The Hunger Games (Dir. Gary Ross) |OT| May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

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petethepanda said:
Kind of surprised the movie is that long, for a relatively short book with big font and wide margins lol.
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I think they're adding a few things in it too. For example, that clip with Donald Sutherland (President Snow) and Wes Bentley (Seneca Crane), I don't recall ever reading that part from the 1st book. I haven't read the 2nd and 3rd books so maybe it's from there but in that case, the 1st film wouldn't be a direct adaptation of the books. I mean I knew a few things would be taken out from the film but I didn't think they'd add in a few things too.
 
Replicant said:
I think they're adding a few things in it too. For example, that clip with Donald Sutherland (President Snow) and Wes Bentley (Seneca Crane), I don't recall ever reading that part from the 1st book. I haven't read the 2nd and 3rd books so maybe it's from there but in that case, the 1st film wouldn't be a direct adaptation of the books. I mean I knew a few things would be taken out from the film but I didn't think they'd add in a few things too.
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That scene obviously didn't exist in the book because it's told in first person. They'll add lots of stuff like that, so yeah. Maybe we'll even get to see
Cato's final kill.
That'd be a pleasant surprise.

I do recall Snow saying that stuff about the winner and hope at some point, though, but can't remember exactly when. Maybe it's in the third book.
 
I wish they would condense the two final books into one movie, Most of what happens is in her head. Also lots of not very interesting down time.
 
SteveWinwood said:
So should I read this book or not? I always heard it was pre teen junk, but now there is a movie that looks... Okay?
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Decent book. It's an extremely quick read. Certainly not the best writing though.

Harry Potter said:
Watch them make the third book into two movies ala Twilight.
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You mean also like Harry Potter? And they already have said that. All of the main actors/actresses signed contracts for four movies to avoid the issues that the HP and Twilight actors ran into with extra negotiations after the fact.
 
JdFoX187 said:
Decent book. It's an extremely quick read. Certainly not the best writing though.



You mean also like Harry Potter? And they already have said that. All of the main actors/actresses signed contracts for four movies to avoid the issues that the HP and Twilight actors ran into with extra negotiations after the fact.
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I'm sure I've suffered through worse. I'll give it a shot. Couple hours of my life.
 
JdFoX187 said:
Decent book. It's an extremely quick read. Certainly not the best writing though.



You mean also like Harry Potter? And they already have said that. All of the main actors/actresses signed contracts for four movies to avoid the issues that the HP and Twilight actors ran into with extra negotiations after the fact.
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Ah ok didn't know that. I didn't include HP because I felt like two movies were fine for the last book. Breaking Dawn could be an hour and a half movie.
 
SteveWinwood said:
I'm sure I've suffered through worse. I'll give it a shot. Couple hours of my life.
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When I read the first book I thought it was the worst book I'd personally ever read.

Then I read the second book.

Then I read the third book.

The title swapped hands both times.

I wouldn't even just say it's pre-teen junk. It's just really terribly written. There were ideas there but it was horribly constrained by the awful writing (even people that like the books acknowledge the bad writing, which boggles my damn mind) and the first person perspective.
 
Lionsgate pulled the embargo!

100% on RottenTomatoes with 8 reviews.

The Hunger Games is that rarest of beasts: a Hollywood action blockbuster that is smart, taut and knotty.
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Hunger Games has such a strong narrative structure, built-in forward movement and compelling central character that it can't go far wrong.
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Overall, this is a solid take on the material, but it could have done with a little less narrative incident and a little more cinematic sparkle.
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Despite its well-worn ideas and themes, Gary Ross's provocative, pulse-surgingly tense adaptation couldn't feel fresher, or timelier.
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The Hunger Games certainly doesn't lack for ambition, and although it's mostly successful, one can't help wishing the film could have better integrated its different tones and agendas.
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Koodo said:
The Countdown Event tv spot.


Damn, this is one is flawless.
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Going to be the first movie in a while that I actually go see opening night.

… the wife is actually super pumped to go see it, surprise surprise ...
 
While it is 100% so far, some of the reviews do point out the shortcomings. Like how it comes so close to going above the source material and becoming something truly great, but pulls back to stick to the source as close as it can.

Either way, I had faith in Gary Ross from the beginning.

Also, to those that have not read the book: DO NOT READ THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER REVIEW! Major spoilers abound in that one.
 
Glad it's getting good reviews lost a bet with the gf and now have to see it...ugh.


Trailer looked awful but as long as it's not as bad as what I've seen of twilight I won't have to hurt myself.
 
So i got excited about the premise of The Hunger Games, I decided to read it this weekend before seeing the movie. Wow, just wow at the shallowness of what teen fiction has become these days. The Hunger Games has no shame ripping off anything and everything it can think of, as its target audience (fresh doe eyed teenagers) probably has no idea where much of the ideas would probably have come from. The whole dystopian futuristic setting that is stock standard stuff from 1984, children of men, district B-13, the whole survival element from Men vs Wild, Survivor and the last man standing element from Battle Royale.

