The Hunger Games Movie

[KeithTalent]

Looks freaking terrible. I'll be seeing it at 3:15 PM on Saturday.

KT

 

[Aikouka]

Got our tickets for the 8:00 PM show about 45 minutes ago. The person at the theater told me the shows were selling out fast and to be there early to get good seats.

At my local theater, you reserve your seats, and there's pretty much nothing great left this weekend unless you want a really early showing or a really late showing. Given the movie is about 2.5 hours long, a late showing might not be a good idea.

I've never read the books, but the movie looked possibly interesting.

 

[Anubis]

It has nothing in common with twilight. The Hunger Games is actually a very good book. The twilight books are trash.

in the context of my post it is 100% like twilight as in i never fucking heard of it untill it was out and people were going crazy about it

 

[Pheran]

The books were good (well, I didn't care for 2 quite as much). It will be interesting to see if the movies stay faithful or turn into a train wreck.

 

[Ninjahedge]

hmmm Battle Royale

/whoops didn't read replies...

I watched this when it was called Battle Royale.

Was just a complete ripoff of the Japanese movie, Battle Royale.

Wasn't it more like the Running Man?


the three books should have been one book.

The first was an interesting short story. The second was a little off. Kind of unfocused and meandering.

The third had too many angry people, too many gratuitous killings, and an unreasonable climax (I can understand a complex being trapped, but not an entire city. You just do not have trap doors and pits of alligators on Main Street. You have turrets and that is all...)

And the political angles of X and Y (I will not ruin the secret to those that do not know of it from I and II) needed to be played more. Just having Mr Rose there was not enough. They did not develop him and he was too easy to hate out-of-hand.

The background story in this could probably be developed much better and would add to the depth of the story, but I liked them anyway.

They should just film all three now and add the CGI one at a time as needed (as with LOTR).

 

[FoBoT]

review with spoilers
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Spoiler

saw the 10 am IMAX with family and friends of kids
there were 3 school buses of kids, mostly 11-14 year old girls i would estimate, there along with everybody else

if you have read the book(s) , see the movie
if you haven't read the book, as always, it is better if you read it first, but you can read it after, if you like the movie

if you get seizures from FPS games and flashy things, this movie isn't for you. me and my wife were sea sick half the movie due to shaky camera cinematography. it was really bad and it was compounded by having to sit in the front row of IMAX due to my wife being in a wheelchair

it has been 1+ yr since i read the book so the details they left out or changed didn't bother me, much. on the other hand, my wife re-read the trilogy this week in preparation of the movie and she pointed out many discrepancies and overall was unhappy

i was irritated they changed the scene where peta gets medicine for his leg, katness had a small head wound so they shared the balm, as i recall in the book, it was a shot of super antibiotic and they didn't share it in a tender moment

the end was kind of lame, but i didn't realize it until my wife pointed out what i forgot. the cornucopia was lame, more like a little metal building thing. the 'mutts' didn't look like the dead tributes and they didn't tear up peta. the whole finale battle only took 5 minutes where in the book it was all night or something like that

i give lenny kraveitz a "B", woody harelson an "A" and katness an "A". cinnea was not given adequate story/screen time, but i think lenny would have not been able to pull it off if they had put him in the script to match the book

defiantly worth $10 on Friday morning and would like to see it one more time in the theater before the DVD comes out, but i have to find a normal theater where the wheelchair spots are in the back row so i don't have another seizure and feel nauseated half the film

cinematography "D"
overall "B+"


this link from NOV 5 2010 tells the director not to do shaky camera crap, he did it anyway
http://shelf-life.ew.com/2010/11/05/the-hunger-games-an-open-letter-to-director-gary-ross/

 

[HumblePie]

Read the books. First book was "okay" and the other 2 were bleh. First book had some really bad writing, but wasn't bad enough I couldn't get through it. The second and third books were horribly written. Scenes jump around, shit just happens without any lead up or characters do things without reasons behind them. Was very frustrating. The love triangle was stupid and made me want to slit an emo kid's wrists.

I think the biggest problem I had with the books with the premise. The "story" has been done plenty of times in different ways. Really, if you think about it, it's nothing more than a gladiator version of Lord of the Flies. All the other stories mentioned thus far in this thread have the same concept. Only thing is I like the premise for those concepts much better. The premise for this one seems ridiculous most of the time. Completely ridiculous.

Besides a bad premise, horrible writing, and a love triangle that tries to match Twilight in stupidity, I still thought at least the first book was decent. I have no idea if the movie will be good. I'm leery of seeing it, but when I saw the good reviews for it so far being posted on Rottentomatoes and IMDB, I'm now a bit more curious as to why.

Looking for a decent movie to watch this weekend with the GF. Trying to decide between Hunger Games, 21 Jump Street, and The Raid: Redemption.

