Hunger Games

[workingcinderellaman]

For anyone out there who hasn't read the books or seen the movie; the Hunger Games is nothing like Twilight. I saw the first Twilight movie and I couldn't stand it. The Hunger Games is a political drama. I would liken it more to George Orwell than to Stephanie Myer.

 

 

[Presto-digitation]

Edited March 29, 2012 by Presto-digitation

[Godeater2112]

QUOTE (Tick @ Mar 28 2012, 02:49 PM)

QUOTE (Godeater2112 @ Mar 28 2012, 10:40 AM) Not to be a troll, I've never even read the books. This movie cheeses me off though because stupid "news & entertainment" sites refer to it as "Games" and I always click thinking it has to do with "Game of Thrones".  Grrrrr. Godeater!!! Good to see you out there kicking around! Nice to see you too brother! Hope life is treating you good yeah?

[ILSnwdog]

[Godeater2112]

[rushgoober]

Ok, now that I've read through this thread, there's really surprisingly few reviews of the actual movie, and a lot of talk about adapting the book, people judging it who haven't actually seen it, hype and superfluous stuff that have nothing to do with the movie itself.

 

The movie has made over $300 million domestically in the past 2 1/2 weeks. Obviously someone has seen the thing! Your thoughts? Opinions? I loved it!

 

[pedro2112]

I haven't read the books, but went to see it because of the good reviews of practically everyone who has seen it.

 

It was good. Not great, but good and definitely worth the money. The lead actress is very talented, and the "adult" character actors are very good also.

 

 

[Rushian King]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 9 2012, 08:58 AM)

Ok, now that I've read through this thread, there's really surprisingly few reviews of the actual movie, and a lot of talk about adapting the book, people judging it who haven't actually seen it, hype and superfluous stuff that have nothing to do with the movie itself. The movie has made over $300 million domestically in the past 2 1/2 weeks. Obviously someone has seen the thing! Your thoughts? Opinions? I loved it!

It sucked.

 

OK not really. It was an average movie at best. Acting varied from good to poor, the love story aspect was done ok. The pacing was slow, i.e. the movie was way too long for the story it told. Very little intensity in the action scenes. The violence was toned down for the kids. For a populace that's supposed to be starving there were very few people I would consider skinny. The lead actress especially was nowhere near thin enough. The writing/storytelling was mediocre-- guess it's to be expected in a teenybopper movie.

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (Rushian King @ Apr 13 2012, 06:49 PM)

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 9 2012, 08:58 AM) Ok, now that I've read through this thread, there's really surprisingly few reviews of the actual movie, and a lot of talk about adapting the book, people judging it who haven't actually seen it, hype and superfluous stuff that have nothing to do with the movie itself. The movie has made over $300 million domestically in the past 2 1/2 weeks.  Obviously someone has seen the thing!  Your thoughts?  Opinions?  I loved it! It sucked.   OK not really. It was an average movie at best. Acting varied from good to poor, the love story aspect was done ok. The pacing was slow, i.e. the movie was way too long for the story it told. Very little intensity in the action scenes. The violence was toned down for the kids. For a populace that's supposed to be starving there were very few people I would consider skinny. The lead actress especially was nowhere near thin enough. The writing/storytelling was mediocre-- guess it's to be expected in a teenybopper movie. oy   one of these days i'll love something that's popular and other people will love it too...

[GeddyLeefan2112]

It was an okay movie. The book was much better. I have seen it twice now. I took my younger sister to see it the second time and I actually enjoyed it much more the second time. However, its just can't be compared to the book. It's actually quite disappointing because I expected so much more from it.

[rushgoober]

I've now read the books.

 

I think they did a REALLY good job on the movie having read the book. Sure, they could have gone into more details on certain things, but that's par for the course for a movie adaption. I was surprised actually by how faithful it was. I might not feel the same had I read the book FIRST however. I did think it was interesting how they added things into the movie that either weren't there in the book, were only vaguely hinted at in the book, or were actually in book 2, but still I thought they did a great job considering.

 

The second book is going to make an even better movie I thought. I was shocked in reading it how the implications of what happened in book 1 played out.

