Talk to me about The Hunger Games...

jmo866 · March 2012

So I admit it, since becoming a mom almost 8 months ago, I have virtually crawled under a rock and lost all touch with popular culture, which I used to so fully immerse myself in. I had never even heard of The Hunger Games aside from a couple posts on TB here and there and now I am hearing about this huge blockbuster movie selling like $100 mill in one weekend or some crazy shiv. So, I told DH to get it for me to read on the IPad because I am curious, but why the heck is this thing so huge?

pettycrocker · March 2012

The books are way better than the movie would suggest them to be, I think they tamed the movie down a lot to make it accessible to young kids (the books are pretty graphic) . I saw a lot of kids there today.

Idk why it's so huge, I guess the same reason harry potter and twilight are so huge? People love movies about books?

Mason&Mama · March 2012

I just bought it a few days ago. (Always late to jump on the bandwagon.) I flew through the first 50 pages in what seemed like a half hour. I can't tell you much about it, but I think that I am going to like it. What I am surprised to see is that a lot of people seem to be enjoying the movie and the books. I tend to find that people who actually read a series (Twilight, Harry Potter) are more critical of the movie that people that just watch the movies. This gives me hope that I can read the books and still enjoy the movies. (I HATE the Twilight movies, but thought that the books were ok. I have no interest in HP at all.)

Five_letter · March 2012

It's basically the gov't cracking down and going into martial law. In order to control the people and avoiding another revolution they have the Hunger Games where 24 kids are forced gladiator-style to murder each other until there is one child left.

They use media and television and celebrity to manipulate the people.

It's awesome.

I'm drunk so this is a bit scatter brained.

swimiz500 · March 2012

I don't know why it is so huge, but I will tell you that when I read the books, I literally could not put them down. I read them all in 3 days. And now, I am re-reading them. I have a hard time putting into words why, but there is just something so captivating about Katniss and her story, something very relatable, even though our situations aren't. Does that make any sense?

Five_letter · March 2012

I'm proud of myself and I like to gloat that I read them as they were released.

I feel special.

<---- LOSER

swimiz500 · March 2012

Mrs Castillo:
The books are way better than the movie would suggest them to be, I think they tamed the movie down a lot to make it accessible to young kids (the books are pretty graphic) . I saw a lot of kids there today.
Idk why it's so huge, I guess the same reason harry potter and twilight are so huge? People love movies about books?

Did you not like the movie at all? I agree, it was tamed down, I am sure so it could keep its PG-13 rating. I thought overall though, the movie was pretty accurate, save a few parts. Plus, they had to cut some stuff out since the movie would have been 5 hours long if it went completely along with the book. I think they set the next movie up pretty well, though I do wish they had done the ending a bit more justice- it could have used 5-10 more minutes, I thought.

pettycrocker · March 2012

Mason&Mama:

What I am surprised to see is that a lot of people seem to be enjoying the movie and the books. I tend to find that people who actually read a series (Twilight, Harry Potter) are more critical of the movie that people that just watch the movies. This gives me hope that I can read the books and still enjoy the movies. (I HATE the Twilight movies, but thought that the books were ok. I have no interest in HP at all.)

This was part of the reason why I so excited to see the movie, because everyone kept saying it was so awesome and it followed the books so closely but that is a crock of shiit, they didn't get into the main characters enough at all in the movie, and there were a lot of things that in the book were very relevant where as in the movie they're thrown in as after thoughts. The movie wasn't bad, but no way was it as good as the books. I feel like the people who say it was so great might have read the books years ago when they first came out and remember them vaguely.

I just finished reading the last book about an hour ago, and I was disappointed because I knew as soon as I got through the last chapter there is no way they are going to make it into a decent movie- they'll cut out all of the viable parts that make the last book awesome.

I think the part of the movie I was most disappointed with was how much they had to tame it down to make it pg-13, part of what makes the series so good is that it's so graphic in descriptions of what goes on. It's just not the same when all of it is so muted. Lionsgate could have made this movie 1000% better IMO, but they wouldn't be able to get all the tweens money I guess.

Five_letter · March 2012

They didn't do enough character development in the movie to make anyone care.

The bread scene seemed like an after thought, and they completely skipped everything else.

How can you have a love triangle when Gale has two sentences?

pettycrocker · March 2012

swimiz500:
Mrs Castillo:
The books are way better than the movie would suggest them to be, I think they tamed the movie down a lot to make it accessible to young kids (the books are pretty graphic) . I saw a lot of kids there today.
Idk why it's so huge, I guess the same reason harry potter and twilight are so huge? People love movies about books?
Did you not like the movie at all? I agree, it was tamed down, I am sure so it could keep its PG-13 rating. I thought overall though, the movie was pretty accurate, save a few parts. Plus, they had to cut some stuff out since the movie would have been 5 hours long if it went completely along with the book. I think they set the next movie up pretty well, though I do wish they had done the ending a bit more justice- it could have used 5-10 more minutes, I thought.

