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The Hunger Games (1 Viewer)

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The Movie of the first book (full trailer released

) has been released. The books are excellent. The movie looks superb, if they can pull it off. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch is :moneybag: .
 
My son got The Hunger Games as a gift and given the subject matter, I decided to read it first. It was enjoyable enough that I read the next two. I think The Hunger Games could make for a good movie, but I'm not sure about the other two.

Love the Woody Harrelson casting, but hate the idea of Donald Sutherland as Snow.

 
I really enjoyed these books. Anxious to see what they can do with the movie, but the subject matter is going to be pretty tough and likely controversial once it comes out.

 
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:shrug: It isn't Walt Whitman, but I enjoyed the story. Then again, I like Harry Potter, Ender's Game, and Robert Frost poetry. Simple and elegant doesn't bother me (i.e. not everything has to be written by Whitman or Eco, IMO).
Love the Woody Harrelson casting, but hate the idea of Donald Sutherland as Snow.
:goodposting: I remarked to my friend that Woody was a great choice but Snow should have definitely been done by John Hurt.
 
Add me to the list as well. The books definitely read like they were aimed at teens, but that didn't hurt the first book at all.However, while I did enjoy reading the 2nd and 3rd, there were a lot of ideas and directions the books took that could have benefited from either a more mature outlook or a better writer.Regardless, I'm definitely looking forward to the movie
 
Add me to the list as well. The books definitely read like they were aimed at teens, but that didn't hurt the first book at all.However, while I did enjoy reading the 2nd and 3rd, there were a lot of ideas and directions the books took that could have benefited from either a more mature outlook or a better writer.

Regardless, I'm definitely looking forward to the movie
This was my point.The 1st book had an interesting plot, but the 2nd and 3rd deteriorated big time. I'm trying to recall the analogy from a funny skit, but I can't remember it. The author was constantly trying to put the heroine in the Games arena (either directly or implying that a city was set that way) or having her use a bow.

One good young adult read. Two helpings of dreck.

 
Saw this trailer the other day and recognized the title of the book - Thought the movie had a Running Man vibe to it, with a young girl in the role of Arnold Schwarzenegger, so that drew me in enough to look it up on Amazon. Found it for $5 w/free shipping, so figured I may as well give it a read. Showed up yesterday and I noticed that it was published by Scholastic, which dropped my excitement level a bit since I realized I was about to read a book for tweens/teens. Regardless, one chapter in and it seems fun enough.

That's pretty much all I have to contribute so far. Sorry.

:coffee:

 
Enjoyed it so far for what it is. Just started the 2nd book.

Is this series done after 3 books or is there more?

Are there going to be three movies?

 
Just about to finish up book #2.

Trailer looks pretty sweet....I'd assume there will be 3 movies.

:popcorn:

 
Add me to the list as well. The books definitely read like they were aimed at teens, but that didn't hurt the first book at all.However, while I did enjoy reading the 2nd and 3rd, there were a lot of ideas and directions the books took that could have benefited from either a more mature outlook or a better writer.

Regardless, I'm definitely looking forward to the movie
This was my point.The 1st book had an interesting plot, but the 2nd and 3rd deteriorated big time. I'm trying to recall the analogy from a funny skit, but I can't remember it. The author was constantly trying to put the heroine in the Games arena (either directly or implying that a city was set that way) or having her use a bow.

One good young adult read. Two helpings of dreck.
I'll stand up, just a bit, for Mockingjay. I don't think any of these books are "good." Not even really by Young Adult standards. I think Catching Fire is by far the weakest, however. As ludicrous as much of the action sequences in Mockingjay are, the portrait of Katniss as essentially permanently scarred by PTSD is kind of affecting. Collins isn't a skilled author, but she's got guts. She basically spits on the romantic triangle that much of her fanbase obsessed over. And there's a kind of truth to that, because no guy is going to be able to "heal" a heroine that's gone through that. That's a much more minor key, semi-unhappy ending than you usually get in YA.
 
