I don’t know what to think. I’m sure the opening action part is the flashback/opening that handles the first two Bugger encounters.
I have learned not to trust trailers because they’re designed to draw you in and can be misleading. For example, Adventureland came off as a full comedy by the trailer, but it was more drama than comedy in my opinion. So, I don’t know what to think about all the training scenes. They never went into detail about it beyond the war simulations with the squads.
Now, the zero gravity war simulations look really cool from the brief clips. I’m sure it will look more sci-fi than it sounded in the book, but you have to expect that from Hollywood. I am nervous that I saw nothing about The Giant’s Drink game, but that would look a little out of place.
I’m playing a wait and see, but this is a movie that I will quite possibly see no matter what because I love the book. I show my support to Tolkien, so I should show my support to Orson Scott Card and give this a chance. As long as I don’t see an ‘Elves at Helms Deep’ moment, I’ll be content Also, Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley? That’s worth the price of admission for me right now.
Legends of Windemere 
Yesss!
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Looks so awesome!
I’m really hoping it’s good because the book adaptations that came out this year have disappointed (Beautiful Creatures and The Host).
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Book adaptations are always iffy. Even LOTR and The Hobbit took liberties. I’m giving the movie some leeway because some things simply don’t translate well, but it better be good. Otherwise, I’ll be pouting in a dark corner.
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I find it rather distressing that there seems to be a huge spoiler for the ending in the trailer. But that may not be obvious to people who aren’t familiar with the book.
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I was thinking about that. I don’t think people who aren’t familiar with the book will realize what is going on. Even if they know what he physically does, the actual circumstances make it so much more epic. Funny that I’m trying very hard not to mention spoilers in this comment.
Everyone should read this book, so I can talk comfortably. I’ll wait.
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lol please don’t give any spoilers!
I’ve got the book on my shelf right now which I’m planning to read next week.
And the cutting of movie trailers these days really suck. They always spoil the movie.
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It shows some, but a big part of the book is the growth of Ender and the psychology of the characters. The trailer can’t capture that. Besides, if you think you know what’s going on, you really don’t until you read the book. 🙂
Yes, I’m evil, but I’ve read Ender’s Game once a year for the last 12 years. I haven’t read it this year yet due to business.
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I still haven’t read the book so need to do that before I see the film. But from the trailer, this movie has the potential to be MASSIVE. A crossover for the YA type films like Hunger Games, combined with something adults will feel is entirely for them too.
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Never thought of it as YA since I think this came out before YA was a thing. I’m biased, so I think this book is epically better than Hunger Games. The characters are great.
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Oh I’m sure it’s much better. I’m just talking about what I got from the trailer, which is why I think it could end up being a huge movie.
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Hope so. I think it has an October release, so it’s away from the big blockbuster season. That should help.
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These are definitely my favorite books. The trailer didn’t hold up to my expectations, though. I really wanted more Battle School things, not war scenes. Oh well, I know I’ll be there when it comes out.
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I think they need to bring the non-fans in. Those war scenes are probably the opening and when Ender is viewing the old records. Let’s keep some hope. 😀
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Looks exciting and familiar. Geez…it’s so bad I can’t remember if I read these or not. I have a really hard time remembering things these days…do you think that means I’m getting old?!? lol
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Nope. It means you have to read it again. 😉
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Great response!!! lol And I think you are right 🙂
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Ah the trend of adapting novels to blockbuster movies. Generally I am skeptical of blockbuster movies adapted from novels and short stories. They’re iffy. Sometimes they’re a hit. Most of the time, they’re a miss.
I haven’t read Orson Scott Card.
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It’s a really good book. One of the greatest science-fiction books ever made and it has the awards to prove it.
I’m always cautious because one never knows if the director is going to be respectful or try their ‘own vision’. As an author, I plan on being on set if my books ever get the movie treatment. If I’m not around at the time, I’m putting ‘No Michael Bay’ in my will.
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I’ve love Card as I’ve love Tolkien…after the storming of Helms Deep by the arian (shuddering shades of the waffen ss) elves …I shuddered and vowed not to watch any more hatchet jobs of my favorite fantasy authors…if these people want to express their creativity…fine, great, I’m all for it…but not at the expense of the authors who’ve written the orginal works…sheesh.
