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[Pachterballs]

^ um, the teen romance angle; is sort of just there. They had to cut to it. I thought it was great to show

Spoiler

glen looking ... nonplussed at the kissing

. I laughed at it. But it was just the nature of the way Kat+Peeta had to play their game once she clicked onto

Spoiler

what she needed to do to win the game/stay alive

Was I the only one that found

Spoiler

Peeta camouflaging himself as a rock

fucking hilarious? There was a group of teenage girls behind me that were almost in tears from laughing.

It was hilarious because it was totally unexpected. My cinema/I laughed too but it was a good laugh.

@68million

DAT PROFIT!

Pachterballs, all that stuff seemed obvious to me while watching the movie. Pretty much everything Katniss did I would've done. I thought as characters the other tributes could've been better defined though.

not saying I had issues with how the film was made; the only issue I had was I wish it had more violence - but the book expands on some details with obviously a lot more clarity being a literal work. you're right about the other tributes; you do get a sense of who the other characters are instead of the big black guy. (Thyrese). etc in the book. And her thought processes. There was constant referral to the

Spoiler

careers

in the novel as they are the dangerous tributes.

 

[Stinkles]

Are the

Spoiler

people faced dogs

in it?

 

[Pachterballs]

Are the

Spoiler

people faced dogs

in it?

not in the movie; they went for

Spoiler

bulldoggy type animals. all brown. never showcased their face

and

Spoiler

they don't have people faces; they have their eyes + shades of colour/hair that leads to the realisation that they were made from the killed contestants

 

[VeryGooster]

Watched it yesterday and thought it was fantastic. It was exactly what I was expecting. The perfect adaptation.

I'd probably enjoy it more if it wasn't PG-13, but it had enough violence. And I'm also glad they didn't go ahead with the whole

Spoiler

mutts are tributes

thing.

Can't wait for Catching Fire. Too bad the promotional material will have to spoil the twist.

That actually is a shame, because the set up for it is really good in the second book, I feel. Catching Fire is definitely the one I'm anticipating.

Catching Fire spoilers of sorts:

Spoiler

I wonder if people will catch that Hunger Games is the 74th annual games for a reason as far as the movie took it.

The funny thing is I never really knew The Hunger Games was some sort of 'phenomenon' until the first teaser trailer went public. My friend read the books. I had no real interest until I got a Kindle and said screw it I want something to read.

 

[balddemon]

Top 7? What an arbitrary number.

Ok how about one of my favorite movies I've seen in a long time lol

 

[Fixed1979]

I find the writing in The Hunger Games to be more sexist, imo. It suggests that she can only be a leader precisely because the men around her are completely and utterly useless.

In John Carter, both can fight. Did you forget their first meeting? 'Maybe I oughta get behind you.' Then yes, rather than try to escape by running great distances or plummeting to her death, she smartly and willingly accepts the help of the man who can jump great distances and heights.

All I was really doing was pointing out that the same teen girl wish fulfillment angle that is super ridiculous in Twilight is being played here, somewhat.

Dude seriously what the fuck are you even talking about anymore...

 

[Rodelina]

Lol at comparisons to Twilight. I mean no, just no.

 

[Kagari]

Lol at comparisons to Twilight. I mean no, just no.

Well, it is a teen novel based on ideas that have already been done before, much like Twilight

 

[LQX]

Did they kiss?

 

[Ken]

Watched it yesterday. It was alright. I've never read the books or knew anything going into it but found it enjoyable. Dd find it funny that

Spoiler

the Peter guy's greatest strength was his...strength at throwing things but I never saw him do that in the games.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

It's definitely similar to Twilight in that it panders to the same sorts of obvious emotional hooks that define YA literature.

 

[Demoncarnotaur]

Saw the film today, really enjoyed it. The difference from the book didn't bug me at all, and it's always nice to see lesser known actors perform well, especially when they're young.

Could someone share what the book to movie differences were?

Watched it tonight, while it wasn't bad I didn't come away thinking anything positive either.

For a movie where kids are thrown into an arena and asked to kill one another, how did the completely skirt the characters feeling guilty, remorseful, emotionally conflicted or reacting to fucking people dying around them?

