"I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

A place to discuss official news from the production of the Ender's Game film, due in theaters November 2013
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"I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Eaquae Legit » Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:24 pm

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Rei » Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:33 pm

I am really quite pleased with how it went! There were, of course, some things I'd like to have seen more of and would love to see in a DVD release, but on the whole I'm well pleased!
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Eaquae Legit » Tue Oct 29, 2013 6:03 pm

I got chills and quite possibly nearly pissed myself when Graff said the "I've watched through his eyes..." line.

Rei and I spent pretty much the whole movie clutching each other and literally shaking with excitement.

Some of the adaptive changes I really approved of. Having Ender in an IF prep school was a very good move. It handily explained how all these children had such automatic military demeanor. Just cut through a lot. Putting Bean in Ender's launch group was sensible. Having the Hive Queen egg on the Eros-cognate was a quick way to wrap it up. Making Bernard part of Ender's jeesh made a lot of sense with the condensed storyline, on a simple narrative basis.

I really loved the genuine affection between Ender and Petra, without it being a romance. I liked Anderson getting a more specific role. I was really let down that Ender said goodbye to Alai without the "salaam" - and then it happened! I was excited at all the minor characters who got bit parts. The Stilson and Bonzo fights were appropriately brutal without being overly graphic. Harrison Ford was perfect. However they talked Hollywood[TM] into having a racially diverse cast, it was worth it. I'm still intensely smug that I called it on Ben Kingsley, and I was actually really happy to have them explain how come he doesn't LOOK Maori (his father was Maori).

I wish there were more time for BS battles and Command School training. It was difficult to get a sense of how hard they were pushing Ender, how broken down he was, but perhaps they will add some more to an extended edition DVD. (Right? RIGHT???) I thought the denoument was a bit weak-sauce, but a minor marring of an otherwise excellent adaptation.

YOU GUYS THEY MADE A MOVIE. WE DIDN'T IMAGINE IT. THEY FINALLY MADE A MOVIE, A REAL ONE. AND IT IS AWESOME.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby dannydawg » Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:17 pm

I loved the way the movie started and ended. Especially the quote when it started, I felt like it set the tone for something Epic.... and it gave the impression that we were about to watch something that was only the fraction of the Enderverse. I loved this movie

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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby ABNHILATOR » Wed Oct 30, 2013 4:12 pm

I m very dissapointed with th shallow version of such a great and awesome story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's awafully shortened with all the great things in the book, the strategic and psychological characters, ideas and solutions.... Such a brutal way to use a fabulous IDEA to make a money-making movie with special effects. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Rei » Wed Oct 30, 2013 6:03 pm

EL's computer is being a pain, so here is an additional post by her:

I remain unapologetic about my love for this book and story. It’s hard to be a fan when the author is so vocal about holding views contrary to mine, views I cannot support at all. But I’m an Ender fan, not a Card fan. Once upon a time, the man wrote a beautiful, moving, subtle story, and he can’t take it back. I refuse to let him ruin a good thing, even if he wrote it.

One of the things that occurred to me while we were discussing the non-romance, non-sexuality of the movie (seriously, the only couple of any stated orientation are Ender’s parents) is that as far as movie!canon goes, I’m free to headcanon any of those characters. By removing any canonical references, Card has inadvertently made one of the most open movies I can remember. Are there LGBTQ characters? Well, there’s no straight characters. It’s up to me. And that is the Enderverse I fell in love with.

On facebook, I said something about storytelling being a constant negotiation between author and reader. The author puts the words onto the page. The reader brings their own opinions, experiences, reading ability, and imagination to it. My Ender’s Game will always, necessarily, be different from Rei’s, or anyone else’s. And this movie gives more room for that concept than any film I can remember.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby coderedx » Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:37 pm

I for one loved the movie. Loved it. A solid 9.5/10. My friend I was with reported that I was grinning like an idiot for half the movie.

I thought the changes were great. The movie was a bit rushed, but Hollywood pushes to keep movies under 2 hours, and this one was just shy. They should have added about ten more minutes for battle room tactics and how they shaped Ender, but I'm sure that'll be in the Blu-Ray or DVD extras.

A phenomenal film. Fitting of the Enderverse.

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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Boothby » Fri Nov 01, 2013 12:27 am

I'm giving it a π out of 10.

I'll tell you why, once I've seen it a second time.

