Ender's Game

I went with Nole yesterday to see Ender's Game, a new film based on a classic science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card. It is set in the distant future, at a time when an alien race of bugs is threatening to destroy the human race.

It reminded me a little bit of Starship Troopers, a film based on a classic science fiction novel by Robert Heinlein that is set in the distant future, at a time when an alien race of bugs is threatening to destroy the human race.

I think Ender's Game reminded me of Starship Troopers because both films are based on classic science fiction novels set in the distant future, at a time when an alien race of bugs is threatening to destroy the human race.

Both films also deal with the impact of war on youth, when young people are called to sacrifice themselves for the good of the human race, which is threatened with extinction by an alien race of bugs. In Ender's Game the young hero is played by Asa Butterfield (from Hugo), and in Starship Troopers the hero is played by Casper Van Dien (from Starship Troopers).

Apart from the future war and the bugs, the protagonists are quite different. Asa Butterfield is the weedy nerd hero Ender Wiggin, while Casper Van Dien, whose very name is like a series of punches to the face, plays the total jock Johnny Rico.

But the similarities return with the tough, overbearing military father figure, who in Ender's Game is played by a growly, scowly Harrison Ford, and in Starship Troopers by a scowly, scowly Michael Ironside.

The other main difference is that Starship Troopers is awesome because it features the tactical absurdity of massed infantry carrying shoulder-mounted nuclear missiles and gleefully satirical fascist overtones, whereas Ender's Game has neither of these things. It takes itself much more seriously, even though the main character never seems to be put in any real danger since all the space battles are fought by remotely controlled drones. Also, the story ends with a shoehorned twist that didn't make much sense.

So, yeah, Ender's Game was okay, I guess. But it mostly made me want to watch Starship Troopers again.

Busy busy

I haven't updated for a while because this new job is a time vampire. Things are starting to calm down slightly now though, so my evenings and weekends may re-emerge from the amorphous blob of seminars, lecturers and admin meetings that has absorbed my formerly innocent post-PhD life.

I sympathise, Steve

To give you an idea of how dull my life now is, the most exciting thing I did recently was buy a little action figure of Mr Spock which I saw in Sainsbury's. I'm not sure if it was really an impulse buy, as after I saw it I rolled my trolley slowly all the way down the home furnishing and kitchenware aisles while I mulled over the pros and cons.

In the end I took the plunge and counted out pennies until I was sure I afford the curiously specific asking price of £4.11. I then had to endure a conversation with a checkout kid who turned out to be a complete nerd and wanted to know my opinion of the latest Star Trek film. (I told him I thought it was shit.)

This is what my Spock toy looks like:

£4.11 well spent, I think. I bought it in honour of a planned Star Trek movie night with Moogdroog and her housemate, to show that even Babylon 5 fans like me are willing to make conciliatory gestures towards Trekkies.

Speaking of which, I read a Babylon 5 vs. Star Trek forum discussion where this comment made me Laugh Out Loud:

I love B5. My missus preferred DS9. It's a good job we weren't seeing each other at the time as she'd have got a punch in the face.

It's nice to see love crossing such great cultural divides.

I've put my Spock action figure on my kitchen window sill next to my British soldier action figure. The British soldier action figure, however, keeps falling over when I try to stand him up by himself.

Maybe I should buy an American soldier action figure for him to lean on.