Spoiler

After cutting down the conveniently placed wasp hive Katniss is directly responsible for the death of the blonde girl. She doesn't reflect on that fact whatsoever (the hallucination perhaps?). Peeta was with the careers when they killed the girl that started the fire, he doesn't reflect on that either; nor is he particularly remorseful for killing the red headed girl (accident or otherwise)

Like, I would have at least expected them to be affected under the circumstances; distraught, paranoid, anything?

Rather than an exploration of a... I don't know, KIDS KILLING EACH OTHER ON TV and how deplorable and disgusting a situation it is; it just kind of works itself out in the neatest fashion possible.

I'd give it a 6 for the wacky threads in The Capitol and Lenny Kravitz' eye shadow.

Spoiler

Eh, the bees death honestly didn't need much remorse as she simply defended herself from a murdering sociopath. She had to move on at that point. Plus, like you mentioned, she was pretty fucked up from the bee stings, so she wasn't all there.

I don't think Peeta needed to feel guilty for the red haired girls death, but it did bug me that they didn't seem to care she was dead. That girl had obviously avoided violence, and was just simply a victim. They didn't seem too bugged at all.

I do agree that they could have shown what all the death and murder was causing them to feel, but maybe the sequel deals with that. I also do wish that the book/movie had a least one "hard decision" that wasn't so black and white.

That said, these things didn't stop me from enjoying the movie.

The scenes

Spoiler

in the cave between Katniss and her loyal puppy dog definitely came across that way to me. I was embarrassed for everybody in the theater.

Eh, IMO they weren't too awful but

Spoiler

they could have tried to focuses more on the fact that Katniss was doing it for the show, not because of some cheesy romance. Still, I do imagine she cared for him and simply didn't want him to die, so it wasn't too awful.

I really do get and agree with a lot of your critiques, but I don't think they make the movie awful, I definitely found it to be pretty enjoyable.

 

[ohhthegore]

Did they kiss?

Spoiler

yes it was soo romantic

 

[Kusagari]

lol Hunger Games grossed more in one day, counting midnights, than John Carter has lifetime domestically.

Anyway, I'll be seeing it later today. Can't wait. Hopefully I don't come away from it negatively.

 

[demosthenes]

Could someone share what the book to movie differences were?


Eh, IMO they weren't too awful but

Spoiler

they could have tried to focuses more on the fact that Katniss was doing it for the show, not because of some cheesy romance. Still, I do imagine she cared for him and simply didn't want him to die, so it wasn't too awful.

I really do get and agree with a lot of your critiques, but I don't think they make the movie awful, I definitely found it to be pretty enjoyable.

My friend who hasn't read the books and we made no mention of it before hand

Spoiler

said that he felt she was doing it just for survival and wasn't falling for him.

 

[kirblar]

My friend who hasn't read the books and we made no mention of it before hand

Spoiler

said that he felt she was doing it just for survival and wasn't falling for him.

Yeah, I hadn't read the books either, and that was crystal clear for me. If someone didn't catch that, they need a subtext detector implanted or something.

 

[Quick]

I might watch it tonight with a co-worker. I'm genuinely interested in seeing it.

 

[Demoncarnotaur]

Yeah, I hadn't read the books either, and that was crystal clear for me. If someone didn't catch that, they need a subtext detector implanted or something.

I also agree it was pretty clear, but it seems some people may have missed it. One way or another I thought it all made sense and worked out fairly well.

 

[Brian Fellows]

Felt pretty rushed to me. They could have used an extra 30 minutes or so on the actual Games themselves.

 

[jtb]

The movie was a decent enough effort, I suppose. Cast was quite strong, the plot predictably tame in every aspect... but I can understand (if not necessarily forgive) them for that, given that nobody wants a movie that makes them think, just one that makes them feel smart.

Two complains:
1) WILL SOMEONE PLEASE HOLD THE FUCKING CAMERA STILL. Shaky cam is one thing, but when you combine it with the laziest editing technique known to man, schizophrenic quick cuts, it just screams lazy, ugly, and DEAR GOD MAKE IT STOP, all at once.

