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Ender’s Game and Drone Warfare

In almost every interview on Ender’s Game he has given Harrison Ford has pointed out how the relevance of this movie for today’s audiences hinges in part on its comment on current drone warfare. Some commenters have been equally persistent in claiming to see no connection between the two. Obviously, in the book there are actual pilots steering the ships while drone ships are generally just remote-controlled machines. But to point this out as the sole reason for negating Ford’s argument is a little too simplistic. After all, in both cases the decisions (and therefore the moral deliberations) are made by those who do not truly experience the horrors of war first-hand.

Now, Slate has published an interesting little article shedding light on what Ender’s story truly tells us about drone warfare. The article focuses not just on the game-like nature of drone attacks but also on the psychological effects on the decision maker.

[A] recent study has suggested that PTSD in drone pilots might be minimized by humanizing the drone interface. … [But] it is questionable whether we should wish to … help our soldiers kill with fewer psychological consequences. … War should be horrible and traumatic because otherwise it threatens to become merely a game, or merely a job, and the consequences of warfare where only one side stands to lose are inhumane and unacceptable.

Read the rest of the article HERE!

Source: Slate

November 13, 2013
Another “Ender’s Game” Review – Too Much, Too Quick

(Review by EnderWiggin.net staffer Liz Spencer)

So Crystal has posted her official review, and it’s good stuff. I was the lucky tag-along who got to have the experience of a lifetime and attend this red carpet premiere with our famous webmaster. We made it home in the wee hours of the morning, but were absolutely too wired to sleep. So I present to you now my 3AM ramblings, the unedited review that created itself as I just couldn’t lie down without writing it all out. I’ll be seeing the movie again tonight, as Summit Entertainment has been kind enough to provide us with quite a few tickets to an advanced screening here in Honolulu (if you haven’t asked Crystal for tickets, there’s still time!). So it’s quite possible that my opinions might change, as tends to happen any second time ’round. But here is my initial reaction for your review.

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I’ll start right off by saying that I was not as horribly disappointed by this film as I feared I would be. However, I was also not as pleasantly surprised as I hoped I would be, especially after reading reviews from several fellow fans who kindled in my mind a small fire of hope that all my worries would be for naught.

It was a good film, but it was not a great film, and what makes it so frustrating is that all the elements were in place to create what truly could have been a marvelous adaptation.

It was just too dang fast. All the key plot pieces were there, and they were actually done rather well. But it didn’t matter, because the story took off at a sprint and never realized that it should have been pacing itself for a marathon. Or at least a 5K.

If I had not read the book, and went into this story completely blind, I would be asking several very important questions right now. First, I would not for a minute buy the plot. So we’re training kids to command our entire international fleet, protect our civilization from imminent destruction, and somehow they are both capable and qualified to do this after about six months in space playing laser tag?

Condensing the timeline was a killer. It took away from the authenticity of the story. To those naysayers who have complained over the years that the story was totally impractical anyway (and I bite my thumb at them) it was at least more plausible under the original terms. Taking children – real children, not adolescents – removing them from their homes, and conditioning them under the strictest of environments for half their natural lives, one can appreciate the depth of their training, their study, and their practice.

Of course this was also the biggest plot element that had to be revised. And this is entirely understandable, and why I have always known that any film adaptation of this book will never do it justice. Because unless they make a 20-episode miniseries (which I think would actually work fantastically) there is no way to chart the time and the growth that must occur. But I guess I was just hoping that Gavin Hood would have made it work better.

It’s not good when even I didn’t believe that Ender was capable of what they were asking him to do. From what I saw, he showed up at Battle School, spent two days as a launchie, got transferred to Salamander, was in one battle, got promoted to commander, was in another battle, fought Bonzo, quit, decided to come back the next day, flew to Command School, met his army, and was ready to conquer the home planet in like a week. While there are several “Dear Valentine”letters that are meant to inform us of the true passage of time, we just don’t see enough of his teaching, his training, and his tactical leadership to understand why Graff seems to think he’s that big of a deal.

And here’s where this all really sucks. Because all of these individual plot segments were actually done pretty well. If I was just watching them as clips, I’d think, “Oh, that was cool, I can’t wait to see the rest of it.” But there is no rest of it. There was no pacing, no waiting, no ten seconds to catch your breath and actually establish a scene. I didn’t have time to grow to care about Ender, really care about him. And again, if I hadn’t read the book, I don’t think I would have appreciated his internal struggle. I knew what he was supposed to be thinking because I KNEW what he was supposed to be thinking.

