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Ender's Game
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 2013-11-03 8:27 AM |
Pro  6011   Camp Hill, Pennsylvania |  Subject: Ender's GameHave you seen it? What did you think? I'm a huge fan of OSC's work, if not his whacked out politics. BTW, please don't devolve this thread into an OSC bashing/debate. Ender's Game is my favorite novel. I first read it about 25 years ago, and have re-read it more times than I can count plus the others in the series a few times each. I still have my original dog eared paperback that I bought in the late 80's. I loaned it to my son a few years ago, and he loved it too. For Fathers Day this year, he gave me a brand new hard cover with the same cover art as my paperback. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever received. He came home from college this weekend specifically so we could go see the movie together yesterday. My son and I both really liked the movie. We felt it captured as much of the essence of the novel as possible without making it a 4 hour movie. We liked that they included several scenes from the book nearly verbatim. My brother-in-law went along with us, and he liked it a lot too, even though he hasn't read the book. About the only thing I didn't like was the way they "softened it up" a bit by not showing the fate of the bully that Ender fought in school before he went to Battle School and changing what happened to Bonzo Madrid after the shower fight. I was glad to see that they were able to keep the Giant's Drink game in the movie, and get into the psychology a little. Ideally, I would have preferred to see them explore that a little more, as well as demonstrate Ender's genius better, but again, I can see how that would have been difficult to do while avoiding making the movie too long for the mass market.
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| 2013-11-03 9:02 AM in reply to: TriMyBest |
Master 2009 Charlotte, NC | Subject: RE: Ender's Game I loved the book so much, I am not sure I want to see the movie. |
| 2013-11-03 11:41 AM in reply to: tricrazy |
| Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by tricrazy I loved the book so much, I am not sure I want to see the movie. I'm kinda in that boat too. I like Stephen King's books but Carrie and The Shining are the only two movies that were worth a damn. I've seen some horrid movies made from books where the screenwriter and/or director wanted to make whatever it was "relevant" and make a statement that has nothing to do with the story. Hate that. |
| 2013-11-03 3:51 PM in reply to: DanielG |
| Master 2009 Charlotte, NC | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by DanielG Originally posted by tricrazy I loved the book so much, I am not sure I want to see the movie. I'm kinda in that boat too. I like Stephen King's books but Carrie and The Shining are the only two movies that were worth a damn. I've seen some horrid movies made from books where the screenwriter and/or director wanted to make whatever it was "relevant" and make a statement that has nothing to do with the story. Hate that. Oh man, I disagree about the King movies. What about Shawshank, Stand By Me, and The Green Mile? I also really liked the Stand but I know lots of people did not. |
| 2013-11-03 4:41 PM in reply to: tricrazy |
| Deep in the Heart of Texas | Subject: RE: Ender's Game I read Ender's Game this summer for the first time based on an earlier thread about the movie. Since then I have read four Bean books and am halfway through Ender In Exile. Great series! While the movie hasn't received great reviews, I am looking forward to seeing it. |
| 2013-11-03 5:08 PM in reply to: tricrazy |
Master 2264  Sunbury, Pennsylvania | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by tricrazy Originally posted by DanielG Originally posted by tricrazy I loved the book so much, I am not sure I want to see the movie. I'm kinda in that boat too. I like Stephen King's books but Carrie and The Shining are the only two movies that were worth a damn. I've seen some horrid movies made from books where the screenwriter and/or director wanted to make whatever it was "relevant" and make a statement that has nothing to do with the story. Hate that. Oh man, I disagree about the King movies. What about Shawshank, Stand By Me, and The Green Mile? I also really liked the Stand but I know lots of people did not. I know we're off topic now, but I think Shawshank is in a tiny category of films that are considered to actually rival the original book in quality. As for the original question, I knew of the book as one of those sci-fi novels that everyone is supposed to read. I never did. I also know all the fans say you have to divorce the work from the author's politics. Fair enough. Conservatives have to do that with Hollywood all the time right? (So I am told.) So I borrowed the book from a friend, yet I still haven't gotten to read it. I may see the film first, simply due to timing. What I can't get behind is the idea of "read the whole series!" - I barely make time for single book works of fiction. When the heck am I going to read 15 novels in a series? I just can't do fantasy or sci-fi books for that reason. I have a stack of Terry Pratchett books, of which I have read less than half. They are all great, I just don't make the time. I know this is a Philistine thing to say, but right now, the quality of long form storytelling is pretty high on television. I'd rather watch the Ender's game film, and take the hours I'd put into reading it, and re-watch half a season of the Wire. I can do that on a bike trainer, after all/  |
