[I live in a cave; this is the first I'd heard of it.]
Posted by JenniferHicks (Member # 8201) on :
I understand that a trailer is meant to appeal to the largest possible movie-going audience, but the tone of this one struck me the wrong way -- too cookie-cutter SF. Fighter jets? Swarming aliens? Is this "Independence Day" or "Ender's Game"? Harrison Ford sounds like he's half-asleep in the voice over. If this is their best effort to make the movie look amazingly cool, I'm worried.
Posted by Reziac (Member # 9345) on :
I had kinda the same thought. Too much glitz of the usual swarming-spaceships variety (which causes me instant disbelief for practical navigation reasons), not enough characterization (they struck me as flat).
And I sooooo wanted to see what they'd done with the Giant's Drink, which is my fave part of the book.
Posted by Corin224 (Member # 2513) on :
I'll be stunned if the Giant's Drink is in there anywhere. In fact, I'm certain I've heard from Card himself in interviews that every incarnation of the script has excluded the "Giant game" from the start, though I could be wrong.
The special effects stuff doesn't bother me. I'm kinda interested to see a bit of the first/second invasions. What interests me more is the Ender / Graff chemistry, which seems to be there. The audio quality on that trailer was just terrible, and Ford obviously phoned in the voiceover, but the actual footage seems promising. The Valentine/Ender scene with Ender glaring at Graff makes me hopeful, as do the battleroom scenes.
Could go either way, but for people who don't have a lot of attachment to the book, I'm not sure this trailer's gonna do much to win them over.
Good or bad, I very much can't wait to see it, and audio quality aside, it looks like the production values are nice and high. At least it's got a fighting chance!
Posted by RyanB (Member # 10008) on :
quote:Originally posted by Corin224: Could go either way, but for people who don't have a lot of attachment to the book, I'm not sure this trailer's gonna do much to win them over.
I talked to a couple of people who haven't read the book and they were thoroughly impressed with the trailer.
Me. I got chills when I saw Ender hugging Valentine and when Ender interacted with his team. I'm sure that came from the book (well, the 4 books in that part of the saga.)
But if you haven't read the book, I think the trailer betrays a space thriller with a good dose of drama. And high production values.
Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :
I see a serious problem with this movie: it's trying to steal glory from Hunger Games which is going to be very difficult since HG is in full swing (going on second movie). Will they make movies from the rest of the Ender books? I hardly doubt it. Will they make movies from the Shadow series? Could be but it might look like a Spy Kids spin-off.
Petra certainly will not look like an Armenian as Bean won't look much like a Greek slash African. So it's all just another American movie that tries really hard to be racially diverse but you can clearly see everyone is American while it could have the potential of being a truly global story.
Posted by wise (Member # 9779) on :
I was just excited to finally see "Ender's Game" on the big screen. I've been waiting decades for this! However, the trailer focused more on the space battles, when they are really just a small part of the book. One reason I love the book is the psychological aspect of the manipulation of Ender. The trailer didn't show any of that, but I understand that showing space ships and explosions will sell more tickets.
One of my 8th grade students who read "Ender's Game" this year said of the trailer, "It looks horrible." I think he was referring to the production value, which could be a legitimate concern, because I was underimpressed by the production of "Hunger Games". However, I'm more concerned with the story and the psychological growth of Ender, so if those elements are intact, I can overlook production values. Time will tell.
Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :
I think the psychological part of the Ender story is too complex to be accurately portrayed in the movie. You can't show what someone is truly thinking without inner monologue and that usually wrecks a movie - just see the 1984 version of Dune.
quote:Harrison Ford sounds like he's half-asleep in the voice over.
Harrison Ford usually sounds as if he's half asleep, not just in this trailer.
The actor I'm most disappointed with is Ben Kingsley. I mean this character is supposed to be Maori. They take Ben Kingsley, slap a tattoo on his face and that makes him a Maori? As far as I'm aware, Kingsley's parents were from India. You can't just say: "Any brown person is similar to the next brown person."
I honestly don't have good expectations about this movie. This is probably going to be something between Hunger Games and Last Airbender.
Just checked more of the actors. Alai is suppose to be black which he won't be. I already said about Bean and Petra. The only one that visually makes sense is the actor for Peter Wiggin.
[ June 26, 2013, 05:11 AM: Message edited by: MartinV ]
Posted by tesknota (Member # 10041) on :
Can I please join the international fleet?
Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :
Reminds me of Starship Troopers propaganda. Posted by KellyTharp (Member # 9997) on :
Okay, going to dig out my book "Ender's Game" and re-read. Haven't read it in years! So, will need to know what to NOT expect from the movie. KT
Posted by tesknota (Member # 10041) on :
Today, this happened:
Me: What are you looking at? Student: I'm reading a book. (on his kindle) Me: What book are you reading? Student: Ender's Game. Me: For school? Student: No. For fun.
Best conversation I've had all week.
Yesterday, another student told me that a girl in his high school photojournalism class could not tell time from an analog clock.
My faith in humanity fluctuates on a daily basis, apparently.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)