The battle school and command school sets were imaginative, and I really did like the Battle Room, but the directing was uninspired. Pacing was bad, transitions through time were poorly presented. Dialogue was hackneyed. The world (the film world) he created was rather flat.

Here's a question: does anyone who's seen the movie remember any other cars besides Graff's fancy Audi ad-placement? I mean, other than 1990's looking vids shot of people running through the streets screaming as the aliens attack?

Plus the settings are not "timeless," they look pretty current. It's as if architecture and design stopped progressing for 180 years! Even if one assumes that everyone who could design worth a lick was drafted into designing and constructing the Battle School, the Formics don't "invade" us for just about 100 years from now!

And the launchies' seats in the "shuttle" reminded me of the US Space Shuttle simulator at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida--that whole sequence was horrible. Actors holding their arms up as if they were floating in air...really? And the whole interchange between Graff and Ender ("Do you launchies think that's funny?")--totally uninspired and uninspiring.

Plus: Hood TOTALLY mishandled the whole "Enemy's Gate is Down" situation. Introduced in a meaningless, toss-it-out-there manner, and he completely screwed up the pacing at the end (and leading UP to the end), so that when Bean says it, it has no real depth or impact.

And all Hood's talk about how he's going to tackle the theme of "children warriors"?? Doesn't happen. At. All.

So, this: I don't give a s*** what Gavin Hood says about how he loves the book, and how he "gets" it. GAVIN HOOD DOESN'T f****** "GET" IT.

Or maybe he DOES "get" it, but doesn't really know how to show it....that's his bad, either way. Well, at least now I know how true Wolverine fans felt! It all makes sense.


There were less than 50 people in the theater with us on preview night. There will be no sequels. Seven years from now, after Card's bigotry/bias/whatever has returned to the back-burner of public awareness, MAYBE they will make one of the "Earth Unaware" books into a film, unrelated to the "Ender" universe.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby EAGLE » Fri Nov 01, 2013 1:18 am

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

that's me right now and I haven't even seen it yet. And to all you here *shakes fist at* I just got my internet back (moved over the last weekend) and this is the first thing I saw....ahh can't read for the spoilers but you all had to post this topic....ahhh tomorrow I see it.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Val » Fri Nov 01, 2013 1:52 am

What I think happened here:
1. This book just can't be made into a movie. Many of us saw his coming. The story is too personal, too introspective and internal.
2. Card knew this, many of us realized this, but we all loved it so much and we wanted it so bad... We just forced it into being. We thought we could play god. It's pure hubris.
3. And just like god, deep down, in our heart of hearts, we regret doing it. We regret forcing the issue. We think, "We should have known better. The real story was in his head. The heart of the story was in his loneliness; in Ender's thoughts."
4. And we were right. Some things just can't be shared with everyone. Some things are too personal, just beyond the reach of the average human. And maybe we should have realized that if we spoon feed it to them, it's going to turn into tastless, mush!

I don't know; I'm not Card, but did he really have to give up so much of the quality of the story to make it into a film?
I just loved the books so much!

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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Mich » Fri Nov 01, 2013 2:02 am

I just just got back.

I enjoyed a lot of it. Acting was really great (although, to sum up quickly, I felt that Bean was overacted and/or misdirected, which a lot of people online are saying, as well, so I feel justified), liked a lot of the technical stuff. Felt the pacing was very odd throughout the first two-thirds of the movie, but it was a pretty good adaptation overall. I feel like it may not have been the best movie, but it's so hard to judge without seeing it through the lens of a book I've been picturing as a movie for so long. Half of my life, really. I've read a few cries of "twenty more minutes of film would have made it feel better" and I have to agree, but that's just wild speculation, of course.

I am unsettled in some manner and I can't put my finger on it. Might just be the whole "end product-ness" of it all. I'm going to sleep on it. And I will continue reading what everyone else thought.

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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Eaquae Legit » Fri Nov 01, 2013 2:45 am

I had somehow forgotten my discontent at the "Enemy's Gate is Down" handling. Boothby's totally right about that one. We're still not entirely sure if Ender was talking with Bean or Alai there. But it should have been all Ender.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Syphon the Sun » Fri Nov 01, 2013 5:23 am

It was a nice sci-fi movie. But it's too bad they didn't film Ender's Game.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby arcxk » Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:15 am

After seeing this movie, I couldn't help but think how much better the character development would have been if it was split up into 2 separate movies. The first being related to his training and all of the character development needed to portray Enders' trials and tribulations, and the second being command school showing the bonding between each of the members of the jeesh and with Ender himself. Compressing an 8-10 hour book which continually develops the character of Ender Wiggin (not to mention the jeesh members as well) into a single 2 hour movie made it feel rushed. Famous lines from the book felt unauthentic.