| 2013-11-03 6:56 PM in reply to: tricrazy |
Resident Curmudgeon 25290 The Road Back Gold member | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by tricrazy Originally posted by DanielG Oh man, I disagree about the King movies. What about Shawshank, Stand By Me, and The Green Mile? I also really liked the Stand but I know lots of people did not. Originally posted by tricrazy I loved the book so much, I am not sure I want to see the movie. I'm kinda in that boat too. I like Stephen King's books but Carrie and The Shining are the only two movies that were worth a damn. I've seen some horrid movies made from books where the screenwriter and/or director wanted to make whatever it was "relevant" and make a statement that has nothing to do with the story. Hate that. I agree with your disagreement! I'd also throw into the ring Misery with Kathy Bates' Oscar winning performance. |
| 2013-11-03 8:38 PM in reply to: TriMyBest |
Master 1883 San Antone, Texas | Subject: RE: Ender's Game I really enjoyed the movie. I've been counting down the days to see if ever since I saw the first trailer. I'm a big fan of the book. I've read it many times, along with the Shadow series and the new prequels. I'd say next to Heinlein, OSC is my favorite scifi author. I usually hate movie adaptations of books, so I was a little nervous for this to come out. But overall I think they did a good job of hitting all the main points of the book to get the feeling of the book across on the screen. Some things were glossed over a bit, but I didn't think anything that was really pertinent to the movie. Like you said, unless it was a 3-4 hour movie, some things had to progress faster and other things just had to be cut out. I'd give it a 4 out of 5. If you like the book, go see it. Even the wifey liked it, which is rare because she hates my scifi movies. |
| 2013-11-03 8:39 PM in reply to: the bear |
Champion 7821 Brooklyn, NY | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by the bear Originally posted by tricrazy Originally posted by DanielG Oh man, I disagree about the King movies. What about Shawshank, Stand By Me, and The Green Mile? I also really liked the Stand but I know lots of people did not. Originally posted by tricrazy I loved the book so much, I am not sure I want to see the movie. I'm kinda in that boat too. I like Stephen King's books but Carrie and The Shining are the only two movies that were worth a damn. I've seen some horrid movies made from books where the screenwriter and/or director wanted to make whatever it was "relevant" and make a statement that has nothing to do with the story. Hate that. I agree with your disagreement! I'd also throw into the ring Misery with Kathy Bates' Oscar winning performance. The Dead Zone was pretty good too. |
| 2013-11-03 9:21 PM in reply to: TriMyBest |
Master 1903 Portland, Oregon | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by TriMyBest Have you seen it? What did you think? I'm a huge fan of OSC's work, if not his whacked out politics. BTW, please don't devolve this thread into an OSC bashing/debate. Ender's Game is my favorite novel. I first read it about 25 years ago, and have re-read it more times than I can count plus the others in the series a few times each. I still have my original dog eared paperback that I bought in the late 80's. I loaned it to my son a few years ago, and he loved it too. For Fathers Day this year, he gave me a brand new hard cover with the same cover art as my paperback. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever received. He came home from college this weekend specifically so we could go see the movie together yesterday. My son and I both really liked the movie. We felt it captured as much of the essence of the novel as possible without making it a 4 hour movie. We liked that they included several scenes from the book nearly verbatim. My brother-in-law went along with us, and he liked it a lot too, even though he hasn't read the book. About the only thing I didn't like was the way they "softened it up" a bit by not showing the fate of the bully that Ender fought in school before he went to Battle School and changing what happened to Bonzo Madrid after the shower fight. I was glad to see that they were able to keep the Giant's Drink game in the movie, and get into the psychology a little. Ideally, I would have preferred to see them explore that a little more, as well as demonstrate Ender's genius better, but again, I can see how that would have been difficult to do while avoiding making the movie too long for the mass market.
