Officerrob
Banned
The problem is that your never really introduced to these "incredible technologies" through the first half of the film. Then, all of a sudden fire is flying out of nowhere with no explanation. It's shallow and lazy.
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The Hunger Games (Dir. Gary Ross) |OT| May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor
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The problem is that your never really introduced to these "incredible technologies" through the first half of the film. Then, all of a sudden fire is flying out of nowhere with no explanation. It's shallow and lazy.
Good Job Bob
Member
Edit: nvm
You were supposed to care because
she was a 12 year-old girl that was killed for absolutely no reason.
for the girl because being 12 years-old, there was no way she could defend herself in the environment she was thrown into.
Katniss and Peeta's outfits in the parade show the Capital has technology advanced enough to control fire like that.
Officerrob
Banned
They were hoping you would care because of the simple fact that she was young, character development be damned
The differences between District 12 (where the first half of the film is set) and the Capitol in terms of technology becomes glaring the second Katniss transforms her window into a giant screen.
Collins goes to great lengths to demonstrate this "paradox" in the books, but it's also pretty evident in the film. It's a non-issue.
Officerrob
Banned
Just because it's a non-issue to you doesn't make it so. To several people I know who have not read the books (including myself), the flames and creatures come off as out of place and silly in comparison to what you have been shown of this universe up to those points. I'm not reviewing the book, I'm talking about the film.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
I mean, aside from the hovercrafts, anti-grav trains, genetically altered
hornets
force field
Starting a fire is much harder than creating a flying train, you know.
Do the
force fields
They'll be in Catching Fire, though, so it's cool.
Edit: Oh, yeah. The scene in the roof.
I'll tell you this, then: by the end of the second film, every single person who hasn't read the books will be feeeling comfortable with Capitol technology.
What JdFox said +
she was all over the place in the movie, so there was ample time to develop sympathy for her. She followed Kat in the training grounds, she was patronized at the TV interview, and she helped Kat kill her pursuers with a swarm of wasps. She was always looking out for Kat. Then she made sure she didn't die when she passed out from hallucinations for two days. I felt really bad for her.
I thought the spaceship aircraft in the beginning was some sort of hint that we were in the future lol
Weapxn
Mikkelsexual
Yes. You are right. It is shallow and lazy. Guess what: so is Suzanne Collins' writing in the books series. She also had a hand in the screenplay. It is a young adult adaptation, not -- as someone else pointed out -- Star Trek.
Maybe I just tend to enjoy movies too much at face value since they are, well, movies, but damn.. Have some fun with it. The book was written for teenagers, and the movie was more or less made for the same audience.
Officerrob
Banned
Who said it was a spaceship? It was shown as nothing more than a large sleek aircraft. I see that arguing the issues of this film is about as useful as discussing it with my twelve year old daughter. Unless you say that it is a fine piece of storytelling you obviously must be wrong.
The complains about the technology in the arena are really perplexing. The movie makes it painstakingly obvious this isn't a parchment of land under a dome. The tributes are shown getting prepped in a complex below the arena, and afterwards they are transported through a tube to the surface. You can assume everything under, on the surface and above the surface is controlled by the gamemakers. This is made even more evident by showing the control room.
It really is just a silly thing to complain about. For sci-fi standards, the technology was rudimentary.
It really is just a silly thing to complain about. For sci-fi standards, the technology was rudimentary.
This is a cop out even Collins would be incapable of writing.
That's a nice counter-argument against the various points we raised in response to your criticisms and also a nice way of fleeing from a discussion, dude. Very classy. I guess that proves your point doesn't stand.
So because people are countering your arguments with valid points, everyone in this thread is a 12 year-old that is closed-minded and can't think for themself? Think you got it backward there.
Skel1ingt0n
I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Saw this film today with my mom, sister, and best friend (male like myself). None of us had read the books, and were just going to see it because, well, we like to see a movie on the weekends.
I wasn't expecting much at all; figured it would be a shitty Battle Royale with crappy child acting. But, gotta say, it was actually pretty darn decent. For the first ten minutes or so, I was hoping that they'd just "get on with it", but then I realized that they were actually developing the characters and the world prior to actually showing us the games. I really liked that, and the film really feels like two separate pieces that mesh well.
Is it amazing? No, far from it. But the world was interesting, and the characters were actually pretty believable. I liked the use of color juxtaposed with the utopian sterility.
