Except that he's kind of an important character in the book.
Ender's Game (2013 Film)
- Thread starter Starbreaker
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Except that he's kind of an important character in the book.
I doubt anyone who hasn't read the book will realize what's happening.
Just from seeing the trailer, no. But I'm curious to see how many people will figure out the "twist" before the actual reveal. I figured it out about half way through the battle.
I've wanted to see this as a movie ever since I read it about 25 years ago, so needless to say I'm excited about this. Nevertheless, I would be lying if I said i wasn't a bit worried too. While the story has a lot of stuff in it that would look great on a screen, much of what makes the story what it is takes place in Ender's mind and doesn't lend itself well to visual presentation. Seeing that the studio is aiming it at the teen demographic and wants to make it the next franchise like Twilight/Harry Potter/etc. only makes me more worried that they'll just emphasize the visually impressive stuff at the expense of the heart of the story. Card's statement about what to expect only deepens those fears.
True, but it's still possible to do it justice, just give the material to someone extraordinary to adapt.
Gavin Hood ain't it.
^Well, yes it is possible. My worry is that, because it's being marketed to teens, the story will take a backseat to eye candy and they won't even try to put that stuff in there. I'll see it either way, and I expect to enjoy it, but I fear I'll be disappointed with the treatment of the heavier stuff in the story.
I already made peace with the fact that there's not gonna BE any "heavier stuff" in that movie. I'm really curious to see how they handle his brother Peter, a character both intellectually brilliant, and a sadistic sociopath.
Doubt you'll see much of him at all. Other than enough to establish that he's a Third and thus becomes 'available' to the military, Peter won't be much more than maybe a flashback somewhere. Val's important for the one scene where Ender checks out and they use her a bit, and just more important to Ender on the whole. Peter and Val's big contribution is in their writing and politics, and rumor was that that won't be in this, doesn't really fit.
At best, you get Peter beating Ender either at the start or in flashbacks, a sloppy analogy that Ender is the best parts of Peter and Val together, and that he needs the violence as well as the compassion, and maybe depending on how they end it up, you get Hegemon Peter at the end and we're TOLD about their alter egos...
At best, you get Peter beating Ender either at the start or in flashbacks, a sloppy analogy that Ender is the best parts of Peter and Val together, and that he needs the violence as well as the compassion, and maybe depending on how they end it up, you get Hegemon Peter at the end and we're TOLD about their alter egos...
I think you're right about Peter. His primary contribution to Ender's Game was his influence on Ender, most of which is only described in Ender's mind, and the whole Locke/Demosthenes subplot. Neither of those lend themselves well to the CGI fest this movie will probably be. The only reason I could see him having any bigger part than what you describe will be if the studio plans on using the Shadow series for more movies in the franchise.
I though it didn't really fit in the book either.
I love the xkcd comic that takes the piss out of that whole story. Thirty years ago, maybe it seemed plausible, but the fragmentation of the Internet today makes it sound absurd.
It's been ages since i read the book but the twist at the end blew me away.
I sincerely doubt they will play it straight out of the book.. the adults using Ender's miltary genius to commit genocide against an enemy without his knowledge as the only way to truly win the war. That ending is much too dark for general mainstream movies.
One thing i wondered though.. i seem to recall that the first battle in the trailer against the aliens featured what looked like contemporary fighter jets, i.e. F22's or F35's. Didn't the novel play in the future, i.e. the military academy was a space station set in orbit around Saturn (or some other planet in our system).
Seems odd to only let a few decades pass since the first defeat and then have huge space stations and space fleets.
I don't know what to make of this movie.. might see it but i'm not exactly on edge to see it on the first weekend.
I assumed this was footage of the First Formic War, where the Buggers actually attacked Earth. It's in the future, sure, but we still presumably need fighters for atmospheric combat.
yeah, that was just the initial contact. And it wasn't decades, think it was like 100 years or so? Enough that Mazer had to go for his relativistic ride, and all his family is dead.
And likely showing that so you don't get so pissed when Ender kills them all at the end (they show the planet blowing up right in the trailer, it's happening). whether they temper him with the live Queen plot at the end or not, we'll see.
And likely showing that so you don't get so pissed when Ender kills them all at the end (they show the planet blowing up right in the trailer, it's happening). whether they temper him with the live Queen plot at the end or not, we'll see.
Yeah, I believe that's correct.
I have mixed feelings on this. The book is the only thing I ever read for school (it was required reading in either high school or junior high) that I actually enjoyed and the trailer looked cool, so on one hand I would love to see it, but I hate OSC's politics, so I don't really want to support something he's involved with.
He sounds tired/ phoning it in. Just hearing him say "Aliens" sounds ridiculous.
I just can't take it seriously
In all honsety, these days Harrison Ford just sound pissed off every time he talks. His voice really has a gruff endge to it these days.
In some ways I agree with your spoiler comment about mainstream movie expectations and tolerances, but if you change that the whole story has a different message and meaning. It becomes a standard earth vs aliens story that just happens to have a teen as the hero...