EnderWiggin.net – Ender's Game Movie Fansite

Tag: Ben Kingsley

  • VIDEO: Sir Ben Kingsley with Ender’s Game Fansites

    VIDEO: Sir Ben Kingsley with Ender’s Game Fansites

    At the Ender’s Game premiere on Monday, October 28, 2013, the fansites got the chance to talk to Sir Ben Kingsley about Ender’s Game, his tattoos, and whether he’s open to sequels. He also gave us a brief message for fans.

    I have to say, he’s an incredibly nice, nice man and what a difference from the time we met him on set. Last May, we were waiting in a dark Eros room which was in the process of being dismantled (which turned out to be Ender’s quarters on Eros as I found out after watching the film!) and when Sir Ben walked in that day he had this incredibly INTENSE stare that frankly terrified me.

    That being said, when we met him on Monday, he was warm, friendly, and funny. It’s pretty clear to me now that we met him while he was still in Mazer Rackham mode, which just goes to show you what an amazing actor he is.

    Other questions were asked by Ender News and Ender’s Ansible.

  • Another “Ender’s Game” Review – Too Much, Too Quick

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

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    (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.

    ———————————————–

    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.

  • VIDEO: Ender’s Game Cast and Crew Visit Westminster Academy

    VIDEO: Ender’s Game Cast and Crew Visit Westminster Academy

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    During their promotion of Ender’s Game in London in the beginning of October, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Harrison Ford, Sir Ben Kingsley, Gavin Hood and Bob Orci visited Film Club kids at Westminster Academy to talk about making movies. FilmClubUK just released a vid from the event.

    Source: FilmClubUK’s Youtube (thanks to Tumblr user toothle55 for pointing it out)

  • VIDEOS: Ender’s Game Press Junket London

    VIDEOS: Ender’s Game Press Junket London

    As you remember, some of the cast and crew of Ender’s Game did a press tour through Europe earlier this month. While in London, they gave a number of interviews, some of which have now surfaced online. Since they all have the same sort of setup, it can be quite confusing and hard to tell which interview is which just by looking at it, so here is a comprehensive list of all London press junket interview vids I could find. Enjoy!

     
    1. Joe Michalczuk for Sky News Entertainment

    Joe basically asks all interviewees very similar questions, so the real treat here is how much they sometimes differ in their answers. Asa, Hailee, Harrison and Bob, Sir Ben and Gavin talk about

    • Ender’s Game being an independent movie
    • the book, the script, and the movie
    • the potential of SciFi and the themes of the movie
    • working with the greats/being greats working with kids
    • sequels

    Watch the other interviewees here:

    Hailee Steinfeld…………Harrison Ford and Bob Orci…………Sir Ben Kingsley

     
    2. Rory Cashin for Entertainment.ie

    Now, these are probably the best ones of the lot. The Interviewer asks interesting and insightful questions and you can actually tell that the interviewees enjoy not having to talk about the same things over and over again for once. Unfortunately, these are not on Youtube, and there is no embed code available on the site. So you’ll just have to do with links!

    • Asa and Hailee on their chemistry, reading the source material when doing adaptations, physical challenges and Harrison Ford: HERE
    • Harrison and Bob on the book, SciFi, Harrison returning to space, models for Graff, the younger actors and upcoming projects: HERE
    • Sir Ben on what attracted him to the role, parallels between the story and the shooting experience, Asa, and telling stories: HERE
    • Gavin on his history with the novel, Graff vs. Anderson, challenges of adaptation, and how he works with different actors: HERE

     
    3. James Kleinmann for HeyUGuysUK and NerdyUK

    These are run-of-the-mill interviews with some interesting tidbits. Gavin Hood, for instance, talks about why he decided to play the Giant in the Ender’s Game video game sequences.

    Here is the rest:

    • Asa and Hailee on their characters and their relationship, the pressure of playing an iconic lead character, and what’s special about the movie: HERE
    • Bob and Harrison on the book, what attracted Harrison, casting Ender, Asa, and their hopes for the movie: HERE
    • Sir Ben on what he likes about the book, lead vs. supporting roles, and wearing the tattoo: HERE

     
    4. The Showbiz 411

    So far, they have only published their interview with Hailee and Asa. It’s refreshingly light-hearted and probably geared towards younger viewers. The two young stars talk about hitting it off right away, space camp, boot camp, fun on set, tight flash suits and their ideal planet.

