that's why the buggers were waiting for Ender's fleet. to them, it was yet another wave of attack?

The other children that passed command school probably were running real simulations since the fleets weren't engaged with the buggers yet. With Ender they were running out of time, that's why his training was accelerated. I'm sure they would have loved to properly train him and wait until he was 16 or whatever but there was no time.

 

[JEDI]

btw- when they mentioned queen/hive I immediately thought of starship Troopers.

young denise Richards naked FTW!

 

[Sea Moose]

I am off to go see enders game

 

[Sea Moose]

I saw enders Game

They tried to stay true to the book.... however some parts of the book were skimmed.

This could have been made into two movies.

Fantastic CGI and great acting

I would give it a 7/10

 

[SlushySolid]

Did anyone else notice them using Razer Nostromos in the simulation?

So much for future tech

 

[smackababy]

btw- when they mentioned queen/hive I immediately thought of starship Troopers.

young denise Richards naked FTW!

Denise Richards was not nude in Starship Troopers (if she was, it would still be my favorite movie!).

 

[HumblePie]

Did anyone else notice them using Razer Nostromos in the simulation?

So much for future tech

I did. It was stupid part on them, but by far the smallest of the things to complain about in regards to the movie.

 

[HumblePie]

I'll be a dick and explain the book =).

Spoiler

Immediately following the first war, Earth started building ships and sending them out to attack the buggers. They continued to build faster and better ships and sending them. The end result was timed so that all the ships would be arriving at their attack locations at about the same time. Each person on those ships knew that they wouldn't be returning to earth because there wouldn't be anyone in their family to return to (because of relativity). The fleet that attacked the ah heck's home world was actually the oldest and worst equipped of the entire invasion.

The ansible was tech stolen from the buggers, and it allowed faster-than-light communication.

There was no person before Ender. They had to train the best they had and them throw them into command school as the fleet began to arrive. If it hadn't been Ender, it would have been Alai. He was very close to Ender's level of ability. Bean was actually smarter than Ender, but didn't have nearly as good a strategic grasp and wasn't as good a commander. He was actually a genetic experiment gone wrong.

Maser was alive because they threw him on a ship and got him up to the speed of light to keep him around for Ender's training. Maser was the only other person alive capable of understanding where the queen was located based on how the ah heck fleet decisions were being made.

Ender had no chance of winning the final battle ship to ship because the buggers had ALL their queens on their home world. He couldn't blow up one ship to kill the fighters.

In the book, they use the MD device early on. It didn't really matter, because the planet couldn't dodge anyway. It's kind of sick and twisted because in the book the 'adults' admit they couldn't have made the decision to commit genocide and wipe out the buggers. So they took a kid and lied to him so he would do it to win the 'game'.

The buggers knew they would lose. They could see inside Ender's mind. They forgave him before he destroyed them because they understood his actions. They also saw compassion there and knew he'd protect their last queen and find her a new home.

On another note, the following books, especially Ender's Shadow, help build another picture of Ender. They also explain what happened immediately following the war.

Pretty much spot on for the book to the movie. The lack of this knowledge makes any sequels for the movie actually harder to do and stay true to the story line.

 

[JamesV]

Still haven't seen this, but want to.

I think the poster above who outlined the book got it a bit wrong, or perhaps I'm not remembering it correctly.

Ender and his two siblings were all genetically modified, but neither his sister nor brother was perfect for what the military needed, so they allowed his parents to have a third child - Ender.

Bean was modified also (and his book - Ender's Shadow is even better than Ender's Game imo), but illegally, and escaped as a baby by hiding in the back of a toilet tank as all the other kids were killed to 'hide' the illegal activity.

Using a kid; never remember reading anything about the adults having qualms of genocide. Thought it entirely had to do with them needing a gifted leader.

 

[smackababy]

Still haven't seen this, but want to.

I think the poster above who outlined the book got it a bit wrong, or perhaps I'm not remembering it correctly.

Ender and his two siblings were all genetically modified, but neither his sister nor brother was perfect for what the military needed, so they allowed his parents to have a third child - Ender.

Bean was modified also (and his book - Ender's Shadow is even better than Ender's Game imo), but illegally, and escaped as a baby by hiding in the back of a toilet tank as all the other kids were killed to 'hide' the illegal activity.

Using a kid; never remember reading anything about the adults having qualms of genocide. Thought it entirely had to do with them needing a gifted leader.

It has been years since I read the book, but I remember them using a kid because it would be easier to convince them it was a game. 'It' being the actual battles. With the point of it being a game that we will often do things to win that would normally have real life consequences. The book itself is almost a parody of what those trying to ban violent video games suggest is true, except written long before Grand Theft Auto 3.

I can't speak for the other books, but I thought Ender's Game was amazing in that respect. I should probably read the rest of the books, I hear good things about them.

 

[JEDI]

Denise Richards was not nude in Starship Troopers (if she was, it would still be my favorite movie!).

shower scene?

 

[smackababy]

shower scene?

Wasn't Denise Richards, it was Dina Meyer and some other randoms.

 

[HumblePie]

Still haven't seen this, but want to.

I think the poster above who outlined the book got it a bit wrong, or perhaps I'm not remembering it correctly.

Ender and his two siblings were all genetically modified, but neither his sister nor brother was perfect for what the military needed, so they allowed his parents to have a third child - Ender.

Bean was modified also (and his book - Ender's Shadow is even better than Ender's Game imo), but illegally, and escaped as a baby by hiding in the back of a toilet tank as all the other kids were killed to 'hide' the illegal activity.

Using a kid; never remember reading anything about the adults having qualms of genocide. Thought it entirely had to do with them needing a gifted leader.

Ender's family was a breeding program and not genetically modified. Human families, due to over population, were only allowed to have 2 children. Because of the program with Ender's family almost got what they were looking for, they were authorized a third child. Which in that society was a derogatory term. The movie called Ender a "third" but it just doesn't have any meaning like it does in the book.

Bean was literally a science experiment they thought went wrong and tossed him into a trash bin. Which is why he grew up on the street and goes by the name Bean.

The reason Ender's birth was green lighted was because Peter and Valentine are absolutely brilliant. They are actually smarter than Ender in the books. Far smarter. They just didn't have his charasmatic, and winning mentality. Peter is a real sadist, and his sister is a pacifist. Later books, Peter and Valentine, basically moderate each other as they get older. Ender was basically best best "blend" from an early outset of their personalities. Actually, they didn't think Ender was smart enough originally and almost didn't take him to Battle School.

 

[HumblePie]

Wasn't Denise Richards, it was Dina Meyer and some other randoms.

I wish it had been Denise Richards in her hayday.... Massive crush on her at that time

 

[slippysoup]

Love the books. Movie was decent. My two biggest beefs were the casting of Bonzo (why was he smaller than Ender?) and the lack of battle room scenes. The battle room was really the only thing I wanted to see played out on the big screen and they had maybe 5 minutes total.