I was hoping it would take these elements and rise above it, because I love all of the above material, but in general it just shamelessly rips it off.

I also have a beef with some of the competitive elements of the book. I don't want to be sexist, but do women writers understand what a cop-out is and how to avoid it? The part where the Capitol announces two people from the same district can win when the games are just about over, the part where Tresh lets Katniss go, the part where Katniss and Peeta take the berries at the end and the capitol letting Katniss and Peeta off the hook. It's truly infuriating. I also found the use of roman historical figures brought absolutely nothing to the story.

Will probably still see the movie anyway to see if they fix up any of the flaws, but seriously if I was any decent as a writer I would write a book as well but I'm not and its pretty upsetting that this is what teen fiction has come to.

Great OP by the way.
 
Hoping/Wondering if they are going to touch on
just how Thresh gets killed by Cato. I remember it being mentioned no one wanted to go into the area he was in and try to fight him
so I've been wondering how it went down. Could be a really cool scene.
 
arbok26 said:
So i got excited about the premise of The Hunger Games, I decided to read it this weekend before seeing the movie. Wow, just wow at the shallowness of what teen fiction has become these days. The Hunger Games has no shame ripping off anything and everything it can think of, as its target audience (fresh doe eyed teenagers) probably has no idea where much of the ideas would probably have come from. The whole dystopian futuristic setting that is stock standard stuff from 1984, children of men, district B-13, the whole survival element from Men vs Wild, Survivor and the last man standing element from Battle Royale.

I was hoping it would take these elements and rise above it, because I love all of the above material, but in general it just shamelessly rips it off.

I also have a beef with some of the competitive elements of the book. I don't want to be sexist, but do women writers understand what a cop-out is and how to avoid it? The part where the Capitol announces two people from the same district can win when the games are just about over, the part where Tresh lets Katniss go, the part where Katniss and Peeta take the berries at the end and the capitol letting Katniss and Peeta off the hook. It's truly infuriating. I also found the use of roman historical figures brought absolutely nothing to the story.

Will probably still see the movie anyway to see if they fix up any of the flaws, but seriously if I was any decent as a writer I would write a book as well but I'm not and its pretty upsetting that this is what teen fiction has come to.

Great OP by the way.
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Really? Are you now saying any book with survival elements is ripping off Discovery television shows? No story is completely unique. Get over it.
 
arbok26 said:
So i got excited about the premise of The Hunger Games, I decided to read it this weekend before seeing the movie. Wow, just wow at the shallowness of what teen fiction has become these days. The Hunger Games has no shame ripping off anything and everything it can think of, as its target audience (fresh doe eyed teenagers) probably has no idea where much of the ideas would probably have come from. The whole dystopian futuristic setting that is stock standard stuff from 1984, children of men, district B-13, the whole survival element from Men vs Wild, Survivor and the last man standing element from Battle Royale.

I was hoping it would take these elements and rise above it, because I love all of the above material, but in general it just shamelessly rips it off.

I also have a beef with some of the competitive elements of the book. I don't want to be sexist, but do women writers understand what a cop-out is and how to avoid it? The part where the Capitol announces two people from the same district can win when the games are just about over, the part where Tresh lets Katniss go, the part where Katniss and Peeta take the berries at the end and the capitol letting Katniss and Peeta off the hook. It's truly infuriating. I also found the use of roman historical figures brought absolutely nothing to the story.

Will probably still see the movie anyway to see if they fix up any of the flaws, but seriously if I was any decent as a writer I would write a book as well but I'm not and its pretty upsetting that this is what teen fiction has come to.

Great OP by the way.
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Strange review.

If most like the premise as is. not sure if I would hold my breath on radical enough changes to switch this from horrible to good...unless you like more romantic triangle.
 
arbok26 said:
So i got excited about the premise of The Hunger Games, I decided to read it this weekend before seeing the movie. Wow, just wow at the shallowness of what teen fiction has become these days. The Hunger Games has no shame ripping off anything and everything it can think of, as its target audience (fresh doe eyed teenagers) probably has no idea where much of the ideas would probably have come from. The whole dystopian futuristic setting that is stock standard stuff from 1984, children of men, district B-13, the whole survival element from Men vs Wild, Survivor and the last man standing element from Battle Royale.

I was hoping it would take these elements and rise above it, because I love all of the above material, but in general it just shamelessly rips it off.

I also have a beef with some of the competitive elements of the book. I don't want to be sexist, but do women writers understand what a cop-out is and how to avoid it? The part where the Capitol announces two people from the same district can win when the games are just about over, the part where Tresh lets Katniss go, the part where Katniss and Peeta take the berries at the end and the capitol letting Katniss and Peeta off the hook. It's truly infuriating. I also found the use of roman historical figures brought absolutely nothing to the story.

Will probably still see the movie anyway to see if they fix up any of the flaws, but seriously if I was any decent as a writer I would write a book as well but I'm not and its pretty upsetting that this is what teen fiction has come to.