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Sadly, it’s going to happen. Books always get altered on the way to the big screen. This is why they’re now called adaptations and it says ‘based on’. If they do it that way, they’re claiming that it isn’t a perfect transfer. Gotta love syntax.
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Forgive me if my memory is a bit sketchy (it’s been 10 years since I read the LOTR trilogy) but what so wrong with the elves at helm’s deep?
That was such an awesome and bad-ass moment in the film!
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The issue was that the elves never went to Helm’s Deep. After Rivendell, Legolas is the only constant elf in the series. Galadriel is a one or two chapter thing. One of the subplots of LOTR (books) was that the elves were leaving Middle Earth. They no longer cared and said that humans caused this problem by not destroy The Ring. So, they were going back over the ocean instead of staying to fight. The elves showing up at Helm’s Deep destroyed this part of the story and in a way that made it obvious it was done to create a bad-ass moment. There really wasn’t anything gained from it in terms of story. Most people didn’t even remember who the elven general was, so his death was kind of ‘meh’.
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Yeh…well, I guess it’s like coffee…espresso for the Italians is coffee…what American’s drink is dishwater…so you just treat each drink as something unto itself and you have no problems with it, if you like it…it’s great…
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Coffee is a funny thing. Espresso over here is expensive and seen as a chic, fancy super-coffee. There are a lot of things (usually food) that are every day in one area, but fancy in another. Or the quality differs immensely. I wonder if we have anything here that we think is basic, but other countries see as fancy.
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Over here McDonald’s is considered exotic believe it or not…except by people with traditional and refinded taste of course. Used to be the thing for the kids to go to McDonald’s…pancakes with maple syrup is another thing that drives people wild…oh and peanut butter.
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Peanut butter? Didn’t see that one coming. I’d heard that McDonalds was big around the world. I’m more of a Burger King or Wendy’s fan.
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This trailer gave me chills, but I’m cautious like you. This is such an iconic book. I’m amazed it took this long to develop a film. But when I think of what happened with the Earthsea adaptation, well, I can see the need for caution.
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I’m not that surprised about the length of development because it is an iconic book. The length of time makes me think they’re being cautious. Also, they got Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley, so they’re obviously taking this seriously.
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Good point! I didn’t even notice the mind game wasn’t mentioned. I guess it was only a 1:30 min trailer, so they couldn’t include everything. Unless they cut out the mind game entirely? I sincerely hope not. I could see them getting away with cutting it, but I feel a dimension of the story would definitely be lost if they did cut it.
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I wrote a nice response and it vanished when I hit reply. This has been going on all week.
Basically, The Giant’s Drink is essential to Ender’s psychology and evolution. It has to be in there, but it’s also a strange part of the book. It’s a touch of fantasy in a sci-fi story, so a non-fan would be confused and possibly turned off. It would look like the director is trying to jam multiple genres into a single movie.
My first response was so much more eloquent.
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Lol I believe you! I do that all the time, no worries. Oh, I definitely agree that the Giant’s Drink is essential. I can just see them cutting it out (the movie’s only 2 hours long, after all). I really hope they don’t, but … well, fingers crossed and we’ll see what happens!
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They might make it brief and a single scene. I can see them cutting a few of the battles or a few of his breakdowns. Curious to see what Peter Wiggin looks like. I don’t think I saw him in the trailer.
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Also a good point! I’m sure he’ll be in there, though. I mean, the vast majority of Ender’s psychoses come from Peter, so … kind of essential to the story 🙂
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Well, they have an actor for him. Maybe they’re saving him for a future trailer. He’s kind of a villain. That reminds me. Wonder if they’ll do Locke and Demosthenes. That’s more for Valentine and Peter, but the results affect Ender. They have Abigail Breslin as Valentine, so they have to use her for something. Maybe it will depend on if they try for the series.
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Oh gosh, you think they’ll do a series? I supposed Speaker for the Dead would be pretty cool, but the next two just got kind of weird, didn’t they? All I remember from Xenocide was that girl who traced grains in the floorboards, lol.
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Speaker for the Dead will be hard because it’s not really action-packed. Xenocide was all over the place. I never went on to the last one because of the ending of Xenocide. The grain tracing girl wasn’t that entertaining for me to read. So far, I think they’re sticking with a solitary movie.
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