Ender’s Game Movie Comparison


A couple of weeks ago I was able to attend the motion picture Ender’s Game with the other students from my 8th grade class. In English we read the book so we were able to compare the book to the movie. Some events in the book were included in the movie, and some were not. Some similarities are that most of the cast were as described and fit the part. For example, Petra (girl in the salamander army) was just as the book had described. Ender and Valentine also fit the part as expected. Other similarities were the overall plot of the story all of the major components that made up the story were (for the most part) included in the movie. The movie did not differ too much from the book. Right from the beginning it was exactly how I imagined it in my head. Some examples of differences: the battle room did not look as expected. In the book it did not state anything about the glass allowed you to see the earth spinning below. That was a change that I didn’t really like. One fairly important change that really made a difference in the movie is that the actor was supposed to be much younger. In the book Ender was 5 when he started, but in the movie he was about 11. The director probably made this change because he/she might have felt that the actors would make more of an entertaining movie if the actors were older, or simply because dealing with a bunch of 5-year-old actors would be pretty difficult. It made a negative effect on the movie because it clearly stated the age in the book. In the movie many of the students in the Battle School were older teens but how can you be a child if you are close too becoming an adult.

One character that I felt played it differently then in the book was Dap. In the book he was so nice and friendly to the new kids. I saw him as someone who the new kids could go to. But in the movie they made him seem that he was super mean and frankly did not even care. I don’t feel that this was a good twist on the story because it made it seem that Ender had no on there for him. Another character that was nothing like I expected was Bonzo. I imagined him as a big tall buff guy that would eat you alive but when his character was revealed I couldn’t help being a little disappointed. In the movie he was short guy that acted bad but really wasn’t, once again a little disappointed. As the movie progressed I realized there was nothing about the Demonstinese and Locke plan with Peter and Valentine. I felt like this was a very important part of the story one of the parts that should not have been left out. As the movie progressed nothing was ever said about the Demonstinese and Locke plan, I couldn’t help being a little disappointed yet again.

One change that I did like was the explaining and detail of Fairyland. It really helped me better understand what Ender felt when the snake came out of the other side of the mirror. Another change is that the planet Eros was different then what it was in book it was hard to breathe. They had to wear masks that would provide them with air but in the book it said nothing about that. Another main event that was altered from the book was the Fate of Bonzo after their fight in the bathroom. In the book Bonzo was sent home on honorary discharge, but in the movie he almost died and they were not sure if he was going to live. It kept me wondering what was the fate of Bonzo was. This was a bad change because it took away from the movie as it went on. The directors might have included this to make the movie more interesting.
Personally I enjoyed the book far more than I enjoyed the movie. It might have been because reading a book allows your mind to create your own story and you don’t have to follow a certain picture of the cast, or the setting. The movie was a little disappointing because some of the main events cut out and were not included in the movie. The movie would have been a lot better if I didn’t read the book. But you know, which movie is ever better than the book right? My advice to you is to read the book and forget about the movie if you truly want to be entertained and enjoy the fullness of the story forget about the movie because you will be disappointed.