Some sci-fi really would be better as animation. I still would like to get the rights to all the Dune books and release them as anime. OTOH, PK Dicks works have been translated well, although less than faithful to the stories, as live action movies.
I too would love to see a Gateway movie, if only to see what a damned Heechee looks like, and how they make their chairs look.
Hey…the only think that movie made me think about was changing the channel. And I LIKE animation and sci fi and moves that ‘make you think’ AND even Alec Baldwin and James Woods. I found it to be standard ‘don’t fuck with nature or nature will destroy you’ fare so often found in anime. I get it. Not every problem can be solved by strip mining and firing giant weapons. Now please make the giant bugs go away.
I haven’t read Enders Game however in order to be a successful anime movie, you would need the following:
CONFLICT:
Earth a) has been overrun hordes of insectlike aliens, b) has been attacked by humanoid aliens with superior technology (usually in the form of giant robots), or c) is embroiled in a massive civil war no one can remember who started
PROTAGONIST:
a) A wisecracking rouge with a dark past b) A brooding efeminate teenager
ROMANTIC INTEREST
a) A screeching immature girl or b) A hard-core no-nonsense bitch c) His female enemy counterpart
HIS JOB IS
a) Genetically enhanced or otherwise gifted super-soldier (usually a pilot of some kind) b) Some kind of professional criminal c) Some form of paramilitary or civilian contractor (bountyhunter, privateer, gunfighter, detective, etc)
ANTAGONIST(S)
a) A personal rival b) arrogant military commander c) Some guy from his past
BASIC PLOT
-Our hero is thrust into a war he does not understand.
-Over the course of countless battles fighting mindless bugs, mechanzied automatons or otherwise faceless enemies he is forced to deal with a variety of issues, both personal and external.
-His relationship with his love interest will at first be professional and somewhat conflicted.
-Eventually they will realize their feelings for each other and it will save them in the end (or kill one or both of them but saving the Earth).
-In the end, there will be an epic battle that will destroy nearly everyone and everything. The good guys will win, but at what cost?
So…if Enders Game is anything like that, it would be a perfect anime.
And it would help if the book was writen something like this: “YOUR ACTIONS ARE INCORRECT! CAN’T YOU SEE I’M SERIOUS!! WE MUST CONTINUE FIGHTING THE BIOMEGALOPODS UNTIL ONE OF US IS DESTROYED!!! YAAAAAAAAAHH!!!”
The One Thing Anime Has Taught Me:
Everything is better with giant robots
I’ve also read that book, I can’t imagine it being live action. I second the It Will Suck motion.
Ender’s Game is one of those books that I’ve imagined as a movie. For all the internal dialogs, it’s a very visual book. However, I fear that the movie also stands a high risk of the sort of oversimplification and ideological inversion that doomed Starship Troopers. Too bad, because I would be particularly interested to see Ender’s Game filmed concurrently with Ender’s Shadow. It would be fascinating to see two different films, with identical casts, portraying the same scenes from different points of view.
It would be good in anime PROVIDED they do the following:
Hey cool. Let’s see what we got…
CONFLICT:
Earth a) has been overrun hordes of insectlike aliens, b) has been attacked by humanoid aliens with superior technology (usually in the form of giant robots), or c) is embroiled in a massive civil war no one can remember who started
B applies, and the whole story is about defending against A.
**PROTAGONIST:
a) A wisecracking rouge with a dark past b) A brooding efeminate teenager **
Hmm. Brooding, definitely. But effeminate? Nah. That’s Alai, the wisecracking sidekick. 
Half a point.
ROMANTIC INTEREST
a) A screeching immature girl or b) A hard-core no-nonsense bitch c) His female enemy counterpart
None in the novel, and OSC demanded no romantic interest added for the movie (which was why it took so long to sell, I asked him myself over ten years ago.)
HIS JOB IS
a) Genetically enhanced or otherwise gifted super-soldier (usually a pilot of some kind) b) Some kind of professional criminal c) Some form of paramilitary or civilian contractor (bountyhunter, privateer, gunfighter, detective, etc)
A in training.
ANTAGONIST(S)
a) A personal rival b) arrogant military commander c) Some guy from his past
Quite a few A’s, and definitely B. (Would Peter count as C? Maybe.)
**BASIC PLOT
-Our hero is thrust into a war he does not understand. **
Yep.
-Over the course of countless battles fighting mindless bugs, mechanzied automatons or otherwise faceless enemies he is forced to deal with a variety of issues, both personal and external.
Yep.
-His relationship with his love interest will at first be professional and somewhat conflicted. Eventually they will realize their feelings for each other and it will save them in the end (or kill one or both of them but saving the Earth).
See above.
-In the end, there will be an epic battle that will destroy nearly everyone and everything. The good guys will win, but at what cost?
Hmm, kinda.
**And it would help if the book was writen something like this: “YOUR ACTIONS ARE INCORRECT! CAN’T YOU SEE I’M SERIOUS!! WE MUST CONTINUE FIGHTING THE BIOMEGALOPODS UNTIL ONE OF US IS DESTROYED!!! YAAAAAAAAAHH!!!” **
Ehh…not really. I can just see it, though: ALL YOUR BATTLE SCHOOLS ARE BELONG TO US. Fwah! Maybe I should write the “Bad Anime Version”…