Ender's Game (movie)
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GasBandit
Staff member
Just to clarify my quip, I was saying that the Twi-hards are the demographic that hollywood producers are courting by adding extraneous romantic subplots to movies that don't need/are damaged by them.
And while I'm clarifying stuff, I guess I should also make sure that Tress and others realize that when I said "the governing mindset" I meant governing as in dominant and most influential, not literally of Government.
... but that was a different thread, wasn't it.
And while I'm clarifying stuff, I guess I should also make sure that Tress and others realize that when I said "the governing mindset" I meant governing as in dominant and most influential, not literally of Government.
... but that was a different thread, wasn't it.
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I was actually able to get into a 9:15 showing tonight, however we are now experiencing an unintended intermission. The screen went dark, but the audio kept playing.
We'll see if they get it back up, or give us a refund. The IMAX is showing it at 10:45, so if there are tickets left maybe that'll work if they don't get this one up and running...
So far it's fantastic. The visuals and acting are perfect.
We'll see if they get it back up, or give us a refund. The IMAX is showing it at 10:45, so if there are tickets left maybe that'll work if they don't get this one up and running...
So far it's fantastic. The visuals and acting are perfect.
Projector probably over heated and turned itself off if the sound is still playing. Possible the bulb broke too. One is a fairly easy fix, the other not so much.
Hell, someone may have misplaced a dowser cue telling the thing to close. Lots of thing could be the culprit and depending on whether the projector is digital or film, getting you back to where the film was without missing anything is either totally possible or not at all.
Hell, someone may have misplaced a dowser cue telling the thing to close. Lots of thing could be the culprit and depending on whether the projector is digital or film, getting you back to where the film was without missing anything is either totally possible or not at all.
They restarted the movie a little before where we left off, and gave everyone a free pass to be used later. Good customer service, IMO.
I really enjoyed the movie. I think it was all put together very well, and while the one reviewer make a good point about the ending going by perhaps a little too fast, I thought it was acceptable. I would rather have had a 3 hour movie with more battles showing his increasing abilities and strengthening ties between friends, but I felt it was as faithful to the book as a movie ought to be, and look forward to watching it again.
I really enjoyed the movie. I think it was all put together very well, and while the one reviewer make a good point about the ending going by perhaps a little too fast, I thought it was acceptable. I would rather have had a 3 hour movie with more battles showing his increasing abilities and strengthening ties between friends, but I felt it was as faithful to the book as a movie ought to be, and look forward to watching it again.
I also really liked it but agree the ending was rushed, but not so much in a way that completely destroyed it. A review was posted that claimed there was an awkward romance added between Petra and Ender and I simply did not see this. If anything it was more of a brother/sister or even best friend bond. There were no longing stares into each others eyes. They cared for each other, sure, but not in that way.
I do hope there is a directors cut with added battles and tactics building but understand the length needed to be near what it was for a general audience.
Not sure the validity of these claims but apparently OSC won't see anything from this films release money wise, so if you have a moral quandry regarding funding him through seeing this film, that may be moot. Though if the movie does well book sales will go up and he does still profit from those. I do beleive it is already currently sitting atop the sales charts for books at the moment.
I do hope there is a directors cut with added battles and tactics building but understand the length needed to be near what it was for a general audience.
Not sure the validity of these claims but apparently OSC won't see anything from this films release money wise, so if you have a moral quandry regarding funding him through seeing this film, that may be moot. Though if the movie does well book sales will go up and he does still profit from those. I do beleive it is already currently sitting atop the sales charts for books at the moment.
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MovieBob's review of it is basically, "It's not terrible, but it's also not very good." Skip to 1:30 if you want to skip his soap-boxing about Card himself.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/8368-Enders-Game
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/8368-Enders-Game
Reviews are pretty mixed:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/enders-game/
I'm waiting for Howard Taylor's thoughts on it. He's one of the people whose reviews fairly accurately predict what I will like. He's ranked it 15th on his list of best films this year, just below his threshold of awesome, though it was well above his threshold of disappointment. Has only ranked it, though, perhaps a writeup will come in a day or two.
Some reviewers are suggesting that this is a solid beginning to a new franchise, but honestly I don't see it.
Are there signs that there may be sequels?
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/enders-game/
I'm waiting for Howard Taylor's thoughts on it. He's one of the people whose reviews fairly accurately predict what I will like. He's ranked it 15th on his list of best films this year, just below his threshold of awesome, though it was well above his threshold of disappointment. Has only ranked it, though, perhaps a writeup will come in a day or two.
Some reviewers are suggesting that this is a solid beginning to a new franchise, but honestly I don't see it.
Are there signs that there may be sequels?
