The Hunger Games

[Nekosan]

It sounded interesting initially, but post release comments have been bad.
I was really hoping for a eng dub version of Battle Royale.

Pretty sure that's been remade starring that talentless cow from "Buffy", no idea why it hasn't been released yet.

[tranquil]

Easy. I enjoyed watching it.

exactly. i think alot of people ignore the entertainment factor of movies.

+1 to both.

[Artful-dodgeR]

It sounded interesting initially, but post release comments have been bad.
I was really hoping for a eng dub version of Battle Royale.

Pretty sure that's been remade starring that talentless cow from "Buffy", no idea why it hasn't been released yet.

It got thrown out because (roughly quoted): "releasing this would make people think we're plagerizing The Hunger Games due to the similarities. Even though it existed 10 years prior."

[PinothyJ]

It sounded interesting initially, but post release comments have been bad.
I was really hoping for a eng dub version of Battle Royale.

Pretty sure that's been remade starring that talentless cow from "Buffy", no idea why it hasn't been released yet.

It got thrown out because (roughly quoted): "releasing this would make people think we're plagiarising The Hunger Games due to the similarities. Even though it existed 10 years prior."

Information about it can be read here…

[skitzor]

What a horribly disappointing film!

There were two things in particular that brought this work down: one from the writer of the story and one from the director. The first is that all through this I kept thinking that I had read or seen this "great new story" before and it was only near the end that it hit me: the story is lifted - with a few alterations - from the Japanese novel, manga and film of Battle Royale! The second is a SIN against film-making and that is - aside from a handful of dolly and crane shots, and that is a small handful - the film is shot entirely with shaky hand-held cameras. Would you like to actually see what's going on in a scene where there is an inkling of movement - TOO BAD! Would you like to know is killing who, who just died, who is running or being chased or what on earth you are actually looking at? TOO BAD! Millimetres of camera shake translates into METRES of shake on the big screen and make impossible to watch.

Sorry folks but it just was not as good as it should have been…

okay you have two points here. shaky cam is bad, unoriginality is bad.

shaky cam is bad: I agree they over did it in the static shots. a little is okay because it adds a little bit of feel to the movie. they want to make it seem like you're there, and shaky cam is a decent way of doing it. however, I'm not sure I agree with you on removing shaky cam on the battles.

part of me does agree with you here, but a bigger part of me doesn't. the main reason being these are kids. there was a scene where it showed one of them clearly killing another, and it was pretty confronting. real and intense violence against children is a rare thing. I really don't think I would have enjoyed that initial battle scene if everything was perfectly clear, and honestly, I have a feeling it wouldn't get past the censors.

unoriginality is bad: urgh. this stupid thing again. if you think any significant % of content these days is purely original, you are simply kidding yourself. no one cares that you know about some random movie that has the same theme. it makes you look obnoxious. ideas are adapted. ideas are modified. ideas are copied. this is the entertainment industry. get used to it.

It's just Twilight all over again.

you're comparing hunger games to twilight? you have some serious issues.

I enjoyed the movie. the story was good and I liked the style throughout. a lot of things were really well done and I cared about what was going on. the interactions were believable and the acting was good. I like the story the writers tried to tell about the district wars, but I imagine it was a bit more fleshed out in the books. I do recommend people check it out.

now I'm considering taking a look at the books.

[jmcev]

The movie was enjoyable, i have no objection to a small bit of skaky camera work every now and then. I liked the silent moments at pinnacle points, it's kind of refreshing as compared to things spontaneously combusting.

so many **** professional movie critics casting their shadows of haterade on everything on this forum.

[Artful-dodgeR]

It's just Twilight all over again.

you're comparing hunger games to twilight? you have some serious issues.


now I'm considering taking a look at the books.

I was talking about the books. I give alot of popular literature a go (always borrowed, I'm not buying this trash) and these poorly written and terribly edited books that keep gaining popularity is just becoming sad.

The parallels to Twilight were in the fact there was some seriously badly written parts by a clearly amateur writer, anyone who actually read the book without the same crazy-glasses they wore while reading Twilight would see this.

[Mekon]

I was talking about the books. I give alot of popular literature a go (always borrowed, I'm not buying this trash) and these poorly written and terribly edited books that keep gaining popularity is just becoming sad.

The parallels to Twilight were in the fact there was some seriously badly written parts by a clearly amateur writer, anyone who actually read the book without the same crazy-glasses they wore while reading Twilight would see this.

The Hunger Games is a book written for kids... the fact that they are published by Scholastic should have given that away.

I appreciate that literacy is on the decline, but you really can't judge books written for kids by the same yardstick as those written for adults. Not denying that many popular authors these days are rubbish and undeserving of the name literature, but still.

[Artful-dodgeR]

I was talking about the books. I give alot of popular literature a go (always borrowed, I'm not buying this trash) and these poorly written and terribly edited books that keep gaining popularity is just becoming sad.

The parallels to Twilight were in the fact there was some seriously badly written parts by a clearly amateur writer, anyone who actually read the book without the same crazy-glasses they wore while reading Twilight would see this.

The Hunger Games is a book written for kids... the fact that they are published by Scholastic should have given that away.

I appreciate that literacy is on the decline, but you really can't judge books written for kids by the same yardstick as those written for adults. Not denying that many popular authors these days are rubbish and undeserving of the name literature, but still.

Kids, you means the ones that need to learn how to read and write? The ones that smaller linguistic **** may not be noticed by, but may learn to emulate? I think childrens books need a HIGHER degree of care when publishing for the simple fact that if you teach them it's ok to cut corners and learn things incorrectly, they will sure as **** do it.

[steve_rogers42]

Watched this last night with my ladyface.