     
    5. Cel Spellman, CBBC Friday Download

    And last but not least, the most fun video of them all. Kiddy program “Friday Download” (CBBC) presenter Cel not only interviewed Asa, Hailee, Sir Ben, Bob and Harrison, he also challenged them to a match of Rock-Paper-Scissors. The whole thing is hilarious!

    Note: It’s out of sync, so if that bothers you, just download it and play it with an audio delay of 2,1 seconds in VLC or Windows Media Player. Thanks to Tumblr users ceolwaerc and toothle55 for making it available.

     
    Sources: Youtube, Youku, Entertainment.ie

  • Sir Ben Kingsley Talks Shower Fight

    Sir Ben Kingsley Talks Shower Fight

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    News.de editor Susett Queisert met Sir Ben during his press tour in Berlin. She talked to him about his tattoo, preparing for his role, and the movie’s rating. I translated the most noteworthy bits for you.

    On how he ended up wearing the tatoo:

    When I met Gavin Hood three months before we started shooting, he showed me the most beautiful graphic designs of landscapes and Earth on his laptop. He also showed me the costumes … but he never mentioned the tattoo. I met him in New Orleans the day before shooting and he was nervous, wondering if I would even wear the tattoo. But he is a nice and generous person who knows his trade. And he knows how to equip his actors. He asked me if I wanted to spend time with a Maori expert to talk about the tatoo, and I said: “Gavin, wait! If it helps to tell the story, then let a make-up artist put it on my face.”

    On the younger actors’ reaction to him:

    When I came on set for my first scene I was standing on higher ground and the younger actors were talking to each other in a relaxed manner. When I said my first line they started to behave oddly. They turned around, took a step, sat down in front of the machines and started to operate them without looking around. … When Mazer says something we do it. When he gives an order we jump. It was astounding.

    Asked if the movie’s rating/appropriateness for children didn’t weaken its impact, he answered:

    I think the film is very unsentimental. It doesn’t contain any cruelty or violence. Gavin told me about the stunt coordinator. In the movie, there was a fight scene between Ender and Bonzo in the showers and the stunt coordinator was talking about all the things he was planning to do in that scene. But Gavin said: “Wait, I want to finish this shot in two takes.” He wanted to make the scene as short as possible in order to put Ender’s shock [about what he’d done] also on the faces of the audience. If the fight had been 15 minutes the audience wouldn’t have felt this moment of “What did I just do?” that Ender felt.

    Bonzo

    Source: News.de

  • Wireless Magazine Talks to the Cast of ‘Ender’s Game’

    Wireless Magazine Talks to the Cast of ‘Ender’s Game’

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    Wireless Magazine recently spoke to the cast and crew of Ender’s Game while they were in the UK and there are some interesting tidbits in the various conversations they had.

    Gavin Hood: [T]his is really about a young boy trying to find his own moral centre in a world that is encouraging his more aggressive nature. From a technical point of view there’s all the great fun stuff we have with the battle room and with the simulations. In the book they are slightly different, I’d like to hope fans will feel we’ve made them more visual for the purpose of cinema.

    Asa Butterfield: I think that relationship is quite important in the film. When Ender’s first taken away from his home, from everyone he loves, everyone he trusts and put into this completely alien world where almost immediately he’s alienated from his peers there’s no one that he can talk to about what’s going on so he doesn’t really know what he’s supposed to be doing. When he meets Petra as their relationship develops they start to realise they can trust each other. She almost fills the gap that his sister has left so it’s definitely not a love relationship in any sense I don’t think, I just think they’re really close friends. They don’t know anything about boyfriends or girlfriends, they’re just someone they can lean on, to help.

    Ben Kingsley: Well, the ending is that one wonders whether or not, without giving too much away, the audience will be curious, intrigued and troubled to know, is this child’s soul going to be distorted forever? Or will he get back to his original self? That in spite of or because of that very taxing journey, adolescence to young adulthood, have they distorted him? I think the answer is in the film and I find it very uplifting.