Great OP by the way.
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Sadly you're never gonna convince fans of the book that it's bad. Do yourself a favor and skip the rest of the series. It's not even worth it to read it yourself to see how bad it gets unless you really just hate your life and don't value your free time.
 
Yep, definitely surprised by the early reviews. I'm sure it will go down a bunch, but still, great start. I can see it sitting comfortably in the 70's.

Also (LOL):

As action, as allegory, as cinema, The Hunger Games is the best American science-fiction film since The Matrix.
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arbok26 said:
So i got excited about the premise of The Hunger Games, I decided to read it this weekend before seeing the movie. Wow, just wow at the shallowness of what teen fiction has become these days. The Hunger Games has no shame ripping off anything and everything it can think of, as its target audience (fresh doe eyed teenagers) probably has no idea where much of the ideas would probably have come from. The whole dystopian futuristic setting that is stock standard stuff from 1984, children of men, district B-13, the whole survival element from Men vs Wild, Survivor and the last man standing element from Battle Royale.

I was hoping it would take these elements and rise above it, because I love all of the above material, but in general it just shamelessly rips it off.

I also have a beef with some of the competitive elements of the book. I don't want to be sexist, but do women writers understand what a cop-out is and how to avoid it? The part where the Capitol announces two people from the same district can win when the games are just about over, the part where Tresh lets Katniss go, the part where Katniss and Peeta take the berries at the end and the capitol letting Katniss and Peeta off the hook. It's truly infuriating. I also found the use of roman historical figures brought absolutely nothing to the story.

Will probably still see the movie anyway to see if they fix up any of the flaws, but seriously if I was any decent as a writer I would write a book as well but I'm not and its pretty upsetting that this is what teen fiction has come to.

Great OP by the way.
Click to expand...
The gamemakers flip-flopping on the number of pledges to win was an attempt to manufacture drama. Peeta would have died face down in the mud in a few days/hours, Cato/Marvel would have eventually caught or outlasted Katniss, Foxface, and Thresh who were working alone, and Cato would be the inevitable champ. With Rue dead and Thresh in hiding, the Peeta/Katniss relationship was the last thing they had to pull on their audiences heartstrings.

Thresh only allowed Katniss to live in a "I'll kill you last" sense of mercy for being kind to Rue. Killing her still would not have made it easier to kill Cato.

The final flip-flop was only to ensure that one of the pledges survived. What if, in 1984, the narrator and his gf chose death instead of submitting to the torture? O'Brien's entire plan revolved around breaking the human spirit. In Collins' work, they fail. The pledges give them the finger. So they have to let them live so they can "explain" that it was done out of love rather than defiance.
 
I'm looking forward to this movie and this:

RP0Dr.jpg
 
Is it as good as "Doomsday"? That's the one where a virus strikes and they wall off Scotland. I liked that one. Pretty grim. Mindless fun.
 
So, about halfway through the 3rd book now.

The books are poorly written and the 1st person perspective is as obnoxious as the borderline "woe-is-me-teenage-angst" is annoying. However, there are some really good elements to the story that still manage to make it compelling in many ways. I could easily see a good producer/director taking those elements and making a movie that is far superior to the books. Will definitely go see.

Edit: The trailer looks really good.
 
offtopic said:
So, about halfway through the 3rd book now.

The books are poorly written and the 1st person perspective is as obnoxious as the borderline "woe-is-me-teenage-angst" is annoying. However, there are some really good elements to the story that still manage to make it compelling in many ways. I could easily see a good producer/director taking those elements and making a movie that is far superior to the books. Will definitely go see.

Edit: The trailer looks really good.
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The third book is very guilty of the woe-is-me narrative. That's why it's my least favorite of the three. The movie will undoubtedly be good because they'll succeed where the book fails in bringing some imagery to the scenes. If there's one gripe I have about the books, it's that the scenery isn't described in enough detail.

The books are young adult novels. They're meant to capture the imaginations of people who aren't at the level of Dune or A Song of Ice and Fire yet. When I read them, I removed my inner critic and found myself enjoying the concept a lot more. When you can read each book within a 4 hour reading session there isn't much you can complain about. It's light reading. I believe the movies will outshine the novels just like Lord of the Rings.
 
LiQuid! said:
wat
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G-Fex said:
Yeah I've never seen LOTR or read the books and even I know the books are better.
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Except, having seen both the movies and read the books multiple times, they really aren't. Tolkien was an exceptional worldbuilder and is without a doubt the greatest influence on the fantasy-genre but the movies do a way better job at bringing that world and it's characters alive than the books ever did.
 
Loving the hype and early reviews but I do agree that a part of me wished the movies would take the source material and add to it. I liked the series while reading it but could not stop thinking about how it could have been so much more grand, epic, and just overall meaty. So much that is not explained and by the third book the author seems to run out of steam of trying to explain how and why things are. Still the underlying premise is really fun and hopefully the movies take the liberty to expand from the books rather than be restricted by them.

Second movie might be more telling, since this first screenplay was actually written by the author herself if I recall correctly. Hopefully whoever inherits the rest of the series takes it to higher heights.
 
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