I think at this point most people agree that Harrison Ford really shouldn't be in movies anymore. I got nothing against the guy personally. I mean I met him a couple times, we made out once, but I'm just saying how I feel about his acting.
Actually I think he was actually trying to be in character. If you read the book, Graff is a very worn down man under great pressure from people above him and the weight of trying to find and train someone to save the whole race. I don't think his performance was bad.
Yeah, in the book, they recruited children because children have a weird disconnect with morality that allows them to "think rationally" about moral quandaries, and they chose the main character specifically because he's a genius and, as we find out later, has a severe violent streak.
Which is essentially the polar opposite of what children actually are, hence their reason for needing to recruit children always seeming completely unsatisfying as a rationale.
HitchensImmortal That's fucking bullshit. Children are vicious and evil. The bullying of fifth graders is way worse then the bulling of high schoolers.
Plinkett closes the door after being ejected at the beginning 0:27, then they do a close up right after and the door is wide open. WHAT IS THIS CRAP AMATEUR HOUR? 0/10 would not ask for pizza rolls.
Enders Game would've had more 'bite' if they showed the multiple times he was bullied and accidentally killed said bullies in retaliation - like when he was ambushed in the showers Theres a lot of themes about inherent violent tendencies in kids, and how cold and cynical the future is. It would've been a great dark sci fi film if they actually gave a shit.
I do understand, though, why they couldn't show the scene where two ten your olds fight in the shower and one of them kicks the other in the crotch so hard it kills him.
Several studios have wanted to make Ender's Game since the 80s when it was written but Card rejected them all because he wanted it done a certain way. This was the end result of him not being able to compromise.
Tbh, I think the movie has been critisized too harsh. In the end large parts are true to the book and they pretty much packed into it what they could. What was unfortunate was the total lack of the subplot with Enders siblings but that wouldn't have really fit in there without sacrificing even more from the main story. They also couldnt have shown how the internet was described in an 80s novel. Instead they used some stuff from the bean saga, which made sense as it provided more details from a different angle. Many other films totally mutilated the source material. It was kind of bold to make this movie in the first place because of the stated problems and if staying accurate, it would probably just attract a nieche audience. Also a sequel would be next to impossible without an entirely new cast and thats probably the smallest problem to get the next chapter across. I enjoyed the story when the movie came out and it made me want to read the books, which was great.
I see this movie as being an extreme compromise... This was the movie I saw with my wife on our first date after talking it up having read every Ender universe book and I had to try so hard to overcome we should hopefully stick together forever...
Making movie out of Ender's Game was a shitty idea. It's would be even worse for its sequels, Ender's saga is definitely not a franchise you want to monetize on
The sequels are so out-there, a movie sequel would almost have to completely ignore them just to keep from driving away whatever fans of the first film might exist.
He used to make really clever movies in danish with lars von trier what happened man , was it worth it you could have critical success and a nice house in Copenhagen and his integrity
It's really unfortunate what they did with Ender's Game. Loved the books as a kid and was really looking forward to it, but looking back on it I should have realized how hard it would be to adapt a book like that to film. Not just because of the Eastern Promises style public shower room deathmatch starring children
Harrison Ford seems like he just hates acting and hates being in the public eye but he's too old and has been doing it for too long to do anything else.
The thing I remember most about Ender's Game is how the opening expository dialogue fell hilariously flat. When the kid said, "Billions died," without changing his tone at all, I burst out laughing.
i don't know why, but watching this series is just so comforting, as though all my worries are dissipated and the burden of life is lifted from my shoulders. These episodes feel so quaint and lighthearted.
I seriously doubt they will make a sequel to Ender's Game, but not because of the quality of the first one. Rather, the sequel will never get made because all of the subsequent books are incredibly different in scope, theme, and story than Ender's game. Can anyone envision a movie version of Speaker for the Dead?
@@robertanderson6929 wtf are you talking about? Enders Shadow is entirely about Bean. The movie shows nothing of his origin story as a street rat on earth. The movie is just a poor adaptation of an incredible novel.