    Hailee Steinfeld: I think there are many, there’s everything from leadership, compassion, all these different things that are so relevant to today. I don’t know that there is a main message I think there are plenty and it will be interesting to see what the audience takes away from it because there is so much in there.

    Check out full interviews here.

  • Asa Butterfield and Ben Kingsley Talk Ender’s Game on ITV Daybreak

    Asa Butterfield and Ben Kingsley Talk Ender’s Game on ITV Daybreak

    This morning, Asa Butterfield and Ben Kingsley were on ITV’s breakfast show Daybreak promoting Ender’s Game. Our readers in the UK can watch the video HERE on ITVplayer!

    I wasn’t able to download it, but I hope it will turn up on Youtube soon. In the meantime, here are some quick summaries as well as the best bits, or at least the ones containing information that you may not have heard yet anywhere else.

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    Asa Butterfield:

    First, they showed some scenes from the trailer and from the clip where Ender is given Dragon Army. They then talk about the scene and the dynamics between Graff and Ender:

    Host: Asa Butterfield … taking a break from his A-levels to take on Harrison Ford. … And you stare the man down in this, too.
    Asa: I do, yeah. It’s … It was quite interesting how at the start of the film he is quite dominant over me in terms of military power, but by the end of it, as you said, we sort of stand eye to eye, and that’s really exciting.

    Two of the hosts had seen the movie and were impressed with Asa’s performance. They go on talking about

    • what it was like working with Harrison Ford
    • training for the zero G scenes
    • how Asa managed schooling on set (he had a tutor who kept in touch with his school, and he had to take his GCSEs at the British Academy in Houston while filming)
    • how he is really a normal kid who plays video games and hangs out with his mates

      • Nothing new there, really. The Hostess then tells a story about how her little boy plays with Asa’s little sister in the park, and how his mother had told her “he’s doing quite well” and then she found out he was actually a major star. It’s really a cute little interview, but as far as actual news or new insights go, you won’t miss all that much.

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      Sir Ben Kingsley:

      Sir Ben was on a bit later. The clip they showed was the one where Mazer yells at Ender for losing a battle. Sir Ben then talks about how he is always a bit “gobsmacked” when he sees himself on screen because he tends to forget about scenes as soon as they are done. He then goes on to explain the tattoos, how he went through make-up, and how the other cast members looked at him sort of curiously when he came out. He talks about Asa, the major themes of the movie, and how he keeps his awards in his little library at home, interspersed with the books. Here are the best (and most revealing) bits:

      On Asa and his performance:

      Host: I must confess, again, that young lad, Asa Butterfield – I must confess I never heard of him until yesterday – what an actor!
      Sir Ben: He’s in Hugo with me. And in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. He’s extraordinary. He’s very focused. He humbles himself to the job. And he has all his priorities perfectly placed.
      […]
      Host: Speaking of young people, you surprised some young people in London the other day. You and your costars. …
      Sir Ben: That was a shot in the arm. I love being with those kids. They were so enthusiastic. They’d seen a lot of clips from the film. And I think they empathized with the character; I think that Asa will provide a bridge for a lot of people, in his performance, who are struggling with those very difficult years from adolescence to young adulthood.

      On the themes of the movie:

      Host: There’s a lot of themes in it. One of them is bullying, for example, and the other is really, at the end of it, the morality of war, isn’t it.
      Ben: The morality of war, or the immorality of war, however you look at it, and when you align that with, what I find very touching in our film, the young want to please. However obfuscated and blurred that might become, the fact is that they want to get it right, they want to join, they want to be part of the bigger picture, the bigger tribe or whatever. And you do find in Asa’s performance, in the young actors’ performances, that when they hit those targets, when they “get it right”, they are delighted. They just simply want to please. It’s the older generation who take advantage of that willingness in them to please.

      Sounds about right to me. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

      Source: ITV Daybreak

  • VIDEO: Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley Talk ‘Ender’s Game’ Plus More Behind the Scenes

    VIDEO: Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley Talk ‘Ender’s Game’ Plus More Behind the Scenes

    In this video released by the Associated Press, star Harrison Ford discusses his role and why he was attracted to Ender’s Game. Ford is asked the question of whether he gave advice to his young co-stars and responds that he doesn’t think it’s appropriate because they were all very evolved as actors. The video also features some cool behind-the-scenes footage!

