The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

The first review I read of the new movie Ender's Game, in the New York Daily News, really panned it. (But then, so did the first review I read of Star Wars, back in 1977.) Then I read a few user reviews. Generally those who liked the book, liked the movie. The overall rating on IMDB is 7/10. I saw the film today. I'd say that rating is about right. It's no Star Wars, but it's not bad.

It's fairly true to the book, but very compressed. At 1:45, it's a quarter hour shorter than the typical movie and I think they could have used a little more time to flesh it out a bit. The six years Ender spent at Battle School seemed to take a few weeks at most. They did get the battle room right. I think the young actor who played Bonzo was very good, but being a head and a half shorter than Ender, made him seem much less physically threatening for the shower fight scene. There is enough intensity to carry the movie, but the story seems a little rushed.

I'll wait for the DVD, but thanks for the update. We seem to have similar tastes in books, so maybe it will work for me, although Bonzo being smaller than Ender is one of those things that really hurts.

I saw it this weekend. It was a decent adaptation of the book, although I'll always enjoy the book more. I think it followed Ender's story well, but I was upset that they missed out the whole Peter/Valentine story arc of their political writings. I was pleasantly surprised by the movie, I must admit.

Was the movie based on the book or the original short story? I think the political writings were added in to the book, but it's been years since I read the short story. Anyone remember?

I haven't read the short story, but after looking up a summary of it, the film is based off the book, not the short story, it just doesn't include the political parts. The short story seems to start only as Ender makes the Dragon Army, and the film also has before that, as seen in the book, when he has his monitor removed.

Card said that he developed the short story into a novel so that he could set the history for Speaker for the Dead, which was published shortly after. In the movie, Ender's encounter with the hive queen at the end seemed anticlimactic. And it very much seemed like the setup for a sequel. If Ender's Game is successful at the box office, I think we are assured of the sequel. However, the political writings of Peter and Valentine are germane to Speaker for the Dead because Ender wrote about the Hive Queen and the Hegemon. The Hegemon he wrote about was Peter Wiggin, who played only a miniscule role in the Ender's Game movie. Of course, when they make movies, they employ the hatchet liberally. In a sequel, they will work it out somehow.

In the book, I don't remember Ender's discovery of the hive queen cocoon as seeming anticlimactic because it tied in so strongly with the mind game in battle school. In the movie, the mind game episodes were of course abbreviated, and the connection with the ending was not as clear, to me at least.

I really hope they don't make the sequel. Speaker of the Dead is a phenomenal book in my mind, and is so focused on politics and the question of rights, that it wouldn't work as a film, or at least as a sequel film to the Enders Game film.

I think the only reason Enders Game work was that is was essentially a YA novel, with enough focus on the Battle Room and the Game that is had enough 'explosive' plot to work as a film. The Speaker of the Dead is far more subtle compared to Enders Game, in the 'space opera' genre, that I think a film wouldn't work...

Saw it on DVD. I agree with the other comment, it felt a bit rushed. I read the book a few years ago and the movie reminded me of the parts left out. The character had so much more depth in the book. I was talking with a coworker of mine that liked the movie, but had never read the book. She seemed to be able to follow the story line ok. I just think you miss out on so much not reading the book first.