It's not that I hated the movie, I was just really disappointed. It felt like they just threw random people in to be Gale/Peeta- the girl they chose as Katniss was less than believable, and they didn't spend 1 second going into her love for Gale. They show them more as friends which kind of screws up the whole storyline ykwim? I think they could have done a lot better with the whole thing without making it 5hrs long. I agree with the ending, and I didn't like how they started the 2nd book prematurely in the middle of the movie with all that goes down in 8 etc. Hoping they put a lot more work into the 2nd movie than this.

Five_letter · March 2012

I give them a pass on the dogs part because from a visual perspective, I'm at a loss for how they would have pulled that off.

swimiz500 · March 2012

Five_letter:
I give them a pass on the dogs part because from a visual perspective, I'm at a loss for how they would have pulled that off.

Good point. Plus, I would not have wanted to see it really anyway.

jmo866 · March 2012

You've got me really intrigued ladies, can't wait to start reading!

Five_letter · March 2012

I can't stand Jennifer Lawrence. Her eyes were fantastic at conveying different emotions at the same time, but other than that. She was terrible

ETA. She was just not a good fit for the role.

Also, Peeta and Gale needed to switch actors.

pettycrocker · March 2012

Five_letter:
I give them a pass on the dogs part because from a visual perspective, I'm at a loss for how they would have pulled that off.

They didn't get a pass from me. Lionsgate? They have tons of crap in their arsenals, that was just lack of trying on their part. One part I was most excited to see were the tracker jackers, and that was an epic fail as well. Come on it's Lionsgate. They made 167 Saw movies, they couldn't make a decent bump from a tracker jacker sting?

Plus wth was the point of going into about a 30 page description of her going deaf, and them fixing in later- never even happened in the movie it was 6 seconds of ringing in her ears. That was a huge part of the books because being deaf affected her abilities to defend herself.................. Never even happened.

Lol I'm so irritated by this, I really wanted this movie to be like the books.

swimiz500 · March 2012

Five_letter:
I can't stand Jennifer Lawrence. Her eyes were fantastic at conveying different emotions at the same time, but other than that. She was terrible
ETA. She was just not a good fit for the role.
Also, Peeta and Gale needed to switch actors.

Oh, I thought they were good! But, I have to confess, I was not a huge Gale fan in the books, and I am not a huge fan of the actor who played Gale (and my reason? It skeeves me out that he is dating Miley Cyrus), so it worked for me.

swimiz500 · March 2012

Mrs Castillo:
Five_letter:
I give them a pass on the dogs part because from a visual perspective, I'm at a loss for how they would have pulled that off.
They didn't get a pass from me. Lionsgate? They have tons of crap in their arsenals, that was just lack of trying on their part. One part I was most excited to see were the tracker jackers, and that was an epic fail as well. Come on it's Lionsgate. They made 167 Saw movies, they couldn't make a decent bump from a tracker jacker sting?
Plus wth was the point of going into about a 30 page description of her going deaf, and them fixing in later- never even happened in the movie it was 6 seconds of ringing in her ears. That was a huge part of the books because being deaf affected her abilities to defend herself.................. Never even happened.
Lol I'm so irritated by this, I really wanted this movie to be like the books.

This drove me MAD. Though I also thought that the description in the books was kind of overkill, but they still should have included it! AND- Peeta's leg! There was no mention of his leg at the end- or the whole hovercraft scene!

pettycrocker · March 2012

swimiz500:
Mrs Castillo:
Five_letter:
I give them a pass on the dogs part because from a visual perspective, I'm at a loss for how they would have pulled that off.
They didn't get a pass from me. Lionsgate? They have tons of crap in their arsenals, that was just lack of trying on their part. One part I was most excited to see were the tracker jackers, and that was an epic fail as well. Come on it's Lionsgate. They made 167 Saw movies, they couldn't make a decent bump from a tracker jacker sting?
Plus wth was the point of going into about a 30 page description of her going deaf, and them fixing in later- never even happened in the movie it was 6 seconds of ringing in her ears. That was a huge part of the books because being deaf affected her abilities to defend herself.................. Never even happened.
Lol I'm so irritated by this, I really wanted this movie to be like the books.
This drove me MAD. Though I also thought that the description in the books was kind of overkill, but they still should have included it! AND- Peeta's leg! There was no mention of his leg at the end- or the whole hovercraft scene!

