Ender's Game - Das große Spiel

I have read the first two Ender books years ago, so I knew what to expect from the movie. And it delivered. "Ender's Game" is a deeply disturbing tale of a child made into a monster by the fears of his society. Much like "Neon Genesis Evangelion" at its most puissant, it makes one wonder what is there in humanity worth protecting, and at what price.

The box-office failure of big budget (110m$) book adaptation 'Ender's Game' doesn't bode well for the future of my favorite movie genre. Writer Orson Scott Card has had many offers since the book release in 1985 to turn it into a film. He rejected many of them because of creative differences and because most Studios insisted on making Ender older (in the book he's 6 to 10 years old). There were plans in 2003 by Warner Brothers to let Wolfgang Petersen have a go at it with a script written by Card himself. Card's script was a fusion of 'Ender's Game' and 'Ender's Shadow'. In 2010 Gavin Hood got attached as director and screenwriter and the script became based on the first book again with plans to make it into a franchise or a TV series if successful. Unfortunately EG made only 112m$ worldwide (although it opened first place in the US with 27m$) so all future plans have been put on ice. It's really a shame because as far as science fiction flicks go this really is one of the better ones. The VFX were done by Digital Domain who also co-financed the film and they look absolutely stunning. This film will a good 4K showcase Blu-ray when they finalize the format at the end of 2014. The film follows the book quite closely but because of the time constraints of the film medium a lot of events had to be compressed and some subplots where eliminated. 113 mins really is too short, an extra 40 mins or so would have let more room to expand on Ender's training etc. Altogether I think most fans of the book will be happy with the end result but it it just lacks the depth the book had to offer. So hopefully they make a 3 hour extended version (depending on how much material they shot) on BD to give the story more time to breathe.

I'll begin by saying that I haven't read the book and had absolutely no idea what to expect. I was therefore pleasantly surprised by what is an exciting science fiction adventure.

Harrison Ford is the reason I watched this, and he is first rate. It might be argued that Ford is playing to the gruff stereotype he has essayed in any number of recent films, but I like this performance.

The younger members of the cast were unfamiliar to me, but they acquit themselves well. I was drawn into the story and the emoitional journey within.

The visuals are stunning. Even the most cynical or jaded critic cannot deny the movie is beautiful to watch. Worth the cost of a movie ticket.

Ender's Game is not a perfect film. It rushes through certain important points, and leaves out other parts altogether, instead what you get is a flawed but enjoyable movie that ultimately succeeds, because it always keeps its goal in sight.

Certain things about this movie such as the justification for child soldiers, Ansible Technology, and the Genius of the main group of Kids will be best understood by the book readers.

The film has wonderful visuals with exciting CGI to showcase the important Battle Room.

The Acting by Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield is one of the strengths this project has. They maintain a tense and believable relationship that is very much like the original story.

Ultimately the climax of this movie and its main message is what sets it apart from many other Sci-Fi films. The emotion is very much there, and anyone willing to give this film a try will not be disappointed.

This movie was actually really good! I thoroughly enjoyed it, the characters were great, storyline was intriguing, and acting was good. I expected a 6.6 movie, but got one way better than that.