Film Brain equated it to The Golden Compass in that it's apparent what the movie is trying to do, but it will probably fall flat in the numbers to justify a sequel. From what I've been reading the first portion of the movie is one big exposition dump and it largely ignores Ender's family in the form of his brother and sister, which are important character issues as far as him walking the line between being compassionate and becoming a bloodthirsty psychopath.
I haven't actually read the books, so I don't have a good comparison to make.
I haven't actually read the books, so I don't have a good comparison to make.
I could see a sequel based on the end but don't think it will do well enough to warrant one.
As for ignoring Val and Peter, they aren't exactly ignored but you don't really see much of them. It's established that Val is compassionate towards her brother Ender at least, to where you can tell they are very close. Peter is shown to be a monster with whom Ender sees in himself while despising that he does. From there their roles are mostly dropped, which, while disappointing as I love their arc in the book, would have severely lengthened the film in a bad way. It may have been what it needed to slow the pacing down or it might have made everything else feel more rushed. Its difficult to say really.
I don't agree with those saying it wasn't good. It wasnt perfect and wasn't amazing but is still one of my favourite movies so far this year.
I reorganised the list from the link @stienman posted based on what I've seen this year and how id rate them against each other based on how fun or entertaining I found them, not quality of the movie necessarily.
Pacific Rim
The World's End
Ender's Game
Iron Man 3
Gravity
Elysium
Star Trek Into Darkness
This is the End
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Despicable Me 2
Monsters University
The Lone Ranger
Warm Bodies
Kick-Ass 2
The Wolverine
Man of Steel
World War Z
Oz the Great and Powerful
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Oblivion
After Earth
As for ignoring Val and Peter, they aren't exactly ignored but you don't really see much of them. It's established that Val is compassionate towards her brother Ender at least, to where you can tell they are very close. Peter is shown to be a monster with whom Ender sees in himself while despising that he does. From there their roles are mostly dropped, which, while disappointing as I love their arc in the book, would have severely lengthened the film in a bad way. It may have been what it needed to slow the pacing down or it might have made everything else feel more rushed. Its difficult to say really.
I don't agree with those saying it wasn't good. It wasnt perfect and wasn't amazing but is still one of my favourite movies so far this year.
I reorganised the list from the link @stienman posted based on what I've seen this year and how id rate them against each other based on how fun or entertaining I found them, not quality of the movie necessarily.
Pacific Rim
The World's End
Ender's Game
Iron Man 3
Gravity
Elysium
Star Trek Into Darkness
This is the End
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Despicable Me 2
Monsters University
The Lone Ranger
Warm Bodies
Kick-Ass 2
The Wolverine
Man of Steel
World War Z
Oz the Great and Powerful
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Oblivion
After Earth
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I did enjoy Ender's Game. I could predict how things were going to go because that's how I would have done it. Ender was an awesome, full-bodied character. I've been reading SO MUCH dystopian YA fiction over the past two years. I thought I was done. However, it was nice to see Ender's evolution play out on screen. I'm not a Sci-Fi person, but I give it a thumbs up.
Listening to Cinema Snob's Midnight Screening (he didn't read it, but co-pilot reviewer did) just confirms my not wanting to see it. I'm glad other people had a good time, but it sounds like it tears the book to shreds, and a rush-job, and that they dumb Ender down to essentially "luck goes my way" Harry Potter-style.
I'm lucky my cousin's so lazy.
I'm lucky my cousin's so lazy.
Luck goes Enders way in a terribly unrealistic manner, except that he and his two siblings are essentially super intelligent.
The premise, however, isn't about the boy hero. There are lots of stories of people being or becoming great, superhuman even.
The questions approached are about whether the end justifies the means - destroying the humanity of children to save the human race. Whether genocide is permissible. Fighting one's inner demons. Whether children should have a place at the decision making table, politically or otherwise. What it means to be a warrior.
I know you trust these reviewers implicitly, but so far what they've said appears to stem from an extraordinarily shallow reading of the book, and the kicker is that it isn't a particularly deep book, either. It is all very close to the surface.
The premise, however, isn't about the boy hero. There are lots of stories of people being or becoming great, superhuman even.
The questions approached are about whether the end justifies the means - destroying the humanity of children to save the human race. Whether genocide is permissible. Fighting one's inner demons. Whether children should have a place at the decision making table, politically or otherwise. What it means to be a warrior.
I know you trust these reviewers implicitly, but so far what they've said appears to stem from an extraordinarily shallow reading of the book, and the kicker is that it isn't a particularly deep book, either. It is all very close to the surface.