Yes the leg pissed me off too! and you're right the book did go way above and beyond with the descriptions of every little thing but that ended being the main reason why I couldn't put them down. Lol I remember after she blew up the supplies I looked at H and said "now she's deaf" then 5 secs later the ringing stopped Ugh! And I was practically screaming in the car on the way home saying "His leg was OOZING PUS! it was so infected it was pouring out of him, that's why SHE HAD TO GET THE MEDICINE he was DYING"! My H was like "calm down babe, his leg wasn't really that bad"

Ahahaaha

jetskreemr · March 2012

OP I agree, I have been under a rock since our kids were born about these books too! I had heard people here and there talking about them, and finally am picking up the first book I put on hold at the library tomorrow so I can read it over the next week before my friend is taking me to see the movie. We were always the ones that saw HP, Twilight, etc together, so she told me to get out there and get the book so we can watch the movie too!

swimiz500 · March 2012

Mrs Castillo:
swimiz500:
Mrs Castillo:
Five_letter:
I give them a pass on the dogs part because from a visual perspective, I'm at a loss for how they would have pulled that off.
They didn't get a pass from me. Lionsgate? They have tons of crap in their arsenals, that was just lack of trying on their part. One part I was most excited to see were the tracker jackers, and that was an epic fail as well. Come on it's Lionsgate. They made 167 Saw movies, they couldn't make a decent bump from a tracker jacker sting?
Plus wth was the point of going into about a 30 page description of her going deaf, and them fixing in later- never even happened in the movie it was 6 seconds of ringing in her ears. That was a huge part of the books because being deaf affected her abilities to defend herself.................. Never even happened.
Lol I'm so irritated by this, I really wanted this movie to be like the books.
This drove me MAD. Though I also thought that the description in the books was kind of overkill, but they still should have included it! AND- Peeta's leg! There was no mention of his leg at the end- or the whole hovercraft scene!
Yes the leg pissed me off too! and you're right the book did go way above and beyond with the descriptions of every little thing but that ended being the main reason why I couldn't put them down. Lol I remember after she blew up the supplies I looked at H and said "now she's deaf" then 5 secs later the ringing stopped Ugh! And I was practically screaming in the car on the way home saying "His leg was OOZING PUS! it was so infected it was pouring out of him, that's why SHE HAD TO GET THE MEDICINE he was DYING"! My H was like "calm down babe, his leg wasn't really that bad"
Ahahaaha

YES- and when Haymitch did not send the sleeping medication, and she just randomly left? Like Peeta would have just let her go to the feast!

Five_letter · March 2012

Mrs Castillo:
Five_letter:
I give them a pass on the dogs part because from a visual perspective, I'm at a loss for how they would have pulled that off.
They didn't get a pass from me. Lionsgate? They have tons of crap in their arsenals, that was just lack of trying on their part. One part I was most excited to see were the tracker jackers, and that was an epic fail as well. Come on it's Lionsgate. They made 167 Saw movies, they couldn't make a decent bump from a tracker jacker sting?
Plus wth was the point of going into about a 30 page description of her going deaf, and them fixing in later- never even happened in the movie it was 6 seconds of ringing in her ears. That was a huge part of the books because being deaf affected her abilities to defend herself.................. Never even happened.
Lol I'm so irritated by this, I really wanted this movie to be like the books.

I need to read the books again. It's been so long, and I read through them so fast. I think it's been 3 years since I read the first one. I just downloaded it to my kindle.

The fact they made the Parachutes from Haymitch really bothers me.

pettycrocker · March 2012

swimiz500:
Mrs Castillo:
Five_letter:
I give them a pass on the dogs part because from a visual perspective, I'm at a loss for how they would have pulled that off.
They didn't get a pass from me. Lionsgate? They have tons of crap in their arsenals, that was just lack of trying on their part. One part I was most excited to see were the tracker jackers, and that was an epic fail as well. Come on it's Lionsgate. They made 167 Saw movies, they couldn't make a decent bump from a tracker jacker sting?
Plus wth was the point of going into about a 30 page description of her going deaf, and them fixing in later- never even happened in the movie it was 6 seconds of ringing in her ears. That was a huge part of the books because being deaf affected her abilities to defend herself.................. Never even happened.
Lol I'm so irritated by this, I really wanted this movie to be like the books.
This drove me MAD. Though I also thought that the description in the books was kind of overkill, but they still should have included it! AND- Peeta's leg! There was no mention of his leg at the end- or the whole hovercraft scene!

