Anyone planning to see the Hunger Games movie?
Anyone planning to see the Hunger Games movie?
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us wthout end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
- C.S. Lewis
We may go see it on Sunday afternoon. I understand that the quest to get a PG-13 rating has taken a lot of the 'edge' off the story. The concept of children killing other children is not something that shows up in movies very often.Originally Posted by Billy Cox
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us wthout end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
- C.S. Lewis
Do you think they'd need an R rating to properly convey the movie? I'm not so sure. I suppose I'll find out tomorrow. I listened to the first book on CD three years ago. I found the tension and the themes engaging, but I didn't think it was overly violent or too graphic for teenagers. I'm not sure why they couldn't convey the same thing with a PG-13 rating.
...just my $.02.
Ah Ha ! Its YOU still spreading the message. I blame Katelynn for recommending the book not long after it first came out. I got it for my daughter, I read it, my son read it and now it (all three books) have been the most passed around books at my kids school here in the Philippines. So yes the Hunger Games movie is on our schedule for maybe tonight or tomorrow!
"And as we pass the collection plate, please give as if the person next to you was watching."
-Rev. LovejoyPost Thanks / Like - 1 Thanks, 0 LaughingKatelynn Scott - "thanks" for this post
I'll see it someday, maybe at the dollar theater. There's just no way it's as good as the book.
Laura drug me to it tonight.
If you cut out a lot of the first hour of the overblown pageantry part and didn't cut short the ending it would have been better IMHO.
I wrote some thoughts on my blog, so I thought I'd post them here too. I know there's a "chit-chat" thread on the GD forum, but it didn't seem quite fitting as a review thread. Feel free to merge them if you'd like.
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I remember that when my wife was first reading the Hunger Games trilogy, she was slightly disturbed by the content. I think I recall her asking me something about them, but I just passed the books off as the next Twilight. Despite that I now reject the comparison of the two series for the most part (having read them all), the first movie went to pathetic lengths to imply similar themes. If the scenes that flash Gale's reaction to Peeta & Katniss' interactions were meant to bring forth the whimpers of teenage girls, the directors were successful (at least judging from the row of them that sat in front of me at the theater last night). And though I've not read the Twilight books and only suffered through one of the movies, even I can see the resemblance between the character cast as Gale and the one I think is the werewolf dude in Twilight.
I decided to read the books after a Mennonite pastor whose blog I read suggested that those drawn to the peaceable Kingdom (or the "nonviolence of Christ') would do well to interact with the themes. I read the first and was hooked. I couldn't wait for the movie. After initial reviews came out, including a not-so-good one from the afore-mentioned pastor, I was worried that what I valued in the series would be absent from the film.
While there were several things that I didn't like, overall, I thought the movie did very well with the story.
The casting and performance of Katniss was great. I've been sorely disappointed when characters formed in my mind while reading a book were drastically different when cast in a movie. The girl who played Katniss, while beautiful, was not "perfect" in the sense of today's magazine cover teenager. And she played the role of Katness wonderfully.
I had been warned that the effect of violence was not present in the movie in the ways it was in the book. However, I found Katniss' response to Rue's death wonderfully-depicted. The result and response to fear and violence in the books was what made them worthwhile to me. I believe we need to wrestle more with the agony of death and our role in it.
That said, Katniss was a bit too "innocent" for me. One of the things I valued in the series was the inner turmoil she had with the notion of killing. Short of a narrator-like over-voice in the movie (which would have had the potential to be horrible), much of this was probably impossible to portray. Hopefully, the forth-coming movies will not remove this important part of the story. I can envision a director making the final killing scene of the series one of revenge rather than the confused, conflicted, and impulsive action of a young woman devastated by the effects of violence.
What I'm saying is this: the main reason I even "enjoyed" the series were the implications of "power by fear" and "fear by [the threat of] violence". While the state and situation of Panem might seem far-removed from 21st century America, the notion of out-sourcing violence isn't so much. Do we ever really wonder just how it is that America is so "peaceful" while we every so often hear rumors of war, trial, violence, and death throughout much of the rest of the world?
Just how and why is it that we eat enough to get so fat that we spend billions in fat remedies while other parts of the world starve in hunger?