I'm glad to hear you liked it. I loved that book too and read it many times in the 80s, then read all the followups and Bean books, etc. Now maybe I can go watch the movie and not be disappointed. Thanks for the review.  |
| 2013-11-04 7:36 AM in reply to: TriMyBest |
Pro 9391 Omaha, NE | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by TriMyBest I'm a huge fan of OSC's work, if not his whacked out politics. BTW, please don't devolve this thread into an OSC bashing/debate. ok, that made me laugh. bash the guys politics and then ask everyone not to bash. back on topic, I haven't read the books but am mildly interested in seeing the movie. I'll probably wait for it to come out on video to watch it. |
| 2013-11-04 8:11 AM in reply to: tuwood |
Pro 6011 Camp Hill, Pennsylvania | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by tuwood Originally posted by TriMyBest I'm a huge fan of OSC's work, if not his whacked out politics. BTW, please don't devolve this thread into an OSC bashing/debate. ok, that made me laugh. bash the guys politics and then ask everyone not to bash. back on topic, I haven't read the books but am mildly interested in seeing the movie. I'll probably wait for it to come out on video to watch it. Oh, I'm not opposed to bashing or debating that aspect of the guy, that's just not what I intended in this thread. I offered up the comment about his whacked out politics to try to appease the violent OSC haters who cannot see past his personal beliefs to appreciate his writing. As a fan of his work, I've found that if I don't acknowledge his personal eccentricities, it's not possible to discuss his work with some people.
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| 2013-11-04 8:14 AM in reply to: tricrazy |
Champion 10668 Tacoma, Washington | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by tricrazy Originally posted by DanielG Oh man, I disagree about the King movies. What about Shawshank, Stand By Me, and The Green Mile? I also really liked the Stand but I know lots of people did not. Originally posted by tricrazy I loved the book so much, I am not sure I want to see the movie. I'm kinda in that boat too. I like Stephen King's books but Carrie and The Shining are the only two movies that were worth a damn. I've seen some horrid movies made from books where the screenwriter and/or director wanted to make whatever it was "relevant" and make a statement that has nothing to do with the story. Hate that. The Running Man? I often wonder if they ever READ the book. |
| 2013-11-04 8:15 AM in reply to: TriMyBest |
Champion 10668 Tacoma, Washington | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by TriMyBest We felt it captured as much of the essence of the novel as possible without making it a 4 hour movie. Haven't read the book nor seen the movie (yet), but in most cases I'd rather see the 4-hour version that stays true to the original work. |
| 2013-11-04 8:19 AM in reply to: TriMyBest |
Pro 9391 Omaha, NE | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by TriMyBest Originally posted by tuwood Originally posted by TriMyBest I'm a huge fan of OSC's work, if not his whacked out politics. BTW, please don't devolve this thread into an OSC bashing/debate. ok, that made me laugh. bash the guys politics and then ask everyone not to bash. back on topic, I haven't read the books but am mildly interested in seeing the movie. I'll probably wait for it to come out on video to watch it. Oh, I'm not opposed to bashing or debating that aspect of the guy, that's just not what I intended in this thread. I offered up the comment about his whacked out politics to try to appease the violent OSC haters who cannot see past his personal beliefs to appreciate his writing. As a fan of his work, I've found that if I don't acknowledge his personal eccentricities, it's not possible to discuss his work with some people. No worries, I agree there's really no need for it. The way you worded your comment just made me chuckle. |
| 2013-11-04 11:19 AM in reply to: tuwood |
Expert 703 Colorado Springs | Subject: RE: Ender's Game I have never read the books, but enjoyed the movie. I wish that Hollywood would make more movieslike this that do not rely on graphic sex, language and/or violence to tell the story. |
| 2013-11-04 12:12 PM in reply to: TriMyBest |