That said, I do have one large complaint, and then several nitpicks:
1. MY GOD THAT CAMERAMAN WAS HAVING A SEIZURE. I was seriously lol'ing with my friend in the theater during the opening scenes as the Katniss is just walking about, or looking at something, or opening a door, or sitting and talking, and the shaky cam is all.over.the.place. It was awful. Possibly the worse shaky-cam I've ever seen, and I hope to God they fix that in the sequel. It made the action scenes laughably bad.
2. Toward the beginning, they say that most won't die from other people, but rather the elements.
3. The "love" story isn't explained very well, as I think most my theater was under the assumption that Kat and
. That could have been done better.
4. And then small things; the horror movie "why did she walk through that door" moments where you're yelling at the character.
5. Ointments fix everything, lol.
Overall, though, I'd recommend it for at least one viewing. It's infinitely better than Twilight, and I like the material/concept MUCH more than Harry Potter. I'll definitely catch the sequel in theaters, and would recommend this 10x over more than John Bomba. I'd give it a 7/10.
I wasn't expecting much at all; figured it would be a shitty Battle Royale with crappy child acting. But, gotta say, it was actually pretty darn decent. For the first ten minutes or so, I was hoping that they'd just "get on with it", but then I realized that they were actually developing the characters and the world prior to actually showing us the games. I really liked that, and the film really feels like two separate pieces that mesh well.
Is it amazing? No, far from it. But the world was interesting, and the characters were actually pretty believable. I liked the use of color juxtaposed with the utopian sterility.
That said, I do have one large complaint, and then several nitpicks:
1. MY GOD THAT CAMERAMAN WAS HAVING A SEIZURE. I was seriously lol'ing with my friend in the theater during the opening scenes as the Katniss is just walking about, or looking at something, or opening a door, or sitting and talking, and the shaky cam is all.over.the.place. It was awful. Possibly the worse shaky-cam I've ever seen, and I hope to God they fix that in the sequel. It made the action scenes laughably bad.
2. Toward the beginning, they say that most won't die from other people, but rather the elements.
But, that's not actually the case. Nobody was shown to die from dehydration, or lack of shelter, or warmth, or fire, or food. Other than bugs and a fake animal-thing, everyone died by another kid's hand. One, I would have liked to see the elements have an effect on the kids and kill them, and two, it made that statement at the beginning seem kind of stupid.
3. The "love" story isn't explained very well, as I think most my theater was under the assumption that Kat and
Peeta were in love; when, I'm assuming, she's just "playing the game."
4. And then small things; the horror movie "why did she walk through that door" moments where you're yelling at the character.
Why didn't Kat go for all the District's bags/goodies at the end? Why didn't she run around the mines and steal the food and THEN blow shit up? Why is there a giant pack of kids working together? I mean, I can assume why... but there's a thousand reasons why that wouldn't work. Etc, etc...
5. Ointments fix everything, lol.
Overall, though, I'd recommend it for at least one viewing. It's infinitely better than Twilight, and I like the material/concept MUCH more than Harry Potter. I'll definitely catch the sequel in theaters, and would recommend this 10x over more than John Bomba. I'd give it a 7/10.
Pachterballs
Banned
It was pretty spaceshippy; it was able to hover; and didn't fly off. If you cut that bit out and inserted into xmen or something; you'd be hard pressed to not think it was that Xwing or whatever their craft is called.
So, fellow readers of the books - I'd like to share the unexpectedly (but fortunately) short list of things that bothered me in the adaptation:
1 - I noticed one inconsistency.
2 - Nitpicking:
3 - Why, oh, why
1 - I noticed one inconsistency.
Haymitch sending a written message saying "You call that a kiss?" to Katniss instead of having her find out his intentions with the gifts by herself like in the book doesn't make any sense. You're going to tell me the cameras didn't show that message to the world? Haha.
2 - Nitpicking:
I didn't like that they changed the way the final encounter goes. Katniss and Peeta finding out through the projector in the sky that Cato killed Thresh and then heading for the finale in the Cornucopia only to find the guy being chased by the mutts was a scene I was looking forward to... But they sacrificed it to give the audience a scare. Cato being the one that killed Thresh was the one thing that hyped me the most for the final encounter. It proved that the guy was a badass. I understand, though, and the result was cool nonetheless.
3 - Why, oh, why
did they change the final scene with passive-aggressive Peeta? It was a cool cliffhanger and one that'd definitely keep the Twilight crowd wanting more.
demosthenes
Member
On that character in the book:
In the book they spend more time together, probably 3-4 days in total, so they bond a bit more.
toxicgonzo
Taxes?! Isn't this the line for Metallica?
