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Ender's Game (2013 Film)


Jay

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I don't see how anyone can proclaim they've failed at the "how" from a 2 minute trailer. Oh wait, this is the internet. Nevermind.

Where did I say that? Oh wait, it's Jason. Nevermind!

That is incredibly disappointing news for me. I was looking forward to seeing what Horner would come up with for this, but Jablonsky is just terrible.

What?! I missed seeing this news. They could've gotten anyone for an epic movie event like this, and they grabbed up Jablonsky? There's one decision that tells me they're cutting corners, at least a little. Not a good sign.

The production design is only a part of the 'how'. The Shining is made interesting because of the way Stanley Kubrick told it. The TV movie of The Shining is what happens when you don't have a clue about the 'how'.

I see your point, and don't entirely disagree; a "how"-less approach can detract from what could've been a better movie. But story is the key, the critical element, the compelling idea that gives the director something to "how" into visual existence. In my mind, movies that "how" to the rafters but have no interesting story are worse. (Not to hijack the theme of another thread, but Michael Bay's recent robotic repertoire offers some excellent examples.)

- Uni

Of which both the 'what' and the 'how' are terrible, IMO. A double fail on Bay's part. I can't comment on the story of Ender's Game, only on the trailer and the trailer doesn't show me anything that I like (somehow this is a problem for some!). I agree with you that story is important for the foundation. However, even if the story in the film is good (that remains to be seen) but the 'how' is average or common, then in my experience, it will be an average or common movie. So far, I only commented on the production design. Production design is part of the images. Images in film are part of the storytelling. I can't say much about the direction, another part of storytelling, but I would be surprised if the direction will be out of the ordinary. When I watch a trailer, I look if a film has gotten a formulaic treatment and so far this seems to be the case with Ender's Game. Who knows, maybe a second trailer will tell a different 'story' altogether.

Alex

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Of which both the 'what' and the 'how' are terrible, IMO. A double fail on Bay's part.

I certainly can't argue with that.

So far, I only commented on the production design. Production design is part of the images. Images in film are part of the storytelling. I can't say much about the direction, another part of storytelling, but I would be surprised if the direction will be out of the ordinary. When I watch a trailer, I look if a film has gotten a formulaic treatment and so far this seems to be the case with Ender's Game. Who knows, maybe a second trailer will tell a different 'story' altogether.

It's interesting how this ties in with Soderberg's "State of the Cinema" speech. He spoke directly to the point that studio marketing these days involves decisions that have nothing to do with the creative process of the filmmakers, and often operates in opposition to it. As a result, it's getting harder and harder to get a clear and accurate idea from a movie's previews what exactly the movie is like. Its only purpose is to get people into the seats. Whether they like what they see once they get there is beyond the studio's concern.

So I wouldn't invest too much stock into the first trailer for any movie any more. Jason and I are excited because we're proceeding from the starting point of the book, and then applying what we saw in the preview. (Honestly, if I were going by the teaser alone . . . I might not be all that geared up about this yet.)

- Uni

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Wow Uni, that's a great point I for some reason had not thought of.

If I had never read the book before and saw this trailer, I might not be that excited either! I'll have to try to step back and view it from that viewpoint.

Because for now I've only viewed it from the viewpoint of seeing a book I love brought to life, and liking what I'm seeing.

Interesting.

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Nor should that take away from the experience for us. Hey, we've invested the time in story as it was realized; I think we deserve to get some thrills from seeing it come to life on the big screen!

- Uni

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I'm a Jablonsky fan and even I'm disappointed. I think Horner could have written something really good, although he's not a sure fire thing these days anyway. If Jablonsky does something along the lines of D-War I'll be pleased.

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I suppose we ought to give every composer the chance to find their "breakthrough" score. Maybe this'll be the one for Steve. (We can only hope. . . .)

- Uni

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Steve has written a good score (not sure if that's what you mean by a "breakthrough" score) and that was for Steamboy. Unfortunately, big modern sci-fi blockbusters in his hands will likely mean more horrifying MRI sounds...