 

[KeithTalent]

Man, I wish The Raid was playing here.

KT

 

[thegimp03]

I read the entire book yesterday and am about to start on the second one. I'll most likely see this movie next weekend due to being out of town this weekend.

 

[Hugo Drax]

I heard they use a Shitload of Shaky cam and rapid cuts. It seems that technique is just being overused. I guess for the ADD Generation its the only way to keep them from fidgeting.

 

[Doppel]

The books were really a good quick read, I recommend.

 

[FoBoT]

I heard they use a Shitload of Shaky cam and rapid cuts. It seems that technique is just being overused.

Spoiler

yes, i almost had a seizure, sitting in the front row of IMAX didn't help of course

 

[zokudu]

Saw the movie this morning. Overall I enjoyed it and it captured the ideas behind the book decently. The only issue I really had was the pacing. As mentioned above a lot of things happened over days and nights while in the movie it kind of rushes around to fit it all in a 2.5 hour movie.

The shaky camera made me seasick as well and my sister who has never read the book had no clue what was happening at times because of it.

 

[BrokenVisage]

I heard they use a Shitload of Shaky cam and rapid cuts. It seems that technique is just being overused. I guess for the ADD Generation its the only way to keep them from fidgeting.

Goddamn it! I fucking hate movies like Hurt Locker and Lincoln Lawyer that do that shit. It's like the movie is so dull they have to do crazy stuff with the camera to get people into it. Like OMG that character just made a startling discovery in his mind so lets do a fucking Wayne's World extreme close-up on his face to get that point across.

 

[OlafSicky]

I barfed

 

[Lifted]

So apparently Gary Ross directed this, the same director of Seabiscuit, the same talentless hack who managed to make one of the most exciting and wonderful books I have ever read into the most boring snoozer of a movie I've ever seen. For some reason I cannot fathom, somebody let him do the same to this as the reviews state he's done it again. As I know all too well what this guy is capable of, I'll wait for the DVD.

The basic problems stem from the lackluster direction and the witless, bare-bones screenplay. This is sort of a BookRags.com take on a classic. You get the characters and the plot basics, but the art is missing.

Watching The Hunger Games, I was struck both by how slickly Ross hit his marks and how many opportunities he was missing to take the film to the next level -- to make it more shocking, lyrical, crazy, daring.

Gary Ross, who directed Seabiscuit, manages to get this nag out of the starting gate and across the finish line with no major blunders, but without much in the way of inspiration, either.

 

[foghorn67]

Really? I enjoyed Seabiscuit the book and the movie.

 

[Sonikku]

Saw some of the previews for this, not sure I see the point. All the adults announcing the contestants act like being called is like the best thing ever, as though they don't realize being selected is certain doom. I get enough of human stupidity in day to day life as it is.

 

[FoBoT]

Saw some of the previews for this, not sure I see the point. All the adults announcing the contestants act like being called is like the best thing ever, as though they don't realize being selected is certain doom. I get enough of human stupidity in day to day life as it is.

so you haven't read the book

Spoiler

The Hunger Games takes place after the destruction of North America by some unknown apocalyptic event, in a nation known as Panem. Panem consists of a wealthy Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts. District 12, where the book begins, is located in the coal-rich region that was formerly Appalachia.[8]
As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol in which a 13th district was destroyed, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, an event in which the participants (or "tributes") must fight in an outdoor arena controlled by the Capitol, until only one remains.

All the adults announcing the contestants act like being called is like the best thing ever, as though they don't realize being selected is certain doom.

those adults are from

Spoiler

the Capitol

 

[BrokenVisage]

Saw some of the previews for this, not sure I see the point. All the adults announcing the contestants act like being called is like the best thing ever, as though they don't realize being selected is certain doom. I get enough of human stupidity in day to day life as it is.

I volunteer as tribute!

 

[KLin]

I liked the movie. The funniest part was when 5 people walked out and I heard one of the guys say "Fuck this movie!" before the whole arena portion of the movie. :lol:

 

[Fingolfin269]

I liked the movie. The funniest part was when 5 people walked out and I heard one of the guys say "Fuck this movie!" before the whole arena portion of the movie. :lol:

Ha, oops.

 

[FoBoT]

I liked the movie. The funniest part was when 5 people walked out and I heard one of the guys say "Fuck this movie!" before the whole arena portion of the movie. :lol:

you mean they had no idea that the first hour was the setup and they didn't know the action part was about to start?

 

[KLin]

you mean they had no idea that the first hour was the setup and they didn't know the action part was about to start?

Pretty much. They must've forgotten the ritalin at home. :biggrin:

 

[GrumpyMan]

Is this movie anything like Running Man with Arnold?