Talk-Polywell.org

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

Does he kill Bonzo? Is it clear? Or do they do the action, and then never mention the outcome?

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.

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.

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.

Thanks Scup.

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.

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.

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.