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Yeah Steamboy is an amazing score. D-War is Transformers with dragons and a great score. Unfortunately if he's replacing anyone it's obvious the focus group failed and they're going for the RCP sound. I still want to hear Burwell's score for Gangster Squad. That one would probably have been terrific noir.

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James Horner hadn't written a note before he got replaced. There is no rejected score.

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There are many, many, many, many reasons why one composer might be replaced with another on a film.

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That is incredibly disappointing news for me. I was looking forward to seeing what Horner would come up with for this, but Jablonsky is just terrible.

Oh. Guess I have no interest in the film after all. Didn't last long.

Karol

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  • 1 month later...

Except Mass Effect 3 is a game from 2012 and this is a novel that came out in 1985

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Yeah but the novel doesn't have pictures. I don't think he was trying to say there was a similarity in plot or story, although now that I think about it there are a few. It's just promotional material. I think the Battle School scenes look more like Tron than anything else.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's not an alien invasion movie

An alien invasion (almost) happened in the past history, the movie is about preparing childen to be our leaders to fight the (predicted) next invasion

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If that's the Battle School . . . then that's not what we see exploding in the preview. Interesting.

- Uni

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Oh, what explodes in a preview is just a ship from a flashback to the First Invasion

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Are you serious? It absolutely does!

Ender things the final simulations are more games, when he's really controlling real ships

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Which I meant to bring up—this, like the trailer, may be another unfortunate bit of spoiling on the part of the marketers here. (Do they think everyone's read the book already?)

- Uni

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I think I'll read the books....maybe the have them for cheap at Costco. I'll check this week

i haven't read anything since The Hunger Games

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There's really no "them" - just read the book Ender's Game, the others are totally different and won't have anything related to the film in them.

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No. The direct sequels - Speaker For The Dead, Xenocide, and Children Of The Mind - continue Ender's story. It take place 3,000 years later so all the other characters are long dead, but it's the rest of his story. I only read Speaker so far, it was good but TOTALLY different from Ender's Game... More of a philosophical character study than a suspense /action thing.

After those, years later he wrote Ender's Shadow, which retells the story of Ender's Game, but from Bean's perspective (it also tells the story of Bean's life leading up to arriving at Battle School) . I read that and it was really awesome! That also was followed by three sequels, but I haven't read them yet. They tell the story of what happens on Earth directly after the climax of Ender's Game / Shadow and continue from there, so they feature Bean and Ender's brother and show what happens on Earth and everything.

Then years later he started writing all kinds of spinoffs and sidequells and stuff, I don't really know anything about them. I think he's doing a prequel now about the first bugger invasion.

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Oye it turned into Star Wars. How is Ender alive 3,000 years later? I might read these now that I know they're more directly related.

Ender's Game itself already sets this up in the last chapter. Remember, him and Valentine board a spaceship to travel around looking for the right homeworld to leave the Bugger Queen on. Since he's traveling through space at light speed, he ages slowly. He's 35 in Speaker For The Dead even though its thousands of years later to everyone else.

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BTW, surprised nobody posted this while I was gone. BRAND NEW FULL FINAL TRAILER FOR ENDER'S GAME!!!

MUCH better trailer than the first trailer. Looks like this is going to be THE sci-fi movie of 2013 (not sure if Gravity counts as sci fi or not)

The first bugger invasion footage looks awesome!

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Wow.

For content and tone, anyway. I still think they're putting too much out there, giving straight-up answers to their own questions and opting to disregard any sense of mystery and suspense. I can only hope that doesn't kill it for those who don't know the story.

I do know the story, however, and for me this looks like a great expansion on the book. It appears there's more emphasis on the latter stages of the novel (Command School rather than Battle School), but that may simply be where the cooler graphics are and therefore the more marketable material.

Starting to shift into "can't wait" mode on this. . . !

- Uni

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