First book - B

Second book - C

Third book - F

Collins is not a good writer by any stretch but she had a decent concept for the first book but she played the love triangle why too hard. Also the "arena" in the second book was way too over the top. I couldnt finish the 3rd book but that was mostly due to Dragon books.

As someone else said the movies are pg-13 so dont expect anything crazy. Just probably a ton of overacting from unknowns a la Twlight.

 
I loved these books and really didn't like Dragon Tattoo books much. Hunger Games was so money.

 
First book - BSecond book - CThird book - FCollins is not a good writer by any stretch but she had a decent concept for the first book but she played the love triangle why too hard. Also the "arena" in the second book was way too over the top. I couldnt finish the 3rd book but that was mostly due to Dragon books.As someone else said the movies are pg-13 so dont expect anything crazy. Just probably a ton of overacting from unknowns a la Twlight.
I'll buy the grades. First book was at least intriguing, even if the premise was fairly out to lunch. Second book had some interesting elements, but overall, the ideas lost interest, exposing the sometimes goofy writing a lot more. By the third book, the storyline had jumped into la la land. Still, I liked them well enough to read them. They only took a couple of hours each as they read a bit like Nancy Drew goes to a dystopian future, but if it's going to be weak, at least make it easy to read.Battle Royale with a very similar premise, is a far superior book and an amazingly well done translation. It stumbles a bit at the end, but I was aghast that Collins didn't even acknowledge it as an influence. She acknowledges Lord of the Flies, which is like Pauly Shore acknowledging Peter Sellars, but fails to mention a book that she clearly ripped off? Weak.
 
I agree with some of the sentiment here. Interesting start but when I finished the third book I was more relieved than anything else. I only stuck with it because of the upcoming movies.

 
Just about to finish up book #2. Trailer looks pretty sweet....I'd assume there will be 3 movies. :popcorn:
Thought I heard there would be 4 movies, something like they are splitting the last book into two movies. I could be making that up though...i drink a lot
As the third book seems to be the worst, I would hope they'd just get it done with one. Unless they changed enough to make it worthwhile.I don't know though, I'm just into the start of the games in the first book.
 
Battle Royale with a very similar premise, is a far superior book and an amazingly well done translation. It stumbles a bit at the end, but I was aghast that Collins didn't even acknowledge it as an influence. She acknowledges Lord of the Flies, which is like Pauly Shore acknowledging Peter Sellars, but fails to mention a book that she clearly ripped off? Weak.
I haven't read the Hunger Games, but I have talked at length with my teenage cousin about it (she is over the moon about the movies coming out). I have read Battle Royale, which I thought was very, very good. The Hunger Games sounds like a straight up rip off of Battle Royale.I wish they would just make a good movie from Battle Royale. Regardless, it looks like the Hunger Games are going to make a ton of loot at the box office. Kids, and evidently many adults, are going crazy for it.
 
I wish they would just make a good movie from Battle Royale.
83% RT. It's rather heavy handed with the messages but it's entertaining. IIRC the movie caused a big controversy in Japan when it was released.

ETA from wiki:

The film was labeled "crude and tasteless" by members of Japanese parliament and other government officials after the film was screened for them before its general release.[15] The film created a debate over government action on media violence. Many conservative politicians used the film to blame popular culture for a youth crime wave. Ilya Garger of TIME magazine said that Battle Royale received "free publicity" and received "box-office success usually reserved for cartoons and TV-drama spin-offs."[1]

At the 2001 Japanese Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Picture of the Year, Director of the Year, Screenplay of the Year, Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Tatsuya Fujiwara), Outstanding Achievement in Music (Masamichi Amano), and Outstanding Achievement in Sound Recording (Kunio Ando). The film won Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing (Hirohide Abe) and the Popularity Award, and Tatsuya Fujiwara and Aki Maeda both won Newcomer of the Year.[16]

Critics note its relation to the increasingly extreme trend in Asian cinema and its similarity to reality television.[17]

In 2009, Quentin Tarantino listed the film as his favorite film released since he began directing in 1992.[18] Bloody Disgusting ranked the film fifteenth in its list of the Top-20 Horror Films of the Decade, with the article calling the film "a go-for-broke extravaganza: fun, provocative, ultra-violent, and bound to arouse controversy (which it did)...the film [is] more than just an empty provocation—it builds character through action, a method all good filmmakers should seek to emulate."[19] Empire ranked Battle Royale #235 and #82 on their lists of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time" and "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" respectively.

