37 - Ender's Game

    In the future, young Andrew Ender Wiggin is recruited by the military to be trained in war games, in hopes of being able to defeat an alien force.
    I've read the book, at my wife's request, many years ago.  I remember thinking it was good, but it didn't really speak to me.  I've also been exposed to Orson Scott Card's odd behavior over the years.  He's weirdly right-wing, he seems a bit paranoid, and he's overprotective of his work.  Part of what slowed production of an Ender's Game movie down was that he insisted that they had to get 6-year-olds to play the lead.  Eventually, that softened, and they went with slightly older kids that looked young.
    More impressively, they were able to get Harrison Ford.
    The end result is good, but not great.  The movie has to gloss over most of the development of the book, and it simplifies things in a way that feels far too convenient.  I didn't actually remember too much of the book, but I remembered enough to know that they drastically condensed events throughout the movie, they eliminated some plots, and they actually did something even weirder by adding the roots of a romance.  Things that were much more important in the book - in particular, the game, and the battle room - are reduced to the absolute essential elements.  In the case of the game, there are two scenes that use it.  There should have been a third, placed further along.  That would have developed the idea far enough so it wouldn't be weird when they use it later.
    Surprisingly, I didn't have very strong feelings about the movie itself.