 

The third book is going to be a really tricky movie to make - much more chaotic of a story - they're really going to need a great screenwriter and director to make it coherent - it works well as a book, but I'm not sure how easily it will be adapted.

[ridertoo98]

Didnt see or read the movie/books. My 2 girls did and liked it very much.

[ILSnwdog]

QUOTE (GeddyLeefan2112 @ Apr 23 2012, 12:24 AM)

It was an okay movie. The book was much better. I have seen it twice now. I took my younger sister to see it the second time and I actually enjoyed it much more the second time. However, its just can't be compared to the book. It's actually quite disappointing because I expected so much more from it.

That's exactly how my wife feels about the movie. She likes the books so much better.

[rushgoober]

Very weird. The movie has made around $350 million so far. Obviously somebody loved the movie beside me. I guess just no one else on TRF...

[ILSnwdog]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 23 2012, 12:59 PM)

Very weird. The movie has made around $350 million so far. Obviously somebody loved the movie beside me. I guess just no one else on TRF...

Oh, I really liked it! I didn't read the book, so I had nothing to base the movie against.

 

 

[workingcinderellaman]

QUOTE (ILSnwdog @ Apr 23 2012, 01:07 PM)

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 23 2012, 12:59 PM) Very weird.  The movie has made around $350 million so far.  Obviously somebody loved the movie beside me.  I guess just no one else on TRF... Oh, I really liked it! I didn't read the book, so I had nothing to base the movie against. I liked it as well. http://www.therushforum.com/index.php?show...dpost&p=2553329

[pedro2112]

As did I

[udanax]

I didn't bother to go see the movie. I didn't enjoy the first book too much. It's hard for me to pinpoint exactly why I didn't like the book, but Katniss just was not a character I very much liked and I think she had a lot of inconsistencies mentally as far as her characterization went that were not really fully explained. There were also characters that I very much enjoyed that I wish would have gotten more time to be truly fleshed out. It just wasn't my cup of tea, so I didn't read the other two books. At the same time I thought the movie might have some potential, but nonetheless, I am waiting for it on dvd. If it's anything like this clip I found by a very talented independent director, then I might enjoy it, since the relationship between Katniss and Rue was by far the best part of the book for me.

 

 

Now I do realize that there are some definite mistakes with this clip, but I certainly thought it was well done for the fact that there was no big Hollywood budget behind it.

 

Cant judge the book too harshly though because it's a children's book... It's not meant for my age group, so whatevs... Also, maybe I have a strong case of cynicism right now.

Edited April 24, 2012 by udanax

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (udanax @ Apr 24 2012, 01:28 PM)

Cant judge the book too harshly though because it's a children's book... It's not meant for my age group, so whatevs... Also, maybe I have a strong case of cynicism right now.

It's a kids book as much as Harry Potter is a kids book. Actually, it's far less of a kids book. For some reason it's marketed as a teen book, but it's one of those books that captures the imagination of adults as well (although obviously not you specifically ). The books are pretty dark, and they only get darker - by the time they get to the third movie, I don't know how on earth they're going to keep it to PG-13 - it's pretty dark stuff and definitely NOT for kids - questionable for teenagers.

[Tick]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 24 2012, 06:42 PM)

QUOTE (udanax @ Apr 24 2012, 01:28 PM) Cant judge the book too harshly though because it's a children's book... It's not meant for my age group, so whatevs... Also, maybe I have a strong case of cynicism right now. It's a kids book as much as Harry Potter is a kids book. Actually, it's far less of a kids book. For some reason it's marketed as a teen book, but it's one of those books that captures the imagination of adults as well (although obviously not you specifically ). The books are pretty dark, and they only get darker - by the time they get to the third movie, I don't know how on earth they're going to keep it to PG-13 - it's pretty dark stuff and definitely NOT for kids - questionable for teenagers. I agree its dark, but I personally think its fine for teens. Try to remember what it was like to be a teen. They're not babies. They are quite mature, and can handle the storyline, imo. My daughter is 11 and she saw the movie and is reading the first book now. Not a big deal. The real life that encounter in school everyday is worse than anything these books can dish out. Once again, just my opinion.

[Powderfinger]

I thought the movie was great! I don't know if it's a timeless classic, but it was damn good, and more than just a popcorn film.

