Ender's Game

In a future where Earth has survived two alien invasions, the International Fleet trains gifted children. Six-year-old Andrew "Ender" Wiggin goes to Battle School, where the colonels isolate him and throw him into war games that keep getting more unfair, some in zero gravity. He wins them all, commands his own army and moves on to Command School. There, under Mazer Rackham, he fights simulations against the Formics. In the final test he destroys their planet and learns the battles were real: he has committed xenocide. On Earth, Peter and Valentine shape politics as Locke and Demosthenes. Ender and Valentine leave with colonists; on an old Formic world he finds a queen's cocoon and writes, as Speaker for the Dead, the story of the species he destroyed.

1. ChangeEnder grows up in the book

   In the book, Ender is 6 when he goes to Battle School and spends years there. The film compresses everything and keeps Ender around 12 from start to finish.

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2. ChangeNo Locke, no Demosthenes

   Peter and Valentine spend the book writing online as Locke and Demosthenes and steering Earth's politics. In the film, the siblings barely appear and that plot is gone.

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3. ChangeSofter violence

   In the book, Stilson and Bonzo die from their fights with Ender, and he only finds out later. The film shows neither death and leaves Bonzo's fate open.

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4. ChangeA smaller ending

   In the book, Ender and Valentine leave with colonists, and years later he finds the queen's cocoon on an old Formic world. In the film, he finds the queen right after the battle, with no Valentine around.

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