Never Judge a Book by its Movie – Ender’s Game

Please note that there probably are spoilers in the following and this is my recollection of the film Ender’s Game that I saw last night, way past my bedtime, so I may not recall everything is extreme detail.

Last night I joined some friends to see “Ender’s Game” I’m not going to go into anything dealing with the author of the original story’s rabid political rantings- I don’t agree with anything he has to say on those points, I really don’t want to discuss the person, I’d much rather go into the movie and the book Ender’s Game.    As for Ender’s Game it is a story I picked up in 1989 after listening to the author speak coherently about literature and pop culture.  Over the years I picked up a few other books by this author, but none of them really hit me like Ender’s Game. I even had gone back and found the published copy of the original award winning novella just to see the original format of the story. So for year’s I have been a fan of this story- which when seeing a modern film version of a story written around 30 years ago can be a bad thing… a very bad thing.

Some basics – the Earth has been invaded by the “buggers” they were fought off and now to prepare for the second invasion children are tested (Oh the horror of futuristic standardized testing) to see if they have military aptitude.  Those “lucky few” are sent off to Battle School in orbit to learn the art of war.  After initial training students are placed into armies lead by other students and compete in zero-g battles to put their leadership and tactical skills to the test.  Those that succeed graduate. Ender Wiggin is sent up because he has a high midichlorian count and may be “the one.”  He goes through various trials in order to test him and finally… well you know the hero’s journey.  Originally a Hugo & Nebula award winning novella- the author turned it into a series of novels, and then another series of novels telling the story from different character’s points of view.  Then he turned it into a comic series and started writing some of the missing parts and history… I’m not even sure how many books are in the series now.

I know many people who swore they wouldn’t see any of the Harry Potter films because it would ruin the picture they had in their mind of the setting and the characters. I found myself wandering around London on my first trip looking for the actual locations mentioned in the book so I could visualize it better. (Note that some places used in the Harry Potter films are not the actual locations sited in the book- just sayin’) So when it comes to Ender’s Game I read it when I first started teaching kids who happen to be around the age of Ender in the book. Ender (in the book) was always considered small and youngish.  He stood out from the crowd in this way- or at least that’s the way I imagined him.  The film does not portray him as such. I could nitpick through the film, but for me this was one of the major points that threw me- these are supposed to be children and while they were younger and were “children”, they were older than I had ever imagined.  Tweens or even teens… is that the audience they are pushing for?   While watching the film I kept waiting for Petra and Ender to have some childish romantic moment- something that never came to mind when reading the book.

The film itself seemed rushed- It was like they couldn’t understand that Ender was in Battle School for not just 30 days. He dealt with a bunch of commanders before being given his own army. (The novella starts with Ender training his army after first being given command, the character Bean is introduced there.  The movie has Bean as his first friend on the transport to Battle School.  Now I’ll admit Bean was an important character (important enough to have his own book or two), but in the book he was the one Ender picked on initially, he was the one Ender trusted in the end because (pardon the pun) they were two peas in pod.  He suddenly appears in the the transport Ender is on?!? no no no no… this kills Bean’s backstory.  Don’t even get me started on Ender’s first nemesis – Bernard.  He was a minor character, he was a bully who Ender embarrassed and really wasn’t important after that.  Having him become one of Ender’s chosen few?  Bringing him to help Ender at the end?  no no no no… I barely got to know, let alone care, about any of the characters before the film was over.  and while many of them were important to Ender at some point in the book, with the exception of Petra, many of the characters considered Ender’s trusted few, were difficult to figure out how they formed such a tight bond with him.

So much of the book took place in Ender’s head (like Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) that it is difficult to know the title character, therefore love the title character in the film.  It also seemed like they tried to take some parts from the novel to “humanize Ender” but dropped an entire other plot line that demonstrated the brilliance of Ender’s siblings.  Then again those plot points (let alone Ender’s siblings) don’t show up in the original story.  The whole surprise ending really didn’t seem like that much of a surprise (but then again- I read the book), but then again maybe it was because this was the point of using special effects, where in the book they were dealing with 1980’s vector graphics.

I know I seem to be focusing on the issues I have with a beloved book being put onto the silver screen, as for positives- it was well acted, the special effects were glorious if you like explosions and spaceships. I just can’t say much about the story because I’m obviously too close to it.  So as for the story, I recommend you not spend the large sum to see it in the theater ($12 for a movie ticket? Really?!?!) but go to a used bookstore or your local library and pick up a copy. If you absolutely want to see the film version because you are illiterate, or something like that- wait to see it on DVD or Netflix.  I know if I decide to have a second viewing it will be when I don’t have to buy a ticket.

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Ender’s Game is on a short list of books that I reread (& reread) when I need to escape kind of like putting on a comfy sweater. They are-

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Dream Park by Larry Niven & Steven Barnes

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Another Fine Myth by Robert Aspirin

Harry Potter & Philosopher’s Stone By J.K. Rowling

The Brave Little Toaster by Thomas Disch

I’m sure there will be others and I might have missed a few- since I didn’t even list any comics.