 

I read just over one-third of the book before seeing the film. I plan to finish the book, but I've been sidetracked by other materials.

 

I'm definitely looking forward to the next film. And I hope to find time to read the other books as well.

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (Tick @ Apr 24 2012, 08:18 PM)

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 24 2012, 06:42 PM) QUOTE (udanax @ Apr 24 2012, 01:28 PM) Cant judge the book too harshly though because it's a children's book... It's not meant for my age group, so whatevs... Also, maybe I have a strong case of cynicism right now. It's a kids book as much as Harry Potter is a kids book. Actually, it's far less of a kids book. For some reason it's marketed as a teen book, but it's one of those books that captures the imagination of adults as well (although obviously not you specifically ). The books are pretty dark, and they only get darker - by the time they get to the third movie, I don't know how on earth they're going to keep it to PG-13 - it's pretty dark stuff and definitely NOT for kids - questionable for teenagers. I agree its dark, but I personally think its fine for teens. Try to remember what it was like to be a teen. They're not babies. They are quite mature, and can handle the storyline, imo. My daughter is 11 and she saw the movie and is reading the first book now. Not a big deal. The real life that encounter in school everyday is worse than anything these books can dish out. Once again, just my opinion. I hear what you're saying, and maybe it's just fine, but the subject matter gets darker in the 2nd book, and then REALLY dark by book 3. It makes the first story seem very innocent by comparison.

[udanax]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 25 2012, 03:21 AM)

QUOTE (Tick @ Apr 24 2012, 08:18 PM) QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 24 2012, 06:42 PM) QUOTE (udanax @ Apr 24 2012, 01:28 PM) Cant judge the book too harshly though because it's a children's book... It's not meant for my age group, so whatevs... Also, maybe I have a strong case of cynicism right now. It's a kids book as much as Harry Potter is a kids book. Actually, it's far less of a kids book. For some reason it's marketed as a teen book, but it's one of those books that captures the imagination of adults as well (although obviously not you specifically ). The books are pretty dark, and they only get darker - by the time they get to the third movie, I don't know how on earth they're going to keep it to PG-13 - it's pretty dark stuff and definitely NOT for kids - questionable for teenagers. I agree its dark, but I personally think its fine for teens. Try to remember what it was like to be a teen. They're not babies. They are quite mature, and can handle the storyline, imo. My daughter is 11 and she saw the movie and is reading the first book now. Not a big deal. The real life that encounter in school everyday is worse than anything these books can dish out. Once again, just my opinion. I hear what you're saying, and maybe it's just fine, but the subject matter gets darker in the 2nd book, and then REALLY dark by book 3. It makes the first story seem very innocent by comparison. Whether I'm de-sensitized to dark content in a book or not really depends on how emotionally invested I am with the characters..... That might just be a personal thing, but I've read books where hundreds of people have died and I didn't care at all, and books where only one person dies and I react like that character could be a close friend or relative to me.

[tjtull]

I saw this a while back. I didn't read the book but I was expecting it to be more sci-fi than it ended up being. Actually, I'm not too sure what I was expecting, yet somehow it failed to meet my expectations.

 

I disliked Elizabeth Banks' character intensely. Way too one-dimensional. I almost hated Woody Harrelson's character as much, but not quite...and I'm a big fan of Harrelson's. He either does a very poor acting job here or there's not much to the character to begin with. I'm thinking the latter.

 

Other reviewers have it right when they say the violence was downplayed way too much. This movie would have been killer (pun intended) if it were rated R. Which is my beef with 99% of sci-fi and horror movies these days. They try so hard for PG-13 that they totally lose their impact and become watered-down.

 

However, even if the killing had been more "realistic", the story itself was pretty generic. Maybe if I'd have read the book, the movie would have been better. Surely there were some subtleties in the book that just didn't translate onto film? As it stands, the movie was far too predictable.

[pedro2112]

QUOTE (tjtull @ May 15 2012, 02:06 PM)

Which is my beef with 99% of sci-fi and horror movies these days. They try so hard for PG-13 that they totally lose their impact and become watered-down.

That's why I'm looking forward to "Prometheus"