2.
In the book, Katniss nearly dies of dehydration. That's why Haymitch made it a point to tell her to find water. It's not that interesting, so maybe that's why it was cut from the movie.
3.
Yes, it's explained better in the book. After the games, Peeta thinks he's made headway with her, but she's still indifferent to him. The love story comes out in the later books
4.
My guess is Katniss wanted to sabotage their food supply and win a war of attrition. She is better suited at hunting/gathering than the other tributes so she would outlast the others.
The giant pack of kids were kids from Districts that had "professional tributes". They were to thin out the other, weaker tributes until it was just them left. Then they would fight it out.
The giant pack of kids were kids from Districts that had "professional tributes". They were to thin out the other, weaker tributes until it was just them left. Then they would fight it out.
But she did.
First, Foxface ran in and grabbed her District's. Then, Katniss went for 12's, but was interrupted by Clove. Then Thresh came, killed Clove and ran away with both his and her bags. Finally, Katniss took the one with the medicine.
Edit: Oh, maybe you meant
why she didn't grab all the bags instead of just hers. Well, first of all, Thresh took his and Cato's, and Foxface took hers, so 12's was the only one left. And initially she didn't go for them because she didn't want the careers and Thresh desperately hunting her for their stuff. She was hoping that they'd kill each other at that point in the Games.
She has no clue were the mines are. She'd just blow up if she tried going there. Foxface's able to do it because she was watching them setting up the traps the whole time. Furtiveness was her greatest asset, so she wasn't caught (that's explained in the book, but not in the movie, so I understand how someone could miss it).
Katniss had the intention of blowing everything up because while she's adept at hunting and can survive in the woods, the careers aren't used to such hardships and would simply perish without the Cornucopia's supplies. It's a war of attrition thing.
Katniss had the intention of blowing everything up because while she's adept at hunting and can survive in the woods, the careers aren't used to such hardships and would simply perish without the Cornucopia's supplies. It's a war of attrition thing.
It's kind of a tradition in the Games. It doesn't always end up well, too.
The careers band up at the beginning because of two reasons: 1 - they want to end the Games quickly by finishing the weaklings first; 2 - they're afraid of direct confrontation between themselves.
It's Capitol's crazy-ass technology. They have miraculous medicines.
Zoe
Member
I was a little amused at how healthy she looked when they're supposed to be living in squalor.
2. Actually, they said only
20% of people die from dehydration and 10% from infection, or something like that. Katniss and Peeta would have both died from infection had they not gotten those sponsor kits. Also, one died from eating poisonous berries. 
4.
Careers form in every Hunger Games (Careers being groups of the strongest districts who team up, and then turn on each other at the very end, to have the best chances of winning).
5. Futuristic technology and medicine.
2. Actually, they said only20% of people die from dehydration and 10% from infection, or something like that. Katniss and Peeta would have both died from infection had they not gotten those sponsor kits. Also, one died from eating poisonous berries.
We also never learn
what kills the District 10 male.
BakedPigeon
Banned
Movie was alright but I was just expecting more for some reason, probably my own fault for getting hyped.
So they have the technology of bullet trains, giant holo room with camera trees, flying UFO like ships, but optical illusion fire/real fire and synthetic dogs freak you out? Seemed fine to me never read the books liked the movie.
Skel1ingt0n
I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Cool, thank you for explaining those things, all of you 
I don't mind suspending by disbelief for some things; but doing that AND not getting all the description in the book was making me question my feelings about things. Seems like are just explained better in the book; which is to be expected. None of it hindered my enjoyment too much, but I do believe they should have explained the "careers" some.
I don't mind suspending by disbelief for some things; but doing that AND not getting all the description in the book was making me question my feelings about things. Seems like are just explained better in the book; which is to be expected. None of it hindered my enjoyment too much, but I do believe they should have explained the "careers" some.
adamsappel
Member
That made it very difficult to follow. Shaky cam didn't help, I'm sure, though this is such a common technique that I don't even consciously notice it anymore.
There's always a problem of readers assuming an adaptation adequately explains things. The dogs seemed to materialize from nowhere. There was never a shot of them rising up from platforms. I don't mind that as an explanation, but it wasn't ever used. It made me assume they had even more advanced tech than they did (and when you have hovercraft and anti-grav levitation trains, it seems odd to be so concerned about coal).