How and why would a bunch of human beings decide to board airplanes and exterminate themselves by kamikaze-ing them into our centers of commerce and government? Just what exactly breeds that passion and willingness to kill?
I don't think these are questions to leave to those who lead and who oversee power. In fact...the thought is rather scary.
But back to the movie: the interplay between scenes in the arena and in the control room (which was remarkably similar to one of my favorite movies: The Truman Show) or dialogue between President Snow/Seneca Crane/Haymitch was probably necessary, but it sure was a departure from the book. It seemed to blatantly tell the "progression" of power, rather than the guessed implications of what was going on through Katniss' thought processes in the book.
Movies like Wall-E and The Lorax are okay in that they demonstrate the effect of human ravaging upon all of nature. But the story of The Hunger Games does me better in showing the effects of humans ravaging one another.
While the arena and the idea of an annual event like the Hunger Games (a death-match to instill fear and maintain the "pax of Panem" disguised as entertainment's value) is again far-removed from our society, there are plenty of ways in which power is enacted or abused for entertainment's sake or one's own pleasure. These include the sex-trafficking trade, massive pornography industry, food over-consumption, sports industries, and certainly the whacko bi-partisan political scene which is little more than a spectator's sport at the moment.
Perhaps The Hunger Games will go beyond a teenaged romance triangle for some people.
In the end, I enjoyed the movie very much and look forward to the next. But as it almost always is...the book was better. :-)
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We saw it this afternoon. It wasn't as good as the book, but I thought it was well done.
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We saw the movie today. I was pleasantly surprised. It's been almost three years since I "read" the first book (we listened to it on CD on the trip to Florida for General Assembly). I don't like comparing the movie to the book, one because the book is almost always better and two because they're different mediums, requiring different stories. You just can't do as much with a movie as you can with a book.
This film made the right choices in what to include and exclude to tell the story that ultimately forms the framework of the trilogy (as Jeremy point out - themes of freedom and power). For those who don't know, The Hunger Games is set in the future, following a revolt of the "districts" over the Capitol. The Capitol won and forced the districts into continued servitude as they supply everything the Capitol needs to live a life of luxury. As part of the humilation, each year each of the twelve districts send two teenagers to fight to the death in an elaborate reality show, called The Hunger Games. The story follows, Katniss, from District 12 as she competes in the games.
The casting was wonderful. Jennifer Lawrence got the job off her Academy-Award nominated performance in Winter's Bone. Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peetah, has a pretty long list of acting jobs. Both really captured the essence of the characters well. One important aspect of a well-rounded performance, especially for young actors, in the ability to communicate with facial expressions; both actors pulled this off extremely well.
The story is pretty straight-forward and engaging. There's more you'd like to know about the world and the specifics, but they've got two more films to flesh this out. I didn't think the violence was overly graphic or out of place. I did feel that the emotional highs and lows weren't all that high or low; certainly not to the extent they could have been (or to the extent they were in the books). That keeps the margin for error relatively low and also keeps the audience from being too involved in the story, which is helpful for younger audiences.
Overall, a good start, it will be interesting to see how they proceed with the following films, whose stories are not as strong.
...just my $.02.Post Thanks / Like - 1 Thanks, 0 Laughing
I forgot to mention that it appears to have a killer sound track. I've only heard two of the songs - by Arcade Fire and the Taylor Swift/Civil Wars collaboration, but both are spectacular.
...just my $.02.Post Thanks / Like - 1 Thanks, 0 Laughing
I'll chime in here too. Ryan had complaints in the car on the way home, which apparently he's forgotten already as his previous post doesn't really share much negative.
(1) The beginning of the movie, parts throughout the middle and again at the end are shot with hand-held cameras. This is beyond annoying. It's a bit hard to watch and not really necessary in some parts. For example, when a character is just walking - why do we need such jerky motion? Perhaps a fight scene, yes, but just walking? No.
(2) Ryan thought the movie didn't adequately show the poverty of the districts in comparison with the riches of the capitol. I would disagree. District 12 looked like a scene right out of the Great Depression and when Peeta and Katniss are first introduced to the train that will take them to the capitol, they both just stand and gape at the lavish fittings.