2) It's a bit ironic that for a book that claims to be critical of the media's obsession with these star-crossed lovers and all, every time Peeta and Katniss shared screentime, they had to cut away (in typical QUICK SHAKY fashion) to Gale's hilariously dejected face. After the third or fourth time, I just couldn't help myself from laughing because, well, we fucking get it. Yeah, I get it's supposed to be a parable-kind of thing (therefore every angsty teenager ever reads it as a metaphor for high school and their tortured upbringing), so the whole book/movie really isn't suggesting anything we don't prescribe to it, but, like... really now.

But I guess they really have to hammer in the fact that there will be a sequel.

3)

Spoiler

It's not the best American Sci-Fi film since the Matrix. It seriously hurts my mind to even CONSIDER how anyone over the age of fifteen would even remotely consider that.

 

[Tantalus]

Just back from seeing this, wasn't really diggin' it.

Spoiler

Some of the characters felt really underdeveloped. Rue was properly introduced to the storyline about fifteen minutes before she was killed off again so I really didn't care about her death at all, and Cato just seemed like generic bad guy whose only real purpose was to have a main antagonist inside the actual games. I know there is only so much you can do with a movie compared to the books, but it would have been nice to see them develop the other competitors a little more.

Not sure how I felt about the ending. I kept expecting some kind of twist, but it just never came.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that it's a bad movie, just disappointing after hearing all of the positive buzz.

Dd find it funny that

Spoiler

the Peter guy's greatest strength was his...strength at throwing things but I never saw him do that in the games.

I noticed that too and thought it was pretty funny haha

 

[petethepanda]

Yeah, I hadn't read the books either, and that was crystal clear for me. If someone didn't catch that, they need a subtext detector implanted or something.

Leaving out

Spoiler

Peeta realizing this and being utterly crushed

was lame, though.

 

[Zekes!]

I wish they had shown more of the average Capitol citizen watching and reacting to the games. they made this whole fuss about the games being a TV show ala Survivor, but when they were actually competing in the games it didn't really feel like it.

 

[gcubed]

That actually is a shame, because the set up for it is really good in the second book, I feel. Catching Fire is definitely the one I'm anticipating.

Catching Fire spoilers of sorts:

Spoiler

I wonder if people will catch that Hunger Games is the 74th annual games for a reason as far as the movie took it.

The funny thing is I never really knew The Hunger Games was some sort of 'phenomenon' until the first teaser trailer went public. My friend read the books. I had no real interest until I got a Kindle and said screw it I want something to read.

hahah, this is exactly how i ended up with the books. My wife read them a while ago and told me to read them multiple times. After seeing the trailer i was like "hmm, i'll read them on my new fangled kindle". After reading classic scifi it was a nice break for something "easy" to read. I read all 3 in about 5 days and enjoyed them (although Katniss is supreme whiny bitch). It looks like a lot of the negatives i see posted can also be tied back to negatives in the book, although i'm sure its more pronounced when trying to put it on screen. I think i'm going to see it this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Mangotron]

I saw it today, just a few thoughts.


Negatives:
The first half-hour really drags, they made the district totally uninteresting and imo Prim and Katniss don't have very good chemistry. They're also forced to introduce a character that doesn't matter for the rest of the movie purely to set the groundwork for sequels.

The outfits weren't as cool as I was expecting, they actually looked much better in their training jumsuits then they did in the formal wear. In addition, the outfits of the people in the Capitol were odd looking, they looked very Willy-Wonka and not what I expected from the book.

SHAKY CAM!!!. Jesus, in addition to being boring the first 45mins are nauseating. There isn't any reason the camera needed to be jumping around/zoomed in on everyone's face.

Positives:

I felt like Jennifer Lawrence was really good as Katniss. Fit the role perfectly and made the best of somewhat stony performances from the other actors.

Once it gets into the games, it picks up considerably and actually ends up being a pretty good movie. The action sequences are well done, and fairly violent considering their PG-13 restrictions.

Overall it was pretty fun (Outside of the multiple people literally SOBBING over

Spoiler

Rue's death

in the theater. I mean really? You get all of 5mins of character development from her), kind of leaves you with that 7/10 taste in your mouth but I'd still recommend it.