Pro 4909 Hailey, ID | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Love the books but didn't really enjoy the movie. I wasn't expecting the book on film, but no character development, poor acting and a rushed story just made it not work for me. I think the movie could have really used an extra 20-40 mins. Other things I didn't like a ton. But the worst problem of all, how could you never use the word BUGGER once!? |
| 2013-11-04 1:15 PM in reply to: briderdt |
Pro 6011 Camp Hill, Pennsylvania | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by briderdt Originally posted by TriMyBest We felt it captured as much of the essence of the novel as possible without making it a 4 hour movie. Haven't read the book nor seen the movie (yet), but in most cases I'd rather see the 4-hour version that stays true to the original work. I would too, but I believe the mass market wouldn't want to sit through a 4 hour movie. Also, would theaters need to charge more for a movie that long, because they wouldn't be able to run as many showings per day?
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| 2013-11-04 1:20 PM in reply to: TriMyBest |
| Master 2009 Charlotte, NC | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by TriMyBest Originally posted by briderdt Originally posted by TriMyBest We felt it captured as much of the essence of the novel as possible without making it a 4 hour movie. Haven't read the book nor seen the movie (yet), but in most cases I'd rather see the 4-hour version that stays true to the original work. I would too, but I believe the mass market wouldn't want to sit through a 4 hour movie. Also, would theaters need to charge more for a movie that long, because they wouldn't be able to run as many showings per day?
Return of the King was 3.5 hours. I don't recall them charging extra for that? |
| 2013-11-04 2:38 PM in reply to: tricrazy |
Extreme Veteran 2261 Ridgeland, Mississippi | Subject: RE: Ender's Game I read the book as a requirement for middle school. I enjoyed the movie, and my gf who normally hates sci-fi movies liked it as well. I think the movie followed the book as well as it could for two hours. The battle simulation scenes were awesome to watch. I need to see it in an IMAX. |
| 2013-11-05 6:32 AM in reply to: msteiner |
Pro 6011 Camp Hill, Pennsylvania | Subject: RE: Ender's Game Originally posted by msteiner I read the book as a requirement for middle school. I enjoyed the movie, and my gf who normally hates sci-fi movies liked it as well. I think the movie followed the book as well as it could for two hours. The battle simulation scenes were awesome to watch. I need to see it in an IMAX. We saw it in IMAX. It was definitely an experience!
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| 2013-11-05 10:56 AM in reply to: TriMyBest |
Extreme Veteran 3177 | Subject: RE: Ender's Game I saw the movie on Saturday and while my hopes were not high for it I was still very dissappointed. They may have captured some of the big picture pieces but all the characters fell flat to me. I did not see anyone getting attached to any one person. Casting was horrible (Bonzo Madrid being smaller than Ender???) and they failed to stay very true to the source material in the atmospher of both Battle School and IS Command as well as the current technology in play. No discussion about Relativistic flight or any of the other things they were dealing with. They also made it seem like the whole story took place over a few months, not over the years it was supposed to. In essense so many of the details they could have gotten correct were purposfully changed or gotten wrong that I found it incredibly hard to enjoy the movie even a little. The only good thing about it was the CGI work though even the battle room did not match the books description. Overall if you loved the book and are a stickler for details I would avoid the movie as it, in no way, does the source material or story any justice. (even my wife who has only read it once and was not a big fan of the book agreed with me). I would have much rather seen it as a 4 hour movie that was truer to the material or as two movies. (it would have been easy to do one movie for battle school and a second for IS Command). |
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