Ender's Game
Adaptation of the beloved science fiction novel starring Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley and Abigail Breslin. 70 years after a brutal war with an alien race, young Andrew 'Ender' Wiggin (Asa Butterfield, Hugo) is selected for Battle School to hone his military skills and defeat them once and for all.
To prevent future attacks by the Formics, hostile insect-like aliens who killed tens of millions when they attempted to colonise Earth, the Battle School was established to find the world's most talented young strategists. Led by the esteemed Colonel Graff (Ford), the school's job is to enlist and train the world's best tactical minds - one of whom, the shy but brilliant Ender, quickly establishes himself as humanity's greatest hope. Trained in combat and space warfare, Ender is also ruthlessly psychologically manipulated as the Battle School attempts to mould him into their ultimate weapon against the Formics.
Orson Scott Card's novel, published in 1985, is the first in a series of twelve. The first two are considered amongst the most influential science fiction of the 1980s.
- Director:
- Gavin Hood ('X-Men Origins: Wolverine', 'Tsotsi')
- Writer:
- Gavin Hood
- Cast:
- Harrison FordAbigail BreslinAsa ButterfieldBen KingsleyHailee SteinfeldViola DavisMoises AriasAramis Knight
Reviews & comments
Variety
pressAn impressive, thought-provoking astro-adventure that benefits from the biggest screen available.
Total Film
pressLike its hero, Ender’s Game relies on brains more than brute force. An absorbing portrait of Lord Of The Flies-style morality housed in imaginative sci-fi casing.
Time Out
pressIt falters once the actual war begins: Ben Kingsley shows up as a Maori warrior with the weirdest imaginable accent, the final battle is uninvolving, and there’s an unconvincing upbeat coda. Ender’s Game ends up being fitfully engaging and endearingly odd.
The New York Times
pressChildhood can be tough in movies, but rarely do screen children suffer for our sins as they do here.
The Guardian
pressThe movie's apocalyptic finale indicates that it's bitten off considerably more than it can chew in terms of ideas, but it looks good, and the story rattles along.
Hollywood Reporter
pressIf only adapter-director Gavin Hood's movie had been tempered with craft and care and wasn't such a blunt instrument, one that seems designed as a delivery system for CGI derring-do instead of the heartbreaker it should be.
Empire Magazine
pressIt admirably avoids many of the pitfalls of adapting this book, but seems to have lost some of the life and pace as well.
You end up sitting through a bunch of cheesy child-army raising by Harrison Ford, utilising every cheesy army/sci fi trope you could hope to avoid. You wait in the hope that Sir Ben Kingsley will save the day. And then he arrives and says "My dad was Murray. You thought I was did, dudn't you?". Sorry, I would give this review more detail, but the movie...
Based on the acclaimed science fiction novel written by Orson Scott Card. My expectations were low in Gavin Hood, director of the atrocious X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. Surprisingly, Ender's Game is a very good science fiction movie. Ender's Game is more of a training movie than an epic space battle. Think Full Metal Jacket with gravity suits and laser...
This is an ok sci-fi worth a watch. It follows Ender a young boy in his rise through the ranks of a youth army trained to fight an alien race at their home planet in retaliation for and to protect against another attack 50 years after nearly wiping out mankind. There is a whole lot of moral dilemmas in this about the type of soldier they need, about the...
All the youngsters in this film were excellent. Earnest, watchable and totally professional. I'm a fan of the book series and felt the film tried but missed the mark, slightly. But not as badly as Ben Kingsley's 'odd' accent. Now THAT was distracting. The ending felt abrupt. So much so I was expecting some sort of end credit scene (which didn't happen)....
Was a great easy watch. Probably more for the kids. I couldn't really focus on the movie after Ben Kingsleys character was introduced. That accent?... It was a crazy combination of queensland ocker and afrikaaner-ish. I think some NZers of Maori heritage may get a bit offended by the character.....
Variety
pressAn impressive, thought-provoking astro-adventure that benefits from the biggest screen available.
Total Film
pressLike its hero, Ender’s Game relies on brains more than brute force. An absorbing portrait of Lord Of The Flies-style morality housed in imaginative sci-fi casing.
Time Out
pressIt falters once the actual war begins: Ben Kingsley shows up as a Maori warrior with the weirdest imaginable accent, the final battle is uninvolving, and there’s an unconvincing upbeat coda. Ender’s Game ends up being fitfully engaging and endearingly odd.
The New York Times
pressChildhood can be tough in movies, but rarely do screen children suffer for our sins as they do here.
The Guardian
pressThe movie's apocalyptic finale indicates that it's bitten off considerably more than it can chew in terms of ideas, but it looks good, and the story rattles along.
Hollywood Reporter
pressIf only adapter-director Gavin Hood's movie had been tempered with craft and care and wasn't such a blunt instrument, one that seems designed as a delivery system for CGI derring-do instead of the heartbreaker it should be.
Empire Magazine
pressIt admirably avoids many of the pitfalls of adapting this book, but seems to have lost some of the life and pace as well.
You end up sitting through a bunch of cheesy child-army raising by Harrison Ford, utilising every cheesy army/sci fi trope you could hope to avoid. You wait in the hope that Sir Ben Kingsley will save the day. And then he arrives and says "My dad was Murray. You thought I was did, dudn't you?". Sorry, I would give this review more detail, but the movie...
Based on the acclaimed science fiction novel written by Orson Scott Card. My expectations were low in Gavin Hood, director of the atrocious X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. Surprisingly, Ender's Game is a very good science fiction movie. Ender's Game is more of a training movie than an epic space battle. Think Full Metal Jacket with gravity suits and laser...
This is an ok sci-fi worth a watch. It follows Ender a young boy in his rise through the ranks of a youth army trained to fight an alien race at their home planet in retaliation for and to protect against another attack 50 years after nearly wiping out mankind. There is a whole lot of moral dilemmas in this about the type of soldier they need, about the...
All the youngsters in this film were excellent. Earnest, watchable and totally professional. I'm a fan of the book series and felt the film tried but missed the mark, slightly. But not as badly as Ben Kingsley's 'odd' accent. Now THAT was distracting. The ending felt abrupt. So much so I was expecting some sort of end credit scene (which didn't happen)....
Was a great easy watch. Probably more for the kids. I couldn't really focus on the movie after Ben Kingsleys character was introduced. That accent?... It was a crazy combination of queensland ocker and afrikaaner-ish. I think some NZers of Maori heritage may get a bit offended by the character.....
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