Ender was the only character with whom I had any empathy, albeit a very small amount. Petra looked like they were trying to hint at a love story, but decided against it after filming the battle school scenes. All of Enders jeesh felt like they were simply his minions. Bernard was a great morality infusion about forgiveness, redemption, and acceptance. Him being part of the jeesh was probably the single most important contributing factor to Enders' character and I actually enjoyed that bit. Not so much for breaking away from the book, but because it's actually one of the few scenes that demonstrated his empathy for others. Bonzo, I thought was a little too exaggerated, but his character achieved its purpose. While I could actually feel some anger and resentment from Bonzo which all seemed to stem from him being short.

The battle scenes in command school were very well done, but still skimmed over the bonding between the jeesh members. There just simply wasn't enough time for character development to get even close to the bond I had for all of the kids in the book. I'll probably go see it again so I can better let myself see the movie for what it is, rather than spending each new scene figuring out what it is was missing.

As it stands now, I feel bad recommending the movie to friends and family. I don't feel like the movie can even begin to inspire in them, the love that I hold for the story from the books.
Last edited by arcxk on Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:07 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Boothby » Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:41 am

Val, I think you're completely wrong. I believe that EG can be made into a movie. This one wasn't it, however.

Syphon--exactly.

Mich, it was NOT a good movie. Mazer was a place-holder. There was no light, no strong intelligence behind their eyes. No plotting, no planning. They were precocious kids, in a cool place, playing games. There was no tension. Bean was also a throwaway. Story line arcs were handled sloppily. Time transitions were handled sloppily. Plot elements were, in cases, downright stupid (the tranquilizer shot? Really? And how long did that last...3 minutes?).
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Mich » Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:55 am

I'll make my own opinion, thanks, Stephen.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Boothby » Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:06 am

I figured you would. Sorry for my presumptive writing!
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby elfprince13 » Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:15 am

I enjoyed a lot of it. Acting was really great (although, to sum up quickly, I felt that Bean was overacted and/or misdirected, which a lot of people online are saying, as well, so I feel justified), liked a lot of the technical stuff. Felt the pacing was very odd throughout the first two-thirds of the movie, but it was a pretty good adaptation overall. I feel like it may not have been the best movie, but it's so hard to judge without seeing it through the lens of a book I've been picturing as a movie for so long. Half of my life, really. I've read a few cries of "twenty more minutes of film would have made it feel better" and I have to agree, but that's just wild speculation, of course.
I'm definitely in the "twenty more minutes" camp. There were a lot of lovely scenes that just pressed too tightly together. It's reverse-Peter-Jacksonitis.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Boothby » Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:51 am

Here's a list of movies with gifted kids:

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/movies.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Except for the reference to orbital mechanics in the classroom sequence, I didn't come away with the feeling that these kids were especially gifted--certainly not in strategy, which was supposed to be their primary selection criteria. They came across (to me) as...well...KIDS!

Compare, if you would, to "Real Genius." You could definitely see the gears turning inside the heads in that film. Hell, you could see the gears turning inside heads in Goonies! When Ender confronts Graff (and shortly thereafter, Dap) in the barracks, I don't get the sense that he's especially got a plan. He's not even doing it in an attempt to show (or force) a separation between himself and authority, which would have also created a stronger bond between himself and the other launchies (showing his leadership capabilities). He's just being a dick. When Ender confronts Graff in the medical wing, again he has no plan. He's just whining (or, as the British say, whinging) until he gets his way. When Valentine talks with Graff in the car, there is a glorious but all-to-brief glimpse of Valentine thinking wheels-within-wheels, but then they both fall silent, and the car drives on. We have to assume that she and Graff talked some more, but Gavin Hood certainly does not give us any real hints that they did--and it's his JOB as a director to give us those hints!

In case you missed it: Yes, I compared "Ender's Game," unfavorably, to "Goonies."