 
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I wish they would just make a good movie from Battle Royale.
I'm definitely aware of this movie, but I personally wouldn't call it good, by any means. I've seen parts of it and I feel like it's mostly unwatchable. It's basically a hyper violent gore fest. I'm not buying the "but they buckets of blood mean something" point of view.It's cool if you like slasher movies. Personally, I don't like slasher movies and I didn't find the book to be written in a horror/slasher style, which I'm sure is why I didn't finish watching the movie.

 
I just read hunger games. I'm a big reader, and was wary of reading a book that appeals to teenagers. But when I read the description I felt like I had to try it out.

I couldn't put it down. Mix 1984/survivor/Truman show with the Roman games and you have a pretty compelling read.

Still don't know why this book is considered by some to be a teenage book. Just because the main characters are teenagers? Maybe that's it, who knows.

Great book although I have no idea how she is going to progress the story in the next two books.

 
First book - BSecond book - CThird book - FCollins is not a good writer by any stretch but she had a decent concept for the first book but she played the love triangle why too hard. Also the "arena" in the second book was way too over the top. I couldnt finish the 3rd book but that was mostly due to Dragon books.As someone else said the movies are pg-13 so dont expect anything crazy. Just probably a ton of overacting from unknowns a la Twlight.
I'll buy the grades. First book was at least intriguing, even if the premise was fairly out to lunch. Second book had some interesting elements, but overall, the ideas lost interest, exposing the sometimes goofy writing a lot more. By the third book, the storyline had jumped into la la land. Still, I liked them well enough to read them. They only took a couple of hours each as they read a bit like Nancy Drew goes to a dystopian future, but if it's going to be weak, at least make it easy to read.Battle Royale with a very similar premise, is a far superior book and an amazingly well done translation. It stumbles a bit at the end, but I was aghast that Collins didn't even acknowledge it as an influence. She acknowledges Lord of the Flies, which is like Pauly Shore acknowledging Peter Sellars, but fails to mention a book that she clearly ripped off? Weak.
Did anyone acknowledge The Long Walk by King? They both seem pretty derivative of that.
 
I saw the trailer, never heard of the books, but how is this story different from The Long Walk by Stephen King (Richard Bachman)? Because that stroy was awesome and I don't know if they ever made a movie out of it and given the ending, I doubt they would do it right.

 
I saw the trailer, never heard of the books, but how is this story different from The Long Walk by Stephen King (Richard Bachman)? Because that stroy was awesome and I don't know if they ever made a movie out of it and given the ending, I doubt they would do it right.
How is Hunger Games different than the Long Walk? It involves kids killing each other with weapons. And there's a love triangle. And later there's a ham-fisted political uprising and revolution angle.
 
I saw the trailer, never heard of the books, but how is this story different from The Long Walk by Stephen King (Richard Bachman)? Because that stroy was awesome and I don't know if they ever made a movie out of it and given the ending, I doubt they would do it right.
How is Hunger Games different than the Long Walk? It involves kids killing each other with weapons. And there's a love triangle. And later there's a ham-fisted political uprising and revolution angle.
Ok then. It looked Long Walk-y in the trailer. It's either bad advertising or I just connected it to something I knew. Sorry.Wait, then let me follow up on that thought - it sounds a little like Enders Game as well....
 