(3) There is supposed to be greater dichotomy between those tributes who train their whole lives for the "honor" of volunteering for the games and those who are selected unwillingly from the outlying districts. The "career" tributes in the book are beefy, extremely powerful and just huge in general, while those from districts 11 and 12 are supposed to be skinny, malnourished, somewhat weak and frightened kids. Those who did the casting did a great job with Katniss, Rue, Peeta and Thresh. The careers though aren't any bigger or stronger looking and this somewhat detracts from their supposed threat throughout the games.
(4) I wanted more vomiting from Haymich, more kissing from Peeta & Katniss and more ditziness from Katniss' make-over crew. I guess you can't have it all. ;o )
(5) What I LOVED: the shots of the landscape throughout the movie - just like I pictured things. The overall flow of the movie - not a single major element of the book was missing. The depiction of the cornucopia within the area. The little parts from book 2 (Catching Fire) that they snuck into this movie (rebellion in district 11, berries for Seneca Crane).
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." ~ John 16:33
None of those things Katelynn mentioned were really problems with the movie as much as they are differences between the movie and the book. It's not fair to the filmmakers to compare a movie to a book and I don't like when people do it, so I didn't include those differences.
The book is better, as books usually are.
Last edited by Ryan Scott; March 25th, 2012 at 04:14 PM.
...just my $.02.
It does indeed have a killer soundtrack. I actually decided to give the series a chance this last week based on the soundtrack. (I had previously assumed that it was the next Twilight, which I hate with the fire of a thousand suns.) I'm about halfway through the first book and loving it! I'll go see the movie sometime after I finish the first book.
Rob Bell, Love WinsSo when the gospel is diminished to a question of whether or not a person will “get into heaven,” that reduces the good news to a ticket, a way to get past the bouncer and into the club. The good news is better than that.
I saw the movie today and thought that the violence was minimized without affecting the story or the theme of blatant disregard for life. I thought it was quite an excellent adaptation of the book.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us wthout end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
- C.S. LewisPost Thanks / Like - 1 Thanks, 0 Laughing
As usual there are deeper levels of character development in the book, but I appreciated that the movie showed some things that were only hinted at in the book.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us wthout end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
- C.S. LewisPost Thanks / Like - 1 Thanks, 0 Laughing
I always say its unfair to compare a book to a movie - they're different mediums and ultimately tell different stories. If movies tried to encapsulate books, you'd end up with a lot of plodding mini-series like the ones PBS does with Jan Austen. They wouldn't be necessarily bad, but they wouldn't make much money.
The Hunger Games movie intentionally shot for an attainable goal. They didn't try to take part of the story or the essence of the story - they simply edited it down to salient plot points. The emotions aren't as extreme, the images and ideas are not as vivid, but they serve the movie well, especially for those who haven't read the book - which is really a filmmakers target audience.
Those who have read the book can put the extra details in themselves, if given a sufficient framework. The problem arises when there is not a sufficient framework and a background knowledge of the books is required (see Harry Potter 6 - pointless and unwatchable without having read the books). I'll never be completely biased, as I have read The Hunger Games, but I did think the movie covered everything it needed to cover, both to convey the idea and to set up the next two movies.
The acting was great and the director moved the story along well. I'd watch it again.
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I found that I enjoyed the Harry Potter movies far more if I re-read the book prior to seeing the corresponding movie.
Since a significant chunk of The Hunger Games book covers the main character's internal dialogue and backstory, the film has to find other ways to develop the character. I think it was well done.
I am curious to see what the screenwriters do with Mockingjay since it seems to have some plot and character problems.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us wthout end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
- C.S. Lewis
In the book, the storyline moves to the Capitol pretty quickly, but then spends a lot of pages on character development and contrasts between Capitol opulence and the crushing poverty in the districts.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us wthout end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
- C.S. Lewis
Saw it on Friday, and liked it very much. My Mom loved the books and has been after me to start reading them, but I thought I'd like the movie better if I hadn't read the book first.