Films based on comics would be so damn easy to number, it fits right in with the whole comic book thing. Just do "Thor #2, The Dark World" or something to that effect.
I love you guys and every time i see the RLM logo pop up in my inbox it brings a smile to my heart, a spring to my step, and i put the loaded Luger back behind the cistern.
I notice Jay & Mike didn't really talk about Ender's older brother and sister back on Earth using the power of social media to quietly conquer the world. Was that subplot from the book not featured in the movie?
The obvious overlap here is that the smartest nerds were in places like MIT, who also pioneered many technologies that lead to the ability to remotely connect computers. And if you think someone who dreams of remotely connecting computers to enhance the world's access to data doesnt want to argue about Star Trek in their spare time, you are vastly mistaken.
Kat Dennings might have been better as Jane Foster if only for the fact that her "presence" would register more than Portman having Phantom Menace flashbacks.
+Oda Swifteye Lots of shows have "finales," but it doesn't mean they were planned out from the moment the show began. A lot of the time it's just "Oh, we're running out of ideas" or "Oh, people are losing interest" and so they start building up to a finale.
Ender's Game didn't really have a finish line. There's like 7 books in the series and the ending of the first book - the second twist ending leads to like a crazy jump in tone and style. While EG toyed with some philosophy and religion - the next 4-5 books really took it to an extreme and dropped the fantasy/sci-fi/action feel of the first.
did anyone else notice that either their bathroom has two doors and Mr Plinket decided to enter through it or the just have a toilet paper holder in their hallway
I wish redletter media would review some great older movies occasionally. I'd love to hear them talk about Starship Troopers, and Same Rami's movies more closely.
I was about to say that Mike doesn't mind the "footage within a movie looking like movie footage" thing because of Star Tre...and then he started talking about Start Trek...
Wow I still figured Ender's Game was in production and now I realize its in theaters. Read the book and didn't have high hopes for the movie; good to know I don't have to waste my time.
Hmm... Well, I'm still looking forward to seeing Ender's Game (I won't be able to see it until January in my country). If you'd read the book, you'll know that the reason why they selected the children is because they were kept in the dark about what was really going on. An adult would hesitate to sacrifice human lives in fleets of ships for the cause of winning a war, yet a child playing a strategy video game will not think too much about doing the same for inanimate video game starships. Hence the name "Ender's Game." If the movie failed to convey that it's supposedly all a game to the kids, then that is a letdown because that is what the whole point of the book was.
When I first saw Ender's Game when it initially came out, my immediate thought, maybe 10 minutes into the movie was, "Man, Harrison Ford is really phoning it in". I'm trying to pinpoint when he started doing that.
I think this review of Ender's Game is spot on...for someone who didn't read the book. As usual, they missed the whole point and left out some major parts of the book that basically ruined the movie. As a fan of the book I quite enjoyed the movie, because it was like a quick visual recap of the book I enjoyed so much.
rhythmandblues alibi Who is he referring to? He starts off talking about how the review didn’t talk about the book, to how the movie missed crucial parts of the book, to how the movie was good and DID follow the book. I’m confused
I'm worried about old Grampa Ford. His acting hasn't been good since the 90's. He might compromise the new Star Wars movies. Not that aren't plenty of elements in okay that could compromise it as well. The most we can hope for is a clusterfuck.
Ender's Game strikes me as the type of story that Jay and Mike would have read already. I was expecting an enlightening analysis of the movie in light of the book, you frauds!
Your reviews are some of the best, my ONE AND ONLY suggestion, is that you should include Rich or the Wizard or Jack in the discussion... they are great in the BOTW episodes....
I knew the Ender's Game movie was going to flop as soon as I saw that Harrison Ford was cast, because his character has a rather small role in the book, but they gotta get their money out of casting a superstar! Ender's Game could work now as a streaming series a la The Expanse, and if the first season went well, they could continue other books in new seasons.
