Maybe the book explains it
Pretty much.
For starters, Rackham wasn't a fighter pilot, he was the supreme commander of humanity's military during the Second War, and he was supposed to have died of old age before Ender was ever born, not via suicide stunt. Chalk that up to the movie deciding to skip all the hard science of near-light speed space travel, which was a pretty important plot point regarding both Rackham's existence and humanity's invasion plans in the book. On a similar note, the Wave Motion Gun that won the day in the film wasn't the human fleet's trump card, it was their basic weapon. Every ship in the human fleet was using missiles that caused the WMG's chain-disintegration effect. That may sound OP considering how the battles in the movie played out, but again, chalk it up to the movie skipping the hard science on space travel: in the book, there wasn't a single human fleet moving inexorably toward the alien homeworld one victory at a time; because of the vast distances involved, humanity had started sending ships toward the alien homeworld as soon as the last war was over, nearly a hundred years ago, and kept sending them ever since. The ones they launched in the very first wave were only just now reaching the alien homeworld, while the later groups were arriving at progressively nearer alien-held planets.
This meant that the closer to the alien homeworld they got, the older, crummier, and more out-classed the human fleets were, and the more outnumbered. This meant the earliest battles, pitting the newest human ships against the nearest, least numerous alien strongholds, were curb-stomps by humanity, but the difficulty curve rose exponentially over the distance so that by the time they reached the alien homeworld, even the ultra-cheat missiles weren't leveling the playing field. This also explains how Rackham was still alive after a century: because near-light speed travel slows the passage of time for the traveler, Rackham went out with the first wave, then turned around and came back at the halfway point, so he'd return just before the original wave reached the homeworld. This also also explains why they were so dead-set on pining all their hopes on Ender: there wasn't time left to train anyone else.
They used kids because they wanted to start molding them into the perfect commanders as early as possible. Ender was naturally talented, but a lot of the ideas and tactics that made him so successful were things suggested by or learned from his lieutenants. Battle School also lasted a lot longer in the book; I don't recall specifically off the top of my head, but I want to say about 5 years. Certainly not the ~week suggested by the film's pacing. And, while Ender famously never lost a single battle in Battle School no matter how the teachers stacked the deck against him, the mental stress of it all caused him to have several mental breakdowns throughout the course of the story, and on more than one occasion try to drop out. In fact, while the film portrays his final battle at school as a moment of triumph, in the book it was the moment where he gave up and quit; the cheap tactic he used to win the battle anyway was his gigantic middle finger to the entire school, saying he wasn't going to play their damn game anymore.
The same thing happened with the final battle against the aliens: he finally snapped, and decided to break the game instead of continuing to play. The final battle against the aliens wasn't a matter of turtling while the super weapon charged up, it was a desperate, mad dash to send every single ship in the attack force on a crash course with the homeworld, hoping one would get close enough to blow up the whole damn thing before they were all wiped out. It was the final Battle School game all over again; ignore the impossible to beat enemy and go straight for the Golden Snitch. In the movie, it was played as a triumph. In the book, it was a giant middle finger to the whole damn game and the teachers that were doing it to him, because he was just. Effing. Done.
And in that moment, when he had his pyrrhic triumph in declaring that he wasn't going to be the adult's plaything anymore, that he wouldn't lead the fleets, that he wouldn't have anything more to do with any of them or their stupid war... he learned that he'd been fighting the real war all along, and he'd just done everything they'd ever wanted from him. He hadn't broken free; they were just done with him, and he'd killed countless billions in the process.
What matters in this life is much more than winning for ourselves. What really matters is helping others win, too. - F. Rogers.
what would Ender do without the OP Wave Motion Gun he had in the climax?
In the book he only uses the MD Device in the first and last battle with the Formics. After he uses it the first time, the aliens figure out how it works and keep their starships far away enough so that it can't do a chain reaction again. As such, in the final battle it's aimed at the planet because there's no chance for them to escape its explosive radius. In all the battles in between it was virtually useless, and because of the time for human ships to reach the formic colonies, the starship capabilities got less advanced every battle. By the final battle he might as well been commanding men on horseback with arrows.
^ Again, a retort to one of my points uses information from the book. Thank you for answering a question, but I'm just asserting myself. And yes, while there was a montage of Ender winning other battles in the movie (which I kind of just remembered only right now, sorry), other things that you said weren't covered by the movie. I didn't know he (in the book) had the OP gun in his first battle, or that the spaceships got less advanced as battle progressed, for example.
I don't think either of us were arguing with your assessment, just explaining the differences between the film and book. Because yeah, the film is a lousy adaptation. It does a decent job of cramming most of the important events into a 2 hour window, but it sacrifices a ton of important scientific and logistic details as well as characterization to do it, and totally misses the point of the story.
What matters in this life is much more than winning for ourselves. What really matters is helping others win, too. - F. Rogers.
I liked the film, but I would have preferred a longer adaptation. It's interesting here to see what the movie looks like to one who hasn't read the book, since there's enough material to make a decent miniseries.
Cheap or not, it still takes brains and skill to exploit those. Ender didn\'t seem like a Mary Tzu to me.
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Good Film Burdened By Unanswered Questions And Mary Tzu
Ender's game is a smart sci-fi film, exploring the journey of the eponymous Ender as he is chosen as a candidate for Battle School, a space station where humanity is training a new generation of soldiers and generals to fight in a Bug War, having been inspired by a hero who rammed his jet plane into an alien spaceship and won a battle (somehow). Simple.
The special effects are good. The zero-gravity fights scenes are spectacularly immersive, and the characterization is generally well done. The acting is taken seriously, even among the children, and the premise was original and interesting.
It was a good film overall, but what makes me unwanting to see it again are two plot holes and a Pet Peeve Trope. The PPT is Mary Tzu. Ender always dishes out a Curb-Stomp Battle with his team of underdogs, even when outnumbered 2-1 by an experienced and skilled enemy that has set up good defensive positions.
First, how does the famous person lead to the Battle School program? The line of logic the film presents is "Man's suicide attack in an airplane is successful" equals "a kid will become a military genius and lead us to victory, and we will train him through zero gravity laser tag". Maybe the book explains it, but there seems to be some steps missing. Also, why a kid (especially when the famous hero was an adult)? Why laser tag (see below)? Why put all your faith in a single, new commander when you have a committee of seasoned veterans already at your disposal? You're telling me that a teenager with natural talent is a better choice than people who have dedicated their lives to waging war?
Second, how does the Battle School program actually work? You train your army and commanders with laser tag (as opposed to study of past battles or practicing maneuvers with thousands of soldiers and vehicles)? Granted, there are probably other things, but from what we see, the Battle School lives up to its initials. I know Ender is a genius in that arena as previously mentioned, but what would Ender do without the OP Wave Motion Gun he had in the climax? Ender's victories in the arena rely on, say it with me, cheap tactics. Ender's victories outside the arena are just protecting a superweapon until it recharges. Napoleon and Grant were real military geniuses; no battle of theirs was won by turtling around a Game Breaker until it was ready to fire.