I feel like Ender's Game (2013) would have made for a MUCH better TV show/miniseries than it would have for the film adaptation that we got.

Submitted by Jamey4 t3_10qayeu in movies

Don't get me wrong, there were some parts of the Ender's Game movie (2013) that I felt worked pretty well (I felt they nailed the visuals for the most-part), but I felt that the biggest weakness of the movie, above all else, was that there was so much cut out from the book. Way, WAY too much was cut out to keep this movie just under 2 hours.

There's an entire subplot in the book back on Earth about Ender's brother Peter, and his sister Valentine that the movie completely leaves out, which I feel was absolutely essential to showing the sharp contrast between Ender and Peter, and what they value the most. In fact, we barely see any of Valentine or Peter at all in this movie if memory serves, which I felt was a huge missed opportunity.

But yeah, after seeing the movie for Ender's Game many years ago, I've always thought that it would have worked so much better as a TV series. We'd be able to see Ender's journey in more detail, in addition to his relationships with his two siblings, and so much more from the book that could be explored in so much more depth in a TV series format.

Anyone else feel the same?

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TheTomFu t1_j6oy16v wrote

I didn't but now i do.

The siblings end up having such an interesting dynamic later on, which would have been great to see forming over time...also, more of Bean's backstory would have been great.

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FunstarJ t1_j6ozp27 wrote

I also thought it would have made for a great 2-part movie, which was common at the time (Harry Potter and Twilight were both doing the same thing).

Hell, it would have worked better for Ender's Game because the book takes place over several years. Allowing the kids to grow up a little would work perfectly for the filming schedule.

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katoman1532 t1_j6p3ui5 wrote

I read the original short story in Analog mag as a kid, read almost everything OSC has done since. That said, I was absolutely fucking furious when they put the surprise twist ending in the FUCKING trailer! Will never forgive the Asshats who green lit that. What fucking idiots!

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shaktimaanftw t1_j6p4s5c wrote

I haven't read the book, but was really intrigued by the movie. It felt like the story had way more to offer. Especially some characters like Valentine needed a lot more depth. Some parts felt really hurried and it was disappointing to see there was no sequel

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ThatIowanGuy t1_j6p6ypj wrote

I honestly think it should have been an R rated dramatic animated film. With live action, there was no way for them to get quality child actors at the ages stated in the book. Their changes to Bernard and Bonzo Madrid incredibly harmed the themes from the book and those should have remained in their bloody details. Ender’s Game would have been the perfect vehicle to show that animated movies geared for adult audiences could have worked but instead toned down the material and aged up the kids to the point where the end product is just flat out not good.

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Tonyhillzone t1_j6p7asg wrote

The entire Enders story takes place over 3000 years. You could do a 4-5 season show to cover it all. Strongly recommend reading all the books if you haven't.

(And yes, the creator is a complete idiot and lunatic, but that doesn't detract from a great series of books.)

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rinmperdinck t1_j6p8jdq wrote

Obligatory "OSC is a piece of shit"

Now that's out of the way, discussion:

First of all, the production committee responsible for adapting the book clearly did everything on a tight budget and a tight schedule. I bet a ridiculous percentage of their money went to paying for the corpse of Harrison Ford to show up in that film and add approximately nothing to it.

They also clearly didn't care about the military/tactical/political stuff that gets told brilliantly in the book and creates a huge part of the identity of making Ender's Game into being what it is, rather than being solely about the flashy CGI space battles that the movie focused on. The movie just felt like a lazy half-baked cash grab to follow in the wake of all the young adult novel movie adaptations that were cash cows at the time, like those stupid vampire books or that Jennifer Lawrence series.

Point is, while a mini-series format could benefit Ender's Game by giving it more screen time to stretch its legs out and allow more of the story to make it into the script, anyone who adapts this movie has to include more than the Hollywood sci-fi explosions.

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edgelordjones t1_j6p8l4a wrote

They tried to turn a war story about child soldiers conscripted by fascist adults into a YA FRANCHISE.

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TywinShitsGold t1_j6p8wdu wrote

Frankly, it just works best as a book. You can’t really find a 6 year old to play bean in a film.

Most elementary school (age) based movies would be the same.

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WeDriftEternal t1_j6pba6r wrote

Replying to ThatIowanGuy (#1,687,167)

I don’t think this works as animated. It has to feel real otherwise you can twist and turn any direction because there are no rules in animation

Also, no need for R. It’s a YA story. I bet the author would have a religious freak out if it was R as well

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BlishBlash t1_j6pd5ub wrote

To be fair the Peter/Valentine sub-plot is pretty ridiculous.

Peter basically takes over the world through a series of internet debates.

Though it was written in 1985 (when the internet was still full of possibilities), and the author isn't exactly sane (Empire is even more ridiculous).

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BlishBlash t1_j6pdff8 wrote

Replying to WeDriftEternal (#1,689,392)

That's true but there's a huge gulf between "young adult" books and "young adult" pretty much everything else. Books can get away with a ton of stuff that movies/games/etc would get crucified for. Ender's Game being a perfect example.

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bugxbuster t1_j6pdq0q wrote

THAT WAS TEN FUCKING YEARS AGO?!

dies of old age

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OberynRedViper8 t1_j6pf9jp wrote

Ender's Game has always been my favorite book, and I was of course very disappointed in the movie.

I wish HBO could get hold of it.

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CaptinOlonA t1_j6piscw wrote

Replying to FunstarJ (#1,684,221)

>Hell, it would have worked better for Ender's Game because the book takes place over several years. Allowing the kids to grow up a little would work perfectly for the filming schedule.

All time, great sci-fi book(s). Never say never, still could happen, lots of IP material is being repackaged.

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