Ender's Game

Fifty years ago,

an alien force known as the Formics attacked Earth

Tens of millions died

It was only through the sacrifice

of our greatest commander

that we avoided total annihilation

We've been preparing for them to come back ever since

The International Fleet decided that the world's smartest children

are the planet's best hope

Raised on war games,

their decisions are intuitive, decisive, fearless

I am one of those recruits

No, I got him. He's poking his head out.

I've watched through his eyes,

I've listened through his ears,

and I tell you

he's the one.

That's what you said about his brother.

Brother tested out impossible for other reasons.

Nothing to do with his tactical abilities.

- I gotcha, I gotcha... - Go around. Go back.

He's gonna crush him.

Come on!

You can't do that!

You've got to use what's around you.

No, no, no. I had you all the way through the belt!

You miscalculated your trajectory

relative to the incoming asteroid.

Don't lecture me, Wiggin!

You cheated!

It was a good game.

Thanks.

Hey!

Play again

Sorry.

- Tomorrow maybe? - You see?

He's got a talent for strategy.

His humility could be false.

Part of a strategy to avoid antagonizing

an ego-driven opponent.

Which makes him even smarter.

He may be a genius,

but we need someone the others will follow. A leader.

He can't win on his own

Well, let's see how he handles rejection

Andrew Wiggin

Andrew Ender Wiggin,

please report to the infirmary

Ender Wiggin, to the infirmary

- Hello, Ender. - Hello.

That nasty monitor is coming out today.

Please. Lie face down.

Am I off the program?

Did I do something wrong?

That's not really for me to say.

Lie down.

The sooner we get this done, the sooner you can move on.

Ready?

This won't hurt a bit.

A-ten-hut!

Forward march!

Where do you think you're going, Wiggin?

Washed out, huh?

Come on!

- Get him in there! - You're expecting...

Come on!

Come on, cheat.

One on one, for real this time.

No game.

He's got no monitor now.

That's right.

There's no one watching you now, Wiggin.

One on one?

Then why are your boys holding me?

- Let's go. - Come on, man.

Stay down...

I'm gonna kill you, cheat.

Goddamn...

Take it easy, Ender!

You might be thinking of ganging up on me.

But just remember what I do to people who try to hurt me.

He said I was cheating.

Said that was why I was off the program,

- and I kept on kicking him. - It doesn't matter.

Even after he was down.

He'll never bully you again.

All I could think was,

"What would Peter do?"

I'm just like him, Val.

No. No, you are nothing like him, Ender.

Nothing like who?

I thought you had a game.

Rained out.

- What's he crying about? - I'm not crying.

My monitor's gone.

Now I'm just like you.

You mean that Mom and Dad spent all that money on a third,

and now he's off the program too?

Stop it, Peter. He made it farther than either of us.

Hey, dropout.

Remember how to play Formics and Astronauts?

That's it! Where's Mom?

No, don't.

- I'll play. - Put the mask on.

You can be the bug.

Peter! You're insane!

- Stay out of this, Valentine! - No! Stop it!

All right, bug, you started it, you attack first.

Peter! Let me in!

Come on!

Come on, fight back!

At last we got one of you alive!

Peter! Stop it!

You know, I could kill you, just like this.

Peter... Please...

I should have been chosen.

Deep space intel shows us

that the number of enemy ships already deployed

is 10 times those we faced during the first invasion

The Formics are rebuilding and strengthening their fleet

We must conquer or die

Turn it off, please, John.

Why? You'd rather not know what's going on in the world?

We must never again bear witness

to the slaughter of tens of millions of innocent people,

as we did during the Formic invasion

I'd rather you talk to your son.

Our survival demands total commitment

to the destruction of the enemy

If you want, I'll go away,

so you don't have to be embarrassed.

Ender, no one is embarrassed.

I'm a third. I should never have been born.

No. We wanted you, Ender. We just needed permission.

John, please say something.

It's a tough program, Ender.

When they brought me to this country,

there was less competition. And still, I didn't make it.

You have nothing to be ashamed of.

Nothing.

Sensor alert.

Front door Please state your name

Colonel Hyrum Graff,

Director of Training, International Fleet

This is my colleague, Major Anderson

May we?

Why'd you keep kicking him?

You'd already won the fight.

- Did you enjoy it? - No.

Then why? Speak up, son.

Knocking him down was the first fight.

I wanted to win all the next ones too.

So they'd leave me alone.

Ender, you should have asked a grownup for help.

Nonsense. He can fight his own battles.

Colonel, he was obviously being bullied

- and he defended himself. - Son...

I'd like to offer you a place in our program.

But you took away my monitor.

The final step in our evaluation

is always to see what happens when the monitor's removed.

And he passed?

He put a child in the hospital.

It's not what he did.

It's why he did it. It was tactical.

A strategy to stop future attacks.

Ender, you don't have to do this.

Ender and I should have a private conversation.

- Absolutely not! - With all respect, sir,

you really can't stop me.

The Formics might have wiped us out

the last time, you know.

A brilliant commander is the only thing that saved us.

Mazer Rackham.

Mazer Rackham.

We need minds like yours, Ender.

Young people integrate complex data more easily than adults.

Will the monitor be reinstalled?

No.

You're graduating.

To Battle School.

Privacy rights restored.

If there is a chance that, because of you,

the Formics might leave us alone forever,

then I have to ask you to come with me.

It's what I was born for, right?

Valentine was too compassionate

for Battle School.

My brother Peter washed out

because he was too quick to violence

Colonel Graff said I need to find a balance

between those emotions if I were to succeed

Join the others.

Go on.

- You're late. - Out of my control.

I'm Ender.

Ender?

What kind of name is that?

What's your name?

Name's Bean.