I recently got the Ender’s Game DVD. This is a book that means a lot to me, so I was really looking forward to the movie wen it came out. I loved the movie, but came away disappointed about a few of the director’s decisions. (That’s a seperate discussion we can also talk about.) Then I got the DVD and after watching it once through, watched it again with Gavin Hood’s commentary, then again with commentary from the art and lighting directors.

The commentary is amazing and worth watching even if you didn’t care much for the film. Gavin Hood drew on some of his own experiences as a young soldier in South Africa. He also explained some if his changes, which left me feeling better about the ones I didn’t care for.

The commentary by the art and lighting directors was great. Its amazing to see how much care and thought they put into the design. The discussion about lighting the helmets alone is worth sitting through the entire thing.

I don’t normally listen to commentaries on dvds, but this made me think I need to do so more often.