I encourage everyone to read the book. Card's an ass, yes, but his work elevates itself above his problems. The insights to the military, war, race, gender, and existing in 0g are beyond worth it. It's a short read too, so dig in!
The problem isn't just that he's an ass but that he's using the money he gets from his book to promote his homophobic views (which, ironically, include the bullying of kids) - so if you disagree with him, it might be a good idea to just borrow the book and support a local library instead.
BTW, Natalie Portman is actually a scientist of sorts with a couple of published papers under her belt like 'A Simple Method to Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar' and 'Frontal Lobe Activation during Object Permanence: Data from Near-Infrared Spectroscopy'
***** I sure hope not. She was only 13 when she was cast in The Professional. Far too young to spend all her time at studies earning a doctorate. However, I'm starting to regret that I didn't attend Harvard to be a tutor in the subject.
For anyone who might be wondering: * It's kids in space because the idea is to get extremely young people accustomed to zero g, and thinking fully in a 3D plane. * The simulators were described roughly as something similar to a 3D, zero g version of laser tag with dynamically changing environments, and full body suits that react to being hit by disabling body parts. * The kids seem unusually vicious because that's essentially what they're supposed to be: young geniuses that have a vicious streak. This give them enough room to think strategically and decisively enough to act on those assumptions. Ender is supposed to be the careful balance between strategic, vicious, and emotional enough to fully comprehend the strategy of the enemy, understand their way of life, then utterly destroy them. * From what I recall of the book, the footage of the battle was described as very poor and haphazard by the people filming. Overall, a lot of the distain I had for the movie was in how average it was, and in how much OSC had boasted about "doing it right" if a movie about Ender was ever going to be made. I was glad that they avoided the love story stuff previous scripts had insisted on, and that OSC managed to _kind of_ get a _kind of_ not bad movie made, but it was severely miscast. Harrison Ford should have been replaced with someone with an impressive and domineering voice, like James Earl Jones or similar. Ford might have made sense in the way that the character and the actor both felt very burnt out, but it didn't make for a compelling movie with how much it killed the momentum of the movie. More importantly, the overuse of CGI just made the entire thing feel tacky and lazy. Lens flare with grey and silver metal does not make a plot interesting.
11 лет назад
"I gave you my word…" Is Thor doing a Schwartzenegger impression there?
Thor: "The plot is lots of things happen and you sort of wonder why they're happening." I don't know, I wasn't that confused. Seemed pretty easy to follow to me.
The MAIN problem with Ender's Game is that like normal, you can't translate all books to film. In the book, Ender really was forced to train continuously, every day, almost every hour, and the end where they win was a complete surprise. The character development fell far too short in this film, but then it really couldn't as the book is just him and his friends doing endless gaming and him becoming separated from them because of leadership. Some books just won't translate all that well to film (cough cough 'Cloud Atlas' ) and this is one of many that don't. Also, many people I know that read it as a teen, related to it far more because of the 'us and them' feeling they had between themselves and adults (basically 'teen angst' about themselves their relationships with said adults etc. ,) and apparently this booked tapped into that and 'spoke' to them. Again, not something a film can translate all that well.
I always hated Ender's Game. Thought it felt like a diet version of the book, and somehow even less visually spectacular than the words of the book. Now people agree with me. I am complete.
Yay, but did you know that Grandpa Ford is joining the cast of the upcoming third sequel of "The Expendables 3" in 2014. He will be playing as an old man who beats up bad guys along with Grandpa Stallone and Grandpa Schwarzenegger, or even Crack headed Gibson. Yup, Grandpa Ford is still working and of course maybe he will return in Episode VII.
