Haven't been to the forums here for a long time (can't even remember my login so I started a new one). So the movie of course brings me back here.
I myself have read I think all of the enders books Along with many of the other OSC books (love pastwatch and enchanted). I might have to reread the enders books again now after the movie, just because
So my better half wants to see the movie, but hasn't read any of the books. I know she wants to read enders game, sooner or later.
For those of you that saw the movie already - what do you think - should she read the book first? Or see the movie first? I read a few of your guys reviews, and I think I heard more than once that a regular person who hasn't read the books might not be able to follow the movie as well.
Ya guys agree? Should she read the book first or see the movie first and then read the booK?
Posted by BlueWizard (Member # 9389) on :
I think you can follow the movie, but like all movies based on books, it is cut very very lean. Much like Harry Potter, you just get the very bare essentials.
However, I do not like to read a book too close to the movie. I think it spoils it because all the tiny details are so fresh in your mind, that rather than enjoy the movie, you are focused on all the things that are missing.
But ... the movie is in theaters now. There isn't a lot of time to read the book, though your friend my be a fast reader.
Certainly you will enjoy the movie more if you have read the book, because you will understand a lot of the character development that movies simply don't have time for.
I think this movie could have been made better, but I still enjoyed it. Watched it twice so far and may see it for a 3rd time next week.
Depending on how well your friend can separate herself (Her?) from the books and enjoy the movie for what it is, will determine if she should read the book first, or read it later.
Ideally, read the book first, but ideally leave a few weeks between the read and the movie. However, that is not likely an option. So, it is a tough call.
Given that the movie is out now, I'm guessing she should see the movie. Though if she can read the book in a week of spare time, and if she can separate the book from the movie, then read the book first.
That's probably not much help.
Steve/bluewizard
Posted by forceten (Member # 13081) on :
lol, wishy washy
Yes it's her - my girlfriend. She could eat up the book in 2-3 days if she finds it interesting, she is a rabid reader.
I'm torn, It's been a good number of years myself since i read the original book, enders game. Not so many years for some of the others in the series. Even though it's been so long I still remember most of the original book, so i think it will help me watch the movie as i understand what's suppose to be there and I know all of the characters and even who they become in other books and how they are important (like bean and all the others).
I just don't know if she will follow the movie much better reading the book first. Or just let her watch the movie and see if she follows along. I know for me it will be much easier to follow the movie since i know all of the books (even if they changed stuff for the movies).
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
I know, personally, I appreciated certain aspects of the movie better because I had read the book.
...But I didn't really like the movie. On the other hand, the people that I went with that had never read the book liked the movie more than those of us that had read the book. So if you want her to actually appreciate the book and the movie, it may be best if she saw the film first, then watched the movie.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
If I haven't gotten around to reading the book yet when a movie comes out, I see the movie first, for the reasons Da_Goat mentioned - you'll enjoy the movie more.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
I'm interested to see what happens when someone sees the movie first and then reads the book. Since the only places I've seen people discussing the book and movie are places where everyone has read the book long ago, I don't know what this looks like.
Posted by forceten (Member # 13081) on :
You might get your wish scifibum! I told her abuut reading the book first and she said no, it will just ruin the movie for her, because most books are much better than the actual movie.
So we are gonna see the movie. After I will give ya guys a report. One from my point of view - but it's gonna be the same as the rest of you guys probably, since we are all in the same boat. Already read the books.
I will let you know what she thought of the movie and then the book after watching the movie
Posted by C3PO the Dragon Slayer (Member # 10416) on :
quote:Originally posted by scifibum: I'm interested to see what happens when someone sees the movie first and then reads the book. Since the only places I've seen people discussing the book and movie are places where everyone has read the book long ago, I don't know what this looks like.
I went to the movie with a friend who hadn't read the book, and he said he quite liked it. This surprised me, because he's very cynical and doesn't often like movies. Perhaps the movie spoke to his cynicism or something.
Posted by forceten (Member # 13081) on :
But did your friend read the book after?
