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Ender's Game
Didn't feel like using spoiler tags for every other sentence, so be warned, if you haven't seen the film or read the book, I'm about to spoil the hell out of them...
Has anyone seen the film yet? Or anyone just read the book? I saw it today after having read the book earlier this year.
I was excited to see it because the trailer looked promising, but as is often the case when reading the book before seeing the film, was also expecting to be slightly disappointed. I understood that a lot had to be changed, such as Ender's age, and a lot had to be cut out, but I couldn't get on board with some changes and didn't understand why some things got cut. So as expected, I was disappointed.
I think the translation from book to film, if handled better, could have really worked and kicked off an exciting sci-fi franchise, but I can't see any sequels coming Gavin Hood's way, and I hope they don't.
The whole thing felt rushed. It was faithful to the source material, in terms of what actually happens, but there was no heart in it. Epic moments from the book just fell flat on screen, such as Alai's "salaam" when Ender reaches Command School. Ender's relationships with characters like Alai and Bean were hurried and not given enough time, so Ender never feels like this great leader that is respected and loved. In fact, loads of Battle School was cut, which was the films biggest problem. Battle School is so important for us to get behind Ender, and really see him as a true, tactical-minded, genius commander. We see him compete in the Battle Room once before he is given his own army, and we only see Dragon army in one battle. I understand that they couldn't show all the battles, but a quick montage wouldn't have gone amiss. And the number of battles Ender competed in and won wasn't even made that clear.
Peter is a nothing character. I understand that the Demosthenes/Locke sub-plot had to be dropped, but don't know why Peter's influence on Ender was over-looked. He has about one minute of screen time, and isn't talked about enough to seem important. Peter is a vital part of Ender's mean streak, which is hugely under-played. Ender doesn't have any sort of confrontation with Bernard, and we don't even know if Ender ended up killing Stilson and Bonzo, but it is never even implied.
Also, the Formics are never referred to as "buggers". Which is just pointless. Is the word "buggers" that offensive?
I was wondering how they were going to deal with the ending, but I didn't think they were going to include a living Hive-Queen. Doesn't really make sense that this Hive-Queen has just been chilling next to a human base for so long. If they were thinking about sequels, I thought they would have ended it differently, because I can't see them adapting Speaker for the Dead (though I haven't read Ender in Exile yet).
But yeah, I was disappointed, and wouldn't recommend the film, but I'll always recommend the book, which is great. Maybe I'm being harsh, and maybe if I hadn't only recently read the book I might have enjoyed it, but I doubt it.
Ender's Game
Didn't feel like using spoiler tags for every other sentence, so be warned, if you haven't seen the film or read the book, I'm about to spoil the hell out of them...
Has anyone seen the film yet? Or anyone just read the book? I saw it today after having read the book earlier this year.
I was excited to see it because the trailer looked promising, but as is often the case when reading the book before seeing the film, was also expecting to be slightly disappointed. I understood that a lot had to be changed, such as Ender's age, and a lot had to be cut out, but I couldn't get on board with some changes and didn't understand why some things got cut. So as expected, I was disappointed.
I think the translation from book to film, if handled better, could have really worked and kicked off an exciting sci-fi franchise, but I can't see any sequels coming Gavin Hood's way, and I hope they don't.
The whole thing felt rushed. It was faithful to the source material, in terms of what actually happens, but there was no heart in it. Epic moments from the book just fell flat on screen, such as Alai's "salaam" when Ender reaches Command School. Ender's relationships with characters like Alai and Bean were hurried and not given enough time, so Ender never feels like this great leader that is respected and loved. In fact, loads of Battle School was cut, which was the films biggest problem. Battle School is so important for us to get behind Ender, and really see him as a true, tactical-minded, genius commander. We see him compete in the Battle Room once before he is given his own army, and we only see Dragon army in one battle. I understand that they couldn't show all the battles, but a quick montage wouldn't have gone amiss. And the number of battles Ender competed in and won wasn't even made that clear.
Peter is a nothing character. I understand that the Demosthenes/Locke sub-plot had to be dropped, but don't know why Peter's influence on Ender was over-looked. He has about one minute of screen time, and isn't talked about enough to seem important. Peter is a vital part of Ender's mean streak, which is hugely under-played. Ender doesn't have any sort of confrontation with Bernard, and we don't even know if Ender ended up killing Stilson and Bonzo, but it is never even implied.
Also, the Formics are never referred to as "buggers". Which is just pointless. Is the word "buggers" that offensive?
I was wondering how they were going to deal with the ending, but I didn't think they were going to include a living Hive-Queen. Doesn't really make sense that this Hive-Queen has just been chilling next to a human base for so long. If they were thinking about sequels, I thought they would have ended it differently, because I can't see them adapting Speaker for the Dead (though I haven't read Ender in Exile yet).
But yeah, I was disappointed, and wouldn't recommend the film, but I'll always recommend the book, which is great. Maybe I'm being harsh, and maybe if I hadn't only recently read the book I might have enjoyed it, but I doubt it.
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TOP 100 | "Don't let the bastards grind you down!"
TOP 100 | "Don't let the bastards grind you down!"