Added: I could even see the gears turning in the head of our favorite ultra-stoic sci-fi actor, Keanu Reeves, in "Johnny Mnemonic"!
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Syphon the Sun » Fri Nov 01, 2013 11:54 am

On the bright side, when my wife teaches her science fiction class next semester, she'll know which kids actually read the book and which kids just watched the movie.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Mich » Fri Nov 01, 2013 1:40 pm

I figured you would. Sorry for my presumptive writing!
No worries, man. Before I went into it I knew you would hate it. You're just that kind of person, and it's one of the reasons we all love you.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Boothby » Fri Nov 01, 2013 2:02 pm

What do you mean "just that kind of person"? I haven't even started in on the bad physics in the movie, yet, or even the screwups in the layout of the battle school.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Olatto » Fri Nov 01, 2013 2:07 pm

I caught the movie last night. I am a very big fan of all of the ender's series of books. even the last one which no one seemed to like. I thought the movie was way too rushed. I saw someone earlier posted that they should have split it into 2 movies and I couldn't agree more. The movie had so little of Peter and Valentine it was a total shame. I was really hoping they would show off Peter's cruelty and incredible intelligence but I think we only got 2 scenes in the whole film with him in it. Also Ender was only in battle school for a few weeks. For me it took away from the story because I think they didn't portray the way that ender was getting used up and burnt out. There simply wasn't enough time for it. So they rushed through battle school didn't age Val or Peter or Ender, and as a result we got no Demonthesis or Locke. We were left with no impression that Val was going to explore the universe with ender, we just get ender saying hey I'm an admiral right now i'm taking this space ship and peace out all.

All and all the movie was decent but I feel like they really could've improved on it had they split it into 2 films. Which would then have given them enough info to do a 3rd movie for the 2nd book. Alas that didn't happen and I fear this will be the last movie we see about ender. Still it's better then not having a movie to go along with it.

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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby llappall » Fri Nov 01, 2013 5:24 pm

One thing I loved about the movie: the wink OSC gave us when he explained Rackham's tattoo: "I am a speaker for the dead" :D:D:D AFAIK, the name of the speakers hadn't been explained before. It was obvious that Ender was it, but the phrase itself was never explained. So I loved that OSC finally told us where the idea came from. Well done!

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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Gravity Defier » Fri Nov 01, 2013 5:35 pm

My basic take on it is this: approach it like a campy 80s movie, that is with less than serious expectations, and come out of it relatively happy.

My biggest disappointment/annoyance was the Ender/Petra relationship and how it played out. Why she became the replacement for Bean is beyond me but having her "substitute" into the battle room battle after a sprained ankle prevented a kid from going to battle in a zero-gravity environment, having her have a late night chat with Ender, and at one point scaring me into thinking that she and Ender would share a kiss before he headed out to the Queen and breathing a huge sigh of relief when they didn't.

My initial rating fell at about a 6/10 and will probably stay firmly in place until I can see it again and decide if that is accurate.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby dannydawg » Fri Nov 01, 2013 6:51 pm

My basic take on it is this: approach it like a campy 80s movie, that is with less than serious expectations, and come out of it relatively happy.

My biggest disappointment/annoyance was the Ender/Petra relationship and how it played out. Why she became the replacement for Bean is beyond me but having her "substitute" into the battle room battle after a sprained ankle prevented a kid from going to battle in a zero-gravity environment, having her have a late night chat with Ender, and at one point scaring me into thinking that she and Ender would share a kiss before he headed out to the Queen and breathing a huge sigh of relief when they didn't.

My initial rating fell at about a 6/10 and will probably stay firmly in place until I can see it again and decide if that is accurate.

Giving Petra this type of role is to bring in a young, femal audience

$$$$

based on what I see on twitter, it seems to be working

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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby elfprince13 » Fri Nov 01, 2013 6:55 pm

based on what I see on twitter, it seems to be working
Wait, really?
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby dannydawg » Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:22 pm

based on what I see on twitter, it seems to be working
Wait, really?
Its doing very well with young females (according to IMDB & what i'm seeing on twitter)

If there is good word of mouth, it'll be because of them

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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby zeroguy » Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:25 pm

So, some people won't stop bugging me about posting here. And now they're physically near me so I can't ignore them as well, so here's my thoughts. (I saw it yesterday with Mobius, elf, and gravity defier)

Overall, the movie was better than I expected, but my expectations were somewhat low -- not as low as possible, but still pretty low. So I still wouldn't say it's "good", andcertainly not great. The parts that were good were mostly parts that were largely the same as in the book, or even identical. Graff's lines about seeing through Ender's eyes, etc felt pretty powerful to me. Dap was great, and was probably to me the best change from how I imagined things in my head. There were some other good parts, but it's easy to forget them.