 

[S1kkZ]

thanks for the spoiler...

 

[Rodelina]

It's definitely similar to Twilight in that it panders to the same sorts of obvious emotional hooks that define YA literature.

No it isn't. Having read them I would say the reading experience for each was very different. I think the Hunger Games is much darker and more mature than Twilight. I enjoyed Twilight for what it was but it really is nothing like The Hunger Games. They are both very popular young adult novels featuring female leads and a love triangle. That's about it.

 

[toxicgonzo]

The tragedy of

Spoiler

Rue's death goes beyond just another tribute dying. Sure, there is this sort of bond between her and Katniss because she does point out the tracker jacks and she does watch over her for two days while katniss is knocked out. But I think it goes deeper than that - Katniss is disturbed by her death because Rue reminds her of her younger sister Prim. What happened to Rue is what Katniss is sure would have happened to Prim had she gone in the arena instead of her. And to top it off, she was unable to protect Rue, much like how she worries if she dies in the arena, she too would not be to protect/provide for Prim because of their broken family structure (father being dead, the mother being useless). Also, by giving her a descent burial, an act she knows is drawing camera attention, she is defiantly running against the blood sport aspect of the games.

 

[Noshino]

Could someone share what the book to movie differences were?

Spoiler

Eh, the bees death honestly didn't need much remorse as she simply defended herself from a murdering sociopath. She had to move on at that point. Plus, like you mentioned, she was pretty fucked up from the bee stings, so she wasn't all there.

I don't think Peeta needed to feel guilty for the red haired girls death, but it did bug me that they didn't seem to care she was dead. That girl had obviously avoided violence, and was just simply a victim. They didn't seem too bugged at all.

I do agree that they could have shown what all the death and murder was causing them to feel, but maybe the sequel deals with that. I also do wish that the book/movie had a least one "hard decision" that wasn't so black and white.

That said, these things didn't stop me from enjoying the movie.



Eh, IMO they weren't too awful but

Spoiler

they could have tried to focuses more on the fact that Katniss was doing it for the show, not because of some cheesy romance. Still, I do imagine she cared for him and simply didn't want him to die, so it wasn't too awful.

I really do get and agree with a lot of your critiques, but I don't think they make the movie awful, I definitely found it to be pretty enjoyable.

About the complaints about lack of guilty in regards to death, I haven't experienced it myself, but I've been told by many, coworkers as well as patients (Im in the military), that at the time of combat there is very little time for thinking about other things, that guilt, remorse, shock, and other things don't kick in til after the war, sometimes these feelings don't seem to present til years after.

So yeah, I didn't find it that out of place.

 

[Ken]

I noticed that too and thought it was pretty funny haha

I'd laugh if

Spoiler

instead of medicine they gave him a few loaves of bread to throw at the other tributes.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

The tragedy of

Spoiler

Rue's death goes beyond just another tribute dying. Sure, there is this sort of bond between her and Katniss because she does point out the tracker jacks and she does watch over her for two days while katniss is knocked out. But I think it goes deeper than that - Katniss is disturbed by her death because Rue reminds her of her younger sister Prim. What happened to Rue is what Katniss is sure would have happened to Prim had she gone in the arena instead of her. And to top it off, she was unable to protect Rue, much like how she worries if she dies in the arena, she too would not be to protect/provide for Prim because of their broken family structure (father being dead, the mother being useless). Also, by giving her a descent burial, an act she knows is drawing camera attention, she is defiantly running against the blood sport aspect of the games.

I saw it this way too and agree 100%.

 

[Blackhead]

Watched it yesterday. It was alright. I've never read the books or knew anything going into it but found it enjoyable. Dd find it funny that

Spoiler

the Peter guy's greatest strength was his...strength at throwing things but I never saw him do that in the games.

well he did spend the whole games

Spoiler

trying to throw his life away for Katniss

I read the book. Then I watched Battle Royale. I don't think there is any point seeing this, is there?

 

[Puddles]

I have a feeling I'm going to end up agreeing with Sculli, because from all accounts, it seems like the things I most enjoyed about the book have been ruined by poor camera work.

 

[Brazil]

I saw it today, just a few thoughts.


