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For those of you who've read Heinlein's Starship Troopers, you've probably seen it's a pretty well-written book, with analysis into current human culture--really, more than anything, a critique disguised as a sci-fi novel. For those of you who have seen the movie too--well, it's absolutely horrible. Just an action flick with some bad special effects and a few breast shots to keep the lonely nerds happy.
Now, EG and Troopers have some of the same basic concepts. And I do realize that having OSC on the project is a very good thing.
But what if it gets Hollywood-ized? Hollywood doesn't much like deep characters or concepts; they like to play to the average audience. Sure, OSC will help, and it surely won't be as bad, but how much control, in the end, will he have?
God save us from producers.
BTW: For those of you who thought this thread would be talking about how much Ender's Game is just like Starship Troopers:
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lol it was funny when I was little and first saw the add for starship troopers in the first few minutes i thought it was a warped up version of enders game.
Posts: 129 | Registered: Feb 2004
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One thing that is important to understand about the 'Ender's Game' movie is that, OSC wouldn't let a movie be made from any of his novels unless he had a strong role in the production. Which is the main reason the movie isn't already out. Mind you, OSC has had multiple offers to have the book converted to film. Only recently has he personally approved the setup that Fresco Pictures has given him. OSC is the type of guy that will sit on set everyday, making sure that things look right.
Another issue about the movie is this (and you've, no doubt read it before): The movie and the book will be essentially different. Film doesn't allow a person into the character's head and so the art suffers when compared to writing. You should always be aware of that point going into a movie that was adapted from a novel.
Posts: 1660 | Registered: Jan 2000
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Starship Troopers was missing one element which Enders Game will have...that is the mastermind that is OSC. And if we draw a parallel in this then why not bring up the one of the best-selling computer strategy games as well. Starcraft is it not between humans and bug like aliens like starship troopers and enders game? Although starcraft also throws in the mighty Protoss race in the mix whos to say that OSC's work did not influence its creation unless the game creators (Blizzard) themselves said otherwise?
Posts: 13 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Starship Troopers lacked another crucial Ender element: a coherent plot. Heinlein's books, of which I am an avid fan, aren't made to be movies.
Posts: 497 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I would just like to point out that "Starship Troopers" had one thing that "Ender's Game" will not: Doogie Howser.
Posts: 48 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Humans fighting insectoid aliens isn't really that unique a concept. Card himself has said that he picked insects precisely because they are such a universal cliche badguy. It made our universal revulsion of them pretty believable, and when they shift from being this unknowable menace into a complex and sympathetic society, the change is more of a welcome surprise.
Starship Troopers is much more like Ender's Game than some other humans-vs-bugs scenarios because, like Ender's Game, it's about a far-future training program for soldiers that abuses and dehumanizes them in an effort to create the perfect warrior. The two authors took very different tacks, and neither read the other's book before writing his own. But the kinship is definitely close.
Of course, the Starship Troopers movie had very, VERY little to do with the original book It might be interesting someday to see a REAL adaptation of Heinlein's book. It would probably play a lot more like Full Metal Jacket.
Posts: 1907 | Registered: Feb 2000
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When reading Starship Troopers, I never thought that the military was abusing and dehumanizing the soldiers. It was a pretty tough regimen, yes. Dog, I would love to hear your thoughts as to what was abusive and dehumanizing. Tchau.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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well i don't see the resemblance i mean yes both are fighting an insect race and in Starcraft too but there really isnt much other than that. if you read the foreword in Ender's Game you know that OSC designed the story without any of the stuff you have to look for in english class whereas Starship Troopers barely has a paragraph without one. And Starcraft was just ripping off the S.T. movie it came out a year after (blizzards general start to finish on a project) and only by throwing in a third race could they avoid Copyright stuff
Posts: 42 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Hey T.J., Dog is the most able to comment on Mr. Card's intentions besides Mr. Card himself. He has no doubt read the forward, in fact he probably read it before it was published.
Posts: 1660 | Registered: Jan 2000
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TJ, I don't think Starcraft was ever in any danger of copyright infringement. Seriously, the concept of a buglike alien race is so overwhelmingly universal to have become cliché. Lots and lots and lots of science fiction has used precisely that premise. Just the fact that the Zerg are more wormlike and the Buggers are more antlike, and the Bugs in the Starship Troopers movie are more headless-evil-nasty-critter-like makes them different enough that they all clearly drew from the same well of clichés, and not directly from one another.
Computer games have a tendency to draw from the cliché well more often than novels and movies, partly because, for many games, the setting and background are not the point. You want the setting to be instantly recognizable and familiar, so that the player gets past it quickly and focuses on the gameplay. So having high-tech Humans, bio-tech insectoid Zerg, and mystic/psychic Protoss might well be the most stereotypical set of clichés known to man (perhaps falling just short of the Human/Undead/Orc/Elf bunch in Warcraft), but no one really cares because the real point is how cool it looks and how well it plays, not how unique its cultures are.
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It might be interesting someday to see a REAL adaptation of Heinlein's book. It would probably play a lot more like Full Metal Jacket.
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