posted
I'm worried about the Ender's Game movie. I'm worried that it's going to be too difficult pulling off the presentation of brilliant and aggressive/violent CHILDREN on screen without it seeming too fake. I think that we'll be able to deal well enough with the geniousness... we all loved D.A.R.Y.L., right? But I worry that violent children will be a real turn off to moviegoers. I can't think of any movie with aggressive-kid that I've ever liked. Can you?
Posts: 116 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
I did like the Omen, and that kid seemed aggresive, being son of Satan and all.
Everytime I think about this movie, I keep thinking, in 20 years, maybe they could film it on location in a Branson orbiting hotel. Posts: 349 | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I really think this is the reason it has taken so long to come out; Not just the issues with the script, but issues with finding children actors, and ways to make it work.
I think they are doing thier best, and with card I know it will be good.
Posts: 1132 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
As I believe the movie is with the screenwriters right now...
I was watching X2 the other night and thinking about how much I really like the Wolverine story arc.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
One thing I wonder about is the basic, though little, profanity and nudity in Ender's Game... It would be difficult to do it all properly as intended...
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Maybe they could pump up their age (say approx. average 15). And have them wearing stuff all the time instead. Have them say things like fudge, shut, heck, or just cut out swearing.
BTW, the X2 writers have handed in three screenplays and are now done with it, and another writer is to be announced.
Posts: 19 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well, he's not going to let them turn the children into teenagers. From what I've read, he's already turned down offers from movie makers before because they wanted to do just that. So you can bet they're going to stay children.
As for keeping them clothed all the time, I suspect they probably will. Of course there was nothing wrong, or even at all unusual, given the context, about the nudity in the book. But film is a different matter. Describing a child as naked using only text is one thing, but actually showing a real child naked on film is quite another. I don't think there's any way they could do it--especially with Petra!--that wouldn't cause outrage and ridiculous accusations of child pornography. I strongly suspect they will be keeping them clothed; in skivvies at the very least.
quote:Have them say things like fudge, shut, heck,
Oh, dear god, no. That would be the worst thing they could do. It would be so fake, and corny, that I don't think the movie could survive. Besides, I don't think the public is really all that shocked by hearing children swear anymore. Just don't make it happen so often that it takes over the movie. Or, as you say, leave it out altogether. As a Great Writer once said, "euphemisms are often worse than the crudities they replace, because they make both the story and the character seem pretty silly. Either use indecorous language or don't use it--don't try to simulate it, because, unless you have more genius than I've ever heard of, it just won't work."
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't think there will be a whole lot of swearing to begin with. As I can recall, majority of the insults where cheesy lines like "fart-eater" and "bugger-lover". Few of these where used in Ender's Shadow. Maybe Mr.Card realised that these insults just didn't appeal to the general public and seemed retarted even though such insults can be seen coming from a child of that age. As for the clothes-that's nothing more than common sense. The age of the children-a problem. Children grow extremly fast. They have got to find the children, act out the sceens and screenplays all before the children outgrow thier character profiles! Bean is going to be the hardest challenge (if they decide to actually make in look half his age). I have hopes that'll it'll all work out and know doubt Wolfgang Peterson's got it all figured out already.
Posts: 112 | Registered: Jun 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
You know... Perhaps not an Anime but one really good 3D animation movie, I mean, Final Fantasy: The spirits within wasn't that good movie wise... But perhaps an animation style like that could work well...
Bah... *leaps under the same cover as pwiscombe*
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Actually, they've decided that Jake Lloyd and Haley Joel Osment will both be too old when it's time for filming (sigh of relief). It's been said that the best choice is to pick an unknown kid to play Ender (and the jeesh).
Posts: 19 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Hooray!!!! I'd much rather see a group of heretofore unknowns get their big exposures than have those two.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I just think that leaving out the all important first murder is watering the story, total sell out. We should all lobby for it. It takes guts to stick to the story and the quality that got Ender chosen, his 'go for the win, never the tie' attitude.
Whoever they get to be Ender he should have to act the schoolyard fight and show himself to be the viscious killer at the core Ender is.
And the Generals should have to nod and say "That is the boy we want! That is the right combination of Genius and Violence for the great project."
posted
Okay, interesting concerns, finding child actors age 6 and up will be a challenge since you'ld need a couple dozen and probably would have to be geniouses in reality probably to do it. The having them teenagers is interesting but it won't fit in with the story at all. As for swearing, leave it be they'll either have bugger-lover+ other swears or they won't, it doesn't really matter imo. As for the actors themelves I really can't give an opinion here but I can say that the best actor for Graff would be Patrick Stewart, his on screen character seems to fit. Now has anyone ever seen any Gundam series? It usually involves children/teenagers piloting mobile suits for warfare but the point is anime may be a good idea if you can get the right artists to do it and I mean serious anime not the cliche kind also you wouldn't have to find child actors just actors who can sound like children. But all of this doesn't matter it just my opinion and I hope the movie is released, I'll be the first one in line for it and if any of you just happen to be infront of me there's going to be an "industrial accident." lol, just kidding I'll probably be early enough to get my perfect seat. smack dab in the middle of the theater so I don't have to move my head.
Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I didn't know they were making a movie, but I hope that they do make it appealing, because I'd most likely want to see it myself. The Ender's Game book was the book that got me hooked on Mr. Card. I hope it turns out great!
posted
I really don't think that they'll try to find acters at the ages of six but more likely around the ages of ten or so (except maybe Bean). This would make more sense and ultimately prove easier. But like I said earlier, Card is only writing the script and not even the final script, it'll be Mr. Peterson (the director) that'll have the final say in all these matters-not so much Card.
Posts: 112 | Registered: Jun 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
good question, though i guess it all depends on how fast the actors/actresses are found, when the script is finished, and whether the funding for the movie keeps production moving along.
posted
Yeah, that was the last date I saw too-2006. But there's always delays and such a movie as this will probably run into problems (kinda like what this forum's about!)
Posts: 112 | Registered: Jun 2004
| IP: Logged |
Petra = Armenia Bean = Greece Surly = Thailand Ender = Americain/Polish origins Dink = Netherlands Hot Soup = China Shen = Japan Rose de Nose = Israel? Vlad = Belorus (or White Russia, just north of the Ukrain) Fly Molo = Ambul = Thailand Carn Carby = I'm thinking either England, america or Canada
Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
i have read all the ender novels and all the shadow ones (except giant, of course). i am also a "casual fan" of anime.
Many people are still trying to get used to taking animation seriously or they don't like the anime aesthetics. And I don't mean take seriously as in 'wow, Finding Nemo made a lot of money'. Watch "Ghost In the Shell 2". It is beautiful, deeply philosophical, and has good action scenes.
People just need to stop calling them "cartoons". Anyone who's seen "Serial Experiments Lain" can tell you that anime can convey the complex psychological states Ender experiences. Also, using animation, perhaps a broken arm or a slippery shower brawl could be more accepted than kids in live action going at it-- and more true to the novel.
I think anime would in fact be the best medium for an ender movie, since it would offer good deal of control over the characters' ages (6-12ish is a lot of time to cover), Buggers would be very sweet, the battle room scenes would be more engaging, and sequels(!) would be much easier to do. (If the first doesn't flop, I wouldn't mind watching Ender growing old while his kids and brain-kids save the world)
... and it would be easier to make Graff get fatter periodically Posts: 2 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
some. i grew up on transformers, but now when i watch a mecha show, it's either from the 80's and looks old and silly, or it's newer and blantantly cgi, which turns me off.
i like some of the newer shows with big budgets that blend cg and hand-drawn work seamlessly.
Posts: 2 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I consider, Gundam Wing to be great, the tranformers like is the older on I think not the newer american made ones.
Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
If they want to truly do the books right... I think that the only way to do it would be to do the movies back to back. You'd have enough gaps to account for the age changes and the like, but it could work out quite well... sort of in the way that they did the Lord of the Rings movies, one after the other, and release them one after anouther for several years, one each year or so...
Besides, then it'd be more likely that they do more than just the first one. <grins>
Posts: 11 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Here's the smallish problem with that... What about bean? Where do they find an actor who is short but can grow really tall? It'd kind of be hard to pre-determin that..
posted
Okay, apparently the wirting team who did X-Men 2 will be writing the screen play for Ender's Game/Ender's Shodow the movie.
Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote: Ender's Game Screenplay by Orson Scott Card Based on the novel by Orson Scott Card Produced by Chartoff Productions and Fresco Pictures Feature film: Science fiction epic
It's 2070, forty years since a devastating alien invasion was barely turned back, and the world is desperately searching for soldiers to lead them to victory when the "Buggers" come again. That's why they're drafting young children who pass a rigorous screening, and sending the best of them to the orbiting Battle School, where they are trained from childhood to be ready for war in the vertiginous reaches of space.
Into the unending pressure of military training comes six-year-old Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, who struggles to keep his humanity even as the adult teachers, rivals among his fellow students, and the strange unseen influence of the alien invaders all threaten either to destroy him or to make him into someone he can't bear to be.
His genius raises him to the top of the intensely competitive games in the Battle Room, an immense null-gravity chamber where armies of youngsters engage in mock combat. But his real struggles are off the playing field - with a dangerous older boy named Bonzo Madrid who is determined that both he and Ender cannot survive in this place; with his teacher, Mazer Rackham, who won the last war on a fluke and now is trying to prepare Ender to win the next one by skill rather than luck; and with himself, as Ender wrestles with his own demons, desperate to remain a decent human being even as he sees himself being transformed into exactly the same kind of monster as the buggers themselves.