I saw the trailer, never heard of the books, but how is this story different from The Long Walk by Stephen King (Richard Bachman)? Because that stroy was awesome and I don't know if they ever made a movie out of it and given the ending, I doubt they would do it right.
How is Hunger Games different than the Long Walk? It involves kids killing each other with weapons. And there's a love triangle. And later there's a ham-fisted political uprising and revolution angle.
Ok then. It looked Long Walk-y in the trailer. It's either bad advertising or I just connected it to something I knew. Sorry.Wait, then let me follow up on that thought - it sounds a little like Enders Game as well....
Don't apologize too much... the premise is very much like The Long Walk. Totalitarian gov't, kids forced to compete, only the winner gets out alive with "the prize". Lots of similarity.
 
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'shader said:
I just read hunger games. I'm a big reader, and was wary of reading a book that appeals to teenagers. But when I read the description I felt like I had to try it out.

I couldn't put it down. Mix 1984/survivor/Truman show with the Roman games and you have a pretty compelling read.

Still don't know why this book is considered by some to be a teenage book. Just because the main characters are teenagers? Maybe that's it, who knows.

Great book although I have no idea how she is going to progress the story in the next two books.
Because it was a scholastic book.I liked it, cant wait for the movie

Downloading battle royale now

 
I saw the trailer, never heard of the books, but how is this story different from The Long Walk by Stephen King (Richard Bachman)? Because that stroy was awesome and I don't know if they ever made a movie out of it and given the ending, I doubt they would do it right.
How is Hunger Games different than the Long Walk? It involves kids killing each other with weapons. And there's a love triangle. And later there's a ham-fisted political uprising and revolution angle.
Ok then. It looked Long Walk-y in the trailer. It's either bad advertising or I just connected it to something I knew. Sorry.Wait, then let me follow up on that thought - it sounds a little like Enders Game as well....
Don't apologize too much... the premise is very much like The Long Walk. Totalitarian gov't, kids forced to compete, only the winner gets out alive with "the prize". Lots of similarity.
And you've got the Major in the Long Walk and President Snow in the Hunger Games. That said, I don't see much similarity beyond the general premise.
 
'Hybrid said:
'Chaka said:
Seems pretty narrow to think that a violent film can't have a legitimate message.
I don't think that's the argument being made. I thought the movie was much weaker than the book and stripped many of the messages in it.
I'm not suggesting that a violent film can't have a message. I'm saying that Battle Royale the film is 90% a hyper violent, 10% story driven film. The messages are very, very far in the background, if they are present at all. In my opinion, they saw an opportunity to make an extreme movie about kids killing kids in a blood bath sort of way and jumped on it, mostly ignoring the themes of what was a really good book.I feel the movie is mostly violence for shock value. It's a violent book but the book isn't about violence in an of itself. I feel the movie lives and dies based on if the viewer loves gore.
 
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'Hybrid said:
'Chaka said:
Seems pretty narrow to think that a violent film can't have a legitimate message.
I don't think that's the argument being made. I thought the movie was much weaker than the book and stripped many of the messages in it.
I'm not suggesting that a violent film can't have a message. I'm saying that Battle Royale the film is 90% a hyper violent, 10% story driven film. The messages are very, very far in the background, if they are present at all. In my opinion, they saw an opportunity to make an extreme movie about kids killing kids in a blood bath sort of way and jumped on it, mostly ignoring the themes of what was a really good book.I feel the movie is mostly violence for shock value. It's a violent book but the book isn't about violence in an of itself. I feel the movie lives and dies based on if the viewer loves gore.
Interesting. I thought there was definitely a message and they lacked any subtlety in delivering it.
 
'Hybrid said:
'Chaka said:
Seems pretty narrow to think that a violent film can't have a legitimate message.
I don't think that's the argument being made. I thought the movie was much weaker than the book and stripped many of the messages in it.
I'm not suggesting that a violent film can't have a message. I'm saying that Battle Royale the film is 90% a hyper violent, 10% story driven film. The messages are very, very far in the background, if they are present at all. In my opinion, they saw an opportunity to make an extreme movie about kids killing kids in a blood bath sort of way and jumped on it, mostly ignoring the themes of what was a really good book.I feel the movie is mostly violence for shock value. It's a violent book but the book isn't about violence in an of itself. I feel the movie lives and dies based on if the viewer loves gore.
Are we talking about the movie that you have only seen parts of?
 