The things that were stupid or silly or I just didn't like are easier to remember:

- Graff and Dap giving Ender a hard time over the blocked emails made no sense. That completely undermined Graff's plan to isolate Ender by praising him etc etc. In the movie, this seemed like pretty much the only reason the other kids started to like him. Good job there, Graff.

- Ender dual-wielding his pistols in the battle room while spinning around. This looked dumb. As discussed with Elf and the others afterwards, there is some merit to this, as they had discussed at times in the book about spinning while shooting, and of course there were instances of using two pistols at once, but that ridiculous action-movie-y-ness was, well ridiculous.

- I don't like how basically any of the Wiggins look. Ender doesn't look like how I imagined him and looks dumb, Valentine looks different for a variety of more specific reasons, and Peter should look more like Ender. Bean looked good, though; I liked that casting.

- Basically anything that Ender or most of the other kids said sounded stupid because they're still kids. I don't necessarily attribute this to bad acting.

- When Ender gets the notice for the battle with two armies, there is a dialogue between Bean and Ender that goes something like:

Bean: "They're breaking the rules!"
Ender: "When we fight the formics, there will be no rules."

which sounds like a terrible stupid movie trailer.

- As Mobius pointed out a few times, the "forward IF base" or whatever on Eros doesn't make any sense. They have the ansible for instant communication, but they need to be closer to the invasion fleet for reasons.

- Mazer's face is distracting for no reason I can tell. Yeah, he's Maori, great, that doesn't really contribute to the plot. I'm not sure if this was solely done for the ooooooh sftd foreshadowing; if it was, that's a terrible reason.

- Ender: "Ho, Bean." Bean: "Ho, Ender." Audience member that hasn't read the book: "What the f***?" (Similar for usage of the word "iced" and maybe a few other things.)

- The Giant's Drink has very little impact when it was compacted as it was. Ender solved it in like 5 minutes, and it doesn't seem very clever when you present it like that. The movie also seems to treat Val's/Peter's presence as some kind of unexplained mystic... thing, where in the book they just say the game goes out and gets the images as it was apparently authorized to do. Meh.

- The simulator at command school doesn't seem like it needs to be photo-realistic. I was assuming some abstract thing; still 3D of course, but not like you're actually there. The extra details seem like they would seem distracting; you only need to see the position of ships and obstacles, etc.

- The battle room looks dumb (that is, with the translucent walls). This and the command school simulator just seem to exist for the purpose of showing off special effects. Seeing "space" in the background just makes it impossible to see what's going on. Which I guess doesn't matter, since it never really matters what's going on inside the battle room in the movie. And the stars are so awkwardly shaped... why?

- Ender/Petra otp, apparently. why why why why.

Overall, this movie just made me wish they would make a tv series or a miniseries or something. So if the movie was largely the same but like 10 times longer, it would have been amazing. There were hints of that amazing feeling, because I know what happens int he book and taking the "book" events together with the movie visuals and acting etc for the most part creates a powerful and very nice experience. Unfortunately, I had to do that in my head, since the movie didn't really do that correctly.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Kill Devil Hill » Fri Nov 01, 2013 11:43 pm

So many things to say about this movie.