It's sad that anyone who didn't read Ender's Game will never understand how annoying it is to see its story compared to The Last Starfighter. The ideas, intricacies, and philosophical exploration of the novel all have so much more depth, it doesn't even compare. They completely chopped out the most important part of the film in removing Locke and Demosthenes, and they absolutely BUTCHERED the ending by making it happen when he was a child, creating one of the biggest plot holes I've ever. (Spoiler alert, but, the queen is RIGHT THERE? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!) I'm actually quite upset that people who saw the movie may judge the book based on their viewing experience. I've actually heard people say that they won't read the book because they didn't enjoy the movie. Also, I know a lot of people are being critical of Orson due to his questionable views. I'll say this: I may not agree with the guy, but he is a DAMN good writer. He knows how to develop characters, foreshadow, delve into the darkest parts of Man, and create resolutions that, at least in my case, bring tears to the eyes. Please guys, READ THE BOOK. Fuck the movie. There were some good scenes, and the acting was decent for the most part, but it just isn't up to snuff. Just to give you an idea of how different the novel is, in case you needed anything more, Peter is my favorite character. I won't say anything more, but his value in the film REALLY grinds my gears.
Raphael Asgard, I don't mean to be an ass, but I personally consider a viewpoint such as that just as ignorant as him disliking the homosexual community. The minute you decide, "Oh, he's the bad guy," you've lost the game of acceptance. Because the whole point is that we're willing to look past ALL FLAWS in ALL MEN to realize that everyone, deep down, is just someone trying to be as good as they can be.
"I've actually heard people say that they won't read the book because they didn't enjoy the movie." Yep and I'm one of 'em! The whole plot is completely ruined by the fact that they could just shoot the death star's superlaser at the enemy planet. So there was no need for genius superchildren bred for war, you could just rig the button to the office water cooler and be done with it.
I personally liked the film for what it was. It was surprisingly far more true to the book than I expected. The problem was it was all crammed into two hours. That said, there's not much fleshed out in terms of the characters,and how miserable battle school made them, as well as the toll that it took on everyone. Also, Bean was a bit of a stoic dick throughout the book, I don't understand why everyone was smiling and happy throughout. READ THE BOOK, JAY AND MIKE. I read it in 5th grade, and 3-4 more times after that. It's great.
I'm so disappointed to hear that about Harrison Ford. I was going to go see Ender's Game thinking "it'll probably be meh, but at least Harrison Ford will do a good job". I guess I thought wrong. :(
The Enders Game movie fails to portray how, in the book, a LOT of time passes. They do recruit him as a kid but, by the time the war kicks off, he's a grown adult in his mid-20s. The idea was to teach kids while they're young and impressionable so that they would become the ultimate warriors (Spartan-style).
Here's the generic comment saying: "Oh I could do it better". Because honestly, it's true. I could do it with 20% the funding the film had. All I need are bungee cords, a few sets, 5,000 worth of foam, some tin foil, some rubber paint, and a few children who can remotely act. Add in a blue and green screen, and BAM, easy. The film misses so many points, like the game Ender played. The film didn't signify the importance of it to both the plot and the character Ender. It was a generic action sci-fi film. I think modernizing the setting, plot and characters would NOT be difficult at all. Personally though, I think Ender Shadow would make a much better film. Bean's character is just more interesting. Hell, more plausible even. So many missed opportunities with this film. //end rant
But then you wouldn't have Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley in your movie and even these guys wouldn't go see it, the point is to have people see your movie right?
Ender's Game is one of the worst book adaptations I've seen for a while. So bad, in fact, that it doesn't even seem like they actually "adapted" the story to fit into a 2 hour movie. Is like they just took the book, and just sped everything up to fit within the time restrictions. That's not quite how this whole thing is supposed to work. And the phoning-it-in acting by just about everyone who appeared on screen had me just ready to leave the cinema. They didn't seem to care about the characters...why should I?
Cbclaw Well there's a slight difference there because Starship Troopers is literally the greatest movie ever produced in human history and no one gives a shit about whatever it's based on.
This could have been a lord of the rings level of detail for the first book alone. There are so many deep ideas in the novels but the movie just gave the cliffs notes of what had happened.
Except that those books have absolutely nothing in common but an alien invasion. Starship troopers tells you unironically how great it is to undergo military indoctrination while living in a fascistoid society. Which is claimed to be awesome because that way you don't have lazy hippies ruining our civilization.
