Ender's Game (movie)
- Thread starter strawman
- Start date
I love the book too much to go in unbiased. Better for me to own that than go in expecting it to suit my whims, then saying it sucks when it doesn't do what I want.
GasBandit
Staff member
I'll be going in with low expectations, that way I can only be pleasantly surprised. I'm expecting them to try to force it into a Harry Potter mold, glossing over most of the underlying story in favor of a "this is how a little boy came to kick some splodey alien ass" popcorn flick.
Whether the movie is good or bad, whether the director did a good job or not, etc. Instead of speculating based on this or that, we should just wait for a few reviews and decide then.
Choose one:
1. We're human. By nature we attempt to evaluate the outcome of actions prior to taking them. It's one of the things that allows us to progress as intelligent (haha!) creatures.
2. You do know you're posting this in a forum, right?
3.
The reviews still wouldn't tell you whether the movie is good or bad.
And people were more speculating on how they should approach the movie in order to have the most chance of enjoying it.
I don't think anyone in this thread claimed to be better than anyone else for not having read the book.
No, you know how it is.
Now I don't get to be one of those people who says, "Oh, the book was soo much better."
--Patrick
It did have a better soundtrack.
They would never treat a beloved franchise like that! Haha!
I just finished the book last night, and I don't really want to see the movie now. I really don't get the hype AT ALL. Why do you all love this book so much? There was some creepy stuff in it. Why are the boys naked in their beds? Ugh. A naked fight? I just found that stuff to be a bit pedobear worthy and unrealistic. Also, the book would have been a bit more believable (plot and dialogue) if you shifted the kids' ages by +5.
Don't read the spoilers if you haven't read the book!
The pre-internet and laptop predictions. That was cool.
The twist didn't throw me b/c the book was nearly over and they hadn't fought anyone yet. If they had been fighting for real for nearly the whole book then it would have had more of an impact.
Also, I found the whole epilogue sort of unnecessary and boring.
The plot on Earth had me eye-rolling quite a bit.
The twist didn't throw me b/c the book was nearly over and they hadn't fought anyone yet. If they had been fighting for real for nearly the whole book then it would have had more of an impact.
Also, I found the whole epilogue sort of unnecessary and boring.
The plot on Earth had me eye-rolling quite a bit.
This book is supposed to be one of the best sci-fi books, but it really fell flat for me. I guess it's an okay "kids" book despite the somewhat creep factor.
So, I might watch it on DVD, but won't go see it. Feel free to hammer me with the Disagree button.
GasBandit
Staff member
Does that mean Dave is really both sides of every political argument in here, and I'm his sock puppet?
I read it when I was 18 and had no issues with it seeming like a "kids" book. In fact, if you read the introduction, Card notes parents telling him kids don't talk/think like the ones in the book, whereas kids were telling him he got it right. I remember being 8 years old, and I've seen my cousins at 8 years old when their parents aren't around. You'd be surprised.
The naked stuff never bothered me because it's a book, and I don't sit and visualize every scene in exact detail when I read, so I didn't see a bunch of naked kids. And nothing sexual was going on. The only one who hinted at such a thing was Bonzo and Ender recognizes this as being stupidly divisive. As someone noted earlier in the thread, the Battle School promoted this to dehumanize the kids.
Nothing you mention has anything to do with the characters, and in most stories in any media I go for, the characters are the core--without them, you might as well not have a story. So if you couldn't get into the characters, you weren't going to like the book. I loved them and identified strongly with Ender, and oddly enough, both of his siblings. Other Battle School kids were interesting and colorful; I enjoyed reading about them enough to read Ender's Shadow.
I'm not trying to convince you to like it; no one can, just like if I go see the movie and dislike it, people aren't going to be able to convince me I did. I'm just trying to explain where others see it, or at least myself.
I wasn't going to throw in a disagree until I went back and noticed you inviting them. Since you didn't get what you wanted out of the book, Halforums provides. Because we care.