Negatives:
The first half-hour really drags, they made the district totally uninteresting and imo Prim and Katniss don't have very good chemistry. They're also forced to introduce a character that doesn't matter for the rest of the movie purely to set the groundwork for sequels.

The outfits weren't as cool as I was expecting, they actually looked much better in their training jumsuits then they did in the formal wear. In addition, the outfits of the people in the Capitol were odd looking, they looked very Willy-Wonka and not what I expected from the book.

SHAKY CAM!!!. Jesus, in addition to being boring the first 45mins are nauseating. There isn't any reason the camera needed to be jumping around/zoomed in on everyone's face.

Positives:

I felt like Jennifer Lawrence was really good as Katniss. Fit the role perfectly and made the best of somewhat stony performances from the other actors.

Once it gets into the games, it picks up considerably and actually ends up being a pretty good movie. The action sequences are well done, and fairly violent considering their PG-13 restrictions.

Overall it was pretty fun (Outside of the multiple people literally SOBBING over

Spoiler

Rue's death

in the theater. I mean really? You get all of 5mins of character development from her), kind of leaves you with that 7/10 taste in your mouth but I'd still recommend it.

The people sobbing in the theater were probably doing so because they had read the books previously and were

Spoiler

more attached to her.

Not that I'd ever.

thanks for the spoiler...

Well, everyone knows it's bound to happen.

 

[Solo]

$68m on Friday.

BOMBA!























Oh, wait, 5th highest single day ever and biggest day ever for a non-sequel. I said goddamn.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

$68m on Friday.

What is the rumored budget?

 

[Zebra]

Felt pretty rushed to me. They could have used an extra 30 minutes or so on the actual Games themselves.

I don't think it was rushed, but I think the movie would have benefited greatly from taking some time away from the city and added it to the games so that the

Spoiler

Rue and Katniss relationship could be more fleshed out.

There were moments when I was honestly getting bored during the city portion of the film. It stayed a bit too close to the book when I think some of it could have been condensed.

Dd find it funny that

Spoiler

the Peter guy's greatest strength was his...strength at throwing things but I never saw him do that in the games.

There was only one moment that I saw it in.

Spoiler

It was at the very end when Peeta and Katniss were fighting the main antagonist on top of the cornucopia. Peeta lifts the guy over his head and tosses him. I remember thinking "Well there he is tossing a sack of flour over his head finally!"

My only problem adaptation-wise (read the first book and enjoyed it; couldn't make it more than 50 pages into the second) was the ending. It ends on a completely different note/tone and it doesn't work nearly as well. (End of book/movie)

Spoiler

In the book, Katniss (while mildly conflicted) makes it clear to Peeta that she was just "playing the part" with the romance, effectively tearing his heart out and stomping on it since to him his experiences in the games and its aftermath were actually fulfilling his genuine long-time feelings for her. He goes through the motions and smiles and kisses her for the cameras, but he's been deeply hurt and doesn't want anything to do with her off-camera. Katniss thinks of how she's alienated Peeta and how Gale will react to her "romance" and wishes she could pause before having to deal with these new circumstances. It's a somber ending that closes the book on an satisfyingly bittersweet note. Unless I missed something, the movie barely even deals with this in the end, it's pretty much smiles all around.

The movie's ending does do a much better job at setting up future installments but I think it's to the detriment of this one as an individual story.

This is something that I felt was handled perfectly in the adaptation. It just wouldn't have translated well from book to film because in the book, much of that

Spoiler

"is he playing the part right now? how much of the part do I play along with?" was completely internal dialogue in the book. They were things that couldn't be conveyed outloud because the whole world was watching their every move. It would have made the film super clunky if throughout the games we had to listen to Katniss's mind narrating her feelings.

If at the end of the movie she just comes out and says she was just playing the part without all necessary internal dialogue beforehand, it would have been completely out of the blue since the film otherwise set up the relationship as hesitant but largely legitimate on Katniss' part.

It would have been a betrayal to the audience.

They didn't change much from the book, but that is one change I didn't mind at all.