- Is it just me or did they completely change nearly every character's personality? Bean seemed friendlier than Ender did. Ender did not come across to me as this empathetic, wise child; he actually seemed rather standoffish. Petra wasn't nearly as playful. They didn't even illustrate the Bernard-Alai-Ender thing (which was important), but I suppose it was too long. None of the children came across as geniuses. John Wiggin seemed odd, too, but I'm getting picky. His accent was a nice touch, though. My friends who hadn't read First Meetings were completely shocked, though. :lol:
- I never got the sense that the school was actually pushing Ender to his limit, or any of the kids really. It just seemed like a normal school. This and my previous bullet was my #1 complaint honestly. I think we don't get to this point because 1) the pacing was bad and 2) there was very little, if any, tension.
- I also never got the sense that Ender was the best.
- I actually loved the special effects for the most part. Valentine in the Giant's Drink game looked strange, but other than that, no complaints. I liked that you could barely see anything in the Battle Room because I think that's how the Battle Room should be as it's prepping them... for battle.
- It annoyed me that we never found out if Ender killed Bonzo/Stilson. In fact, I'm pretty sure he didn't end up killing Stilson. Maybe Bonzo.
- Speaking of Bonzo, I didn't buy him as a bully. It's probably more my fault than his, though. Part of me was confused because he was shorter than everyone else and the other part kept laughing at Rico saying, "pendejo."
- They handled the very last battle itself really well. I wish Ender appeared weaker, and I wish Ender didn't micromanage Bean after Graff had just lectured him about micromanaging Bean, but other than that, I thought this was good.
- The scene where Ender meets the Hive Queen was actually quite beautiful. Probably the best part of the entire film.
- I loved that there were so many females at Battle School. There were so few in the book and they made up almost half of Ender's Launchie group in the film, it looked like.
- I know they're supposed to be soldiers, but I felt like children trying to talk like soldiers made much of the dialogue fall flat.
- Why was Dink in Ender's jeesh? I mean, I know why he was in it in the book, but it didn't make sense to me in the film. Bernard's inclusion made more sense. Did Dink interact with Ender while I was blinking or something? I was a little disappointed with Dink as a whole. He was one of my favorite characters in the book, with his love/hate relationship with the game and his mentoring Ender.
- I was SO SCARED Ender and Petra would end up together. I thought they were gonna kiss in that last scene on Eros and I was about ready to shout, "GET YOUR LIPS OFF BEAN'S WIFE/YOUR SISTER-IN-LAW." I'm not even a fan of Petra being with Bean or Peter (even though once she got with both of them, they had a cute relationship); I was just worried about this turning into a contrived movie romance. So glad nothing happened. Of course, now people will start shipping Ender and Petra, but that was bound to happen no matter what.
- If my friends and I hadn't read the book before we saw the movie, I don't think we'd understand most of it. The whole movie would even seem pointless.
- "The enemy's gate is down" <<<<<< That was handled so poorly. I almost think Hood didn't know why that quote was so important in the final battle. I certainly don't think anyone who saw the movie and didn't read the book understood the weight of that quote.
- I wish Ender and Valentine were still traveling together to Shakespeare at the end. I'm surprised they took that part out, actually. I guess this means there won't be a Speaker for the Dead.

Aside from those flaws, I honestly did enjoy the movie. It was drastically different from the book, but I would've been more disappointed if it'd followed the book to a T, honestly. I'd give it a 7/10. Maybe a 6. It was good, but I just wish A) there was more tension, B) better pacing, C) a stronger sense of fatigue, D) the characters didn't suddenly receive personality transplants, and E) the enemy's gate quote was handled better. Those five things would've turned this movie into a 10 for me despite my other complaints.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby neo-dragon » Sat Nov 02, 2013 12:43 am

I have waited so long to be able to say this:

I have seen the Ender's Game movie, and I am not disappointed.

For the most part, I felt that the changes and omissions made sense. The only ones that I found questionable are Ender's general attitude toward being "the one", and Bonzo.

For the former, I think that Ender was a bit too proud and smug at times. His disappointment at appearing to have washed out when the monitor was removed, his riding Dap (Dap was great, by the way. I was waiting for him to call himself 'mom' though), and perhaps most notably his joy at passing the final "test" which as we know, was actually meant to be his big "screw you!" in the book.

As for Bonzo, what was up with making him so much smaller than everyone, including Ender?? I get that they were probably going for a Napoleon complex excuse for his jerkery, but to me it made the scenes where he was supposed to be physically intimidating to Ender somewhat comical instead. I didn't really like having Ender's victory in their fight being accidental either.

Other than that, I liked it. I really liked it. I thought it was great visually. The acting was better than I expected based on the trailers, and I think it did capture many of the themes of the book. I also liked the subtle nods to the Speaker series, namely, Mazer's "this is how I speak for the dead", and Ender's "I'll bear the shame of this genocide forever!" I do agree that it could have been longer though. Battle school and Ender's time there could have been fleshed out more, but this movie could have been soooooo much worse. I'm sorry that a lot of fans won't be able to appreciate it.

