Good Review Of "Ender's"

Discuss life, the universe, and everything with other members of this site. Get to know your fellow polywell enthusiasts.

Moderators: tonybarry, MSimon

Post Reply
Jccarlton
Posts: 1747
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2007 6:14 pm
Location: Southern Ct

Good Review Of "Ender's"

Post by Jccarlton »

A review of "Ender's Game" without the crap:
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/e73c0a764081

Schneibster
Posts: 1805
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:21 am
Location: Monterey, CA, USA

Re: Good Review Of "Ender's"

Post by Schneibster »

Does he kill Bonzo? Is it clear? Or do they do the action, and then never mention the outcome?
We need a directorate of science, and we need it to be voted on only by scientists. You don't get to vote on reality. Get over it. Elected officials that deny the findings of the Science Directorate are subject to immediate impeachment for incompetence.

Schneibster
Posts: 1805
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:21 am
Location: Monterey, CA, USA

Re: Good Review Of "Ender's"

Post by Schneibster »

It looks from the previews like they chose good actors for Mazer Rackham and Colonel Graff. I think Harrison Ford will make an excellent Col. Graff.

But it looks like they made a little too much of Ender. He's just a boy. An exceptional boy, yes, but just a boy. He never meant to exterminate the Buggers. He didn't know what it meant. You only find out about that later, after he has.
We need a directorate of science, and we need it to be voted on only by scientists. You don't get to vote on reality. Get over it. Elected officials that deny the findings of the Science Directorate are subject to immediate impeachment for incompetence.

Schneibster
Posts: 1805
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:21 am
Location: Monterey, CA, USA

Re: Good Review Of "Ender's"

Post by Schneibster »

I've read the whole Ender series, and the whole Bean series as well.

This encourages me that C. J. Cherryh's books will eventually be recognized in cinema.
We need a directorate of science, and we need it to be voted on only by scientists. You don't get to vote on reality. Get over it. Elected officials that deny the findings of the Science Directorate are subject to immediate impeachment for incompetence.

Scupperer
Posts: 139
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 3:31 pm
Location: Huntsville, AL
Contact:

Re: Good Review Of "Ender's"

Post by Scupperer »

While I'm a big big fan of the book and most of Card's other works as well, the movie didn't quite live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong, it was well worth seeing, and I still recommend it - it was visually phenomenal, well cast & acted, and they did manage to condense the plotline and merge thematic motifs so that it fit into a congruent 2-hour tale. I think the big problem with it is that they couldn't convey Ender's inner turmoil properly, so he ends up coming across a bit psychotic instead of troubled and awkward; they also had difficulty conveying the passage of time and the monstrous stress he and his crew were put under that led to his gamble at the end. It came across a bit choppy and forced. Still, much better fare than most of the other crap out there; I hope it does well enough that they can throw together Ender's Shadow and/or Speaker for the Dead.
Perrin Ehlinger

Schneibster
Posts: 1805
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:21 am
Location: Monterey, CA, USA

Re: Good Review Of "Ender's"

Post by Schneibster »

Thanks Scup.
We need a directorate of science, and we need it to be voted on only by scientists. You don't get to vote on reality. Get over it. Elected officials that deny the findings of the Science Directorate are subject to immediate impeachment for incompetence.

krenshala
Posts: 914
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:20 pm
Location: Austin, TX, NorAm, Sol III

Re: Good Review Of "Ender's"

Post by krenshala »

Scupperer wrote:While I'm a big big fan of the book and most of Card's other works as well, the movie didn't quite live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong, it was well worth seeing, and I still recommend it - it was visually phenomenal, well cast & acted, and they did manage to condense the plotline and merge thematic motifs so that it fit into a congruent 2-hour tale. I think the big problem with it is that they couldn't convey Ender's inner turmoil properly, so he ends up coming across a bit psychotic instead of troubled and awkward; they also had difficulty conveying the passage of time and the monstrous stress he and his crew were put under that led to his gamble at the end. It came across a bit choppy and forced. Still, much better fare than most of the other crap out there; I hope it does well enough that they can throw together Ender's Shadow and/or Speaker for the Dead.
It is my understanding that Card included Ender's Shadow in the script for Ender's Game, since both cover the same timeperiod from different view points (I haven't had a chance to read Ender's Shadow yet, so correct me if I'm wrong). This was, apparently, to make things more enjoyable, and help streamline things for the movie timelimit.

I'm planning to go see this tonight with my wife, so hopefully it lives up to what folks have said about it.

JLawson
Posts: 424
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:31 pm
Location: Georgia
Contact:

Re: Good Review Of "Ender's"

Post by JLawson »

krenshala wrote:
Scupperer wrote:While I'm a big big fan of the book and most of Card's other works as well, the movie didn't quite live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong, it was well worth seeing, and I still recommend it - it was visually phenomenal, well cast & acted, and they did manage to condense the plotline and merge thematic motifs so that it fit into a congruent 2-hour tale. I think the big problem with it is that they couldn't convey Ender's inner turmoil properly, so he ends up coming across a bit psychotic instead of troubled and awkward; they also had difficulty conveying the passage of time and the monstrous stress he and his crew were put under that led to his gamble at the end. It came across a bit choppy and forced. Still, much better fare than most of the other crap out there; I hope it does well enough that they can throw together Ender's Shadow and/or Speaker for the Dead.
It is my understanding that Card included Ender's Shadow in the script for Ender's Game, since both cover the same timeperiod from different view points (I haven't had a chance to read Ender's Shadow yet, so correct me if I'm wrong). This was, apparently, to make things more enjoyable, and help streamline things for the movie timelimit.

I'm planning to go see this tonight with my wife, so hopefully it lives up to what folks have said about it.
It's a pretty decent movie. I really wish (spoilers - if you haven't read the book...) that they'd spent a little more time developing both the Battle School and Command School segments. Not much - maybe just another 5-10 minutes showing the rise of Dragon Army and the tactics used...

But that's just me. Overall, very good. Doesn't beat 'Gravity' in my book, but it was good.
When opinion and reality conflict - guess which one is going to win in the long run.

Scupperer
Posts: 139
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 3:31 pm
Location: Huntsville, AL
Contact:

Re: Good Review Of "Ender's"

Post by Scupperer »

krenshala wrote:It is my understanding that Card included Ender's Shadow in the script for Ender's Game, since both cover the same timeperiod from different view points (I haven't had a chance to read Ender's Shadow yet, so correct me if I'm wrong). This was, apparently, to make things more enjoyable, and help streamline things for the movie timelimit.
No, unfortunately nothing from Ender's Shadow was in the movie, and the main character of Ender's Shadow (Bean) really wasn't developed much in Ender's Game. You might have heard that the Director wanted to shoot Ender's Shadow at the same time as they did Ender's Game, but money constraints prevented that.
Perrin Ehlinger

Post Reply