As a side note to your excellent review, your reference to the Lorax and Wall-E remind me of the problem with Christian fiction. No one likes to be told what to believe rather than encouraged to discover the truth personally by grappling with the issues. Stories like Wall-E and the Lorax do not handle their message subtly--they leave no room for the viewer to absorb the information and come to a personal conclusion--and this leaves me with the feeling that I am supposed to accept their message lock, stock and barrel or be considered ignorant. In the end, it makes me feel like they must be hiding something to be so one-sided (because there are at least two sides to every story). A quality story, like Hunger Games or Lord of the Flies, presents significant issues and asks me to use what I know of the world to make some meaning from it. In the more distant past, Christian fiction has come from a direction more like Wall-E. The author is afraid the reader will miss the obvious point the reader is supposed to come to, and so sets up a flashing sign on every page saying, "Look--here's the message you're supposed to understand." This is changing in Christian fiction, but not fast enough.
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I'm glad that I read the book first. There are some things in the movie I surely would have missed had I not read the book already.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us wthout end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
- C.S. LewisPost Thanks / Like - 1 Thanks, 0 Laughing
I finished the first book at about 2:30 this morning and now can't wait to see the movie. I also really want to start the next book, but I have too much to get done this week to let myself get absorbed in it. Next Monday I'll probably try to make it to the theater.
Rob Bell, Love WinsSo when the gospel is diminished to a question of whether or not a person will “get into heaven,” that reduces the good news to a ticket, a way to get past the bouncer and into the club. The good news is better than that.
I am seeing it tonight with my 21 year old son, who saw it over the weekend.
He read all the books, and agreed with much that is written above. I do not read fiction unless a book has reached "classic" status, as I don't have the patience to read books that don't deserve my time. (My son says the only fiction book he remembers seeing me read is The Brothers Karamazov.)
"Fully embracing the Gospel, fully engaging the world"
Why would you not apply the same principle to non-fiction books? Especially within the Christian publishing world, the coal-diamond ratio is especially unfavorable to those who don't have time to waste. Or have you never read a John Maxwell book?
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us wthout end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
- C.S. Lewis
I made it to a matinee showing of the movie yesterday. I kinda thought that since it was a matinee and it had been out for over a week it wouldn't be too busy. Boy was I wrong! The theater was still packed out!
All in all, I think that the movie was as best as it could be with the change of medium from print to video. All of the actors were perfectly cast. I especially liked the actor who played Cinna. He was portrayed with the right amount of compassion to make the viewers like him, just as Katniss did, despite what he was preparing her to do. I liked Haymitch's portrayal, too, though I thought that they could have possibly built up his drunkenness a little more. Maybe by including the scene at the Reaping where he falls off the stage? The contrast between the Districts and the Capital was very well done and helped to visualize the injustices contained in the story.
I often prefer seeing a movie before reading a book (assuming that I haven't read the book). That way, I am not "disappointed" when I see the movie. In this case, though, I am glad that I read the book first. There are a few parts of the movie that had I not done so I am not sure I would have followed very well.
The one "change" that I didn't really like was how Katniss got the mockingjay pin. It seems more symbolic to me as portrayed in the book, with the mayor's daughter giving it to her after the Reaping. Although I understand the mindset of moviemakers and that to introduce a character for a fifteen second scene would not have seemed worthwhile.
I'm not a big theater goer. I have lived where I live for almost two years now, and this is only the second movie that I have seen in our local theater. This is not do to any residual influence of antiquated Nazarenedom. I actually did not become a member until after the statement in the Special Rules regarding theaters was changed. However, being a single guy who also doesn't date (at least at the moment), going to a theater is not that worthwhile to me. It always feels strange going to a movie by yourself, and yet quietly watching a movie is not really the "social" of an outing. I can be more effective building up relationship with my teens by taking them to eat, inviting them to my house for movies or video games, and such.
This year, I have anticipated three releases: The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Hobbit. The first and the last I will probably try to make it to midnight releases of, and then after that I am sure that I will see them two or three times more in the theater. Other than that, I have not really anticipated going to anything that I have heard of. So, that kind of gives you an idea on my movie-viewing habits.
With that in mind, I plan on seeing The Hunger Games at least a couple more times in the theater. I might even go to a late show tonight (but that is more likely tomorrow when one of my brothers from Wyoming arrives to visit). I liked it that much. And as soon as iTunes has it available for pre-order, I will do so, which will start it downloading to my computer at 10:00 p.m. Mountain Time the day before it is released.