'Hybrid said:
'Chaka said:
Seems pretty narrow to think that a violent film can't have a legitimate message.
I don't think that's the argument being made. I thought the movie was much weaker than the book and stripped many of the messages in it.
I'm not suggesting that a violent film can't have a message. I'm saying that Battle Royale the film is 90% a hyper violent, 10% story driven film. The messages are very, very far in the background, if they are present at all. In my opinion, they saw an opportunity to make an extreme movie about kids killing kids in a blood bath sort of way and jumped on it, mostly ignoring the themes of what was a really good book.I feel the movie is mostly violence for shock value. It's a violent book but the book isn't about violence in an of itself. I feel the movie lives and dies based on if the viewer loves gore.
Are we talking about the movie that you have only seen parts of?
Of course we are. Why am I going to sit through an entire movie that I feel kinda sucks? It wasn't delivering for me so I turned it off.Have you completed every movie that you have started watching?
 
'Hybrid said:
'Chaka said:
Seems pretty narrow to think that a violent film can't have a legitimate message.
I don't think that's the argument being made. I thought the movie was much weaker than the book and stripped many of the messages in it.
I'm not suggesting that a violent film can't have a message. I'm saying that Battle Royale the film is 90% a hyper violent, 10% story driven film. The messages are very, very far in the background, if they are present at all. In my opinion, they saw an opportunity to make an extreme movie about kids killing kids in a blood bath sort of way and jumped on it, mostly ignoring the themes of what was a really good book.I feel the movie is mostly violence for shock value. It's a violent book but the book isn't about violence in an of itself. I feel the movie lives and dies based on if the viewer loves gore.
Are we talking about the movie that you have only seen parts of?
Of course we are. Why am I going to sit through an entire movie that I feel kinda sucks? It wasn't delivering for me so I turned it off.Have you completed every movie that you have started watching?
No, of course I also try not to comment on the overarching themes presented by those films.
 
No, of course I also try not to comment on the overarching themes presented by those films.
Fair enough. You feel like the overarching themes of Battle Royale develop late in the movie? If so, maybe I should give it a second chance...
 
I'm about 150 pages into book 2. I have no doubt that she will drop the ball here. Seldom do trilogies or book series start out this good and stay this good. I'll enjoy this series regardless. But I'm expecting to be disappointed.

 
I didn't realize how much this series catered to teenagers when I first read the books. Now I'm seeing ads all over the place. This thing is going to be a box office smash.

It will be interesting to see if the movie is catered to teenagers, adults or both?

I've read all three books, here are my thoughts:

I saw book 3 coming from a mile away. It was nice to watch it play out as I was hoping it would in book one, but a bit disappointing that I figured it all out.

I thought the fact that the entire story was told from the point of view of a teenage girl eventually weakened the series. It was fine in book 1 and some of book 2. But then in the end of book 2 and into book 3, she just got the crap beat out of her over and over, was depressed, never happy, whined, was upset about the love triangle crap...

The bad thing is that it was really a great story, but you'd have to filter through a page and a half of her depressed thoughts at times to get on with it. I'd love to have seen the book written from a narrator's point of view.

Honestly, the story was awesome. The story has potential to be an incredible movie franchise. I hope they knock it out of the park. I like the adult actors in the movies a lot, and know nothing about any of the teenage actors.

I hated the twilight series with a passion. All the hoopla, darkness, and junk that went with it, too.

I'm very interested to see the movie, although I'll be on guard, because if it starts swinging the way of twilight, I'm out.

 
Haven't heard much about the books or movie before I saw a trailer. This is the only movie on the horizon that I want to see. Not much coming out.

 
Haven't heard much about the books or movie before I saw a trailer. This is the only movie on the horizon that I want to see. Not much coming out.
I've only read the 1st book. I blew through it in 2 days. We have tickets for opening night. It's that good. From what I've seen of the casting, they've picked the actors perfectly.
 

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