Oh and you're totally right, I was so caught up in how they just tried to make it be a minor cut. He never even lost the leg in the movie. See there are so many major things they left out it's ridiculous.

swimiz500 · March 2012

Mrs Castillo:
swimiz500:
Mrs Castillo:
Five_letter:
I give them a pass on the dogs part because from a visual perspective, I'm at a loss for how they would have pulled that off.
They didn't get a pass from me. Lionsgate? They have tons of crap in their arsenals, that was just lack of trying on their part. One part I was most excited to see were the tracker jackers, and that was an epic fail as well. Come on it's Lionsgate. They made 167 Saw movies, they couldn't make a decent bump from a tracker jacker sting?
Plus wth was the point of going into about a 30 page description of her going deaf, and them fixing in later- never even happened in the movie it was 6 seconds of ringing in her ears. That was a huge part of the books because being deaf affected her abilities to defend herself.................. Never even happened.
Lol I'm so irritated by this, I really wanted this movie to be like the books.
This drove me MAD. Though I also thought that the description in the books was kind of overkill, but they still should have included it! AND- Peeta's leg! There was no mention of his leg at the end- or the whole hovercraft scene!
Yes the leg pissed me off too! and you're right the book did go way above and beyond with the descriptions of every little thing but that ended being the main reason why I couldn't put them down. Lol I remember after she blew up the supplies I looked at H and said "now she's deaf" then 5 secs later the ringing stopped Ugh! And I was practically screaming in the car on the way home saying "His leg was OOZING PUS! it was so infected it was pouring out of him, that's why SHE HAD TO GET THE MEDICINE he was DYING"! My H was like "calm down babe, his leg wasn't really that bad"
Ahahaaha

YES! And then when Haymitch did not send her the sleeping med for Peeta!? ANd she just got up and walked to the feast, like Peeta would have ever let her do that! And what about the prosthetic?! That was huge in her interview with Caesar!

The one thing I must say I did like was that we got to see the "behind the scenes" stuff with President Snow and Seneca Crane, since that will be important later.

swimiz500 · March 2012

Five_letter:
Mrs Castillo:
Five_letter:
I give them a pass on the dogs part because from a visual perspective, I'm at a loss for how they would have pulled that off.
They didn't get a pass from me. Lionsgate? They have tons of crap in their arsenals, that was just lack of trying on their part. One part I was most excited to see were the tracker jackers, and that was an epic fail as well. Come on it's Lionsgate. They made 167 Saw movies, they couldn't make a decent bump from a tracker jacker sting?
Plus wth was the point of going into about a 30 page description of her going deaf, and them fixing in later- never even happened in the movie it was 6 seconds of ringing in her ears. That was a huge part of the books because being deaf affected her abilities to defend herself.................. Never even happened.
Lol I'm so irritated by this, I really wanted this movie to be like the books.
I need to read the books again. It's been so long, and I read through them so fast. I think it's been 3 years since I read the first one. I just downloaded it to my kindle.
The fact they made the Parachutes from Haymitch really bothers me.

I told DH that that was probably my least favorite change. Because the whole point of the parachutes from Haymitch was that she and him were exchanging these secret messages, not written notes and that she figured out what the gifts meant! AH, so frustrating.

Timshel17 · March 2012

Haha, you all are bumming me out! I'm going to see it Tuesday, I think I'll be a little mad too! But I read it a while ago and am a little vague on some of the details... maybe that'll help.

swimiz500 · March 2012

Timshel17:
Haha, you all are bumming me out! I'm going to see it Tuesday, I think I'll be a little mad too! But I read it a while ago and am a little vague on some of the details... maybe that'll help.

While some parts did anger me, for the most part, it was really good. Like, I will pre-order it on DVD. And if movies weren't so expensive, I would probably go see it again. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

MOONGIRL2467 · March 2012

I also had never heard of the hunger games until i saw a preview on breaking dawn...also have never read the books so I can't compare..but I really liked the movie

AsOctoberFalls · March 2012

I'm in complete disagreement with most here in that I thought the movie was way better than the book. I'm a big reader and I don't think I've ever liked a movie adaptation better than the book, until now. (Wait, I lied - I liked the Twilight movies better than the books, but only because I thought the books were SO poorly written).

I liked the Hunger Games movie better in part, I think, because Katniss was much more likeable in the movie than she was in the book, IMO. Also, I really liked the imagery that was conveyed in the movie. Parts were very Nazi-esque, and other parts were reminiscent of ancient Rome. I think that came out in the books a bit, but it was much more apparent in the movie.

I was very bummed that they left out the part about the bread from D. 11, but that was the only part they left out that I actually missed. I'm kind of glad the dog part was changed because I don't think I could've watched that on the big screen the way it was described in the book.

AsOctoberFalls · March 2012

Oh, also, I LOVED the behind the scenes stuff - watching the Gamemakers control the games, for instance... and seeing the people from the districts watching the games on TV. VERY cool.

Other than the bread, there was one other part I didn't like about the movies - Peeta. I thought his character came across as very weak, and he's definitely not. His character is extremely likeable in the books, and that didn't really come across on screen. I expect it will in later movies.

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