    Sir Ben talks about the effect of his facial tattoos while we’re treated to a look at Ender and Mazer sitting at a table and then Gavin Hood as he directs Kingsley in a scene.

  • GALLERY: Cast and Producers Present Ender’s Game in Berlin

    GALLERY: Cast and Producers Present Ender’s Game in Berlin

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    Last Sunday, October 6th, Ender’s Game director Gavin Hood, producers Gigi Pritzker and Bob Orci, and cast members Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley attended a photo call at Hotel Adlon, Berlin. The official German facebook page Ender’s Game – Das grosse Spiel released pictures from the event. Check some of them out below! See the rest HERE!

    In addition, RedCarpetReports.de posted some higher resolution pictures from the photo call. See the best ones below! They have a little watermark in the lower right-hand corner, but since it’s pretty small and unobtrusive I’m sure you guys won’t mind.

    Sources: Ender’s Game – Das grosse Spiel (Facebook page), RedCarpetReports.de

  • GALLERY: Ender’s Game Photo Call London

    GALLERY: Ender’s Game Photo Call London

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    On Monday, October 7th, most of the Ender’s Game cast and crew finished their European photo call tour in London (Ford, Hood and Orci went on to Moscow), where they presented the movie at Odeon Theatre during MCM London ComicCon. Check out some red carpet photos of Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Gavin Hood, Gigi Pritzker and Bob Orci below!

    Source: Zimbio

  • VIDEOS: Ender’s Game Cast and Crew at MCM London Comic Con

    VIDEOS: Ender’s Game Cast and Crew at MCM London Comic Con

    Before their presentation of Ender’s Game at the Odeon Leicester Square during MCM London Comic Con, Hailee Steinfeld, Sir Ben Kingsley, Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, and Gavin Hood talked to Entertainmentwise about Ender’s Game.

    Not much new here, but I get some perverse enjoyment out of the reactions of Ben Kingsley, Asa Butterfield and, yes, Harrison Ford to being asked whether or not they would like to star/are starring in the next Star Wars movie. The Ben Kingsley one is cut off a bit in the beginning. If you’re interested in the whole Star Wars conversation, check it out HERE! Would someone please phone someone to get Ben Kingsley and Asa Butterfield into that movie. Look how excited they are at the prospect!

    The fabulous five also talked to a couple of other news outlets prior to their London presentation. We already posted HeyUGuysUK’s interviews with Gavin Hood and Sir Ben Kingsley earlier this week. Their interviews with Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, and Harrison Ford don’t reveal anything new, but we didn’t want to keep them from you either way, so here they are:

    Finally, The MCM Buzz interviewed the cast and crew on the Comic Con red carpet. Here is a video that collects some tidbits of what Gavin Hood and the four cast members had to say:

    You can check out the full interviews with Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Gavin Hood on the TheMCMBuzz Youtube channel. I love the Hailee Steinfeld and Ben Kingsley ones especially.

    They even posted a somewhat rarer interview with Gigi Pritzker and Bob Orci. Check it out below.


    Sources: Entertainmentwise, HeyUGuysUK, TheMCMBuzz

  • VIDEO: Sir Ben Kingsley on Acting with Tā Moko

    VIDEO: Sir Ben Kingsley on Acting with Tā Moko

    Sir Ben Kingsley spoke with HeyUGuysUK in London tonight about what it was like for him to act with Maori tā moko on his face.

    I didn’t feel any conscious difference on my face and it’s not a tattoo on my arm that I can look at on my arm and sort of enjoy or have a rapport with but […] it changed the way the other actors looked at me and that was really interesting, how they were trying to decipher my face and wonder what it meant and how dangerous and threatening it was. It affected them more than it affected me. It’s good, it was great.

    Source: HeyUGuysUK

  • VIDEO: Ender’s Game Cast and Crew in Madrid

    VIDEO: Ender’s Game Cast and Crew in Madrid

    Several members of the Ender’s Game cast along with director Gavin Hood and producer Bob Orci were in Madrid on October 4th to promote El Juego de Ender. Watch video below from the photocall:

    Here is another of better quality:

    Thanks for Fernanda for the finds!