Rob Bell, Love WinsSo when the gospel is diminished to a question of whether or not a person will “get into heaven,” that reduces the good news to a ticket, a way to get past the bouncer and into the club. The good news is better than that.Post Thanks / Like - 1 Thanks, 0 Laughing
Cinna is played by rocker Lenny Kravitz, just FYI. Ironically, as I read the first book three years ago, I pictured him exactly like Lenny Kravitz. Who would have guessed that they could get a musician to do the role and do it so well and also exactly embody my previous image?
...just my $.02.Post Thanks / Like - 1 Thanks, 0 Laughing
Ah! I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. My mind isn't very visual, so I usually don't visualize things as I read them. When I see a movie, I really don't have any visual expectations, but if I see something that doesn't fit (like all portrayals of Gollum up until the Peter Jackson movies), then I know it right away. My initial impression of Peeta was almost this, but it was at the Reaping, so he still had the District 12 citizen / baker's son look going on. Once his prep team got a hold of him, and then in the arena, I felt better about his appearance.
Rob Bell, Love WinsSo when the gospel is diminished to a question of whether or not a person will “get into heaven,” that reduces the good news to a ticket, a way to get past the bouncer and into the club. The good news is better than that.
I never pictured Cinna as portrayed in the movie. I pictured him to be more outlandish and pasty white - I thought Peeta was cast well. But I hated Gale. This guy is just too hunky gorgeous glam boy for the part. I pictured a young rough and tumble teen sportsman , with ordinary looks but ahead in wisdom and intuitiveness.
"And as we pass the collection plate, please give as if the person next to you was watching."
-Rev. Lovejoy
I'm about two months late on this post, but new to NazNet and poking around on the threads...
I read all three books and saw the movie. The best of the three books (by far) was the first. By the end of the third book, the author seems to have run out of steam.
That being said, the movie was very enjoyable. Surprisingly, there was a good range of ages in the theater in NC where I saw it and not just teenagers (which was what I had expected). From a Christian perspective, there was much that was admirable, particularly the importance of solidarity and self-sacrifice.
When this comes out on DVD in the $ 5.00 bin, I'll pick it up.
"Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us." - Keith Wright, former D.S., Kansas City District (CotN)
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I got the impression that the first book was written to stand on its own. Assuming that Mockingjay is made into a movie, the screenwriters will have to do some major overhauls to the story, especially the climax through the ending.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us wthout end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
- C.S. Lewis
Just saw the movie. The acting was horrendous, mostly under acted yet at times over acted. The only decent performance was Donald Sutherland. Even Woody Harrelson wasn't up to his usual par. The directing was just as bad as the acting only in reverse, mostly over directed but at times under directed. The costuming well, Did they read the book? Thoroughly unimpressed. Now add in the fact that I did read the book, and really liked it, much to my surprise, and the movie was 2 hours 20 minutes of my life I'll never get back. At least I didn't have to pay for the experience.
You can be right or you can be in relationship
Haha Did you and I see the same movie? I loved almost everything about it. I thought that it was about as good of a movie interpretation as is possible given the change of storytelling medium. There were a couple of spots in the acting that I cringe a little. Katniss calling Prim "Little Duck" the second time within like 45 seconds seems really forced. And Peeta's declaration of his love for Katniss while they're in the cave seems really rushed. For the most part, though, I thought that it was spot on. President Snow gave me a real Emperor Palpatine vibe, Haymitch was great, I loved Cinna, and Katniss really carried the movie. My favorite Katniss moments are watching her facial expressions at times that she is caught off guard. Of course, she always tries to remain hard and cold. But on the rooftop the night before the games, when Peeta tells her that his comments were supposed to be a compliment, and then when she first meets up with Rue, and Rue asks her, "Is it true, about you and him", Jennifer Lawrence does this look away and down, blush, and smile thing that I think is spot on and makes me feel like I'm not watching actors but real people. 2 hours 20 minutes wasted? I can't wait for Catching Fire to come out!
But, of course, we're all entitled to our own opinions.
Rob Bell, Love WinsSo when the gospel is diminished to a question of whether or not a person will “get into heaven,” that reduces the good news to a ticket, a way to get past the bouncer and into the club. The good news is better than that.
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