Enjoyable, but hopefully the next one will have a better budget, film wise the shakey cam starts off ok and helps with immersion, but its offset MASSIVE by the horrid action scenes. People want to see whats going on, not just quick cuts and flashes of people rolling on the ground...

otherwise, it was what i expected, i kinda wanted to see a broader perspective of the fights as i felt it would have helped to increase the scope of the battles, something battle royale did right (now the missus wants to see it, after i told her it was similar, woot, i think BR is more indepth for each of the characters involved, something HG did not)

With the story telling... movie wise, HOLES AHOY!
You can tell the budget when you know there is a lot to expand upon that could have been told to the users in many different ways, but are missed out due to limitations. Some things could have been done better, but i felt they spent too much time making the people from the capitol look like a cross between the survivors of rapture and the fifth element by some crazy coincidence met and had children. How the hell they managed to 'win' a war against 12 provinces i'll never know, just like from watching the film without a fangurl beside you the significance of the pin she 'picks up' is never revealed...

sure i haven't seen twilight, but i have seen some decent films, this is rough around the edges, to the point i expect a directors cut to come out and explain a whole lot more, this would be good, but it will lead to more of what ruined the film for me.

i wanted a triumphant heroine, not what i got, which was some girl who was pretty beast until she comes across the boy who she then magically heals and then..... well you see how easily it is to win when a man does all the hard work at the end.

Another thing, in all my days of watching various action films, watching things like BR and zombie films, i have learnt one thing. If you want to portray a badass, either for good or evil, then never go down in one hit. If you ware fighting to survive and to live and eat, you never go down in one hit.

Hunger games, get hit by sword, die. arrow? die. spear? die. I get the whole scifi thing and all the rest but it was ruled by two things, benefactors and the fact its a tv show. I walked into Hunger games expecting the prot to pull some 'Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer' type stunts to get the edge, but instead i get a bow whose strings never loosen, and a baker who makes himself rock...

Id like to see a directors cut, but go an see it if you liked 'the northern lights' or 'tron. Otherwise if you enjoy seeing cinema without huge Baysplosions or every film star you can name, its worth checking out.

I give it three and a half wounded mockingjays out of five.

[skitzor]

People want to see whats going on, not just quick cuts and flashes of people rolling on the ground...

otherwise, it was what i expected, i kinda wanted to see a broader perspective of the fights as i felt it would have helped to increase the scope of the battles, something battle royale did right

I have already addressed this. I doubt the audiences would have liked to see children get slaughtered like that.

but i felt they spent too much time making the people from the capitol look like a cross between the survivors of rapture and the fifth element by some crazy coincidence met and had children.

that was juxtaposing the inner districts with the outer. in the inner they had enough money to make themselves look like that, in the outer they were wearing **** clothes.

How the hell they managed to 'win' a war against 12 provinces i'll never know

rich people control armies, they don't fight in them.

sure i haven't seen twilight, but i have seen some decent films, this is rough around the edges, to the point i expect a directors cut to come out and explain a whole lot more, this would be good

agree. personally I would have liked to see more background and the political stuff.

who she then magically heals and then

it's the future.

Hunger games, get hit by sword, die. arrow? die. spear? die.

that's real life. oh and they were also children with a few days training.

I would expand more on my comments, but I have to be going.

[Mr ShaderZz]

watched, thought about how much i liked Lenny kravitz. Realised there was a flimsy love story to grab teeny girls. Thought about beards. Left.

not a bad film but certainly not a great film.

[Nekosan]

With the story telling... movie wise, HOLES AHOY!
You can tell the budget when you know there is a lot to expand upon that could have been told to the users in many different ways, but are missed out due to limitations. Some things could have been done better, but i felt they spent too much time making the people from the capitol look like a cross between the survivors of rapture and the fifth element by some crazy coincidence met and had children. How the hell they managed to 'win' a war against 12 provinces i'll never know, just like from watching the film without a fangurl beside you the significance of the pin she 'picks up' is never revealed...

That's how the books feel too, it really felt to me like the author thought "gee that's a good idea" and just didn't know where to take it, for a book that's essentially about gladiators she just lost interest when it came to any sort of action, some of the fights almost would have been better if she said "there was a fight, x died" (and that's actually how a main character dies in book 3).

I thought it was pretty silly that they removed the whole "pin origins" thing, how much time would it have taken to show "hey this is my friend, the mayors daughter, she gave me her pin", although tbh it really didn't have much significance until post book 1 when the yuppies seized on it as Kat's symbol/**** the government.

Personally I haven't watched Hunger Games yet, but I probably will. 80% of the hype is probably just hot air... but then again, if Hunger Games is anything like Battle Royale, it's definately worth watching.

I just hope they haven't made it too "Hollywood".

They make kids fight each other, that's the entirety of the similarities with Battle Royale, somehow they even manage to strip out/ignore the commentary on society in favour of blatantly open and unsubtle anti-establishment rhetoric.

The Hunger Games is a book written for kids... the fact that they are published by Scholastic should have given that away.

I appreciate that literacy is on the decline, but you really can't judge books written for kids by the same yardstick as those written for adults. Not denying that many popular authors these days are rubbish and undeserving of the name literature, but still.

That's why this (and twilight) totally appalls me, i can understand teens being into the books but the RABID fanbase these series accumulate amongst 18-60 year old women is astonishing. This junk, more and more, is starting to be considered the norm for adult reading, it really makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with these people that they embrace such whimsical characters so enthusiastically, hell most of twilight was some kind of anti-feminism semi-rape fetish and it was WRITTEN BY A WOMAN.

Twilight and The Hunger Games have probably done more to drag down female characters in literature than any other books i ever remember reading. All throughout i just couldn't help but think "these women are worse than the ones in pulp science fiction, what kind of sick woman writes this ****?">