That's probably why I didn't like the book. Sadly, I didn't really "get" all that stuff you put in your post when I read the book. I very rarely get the subtext of what I read. I usually take it all at face value. As in: Moby Dick = book about a dude obsessed with a whale; Lord of the Flies = asshole kids on vacation; Frankenstein = science run amok.
I read Frankenstein when I was in H.S., and when I got to college I took a European History course. The professor (rightfully so) focused on the French Revolution, and he assigned Frankenstein to read. I re-read it somewhat skimming my way through it. When he discussed it and how the book is a commentary on the French Revolution and the Enlightenment Movement, my brain trickled out of my ear.
Damn, am I daft?
No, I don't think so. When I took a fantasy literature course I learned a lot of things I didn't actually want to know, and reading the books was annoying because I had to focus to figure out the subtext. Even though they didn't discuss it in class, the stuff I learned there forever ruined the fox and the hound for me.
But Enders game didn't seem that way to me this last reading. When I read it as a teen I didn't see some of the stuff I see now though, but a lot of it isn't just hidden beneath the cover, the characters actually voice many of those concerns. To me it was like watching "Young Frankenstein" as a child and laughing at everything, but then seeing it as an adult and being surprised at the overt innuendo laced throughout the movie.
Nothing was so deep that I recalled that course. Although, sadly, now that I think about it there are things in it that used stuff I learned in that course... So maybe I'm wrong and it isn't close to the surface?
But perhaps it's just because the book speaks to me. I really do wish there were three movies instead of one.[DOUBLEPOST=1383787683,1383787316][/DOUBLEPOST]
The only reason they kicked it out the door at all was to retain the rights. If they didn't produce it in ten years the rights revert, and it's a good enough series that handled well it could be a Harry potter of a sort.
So they may actually be planning and sequel, or they might be planning to remake it later, or they may have just been trying to recoup their costs and nothing else will happen.
But Enders game didn't seem that way to me this last reading. When I read it as a teen I didn't see some of the stuff I see now though, but a lot of it isn't just hidden beneath the cover, the characters actually voice many of those concerns. To me it was like watching "Young Frankenstein" as a child and laughing at everything, but then seeing it as an adult and being surprised at the overt innuendo laced throughout the movie.
Nothing was so deep that I recalled that course. Although, sadly, now that I think about it there are things in it that used stuff I learned in that course... So maybe I'm wrong and it isn't close to the surface?
But perhaps it's just because the book speaks to me. I really do wish there were three movies instead of one.[DOUBLEPOST=1383787683,1383787316][/DOUBLEPOST]
They did, but it didn't feel like the story needed to continue or screamed for a sequel. But the door is open. Opening weekend numbers were good, but not great, and the production was so troubled and painful that I wonder if they'll pursue it.
The only reason they kicked it out the door at all was to retain the rights. If they didn't produce it in ten years the rights revert, and it's a good enough series that handled well it could be a Harry potter of a sort.
So they may actually be planning and sequel, or they might be planning to remake it later, or they may have just been trying to recoup their costs and nothing else will happen.
I'm not sure if you're responding to me or not--the reviewers comment says you are, but some of your post suggests you're talking to someone who hasn't read the book, and I'm pretty sure I said that I have. Many times. It's easily in my top five favorite books.
And I disagree; I do think it's a deep book--there are weighty issues at hand, as you've listed above. I think what you mean is that it isn't a dense book, in that you don't have to poke and pry to get at those issues.
So I know the book. My problem is all the deviations and compromises it sounds like were made so the movie could be a general crowd-pleaser. And that's fine, I understand that, that's the nature of adaptation. But as someone who loves the book, I have a problem with them taking a smart protagonist like Ender and tossing credit to luck. Lots of movies do that--this one didn't have to. I also understand what you say about them having to get the movie out or losing the rights. I get that; that's a practical business decision, if not the most artistically meritorious one.
What I can't understand is why so many fans of the book are eating it up. Even the positive reviews by people who read the books grate my nerves. They mention the stuff that bugs them but "it's not a big deal." It feels like they're trying to convince themselves. Have we been so desperate for a visual adaptation of the novel that we'd take whatever came?
I'd probably be less bitchy if I could find my copy of the book, but all our non-Kindle books are in a stack of boxes in the closet and I have no idea where it's buried, so I can't read it right now. I guess I should get those bookshelves my wife has been nagging me to get for ... two years. :|
So I saw this Wednesday. After mulling it over my recommendation is that you go read the book instead (and you can pick it up at your local library and not have to financially support OSC). A lot of the key moments felt like they had no weight to them, mostly due to lack of time to build up, and I found that I really didn't care about the situation or anyone in the movie without referencing the book in my head as to why it was important. I can't really say if I would have enjoyed this movie blind, but everything I enjoyed about the movie was because I read the book (and Harrison Ford).