And again, this sucks. Because the performances were great. I actually have no qualms with any of the actors. Asa Butterfield was magnificent. Once I accepted a 15-year old Ender (who could legitimately pass for 13) he did embody the character. If he had been given more time, more TIME to reflect and study, watch those Bugger vids and monologue a little, I would have been able to truly appreciate and believe in his story. Harrison Ford was also good, and had several excellent lines, but also suffered from a sheer lack of time. Ben Kingsley was great (I don’t know what some of those reviewers are whining about), and all the other kids were good, but given so little to do they seemed merely extraneous. They tried to build up Bean, but he never got a chance to do more than act as comedic relief (which he did very well). Moises Arias (who I was terribly, terribly worried would bring down this entire thing himself) actually made a convincing Bonzo. Unfortunately, the theater was laughing every time he was on screen. Because it WAS funny that he was so little and trying to be so tough, and while he did a good job, you never felt that Ender was in any danger at all because all he would have to do is stiff-arm the guy and he’d never get near him.

Time. It needed more time. I’m hoping for an extended edition DVD release, but even that won’t fix some of the intrinsic rushing of these scenes. So in the end, I give it a passing grade. Of course the visuals were awesome (I just realized that I haven’t even mentioned them), but what I wanted was the story. The struggle. The journey. This cast and crew took on a most difficult project and performed admirably, and I freely acknowledge the near-impossibility of making it work just right. I guess I just hoped for a miracle. Thank you, Gavin, for all that you did. Your heart was truly in it– our visions just differ is all.

October 30, 2013
Ender’s Game Movie Review (by EnderWiggin.net Staffer Dee)
Hey guys,

in case you didn’t know: I saw Ender’s Game last night! Finally! And since it’s still a few days until November 1st and some of you may still ponder the question whether or not to go see it …. kidding, of course you’re gonna see it, but you may wanna know what to expect, so here is my spoiler-free review! (And with spoiler-free I mean that I’m not gonna tell you any details about the movie. The plot and everything that’s known through trailers and clips already is fair game.)

BTW, if you don’t want to read it all, there is a bottom line at the end!

1. Book v. Movie

Let’s start off with the most pressing questions: How does the movie compare to the book?

I thought it did pretty well in that respect. This is a movie made with book fans in mind, but it’s not a 1:1 translation. It couldn’t be, and this movie makes this very clear, because while it is packed with references to the book, it still leaves you wanting more. There are so many little scenes, so many memorable quotes that they could not fit into this 2 hour movie. Gavin Hood really tried – he even rushed stuff a bit to fit more stuff in – but there are still so many scenes missing that I am now convinced that this book has to be made into a 20-episode-series to do it justice.

But for what it is it does remarkably well. Many things are streamlined, some are simplified, others re-interpreted, still others completely changed to make for a coherent movie that still tells Ender’s story. As I pointed out elsewhere, we will probably not all agree on what that story is. This movie is not trying to incorporate all possible interpretations – it can’t. It is ONE interpretation of the book, Gavin Hood’s, and instead of trying to satisfy everyone he is trying to stay true to what he believes is the essence of Ender’s Game. That is the narrative line he his following systematically, even if it means that he has to leave some most beloved scenes and quotes out.

Characterwise, the focus lies mostly on Ender and, to a lesser degree, Graff. Minor character stories are often even more reduced to make more room for the major characters who tell the major story: Ender’s story – his morality and immorality, his strength and his vulnerability, and ultimately his guilt.

2. Directing and Composition

So how does Gavin Hood do as a screenwriter and director?

As I said, this is a movie for fans, and Gavin Hood tried to put as much of the story in as he could. This is mostly well done, but I have to admit that if I have any beef with this movie, this is where it lies. Because, let’s face it, this movie is rushed and a little too episodic to really achieve smoothness. There were two moments where I thought: “what? how did we get here? shouldn’t X have happened before this?” Ender’s Game could have used at least half an hour more time to establish certain plot points, because the way it is now it sometimes feels like you just blacked out and missed a bit. This gets better towards the end, and while Hood has by no means enough time to completely tell the entire Eros story, he does put in enough of the strenuousness and urgency to make the ending what it is supposed to be.

As a director, he doesn’t take any risks. It’s solidly directed and shot pretty traditionally. Gavin Hood’s great strength lies not in innovative angles or compelling camera movements but in how he directs his actors. Their interactions are uniformally smooth, engaged, and believable, and that is not just the actors’ achivement, but also that of a director who manages to convey to his actors exactly the mood they are supposed to be in, and exactly the things they feel towards the other. This is one of the great strengths of the movie.