I didn't hate the movie, it just dragged a lot for me. It felt like the movie was hitting some points that would resonate with readers, but were unexplained to the general audience. I think that's why I felt the other Tributes were underdeveloped. When Peeta was with the "pro" Tributes from Districts 1 and 2, was he faking that, or had he betrayed Katniss? It seemed unspoken that he had, but I bet it was explored a lot deeper in the book.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. I did not read the books and felt that these parts violated the rules that I thought the universe adhered to. I still can't wrap my head around the universe...it's just poorly explained and random shit is tossed in without warning.
I also agree with
Rue's
Jamesways
Member
Yes, the fire appearing was pure magic, I mean, if only we could be so advanced as to have some sort of launcher of rockets on fire... or perhaps even a thrower of some sort, possibly of flame! Yep, that indeed would be pure magic like they have.
One might even get the impression that they could probably control the environment. You know, with constantly cutting to those those scenes of them controlling the fricking environment.
As stated, if you have an issue with this BOOK 2 SPOILERS
edited.
One might even get the impression that they could probably control the environment. You know, with constantly cutting to those those scenes of them controlling the fricking environment.
As stated, if you have an issue with this BOOK 2 SPOILERS
just wait until you see the games in the second film!
edited.
To be fair, we still derive a majority of our electricity from burning coal in the US. Varies by state considerably, but we're behind other nations in that regard.
http://geocommons.com/maps/14460
http://geocommons.com/maps/14460
It amazes me that people can't buy them making artificial fire when it's shown constantly that The Capitol has technology far exceeding what we possess currently.
I think this is partly the fault of the movie for not displaying The Capitol as technologically advanced as the book portrays it as.
I think this is partly the fault of the movie for not displaying The Capitol as technologically advanced as the book portrays it as.
Please mark those as BOOK 2 SPOILERS.
Jamesways
Member
That's true. And speaking of, I was surprised they left out
Peeta getting his leg amputated and given an artificial one. And Katniss getting completely healed, no scars, scratches, hearing completely restored, waking up in almost better than perfect condition. That's when it really hit me how advanced they were. My wife wanted more "alterations" visible on the Capitol folk too
adamsappel
Member
You keep harping on the fire, probably because it's easy to make flame-thrower jibes. The scene was cut so that it seemed the dogs were created instantaneously. The director acted as if he'd never seen them before. "I like that! Can you put it at X?" There was no shot of them rising from platforms. If a society can create living beings out of thin air, seemingly, it throws the whole concept of their society out of whack. Why are they worried about bread from District 11? Create mutant dogs and let the starving people in District 12 eat them.
Again, you've read the books. I was a little lost on where exactly the arena was. Was there ever an establishing shot of it? They talked about previous games in the desert, in frozen areas, and war-torn rubble, but this seemed like it was some "Olympic stadium" type in the heart of the Capitol.
Biggest-Geek-Ever
Member
I thought the war room where they controlled the Games would have done it for people, but whatever.
You're not supposed to know that, and it doesn't matter. It's away from the Capitol, though. They're led there by flying hovercrafts.
The Arenas are actually (backstory stuff explained in the books
artificially built or at least entirely modified by the Capitol for each edition of the Games.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
The problem is that whilst they have other high tech, it in no way even tries to hint at how directional fireballs or dogs can literally materialize from nowhere. It doesn't show how it works. Just that it is there.
That's like saying that because Minority Report is set in the future, it would make sense for John Anderton to review a recording of a murder, tell ol' Buck Compton that Howard Marks is about to commit a red ball crime, followed by Tom Cruise pressing a button that beams Howard Marks into the precrime lab where they immediately arrest him.
To say that we have to accept it because they are technologically advanced and we probably don't understand it is to say that being lazy enough to not even hint how something operates is acceptable, because god forbid the writers think about what they're writing.
Show me that they have napalm turrets mounted to specific trees around the enclosure. Show me a one second insert of a dog being elevated into the arena. Don't just have them appear out of thin air.
Eh, I never read the books, and absolutely nothing about the fire seemed out of place. It was very well established how advanced the Capitol was. Out of all the things to criticize the film for, that's probably the last thing I would go towards.
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
The dogs seemed a little over the top to me, but it's such a small thing. Seriously, what happened in the books was more jarring and mood-breaking for me, I'm glad they changed it.
