Ender's Game

I agree about the internet subplot. I could see them maybe making it about hackers instead. Like they hack important websites to display their writings.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1dxm81/i_am_asa_butterfield_star_of_films_such_as_hugo/

Asa Butterfield did a reddit AMA about the film.

He actually has some good stuff to say about it.

Also I managed to find the book at my school library I started reading it today.

Thread Hop: I just saw the trailer. It looks promising, but I dearly hope they don't dumb down the Mind Screw elements to sell it to a wider audience. Also, Harrison Ford... ugh. I will never take him seriously in a dramatic role.

^^Blade Runner is fantastic

I always imagined Graff as a more middle-aged, kinda overweight guy. And less dramatic, more (outwardly, at least) impersonal.

Graff's weight does swing around a bit over the course of the book, though.

Frankly, I haven't seen Blade Runner in its entirety, so I can't judge. All I know is that when Ford switched from roguish action hero to a serious dramatic actor, I lost all interest in him. I just can't take him seriously when he tries to play serious roles. I think it was that godawful film Witness that did it for me, followed by his wimpy portrayal of Jack Ryan in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.

Now that you mention it, I remember Graff having weight issues. I seem to recall associating those with his moral qualms about how he was treating Ender.

One thing about the book that's very clear though is that most of the narration is from Ender's perspective. The adults are not really described in any great detail; they are, appropriately, looming presences who have very little characterization. Most of that is supplied in those snippets of conversations which are framed as recordings that are being reviewed retrospectively at an inquest.

In short, the story is about Ender. Not about Graff, or Rackham, or any of the other adults. The Formic war is the Framing Story, not the main event.

edited 9th May '13 9:00:59 AM by Fighteer

That AMA is particularly fun to read. And good news! Eventually they post an interview link confirming the Mind Game is in the film! He doesn't discuss it, though. Secrecy, secrecy.

edited 9th May '13 9:39:11 AM by Tuckerscreator

Mmm, I can't wait for some delicious giant eye-gouging action.

The Mind Game is weird. Hard to do it justice without it coming across as some kind of trippy, irrelevant sideplot or worse, a Disney Acid Sequence.

edited 9th May '13 1:44:15 PM by Fighteer

I'm always holding out for another movie to emulate Shutter Island's dream sequences. Basically things seem more or less normal, but then very gradually, weirdness gets introduced, and at the climax of weirdness, the character finally snaps out of it.

But I'm going to keep my expectations at "wacky holographic virtual reality"

And then they make a video-game tie-in with that as the game-within-a-game

A video game that tests for aptitude, suicidal tendencies, and psychological trauma. And then they'll market it to six year olds.

Apparently the actor playing Ender is sixteen. Really? And Peter and Valentine's actors are 17. Talk about Dawson Casting. Unless they plan to make this a teen drama, which sort of changes the message a bit.

Still, I imagine that it would have been near impossible to find an actual six year old to play Ender.

^ Not to mention liability issues. An Age Lift is cheaper than extra insurance for way-under-legal age actors, especially in a film that has action-y sections.

(EG isn't all action, of course, but with the Battle Room stuff it does have action scenes.)

edited 10th May '13 6:30:17 AM by Nohbody

Asa Butterfield looks 10ish, and as long as an actor doesn't look or sound older than their character, I don't really care how old they are in real life. It's acting, not historical recreation. It'd be like being bothered about Sean Bean still being alive in real life despite always dying in movies.

Wasn't Ender 12 by the end of it anyway?

^the biggest age thing I'm concerned about is the Ender/Bonzo fight.

edited 10th May '13 8:23:14 AM by Ch00beh

If the filmmakers could find a 6 year old that could convincingly act like Ender from the book, I'd be both impressed and a bit worried about the actor. The age up I can totally understand.

What I want to know is when did Harrison Ford's voice start sounding like Nick Offerman's voice?

Is that a bad thing?

Cause Nick Offerman is badass.

It is disappointing to watch the trailer and think Nick Offerman is in a sci-fi epic only to be wrong.

If only...

Pah. Dawson Casting of vital roles, Harrison Ford in a major role when I know him more recently for marrying Ally Mc Beal (and the Indiana Jones film we don't talk about at parties).

Doesn't look good at all.

Remind me why they didn't just make an anime of this?

^ Because there's already a glut of "superkid saves the galaxy" material from Japan?

Which means that they would able to do a better job of it, with anime characters that look the right age, and don't have to pander to Hollywood "stars" that have gone way past their sell-buy dates by casting them in leading roles.

Not sure if it is the right time to be making Battlefield Earth comparisons just yet...