Based on initial thoughts, I have to say 8/10

Now some random responses to comments others have made:
On the bright side, when my wife teaches her science fiction class next semester, she'll know which kids actually read the book and which kids just watched the movie.
lol. Very true. The school that I used to teach at teaches EG in the English curriculum, so I'm sure that many of my colleagues will appreciate that.
I had somehow forgotten my discontent at the "Enemy's Gate is Down" handling. Boothby's totally right about that one. We're still not entirely sure if Ender was talking with Bean or Alai there. But it should have been all Ender.
Yeah, I see what you mean, but I guess that's just a consequence of having to vocalize some of what Ender was thinking in the book. He had to talk to someone about it.
Plus the settings are not "timeless," they look pretty current. It's as if architecture and design stopped progressing for 180 years! Even if one assumes that everyone who could design worth a lick was drafted into designing and constructing the Battle School, the Formics don't "invade" us for just about 100 years from now!
That's actually something that's always intrigued me about the Enderverse. In the books, other than space flight, the ansible, and the MD device (all of which were invented as a direct result of contact with the Formics), the world seems technologically and politically very similar to ours. Maybe you saw it differently in your mind's eye when reading the books, but all the fancy holographic displays and simulators made the film look more futuristic than what I envisioned. This is neither a compliment or a criticism, just an observation.
And all Hood's talk about how he's going to tackle the theme of "children warriors"?? Doesn't happen. At. All.
I sort of thought he did. Other than Valentine, we don't see a single child who wasn't an indoctrinated soldier. They even made Stilson and Ender's other pre-battleschool classmate military cadets. It makes it seem like all of humanity's children have been militarized. This has intriguing implications.
I got chills and quite possibly nearly pissed myself when Graff said the "I've watched through his eyes..." line.
For me, it was just seeing the quote at the beginning. :mrgreen:
I really loved the genuine affection between Ender and Petra
Agreed. I was worried for a minute both times when they were training together, but it all worked out.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby Yeach » Sat Nov 02, 2013 6:28 am

Hi all.
I just joined this forum because I just couldn't sleep / keep myself from thinking about the movie versus the book and the things that were changed.
I watched the movie 2 nights ago and its hard to talk about the movie when the people seeing it with you haven't read the book.

A few things bothered/intrigued me.

-The fairyland game, Alai takes a peek at it when Ender is playing. I don't remember Ender ever sharing the game with anyone (outside Valentine)

-The second visit by Graff, the Wiggins family moved from their first place to a more natural rural place closer to nature, having the second location it would be the perfect time to
1. show Peter's brutality by showing he "skinned" squirrels or something to that effect.
2. show Valentine's compassion for Ender, celebrating his birthday

-The first in battle room experience with Bean substituting for Alai, they should have "froze" all the other launchies like in the book.

-remember how they were not supposed to eat so they don't vommit in space/during launch.

-should have an elapsed time or cut-scenes with caption "2 years later" so that the audience could feel that the battle school wasn't completed in a month (or less).

-thought that Mazer should had looked the part of "controlling" the buggers vs Ender's fleet. for illusion sake.

-no explanation of why Mazer was still alive? (in the movie)

-The mission before the last one.
On the mission screen it says "Mission Failed".... what?!?!
Sure he got through with big losses but... Ender never lost a mission/game.

But for the most part I thought the movie was good, the main plot points were unchanged. 7 /10.
I was happy how alot of dialogue from the book was brought into the movie.

I agree with most that "The Enemy Gates is down" should have been emphasized more.

Wow a summary of the book here. Geez the internetz
http://www.gradesaver.com/enders-game/s ... t-summary/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby elfprince13 » Sat Nov 02, 2013 9:48 am

As far as potential technological differences are concerned, I was deeply bothered by the introduction of faster-than-light interstellar travel. This doesn't effect the story so much as it effects every other story (and makes it really really weird that Mazer is still around). It seemed like they were doing some kind of hypersleep thing from those two shots of Ender strapped in with his eyes closed, but that makes even less sense.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby neo-dragon » Sat Nov 02, 2013 10:34 am

Um, there didn't need to be an explanation for Mazer being alive since they had that the invasion was only 50 years ago. Ben Kingsley us nearly 70, so I figured that Mazer is around 70ish and he was probably just a young man in his 20s during the invasion. He's alive due to the totally mundane reason that he's just lived that long.
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Re: "I HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE AND I MUST TALK ABOUT IT" Thread

Postby natasha » Sat Nov 02, 2013 10:46 am

Ender’s game kinda a surprised me in many ways …here is why ?
http://goo.gl/BL80fS" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


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