Saw the trailer for Ender’s Game today. Looks interesting. It’s been a while since I read this, and only read it once, so not sure how close this feels to the book.
Wondering if people will go see this… will Orson Scott Card’s hostility towards homosexuals put you off? Or just afraid of having a favorite book spoiled? Asa Butterfield seems quite a capable young actor, so I’m curious to see how he does in the part.
It might be cool. The book was decent and I really liked the ending chapters, though I won’t spoil it by talking about it…unless this thread is open spoilers?
I didn’t say SPOILERS in the thread title, so if you want to discuss the ending, please use the spoiler tags like this
There could be some issues with people thinking it’s some sort of sci-fi Harry Potter. I guess there could be a case for that, but I rather see a movie about the ramifications of child soldiers and the effects of overburdening children with ambitions.
[spoiler]Nice to see the wire tether in the trailer.
Bit ambivalent about the use of the TC bomb over the title card. Not really much of a spoiler if you don’t know the book, but it tells us they won’t muck around with the ending.
I think what will set the tone of the movie is how they handle Ender killing a fellow student. They could try to make it PG or M, which may have implications for the plot complexity. [/spoiler]Just hope they don’t try to use Speaker of the Dead as a sequel.:dubious: (Yes, I know it technically is a sequel, but even the author admitted it’s a different book with some Enders references chucked in)
It’s been awhile since I’ve read the books (this and Ender’s Shadow) but I don’t remember it actually coming across in his works, so it doesn’t really bug me (much like I don’t taste the homophobia in my Chik-Fil-A…).
Like Engineerly, I’m somewhat worried that the movie will “miss the point” and the message of the book and just work off the first layer.
The fear of having a favorite book spoiled would be why I don’t go see the movie. The preview linked in the OP does nothing to reassure me that the film makers didn’t miss the point completely.
Definitely not going because Card is a bad man. It helps that the trailer looks like shit.
Pretty much the above. Never got the love the books got either. Pass.
I will be going because I enjoy the book, I reread it every few years and have given it to kids in my family as good science fiction. They seem to be using much older children, in the book Ender is 5. This may be because they can not find enough kids under 10 who are good enough actors - Phantom Menace may have taught some lessons.
My concern that they will water down the fight in the bathroom is slightly allayed, the scene right before the hand to hand in white might be the beginning of the kids fighting. Ender being able to kill or be killed by other children is so vital to the story I do not want that lost in this movie.
I’ve never read the book, in trying to decide if I want to first.
That just looks bad to me. Perhaps you don’t cast a 5 year old but you can’t go much older than a very young looking 10 year old. Going with someone who looks like early teens just completely undercuts the evil done to Ender in the books.
Based upon the rest of the trailer, I’m having a hard time seeing this not being a mainstream hero movie and them completely avoiding the brutality of Ender’s training, his fellow soldiers, the killings, the psychological toll, etc.
Maybe it is for the best. After learning of the author’s religious beliefs and activism for denying basic human rights I’ve had no stomach to revisit the books let alone support the movie.
Read this a year or so ago, it was interesting. I might see this purely for curiosity.
Ben Kingsley has Maori tattoos. He also seems to be putting on an accent of some kind. If it’s a Kiwi accent I hope it’s a good one, or it will be excruciating to sit through.
It probably has more to do with the fact that a five year old doing everything Ender does is just ridiculously stupid.
Beating a 13 year old to death is just too stupid for words and while the rest of the book was good, aging him up makes sense from a story standpoint.
I don’t care what Card says, little children don’t think or act that way. Even smart ones.
It and Ender’s Shadow are the only books of the Ender series I enjoyed, so I hope they don’t screw it up too badly. I’ll probably see it down the road but not at release.
Torn: I love the book (and the original story.) I liked the “Bean” re-telling. I liked the sequels. Hell, I even liked the comic book.
But all of that was before I was told about Card and his little…problems.
So, I figure I’ll buy a used copy of the movie on disk, well after it has come and gone again.
I’ll see it, even though the authour is a well-known bigot. From what I recall, his bigotry is not reflected in the story itself, and so presumably will form no part of the movie, either.
I read and liked many of Card’s books when I was younger. I knew he was a religious Mormon, and thought that may have influenced the Alvin Maker books, but didn’t see much in the Ender series.
Then I found out about his views on gay people and their place in the world. These are not just run of the mill social conservative views. He thinks it might be appropriate to revolt against a government that “redefines marriage”. He only dropped his support for (selectively) enforcing laws against homosexual sex after SCOTUS ruled them unconstitutional.
It is always difficult to separate the art from the artist, but, in this particular case, I will not spend my money to make this artist one penny richer.
I expect them to make a sanitized, Manichean flick for young teenagers served with a love interest on the side.
If the movie is accidentally any good, I guess I’ll know then.
Regarding the issue of Card’s opinions and whether the movie should be boycotted as a result, I’m torn.
If I can still love books by Roald Dahl, despite what I know know about his views regarding Jews and Israel, then I guess I can live with Card, too.