‘Ender’s Game,’ not the book, still good movie

In 1985, “Ender’s Game’ by Orson Scott Card first hit the world as a book and on Nov. 1, 2013, “Ender’s Game” directed by Gavin Hood debuted on the big screen.

“Ender’s Game” describes the story of a 6-year-old boy thrust into the middle of an intergalactic war between an ant-like alien race known as the Buggers (or Formics, as the movie calls them) and Humanity. The International Fleet (similar to the UN) is training children to become the next great commanders due to their ability to adapt, change and come up with ideas quickly.

Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is the third child in a world where families are only allowed to have two kids. He is to be the perfect balance of genius, empathy (like his sister) and killer (like his brother.) Ender lives on a large space station orbiting Earth for a few years where he participates in battles in a zero-gravity room at the center of the “school.” He later transfers to Command School after he takes a leave. The adults in Ender’s life constantly manipulated him throughout the book and movie in a large “Game.”

The movie follows the plot line of the book fairly closely; however, character development leaves something to be desired and most of the major details of the book are missing. Ender is supposed to be small for a 6-year-old, yet in the movie he appears to be 12 years old and is taller than some of the older students. Battle School was shortened from a span of roughly four years to a few months.

They also changed his number of battles and the details. Ender is supposed to be the best standing student in battles because at first his commander bans him from participating in battles, so he never actually gets hit. Through practices with a Sharp Shooter friend Petra, he gains skills in shooting. He also discovers new techniques in training with the kids he came to the school with. This leads to him becoming undefeated when he receives his own army. Ender faces many more battles in the battle room and outside of the Games.

During both the movie and the book, adults change the rules to see if they can break Ender. They begin to give Ender battles against impossible odds as well as an army full of rookies and misfits. In the movie, they only show one battle where the odds are completely stacked against him, which is actually a combination of multiple battles he faces in the book. Since they shortened the time he spent at Battle School and the number of battles he faced, you didn’t get the feeling of his exhaustion.

Even with missing character development and lack of details, Ender’s Game is a good movie. With our technology today we were able to recreate the technology described in the book. They did great with the “desks,” which are basically updated versions of the tablets we have today. Also, the way they did the zero gravity in the space shuttle and the battle room was visually stunning and makes it seem real (even without 3D glasses.) The Command School simulators were one of the best parts because they looked so realistic.

Cheyenne Jones is a senior at Colony High School, who participates in women’s choir.