EDIT:
What the hell? Boring epilogue my ass. Just ...
Nope, nevermind, I said what I said. You didn't get into the characters, so of course you wouldn't care that Ender felt guilty for committing genocide.
Nope, nevermind, I said what I said. You didn't get into the characters, so of course you wouldn't care that Ender felt guilty for committing genocide.
[DOUBLEPOST=1383149078,1383148590][/DOUBLEPOST]I appreciate your restraint. I can tell that most of you really dig the book. I've been meaning to read it for years, but never got to it. I still think that I would have liked it better if I was younger. Same for Harry Potter. I wish I dug it. LoTR and The Hobbit are the only books that I cherish still as an adult.I read it when I was 18 and had no issues with it seeming like a "kids" book. In fact, if you read the introduction, Card notes parents telling him kids don't talk/think like the ones in the book, whereas kids were telling him he got it right. I remember being 8 years old, and I've seen my cousins at 8 years old when their parents aren't around. You'd be surprised.
The naked stuff never bothered me because it's a book, and I don't sit and visualize every scene in exact detail when I read, so I didn't see a bunch of naked kids. And nothing sexual was going on. The only one who hinted at such a thing was Bonzo and Ender recognizes this as being stupidly divisive. As someone noted earlier in the thread, the Battle School promoted this to dehumanize the kids.
Nothing you mention has anything to do with the characters, and in most stories in any media I go for, the characters are the core--without them, you might as well not have a story. So if you couldn't get into the characters, you weren't going to like the book. I loved them and identified strongly with Ender, and oddly enough, both of his siblings. Other Battle School kids were interesting and colorful; I enjoyed reading about them enough to read Ender's Shadow.
I'm not trying to convince you to like it; no one can, just like if I go see the movie and dislike it, people aren't going to be able to convince me I did. I'm just trying to explain where others see it, or at least myself.
I wasn't going to throw in a disagree until I went back and noticed you inviting them. Since you didn't get what you wanted out of the book, Halforums provides. Because we care.
EDIT:
What the hell? Boring epilogue my ass. Just ...
Nope, nevermind, I said what I said. You didn't get into the characters, so of course you wouldn't care that Ender felt guilty for committing genocide.
I also had a tough time understanding any kind of metaphor in literature. Lord of the Flies was always about a bunch of kids on an island for me.
Yeah, I apologize if I came off like an asshole at all. I'm very much live and let live these days over most matters big and small, so it's weird that I'm like this over this book. People hate my favorite book, Stephen King's It, and trash it left and right, and with that one I'm all "haters gonna hate". I don't know; I'm in a weird mood today.
I'm not the biggest Lord of the Flies fan either, but I love the ending.
"What's all this then? You're British! You're supposed to be better than this."
I know the point of the book is how wrong that sentiment is, but it was still funny to me.
Nothing to apologize about good sir!
It's funny, as I was reaching the epilogue I was thinking that I enjoyed the book, but really don't get why people rave about it. Then I read the epilogue and my love for the book grew three sizes.
The only "sequel" I really liked was Ender's Shadow. The Speaker for the Dead trilogy was kind of "eh" and I had to force myself to get through Shadow of the Hegemon. Didn't continue from there.
I adored the Shadow series. Was really cool and I liked the Earth politics bits of it. But if you didn't like Shadow of the Hegemon then Shadow Puppets probably wouldn't do much for you though I do think you would like Shadow of the Giant which is one of my favorite books.
Far more likely it's just hollywood's need for a romantic subplot in every movie.
GasBandit
Staff member
Potato, Potahto.
GasBandit
Staff member
Only if you're Dan Quayle.
That would really depend on how it's handled. I've seen enough recent shit to know when Twilight's fingerprints are on the romantic angle. I'd have to see this movie to judge whether it was the typical Hollywood add-on or more of a Twilight-influenced thing, and I'm not going to do that.