May the odds ever be in your favour!

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

I can't believe there's no Hunger Games thread. You, EoFF, disappoint me!

So, did you guys see it? What did you think?

While it was an alright movie on its own, I can't help compare it to the books. I know the change of medium, time and rating constraints are factors, but there were a few things that were disappointing but some changes that I liked (like Seneca's fleshing out). Also, for some reason now I ship Peeta and Cato in my mind...

[Bunny]

I have yet to see it but I've had two people rave to me about it. One had read the books and said the movie kept very close to the source material (minus a few necessary changes due to the medium change) and the other liked it despite never having read the books.

They also liked Avatar though so I'm a bitch sketchy with their movie enjoyments.

[Del Murder]

I thought it was pretty good. It was entertaining all the way through, and held true to the book for the most part. Jennifer Lawrence pretty much carried the movie (as was necessary for this to work), but Haymitch, Effie, and Caesar Flickerman were perfectly done. The buildup to the games was great. The games themselves were good but it played out better while reading it.

My main two gripes would be that 1) Gail and Peeta were awful castings in that they were neither attractive (for Gail) or charasmatic (for Peeta), and 2) Katniss looked like royalty compared to the rest of her district as Lawrence is way to pretty and put together to belong with a bunch of coal miners who are on the brink of starvation. She completely stuck out.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

Yeah, in the opening scene you can tell that Lawrence was wearing make-up while she soothed Prim's nightmare. They can't afford food but makeup, sure? Unless, as my friends suggested, she's using coal for eyeliner.

[blackmage_nuke]

(SPOILER)"This will be the final anouncement"
then there were 5 more anouncements.

I wasnt especially a fan of the movie (I have not read the book but if they stay faithful to the movie I do not think I would enjoy them). I think if I were a person in that universe, I would not enjoy watching the games. Fun as it would be to see a bunch of teenagers killing each other, things like watching a girl being chased by a forest fire and constant rule changes or anything that bends to the whim and bias of the host do not make for good entertainment. It's pretty hard to mess up a movie about teenagers killing each other but hunger games comes close. It pretty much felt like Battle Royale meets Twilight.

[Jinx]

I thought it was very true to the books. The only differences were details. I loved how Effie and Caesar were (I cracked up both times before the interview where he does that silly smile. I was the only one in the whole theatre. You could hear me.) and I really loved the way they showed clips of Haymitch during the games, suffering as these two tributes are stuck out there, and he has to watch as they do and is more or less helpless.

Blackmage: The people in the districts don't like watching the Hunger Games. Only the people who are in the Capitol. It explains in the books they're all very insane and self absorbed, and if you were raised in a culture where that was entertainment, you probably WOULD enjoy it. It's no different in some regards to the Roman Coliseum.

All in all, I really enjoyed it a lot. I didn't think I would, as I almost always hate books to film. I thought this was really well done.

AND DONALD SUTHERLAND MIRITE?

[theundeadhero]

I haven't read the book but I watched the movie. It was decent enough as a stand alone movie. I've heard both sides from the book readers though. Some say it was close enough with necessary changes and others were mad about it.

[SuperMillionaire]

I watched the movie last night, and it was good, but in a strange way.

Having 12-18-year-old kids fight to the death in an arena where the adults at the controls hurl deadly obstacles at them is downright demonic, even Satanic, in my opinion. I'm not familiar with the series as a whole right now, since I haven't read the books, but I hope that those demons at the controls one day get what they deserve in one of the later installments. It's certainly an interesting concept, I must say, but it's morally very wrong. I would deduce that in the final book, which is being split into two films (like Harry Potter and The Twilight Saga), the Hunger Games that are held in that book would be the final Hunger games, and I'm sure that Katniss would agree with me that such an event should never be held again, ever.

Also, for some odd reason, when I watched the movie, I couldn't help but think of Mortal Kombat, as I could imagine Shao Kahn being the announcer of the games, and saying the word "Fatality" whenever one of the kombatants is killed. Mortal Kombat, indeed.

[blackmage_nuke]

Blackmage: The people in the districts don't like watching the Hunger Games. Only the people who are in the Capitol. It explains in the books they're all very insane and self absorbed, and if you were raised in a culture where that was entertainment, you probably WOULD enjoy it. It's no different in some regards to the Roman Coliseum.

Im just saying if I were to watch a competition about people competing against each other, I would want to watch a competition about people competing against each other. Not some omnipotent man behind the scenes deciding who lives and who dies and killing off characters based on what he thinks will get better ratings.
And not everyone in a demographic a show is targeted towards enjoys that show. Not everyone loves big brother, not everyone loves survivor, and most of those who did lost interest after the first three seasons.

[DMKA]

I saw it Friday night and LOVED it. I was thoroughly engrossed from beginning to end. I probably enjoyed more than any other film I've seen at the theater since the last Harry Potter movie.

I was actually rather shocked at how unabashedly violent some parts were, being a film based on a Scholastic book series in a theater full of kids.

[krissy]

i loved the book and i don't care who knows it but
im not really looking forward to seeing this movie
even thoguh it's been getting great reviews
maybe i'll just go tonight

also there is a hunger games thread already
it's the battle royale thread i commandeered it

[Jinx]

Hunger Games isn't a kids book by Scholastic the way Harry Potter isn't a kid's book by Scholastic.

And...(SPOILER)Katniss actually votes for another game at the end of the third book. There's a resistance, and they beat the Capitol. She votes to force the children and grandchildren of the Capitol's politicians to fight the way she did.

[DMKA]

Hunger Games isn't a kids book by Scholastic the way Harry Potter isn't a kid's book by Scholastic.

Suzanne Collins (the book's author), Newsweek, Barnes and Noble, and The Children's Literature Book Club all disagree with you. On both counts, I might add.

Hell, I could concede to you saying, oh, Twilight isn't a kids book, but Harry Potter? It's children's literature at it's finest.

[Jinx]

Considering that they talk about rape and human trafficking in the third book, I have a hard time seeing it as a kid's series.

Also, after the third book, Harry Potter stops being kid friendly. It's just happens to be about teenagers. I wouldn't let my 10 year old read book 5, 6, or 7.

[Freya]

I haven't read the books and I was going to wait till it came out on DVD but Olafur Arnalds is on the soundtrack so I have to see it now.