Ender's Game

[TheCalvinator24]

If you've never read the book, do yourself a favor and don't before seeing the movie. If you read the book a long time ago, like I had, do yourself a favor and don't re-read it before you see the movie, like I did.

I suspect the movie was pretty good, but because I had just re-read the book, the discrepancies annoyed me and affected my enjoyment.

[tlynn78]

If you've never read the book, do yourself a favor and don't before seeing the movie. If you read the book a long time ago, like I had, do yourself a favor and don't re-read it before you see the movie, like I did.

I suspect the movie was pretty good, but because I had just re-read the book, the discrepancies annoyed me and affected my enjoyment.

Good to know. I just mentioned to my son the other night I needed to re-read before seeing the movie; now I'll wait til after. Thanks.

[TheCalvinator24]

If you've never read the book, do yourself a favor and don't before seeing the movie. If you read the book a long time ago, like I had, do yourself a favor and don't re-read it before you see the movie, like I did.

I suspect the movie was pretty good, but because I had just re-read the book, the discrepancies annoyed me and affected my enjoyment.

Good to know. I just mentioned to my son the other night I needed to re-read before seeing the movie; now I'll wait til after. Thanks.

I didn't expect Ender to be 6 years old, but he was entirely too old.

Ender actually calls himself Andrew at one point.

When he is being summoned over the P.A. at school, they call him Andrew Ender Wiggin. They treated "Ender" like it was his middle name.

These are minor issues. There are far more substantive issues.

[MarleysGh0st]

Besides casting actors who were much older than the characters (because younger characters couldn't carry the role) they had the usual problems with trying to cram a book's worth of detail into a couple of hours. So months of activity seem squeezed into a week or two and sub-plots are only suggested at, but I thought they did okay, considering. The epilogue seemed pretty artificial, though.

Incidentally, Card's latest series is a prequel set in the First Formic War; I just finished the second of this series, Earth Afire. Parts are decent--we get to learn Mazer Rackham's story--but with a couple of the principal characters it's just whine, whine, whine, which got on my nerves.

[TheCalvinator24]

Besides casting actors who were much older than the characters (because younger characters couldn't carry the role) they had the usual problems with trying to cram a book's worth of detail into a couple of hours. So months of activity seem squeezed into a week or two and sub-plots are only suggested at, but I thought they did okay, considering. The epilogue seemed pretty artificial, though.

Incidentally, Card's latest series is a prequel set in the First Formic War; I just finished the second of this series, Earth Afire. Parts are decent--we get to learn Mazer Rackham's story--but with a couple of the principal characters it's just whine, whine, whine, which got on my nerves.

I am sure I would have enjoyed the movie much more if I hadn't just re-read it last week.

[MarleysGh0st]

Has anyone here seen the movie without ever reading the book (or the short story that preceded the book)? I'm curious how the movie stands on its own.

[silverscreenselect]

Has anyone here seen the movie without ever reading the book (or the short story that preceded the book)? I'm curious how the movie stands on its own.

I haven't read the book, but I wasn't very impressed with the movie either from a technical or a dramatic standpoint. The effects were rather underwhelming for a big budget film, and the story just seemed routine. Plus, I kept comparing it mentally to Starship Troopers, which was a whole heck of a lot more fun to watch.

[andrewjackson]

If you've never read the book, do yourself a favor and don't before seeing the movie. If you read the book a long time ago, like I had, do yourself a favor and don't re-read it before you see the movie, like I did.

I suspect the movie was pretty good, but because I had just re-read the book, the discrepancies annoyed me and affected my enjoyment.

Good to know. I just mentioned to my son the other night I needed to re-read before seeing the movie; now I'll wait til after. Thanks.

I didn't expect Ender to be 6 years old, but he was entirely too old.

Ender actually calls himself Andrew at one point.

When he is being summoned over the P.A. at school, they call him Andrew Ender Wiggin. They treated "Ender" like it was his middle name.

These are minor issues. There are far more substantive issues.

The name thing bugged the hell out of me. I understand changes for movies but I just don't understand why they had to change this. His name is Andrew Wiggin. Ender is a nickname based on his sister's pronunciation of Andrew.

The ending was also odd based on the book ending.

I still enjoyed the movie.