2070? Somehow that can't be right, I'm certain that the first bugger war was atleast around that time or later, and is Mazer in Battleschool for the movie? Or is this discription inaccurate? I know they hardly started working on the screenplays but you know I'm kinda concerned, It'll still be a great movie I'll still go. I'm just a bit surprised thats all.
Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Go back to your quotey. It doesn't really state that Mazer was in BS or not. As for 2070, I think you're right.
Posts: 19 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yeah it's jsut that it seems implied that Mazer is in BS, so it's not confirmed. But I really don't want the 3rd bugger war to take play in 2070, (though I might still be alive then pending the crazed driver/wife). ALso anyoen notice that all major wars seem to come in 3's?
Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think that there will only be one bugger war in the movie.
The problem is that you have to adapt a book, what you see in the theatre won't be the same exact thing you read. It happens to all adaptations; Harry Potter, LOTR, (who knows knows how they're going to adapt the His Dark Materials trilogy...)
The directors are forced to make sacrifices for the plot and cut out parts and all the little details to make a live-action/cgi version that brings the books to life as best possible.
So just ignore general inconsistancies because it's going to be Ender's Game The Movie while Ender's Game The Book will always be dear in our hearts in a differant way. Two different versions, same story, I don't think you will be unsatified.
PS: Since I mentioned it, for His Dark Material Fans, check out this.Posts: 3 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
No matter what goes on with the movie, i think the final result will be rad. i'm not a big fan of anime so i'm against that whole ordeal but i think that the CGI like in final fantasy would be cool. Does anyone know who the cast is going to be? cause i've heard some people say jake lloyd and then others say no. so if you could fill me in i'd appreciate it.
Posts: 9 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
No actors have been cast yet since it is still probably a year or two until the filming start. You probably will not know the names of any of the child actors.
In the book Mazer was out at light speed for a portion of Ender's training. He was not at Battle School. He was at Command School. Several of the grown up roles will be consolidated.
As to the year. Since a year is never really stated in the books, you can not say when any of the stories take place.
posted
Brian - as far as aggressive kids, check out the children of the corn movies. (most of which are terrible, but that's mostly the giant gaping holes in the script, and i still love them.) i think what's going to be harder is selling the concept to a wider audience. but judging from tha mass market appeal ender has in the first place, i doubt that will be a problem.
i don't think finding kids will be a problem, especially if the scour the pool for unknowns. there are far more talented kids lurking around then hollywood would lead you to believe there are. (on that note, you have NO idea how relieved i am that HJP will be too old for this movie. whew.)
Posts: 4 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Making this movie Anime would destroy the overall feel of it. However, I do believe that the biggest problem facing the production team will be maing the Battle Room sequences realistic enough. Say all you want about the advantages of BlueScreen technology and computer animation, those scenes will either make, or break the film.
Posts: 2 | Registered: Dec 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Creating Super-intelligent children who express emotions far beyond the average child's daily life will be the ultimate challenge. To develop a child who can fool the audience into believing he is the face of venomous hate is entirely possible but it takes a game and a lot of forethought. You need a child who is intelligent and bright but naive; for that is the child with whom you can convince the entire world he is intellegibly superior, a soldier, and in a couple of instances a child who can hate. Murderous hate out of a six or seven year old child, to the audience, is going to be a show of absolute ludicrousness or of deep emotional importance. This movie can work quite well with a live cast but it is the training of the cast that will be the most important with the little children.
Casting, training and captured moments are the most important of all
Posts: 7 | Registered: Dec 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I heard Johnathan Lipnicki was getting the nod for the part of Ender? "Did you know that the Human head weighth eight poundth? Did you know that the Buggerth can thmell fear?"
Posts: 172 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Oh NO!!! That would be horrible! Him playing the part would ruin the whole mood of the movie. They need someone more serious, and maybe an unknown actor so no one could compare him to his other movies.
Posts: 24 | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I agree with Master Kakashi. "an unknown actor so no one could compare him to his other movies" There are many children that can be cast other than the recent known ones. Most people see the kids stars in a couple of films and assume that they will be chosen for the movie. The wonderful truth is that there are many kids that nobody knows about that once found will exceed the expectations of the audience. If a young child has some filming experience then that might be a reason to sign him on but with children that young it is best just to start out with a new face.
Posts: 7 | Registered: Dec 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
No way. I hear that Macaulay Culkin will play Ender and Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. The Rock) will play Bean.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I heard that Bruce McCulloch was going to play Ender, using his Gavin character as an inspiration, and that Robin Williams was going to play Bean. They'll use CGI to shrink them down so that they're the same size as the other kids. Dame Judy Dench is going to play Petra. That's the word on the street, anyway.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
Seriously; I love Robin Williams acting/comedy and all but in an Ender's Game/Shadow Movie? I say NIEN!
Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
That would be horrible! Him playing the part would ruin the whole mood of the movie. They need someone more serious, and maybe an unknown actor so no one could compare him to his other movies.
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