3. Visuals

The other is the visuals. We already knew they were stunning, and they don’t disappoint on the big screen. There is not a single scene that isn’t absolutely beautiful. The landscapes and space scenery are sublime, everything in space and even on the desks looks 3D without being 3D, and nevertheless completely convincingly real. You literally don’t see the CGI unless you are supposed to see it (like in the mind game). My friend, who is a fan of 1980s and 1990s SciFi movies said it reminded her a lot of the good old times before CGI. She said while it looked totally up to date, it also looked as if all of these things were actual sets, not animated backgrounds.

As for the mind game – I loved it. I understand that that is a matter of taste, but I thought it was pretty damn cool. I wanna play it.

4. Acting

The acting is this movie’s finest feature. Asa Butterfield is solid to excellent – he has very few iffy/unconvincing moments, very many convincing ones (if you don’t notice the acting, it’s good), and some absolutely brilliant ones. His Ender is lovable but prone to violence, more confident than I imagined him (but he is older, plus a drastic character change would not have been believable over this short period of time), but also vulnerable; he has darkness, and yet a fundamentally clear understanding of what is right and wrong. Butterfield portrays him with all those facets – what an actor at 14-15!

Harrison Ford is stellar – engaged, passionate, subtle and complex, even more complex really than Graff in the book. I’d nominate him for an award, but I doubt it will come to pass.

In comparision to these two, the other actors have rather little to do. And yet, everyone without exception excels at their role. And I’m not just saying that because they are all so nice. I was looking for flaws in the acting, and I found very little. I was surprised how even the very small roles (like Enders parens, who each have 2 lines) were totally and utterly believable and natural. Let me mention three major “minor” characters in particular:
- Val/Abigail Breslin: I totally believe that her Val is a genius who nearly made it to battle school.
- Bean/Aramis Knight: Absolutely natural, exceptionally subtle for a kid. He’s going places.
- Bonzo/Moises Arias: People (including me) were/are really afraid that because of his height he can’t be a convincing Bonzo. But while he needs a few scenes to find himself, he does become a convincing antagonist. That kid is seriously vicious!
5. Score/Soundtrack

Do I really have to mention the score/soundtrack? I love those big, orchestral, slightly bombastic pieces, and here they fit super well. I’m particularly in love with the theme that we hear in Ender’s War and other pieces. I call it Ender’s theme, and I’ve been humming it all day. Daaaaaaaaaaah, daaa deeee daaaa …

BOTTOM LINE : 4 out of 5

I loved this movie. I loved it because it focuses on those parts of the story that I happen to find most important. I loved it because the actors are simply wonderful, and that is usually the most important thing for me. And I loved it because it is the most beautiful movie I’ve seen in a long while (and that includes The Hobbit and Avatar). But I won’t deny that, objectively, there are quite a few things you could complain about, especially if you are the nitpicking kind. I tend not to be a purist. As long as the essence is there, I accept that details change in transition, and that a lot of the more complex elements need to fall by the wayside. The changes that Hood made – and when you think about it, most of them make sense – will probably anger book purist and lead a lot of people to give this movie less credit than it deserves. But if you accept that this is one version, one vision, one interpretation, then you should be fine. People absolutely should give this movie a chance, because despite its shortcomings it has done very many things very right.

Let me know what you think. I’ll gladly answer any and all questions and comments. I’m dying to talk about this movie!

Note: This review is based on the German dubbed version of Ender’s Game, as seen in a regular movie theater.
October 25, 2013
Orson Scott Card Says ‘Ender’s Game’ “Rockets Along at a Breakneck Pace”

Orson Scott Card, author of Ender’s Game, did an in-depth interview with New Zealand weekly magazine The Listener and in it talked about his writing methods for Ender’s Game and it’s sequels and also gave a brief opinion on the movie.

I wrote a script that showed great promise in achieving that.

However, I have no evidence it was ever read by anyone beyond a small circle of friends and producers whom I had worked with for years. Certainly, there is no trace of any of my scripts in the Gavin Hood script that was filmed. Hood gave the executives what they were looking for: a script that used elements of the original story within a format that followed the film-school rules that, although they don’t actually work, give executives in Hollywood a warm sense of recognition. Within those paradigms, the film Ender’s Game has been shaped into a tight, fast, hard-hitting film that rockets along at a breakneck pace — the adventure version of Ender’s Game. It is an excellent film of that type; it is, in fact, about as good a job of filming Ender’s Game as anyone could have expected Hollywood to achieve.

Readers who are disappointed at elements of the book that are not in the movie should keep in mind: my own scripts also cut sharply, because filming the entire novel would have taken about six hours. Huge swaths of material had to be omitted, and the movie actually includes elements from the book that I removed!

Read the complete interview at The Listener.

October 22, 2013