 

[Mangotron]

The tragedy of

Spoiler

Rue's death goes beyond just another tribute dying. Sure, there is this sort of bond between her and Katniss because she does point out the tracker jacks and she does watch over her for two days while katniss is knocked out. But I think it goes deeper than that - Katniss is disturbed by her death because Rue reminds her of her younger sister Prim. What happened to Rue is what Katniss is sure would have happened to Prim had she gone in the arena instead of her. And to top it off, she was unable to protect Rue, much like how she worries if she dies in the arena, she too would not be to protect/provide for Prim because of their broken family structure (father being dead, the mother being useless). Also, by giving her a descent burial, an act she knows is drawing camera attention, she is defiantly running against the blood sport aspect of the games.

This comes across in the book pretty well, but treating the movie as a self-contained story results in trying to draw an emotional connection between two characters that are barely shown. I think the fact that Prim was shown so little was detrimental to the plot, since she's really Kat's motivation for survival, not the

Spoiler

trumped up romance between her and Peeta.

 

[iammeiam]

What is the rumored budget?

80 mill + 45 million in advertising

 

[Solo]

What is the rumored budget?

After one day worldwide, its making profit :lol

Lionsgate's first major hit. You can bet your ass they will milk the shit out of the rest of the series. Guaranteed they will split the last book into 2 movies.

 

[Ken]

There was only one moment that I saw it in.

Spoiler

It was at the very end when Peeta and Katniss were fighting the main antagonist on top of the cornucopia. Peeta lifts the guy over his head and tosses him. I remember thinking "Well there he is tossing a sack of flour over his head finally!"

That

Spoiler

final scene was so hard to follow. @_@ Should have just had a flashback going back to him tossing a bread when he does tosses the guy so I knew what happened (and for a laugh).

 

[Pimpbaa]

Wow, there are more teenaged girls on NeoGAF than I thought.

 

[Solo]

This comes across in the book pretty well, but treating the movie as a self-contained story results in trying to draw an emotional connection between two characters that are barely shown.

It comes across in the movie too. In fact, its the lone affecting scene in the movie for that very reason.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

This is something that I felt was handled perfectly in the adaptation. It just wouldn't have translated well from book to film because in the book, much of that

Spoiler

"is he playing the part right now? how much of the part do I play along with?" was completely internal dialogue in the book. They were things that couldn't be conveyed outloud because the whole world was watching their every move. It would have made the film super clunky if throughout the games we had to listen to Katniss's mind narrating her feelings.

If at the end of the movie she just comes out and says she was just playing the part without all necessary internal dialogue beforehand, it would have been completely out of the blue since the film otherwise set up the relationship as hesitant but largely legitimate on Katniss' part.

It would have been a betrayal to the audience.

They didn't change much from the book, but that is one change I didn't mind at all.

As someone that didn't read the book,

Spoiler

it came off to me that she was acting when she held Peeta's hand and raised it at the end, an exact copy of what Peeta goaded her on to do "to make for a good show for the sponsors" in the entrance to the Capital. Also, when you are trying to survive, you tend to cling to people that you otherwise wouldn't out of desperation. When the situation calms, the true feelings come to the surface.

 

[Big Baybee]

Glad i didn't go see it the other day, getting a lot of negative feedback which judging from the trailers doesn't surprise me.

I will still see the film but now i will wait for the blu-ray and rent it.

???

 

[ryutaro's mama]

Lionsgate's first major hit.

Huh?

Isn't SAW Lionsgate as well?

 

[Nappuccino]

Huh?

Isn't SAW Lionsgate as well?

Yeah. Lionsgate has had their fair share of hits.

 

[iammeiam]

Huh?

Isn't SAW Lionsgate as well?

The Hunger Games will have a higher domestic box office by tonight than any one Saw ever did over its entire release. It's on a whole new level for Lionsgate.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

The Hunger Games will have a higher domestic box office by tonight than any one Saw ever did over its entire release. It's on a whole new level for Lionsgate.

Sure but look at those budget to profit ratios on the SAW films.

The Hunger Games is hardly their first hit.

 

[ohhthegore]

Sure but look at those budget to profit ratios on the SAW films.

The Hunger Games is hardly their first hit.

its their first hit on a new level