Bumblebeetuna
Banned
Does any of it really need more explaining that showing a high tech control room where a large group of people monitor and control every aspect of the arena? Where Seneca sits and tells people what he wants and they make it happen? Who cares that they don't show the turret shooting the fireball. It's clear they have them hidden in there somewhere.
I don't remember exactly in the movie but I could have swore the dogs come up through the ground and don't "appear out of thin air".
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Nope. They appeared out of nowhere.
Which I can buy people complaining about, since it does seem to signify that the Capitol just somehow created new life on the spot. The book never says how they got there, Katniss just sees them chasing Cato near the end.
The fire though just screams fishing for things to complain about.
I also remember the dogs coming through the ground, almost like they burrowed to the surface really fast. A gif from that scene will probably surface eventually, but pages upon pages complaining about something that took less than a second underscores how ridiculous these complains are.
Officerrob
Banned
1) Bullet trains exist today. Infact, the fastest train goes over 300 mph
2) A ship that looks like a UFO is just a ship until it does something UFO like
3) The holo room I'll give you, but sticking a camera in a tree isn't exactly cutting edge technology
As for another point brought up earlier, there are genetically altered animals today.
Real fireballs materializing out of thin air is lazy. As some stated earlier, show some cannons come out of the ground and fire those off, or something. When it comes to the dog creatures, you gotta do something to make that type of technology seem feasible before the last 10 minutes of the movie. I would have suggested something like letting the kids choose from a list of food off of a virtual menu while on the train or before the games and have it materialize before them to eat. That is a small, easy solution that instantly makes that dog crap credible.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
I complained about it once, then others did. Then we had people trying to say that it makes perfect sense because it is science fiction that takes place in the future and some of us just don't understand how that makes it okay.
I have no problem calling out stupid arguments.
Pachterballs
Banned
how did cars fly around it the filfth elemetn?
how did she create a chicken out of a pill in the microwave?
etc el
suspension of belief. this is science fiction. pointless worthless complaints.
derp
how did she create a chicken out of a pill in the microwave?
etc el
suspension of belief. this is science fiction. pointless worthless complaints.
derp
I'm not sure you're going anywhere by doing that considering the second-long insertions you are demanding would not have improved the movie at all.
They certainly would not have improved character development, atmosphere, camera work, etc. Pages upon pages (and I'm not referring to just you) arguing over superfluous details seems incredibly unnecessary. It almost redefines reaching.
And evidence to the contrary was not just "lol it's sci-fi" (not to mention you weren't dismissed as a clueless 12 year old), did you only answers the posts claiming sci-fi magic? If you insist on more evidence: here's a picture of the complex below the arena, riddled with pipes going up into the ground.
It seems logical to assume they have control of the ground, and thus could light up a forest. It doesn't seem necessary to show a microscopic tube in the ground spewing out flames when they already provided evidence of the technology under and over the arena (and a control room to control said technology).
Officerrob
Banned
I'm not sure you're going anywhere by doing that considering the second-long insertions you are demanding would not have improved the movie at all.
They certainly would not have improved character development, atmosphere, camera work, etc. Pages upon pages (and I'm not referring to just you) arguing over superfluous details seems incredibly unnecessary. It almost redefines reaching.
And evidence to the contrary was not just "lol it's sci-fi" (not to mention you weren't dismissed as a clueless 12 year old), did you only answers the posts claiming sci-fi magic? If you insist on more evidence: here's a picture of the complex below the arena, riddled with pipes going up into the ground.
It seems logical to assume they have control of the ground, and thus could light up a forest. It doesn't seem necessary to show a microscopic tube in the ground spewing out flames when they already provided evidence of the technology under and over the arena (and a control room to control said technology).
As for the 12 year old comment, if the shoe (or in this case, pin) fits...
I'm wearing my Mockingjay pin all day tomorrow.
The point is that your never going to get a point across to someone with your point of view. Have you ever tried having a conversation about the quality of the Twilight films with a crazy Twilight fan? It's a waste of time. I honestly knew very little about THG before the last few weeks but it has become very obvious that fans of this appear to be no better. Your argument is LOOK, they have pipes!! That's gotta explain the flames!!! Nope. That's just you trying to explain lazy storytelling.
Finally, it seems that those who seem to be doing the defending around here always say that things are explained much better in the book. That's no excuse. I shouldn't have to read the book in order to have things make sense in the film. I believe those who have read the books are automatically filling in the blanks that make the seasoned moviegoer feel clueless, bored, uncaring, or some combination of the three.
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