Posted by Jeff C. (Member # 12496) on :
My two friends never read the book and they both really enjoyed the movie, possibly more than me. I think reading the book will greatly diminish your enjoyment of the film, simply because you will know what was left out and it will bother you. This isn't always the case with adaptations, but with this one, you are better off reading it afterwards.
Posted by julianperez27 (Member # 13087) on :
My personal opinion: It's better to watch the movie first. In my case, most of my problems with the movie were because I had read the books.
I understand that movies and literature are different languages and have different ¨tempos¨. I understand that there was no room for Peter and Valentine as Locke and Demostenes. And I understand that it was not possible to get children six-ten years old. But it´s about consistence and keeping the ¨spirit¨ of the book¨.
I don´t care about Bean being in the launching shuttle with Ender and with Bernard and Petra in the Dragon Army: I can live with that. Those are differences but don´t conflict the spirit. And I don't care with Anderson being a woman: that worked fine.
These are the main things I didn't like:
First, Bean is practically ignored.
Second: the Battle School was not a Marine Training Camp as it´s shown in the movie. That made the replacement of children with teenagers even worse.
Third: Graff gave too much information to Ender about the ansible before the final battles. The public needed to know that, but Graff could have said that to Bean (that figured it out in the books, but didn´t reveal it to Ender), not to Ender. Ender is not a fool and with all that information he had to figure out that it was not a game, but real, as Bean did.
Forth: Ender saying ¨I will do whatever to win this war¨? That is not Ender. He was angry, he had decided that the professors were enemies and his final action was to defeat the professors by cheating, as he did when he crossed the enemy gate without fighting in the last battle in the school.
Besides, three hours movies are common nowadays. There was no need to condensate it into a two hours movie.
And there are details... Formics and never Buggers? That politically correct language sucks.
Posted by RoyOestensen (Member # 13088) on :
I've just seen the film, and before I did, I was concerned how it would be, as I love both Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow.
In general I agree with julianperez27's analysis. I would have loved Bean to have a greater part than he had. It seemed like the film makers gave Petra that part instead.
Having Petra as a replacement for the team mate with the sprankled leg seemed not in the spirit of the book, neither when she shows up on the vid in the middle of the night, chatting with Ender. Instead it felt like a weak attempt at creating some sort of love theme between Ender and Petra. In short, Petra's part felt wrong to the book.
But my main criticism would probably be that the time was totally off. You get the feeling everything is finished in a couple of days rather than after a few years.
The film was in general graded as 4 out of 6 in Norwegian media, and I agree with that ranking. As others say, it could be used as an intro to the book, but I don't think it in any way does the book full service. Perhaps they should have gone back to the original novel that was first published in Analog in the 70s? It might have been easier to adapt that novel to a film than the book.
Visually the film was great, but I was somewhat disappointed by the story line, although I did realise that Ender's Game was a hard book to adapt to the cinema.
Posted by Mhoram (Member # 13092) on :
I know people who enjoyed the movie without ever seeing the book. But I think they enjoyed it like they'd enjoy an X-Men movie or yet another Harry Potter sequel: a fun action movie with some exciting effects, good acting, and some interesting characters. I doubt they understand much of what's going on in Ender's head, why the mind game is such a big deal, what Peter is about, why Ender goes for the planet, and so on. I doubt it will be particularly memorable for them.
While I was disappointed in some things (beyond the necessary shortening of it to two hours), I don't think it violated the original much, which was a relief. I enjoyed it for what it was, because I didn't expect much and just hoped not to be offended. It's a fun little movie. But it's not going to hit anyone with the kind of impact that reading Ender's Game as a teenager had on so many of us. I don't think it's going to inspire too many people to seek out the book, either, which is a shame.
I just finished listening to Ender's Shadow, which includes Card's author's note in which he talks about how he redid the script as a buddy movie with Ender and Bean as a way to get inside Ender's head, which is where the heart of the book takes place. It's too bad they didn't go that route.
I'm starting to think that the only way to do a book justice on the screen is to turn it into a TV series. It took me about 15 hours to read Ender's Game to my students. So a 13-episode TV half-season just might be enough to explore everything the book explores, while giving the audience enough time to get to know the characters.
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