Ender's Game

[Rollo Tomassi]

*sigh* I guess I might as well start this topic.

It has an official release date of March 15th, 2013.

And one of the Producers started a blog at tumblr.

Ender's Game Blog

Here's the cast.


Asa Butterfield-- Ender Wiggin
Harrison Ford-- Colonel Hyrum Graff
Abigail Breslin-- Valentine Wiggin
Ben Kingsley-- Mazer Rackham
Viola Davis-- Major Gwen Anderson

Hailee Steinfeld-- Petra Arkanian
Moises Arias-- Bonzo
Aramis Knight-- Bean
Nonso Anozie
Jimmy 'Jax' Pinchak-- Peter Wiggin
Brendan Meyer-- Stilson
Brandon Soo Hoo-- Fly Molo
Andrea Powell-- Theresa Wiggin
Suraj Partha-- Alai
Khylin Rhambo-- Dink Meeker
Conor Carroll-- Bernard

Discuss.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Based on the age of the actors, primarily Stilson, it looks like they're forgoing the ESSENTIAL plot element that Ender is removed from his family at a young age, and therefore dramatically lessens the impact of his reunion with his sister before the final act begins. In the book, he's purposefully kept apart from his family for almost a decade. And it's from age 6-15, which is detrimental to his relationship with his family and especially his sister. So when they have the reunion on the raft and she asks him to save the world, the tension is crushing. It's a very tender and melancholy moment in the book.
In the film, it looks like he's much older, and the separation is for a much shorter time. Which considerably lessens the gravitas of the situation.

Also, they said they're removing the "MindGame" from the movie, but leaving the final revelation of the last chapter in. The MindGame, of course, IS the link to the end of the book. So either they're gonna come up with an inferior convoluted link, or they're just gonna leave a sloppy plothole open. Not to mention, Graff's inability to decipher Ender's MindGame sessions is what sets up some of the last half of the book and the other Adults questioning whether Ender is "the one".

Damn, now I want to read the book again.

[Tom Foolery]

If people are going apeshit because Orson Scott Card wrote an 8 page Superman story, I can only imagine the shitstorm that will erupt when this movie comes out in November.

I daresay hardly anybody will judge the film on its own merits and it will become a sideshow in film history to the controversy of the author. Much like people only remember Proof of Life because it was where Meg Ryan fucked up her relationship with Dennis Quaid by fucking Russell Crowe.

[Ran]

It has been so long since I read Ender's Game and Speaker of the Dead. I think I remember the basic plot, but not many details. I understand that additional books were written, but never got around to reading them. It seems like this movie has been in production forever.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

I remember Wolfgang Petersen was all set to make it like ten years ago. And I'm pretty sure it's been shopped around Hollywood almost since the book was written back in 1985. I think the fact it was mostly children held it up for awhile. And the "Battle Room" would be a bitch to get correct with 80s and 90s level Effects.

I always thought the follow up trilogy of books (Speaker, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind) would make a good Cable TV series. There's a lot of dense ideas, but not a lot of expensive SFX to deal with.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

The Enemy's Gate is Down.

[Ran]

Apparently Orson Scott Card has a similar view of gays as Michelle Bachman & her husband. So, there might be some protests associted with this movie.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Erfff. The trailer is a bit lackluster to me. Ford's monologue is stilted and underwhelming.
And the goddamn climax is in the trailer.



Ben Kingsley is getting overplayed. His character doesn't show up until act three.
And I'm pretty sure Viola Davis' character is a minor one from the book that got padded for the film for expository/moralistic argument reasons with Harrison Ford's Col. McGruff.


And that's not even mentioning the Gay hatin' controversy of Card. Which I'm sure will become more prominent the closer to November.

[Ran]

"Lackluster" is a good description. This movie is coming about 20 years too late for me.

[Diabolical]

Reminds me of the Wing Commander type of flick circa 1997-98.

[Tom Foolery]

LionsGate is trying to get out ahead of the Orson Scott Card controversy and a potential boycott. I guess they saw the shitstorm from the Superman thing a few months ago and got ready. Holding a special Premiere to Benefit LGBT is a nice touch.

[Ran]

[Tom Foolery]

I feel these trailers are giving a very piss poor idea of what the film is actually about to potential audiences. Either that or the director didn't know what the book was actually about.

Because right now, if I didn't know better, it looks like a shitty remake of The Last Starfighter meets Wing Commander.

Also, would it kill them for Ender to say "The Enemy Gate is Down." in the trailer? It's the fucking perfect tag line for the fucking film, and I haven't heard, read, or seen it once. Gavin Hood is a tool.



For those of you who haven't read the book, please give me your impressions of what you think the story is about based on the trailers you've seen.

[Tom Foolery]

Still not feeling it. They're focusing too much on the climax, and not enough(or at all) on the psychological drama getting to the climax.

[Ran]

Like I said earlier, it has been a long time since I read the book. Wasn't the majority of the book about Ender's training and playing a game? The trailer makes the whole movie look like a battle.