Comments on: The Hunger Games: We Loved the Book, What About the Movie?

By: Cassondra Proper

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By: Lada

Lada — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:08:01 +0000

I caught the movie this weekend after doing a quick reread of the book since it had been so long since I had read it. I thought the acting and story of the movie followed the book well although of course, there was really no way to capture the emotional essence of the book. For example, the quick flashbacks of the history between Katniss and Peeta couldn’t really convey what I felt when reading about him taking a beating to sneaking her bread. The casting was fantastic though and I thought the secondary characters were standouts. The ending of the book was definitely stronger than the movie.

I have to admit though that I basically hated the movie. I seem to be the only one but the constant jerky camera work gave me a headache and motion sickness. I would have been fine had that been confined to the action sequences (that type of camera work does perfectly hide the brutality) but the entire movie was shot as if by handheld with too much movement for me to enjoy. I also felt like I was missing amazing scenes that would have stuck with me had I been able to focus on them for more than moments. I’m a big Gary Ross fan but not this time around.

By: xina

xina — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:44:37 +0000

Maggie, Lord of the Flies kept flashing in my mind as I was reading the fighting and killing scenes in The Hunger Games. I wondered, at that point, if Collins had that in mind while writing this book.

By: Maggie AAR

Maggie AAR — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:55:11 +0000

Xina,

Thanks for mentioning Lord of the Flies. I don’t have the book before me but to paraphrase the afterward William Golding said something along the lines of WWII and the atrocities committed therein proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that mankind was capable of anything. He used kids in the book because he wanted to emphasize that that anything started when we were very young.

Anyway, I think you make an excellent analogy there. The two books are not exactly alike but they both do a good job of show casing horror and violence among the YA set.

By: xina

xina — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:11:30 +0000

Just to add..I would have been completely lost, seeing the movie, if I hadn’t read the books. One of my friends said that her sister and husband saw the movie, and her husband hadn’t read the books. His problem was that he didn’t understand the importance of some of the characters. I can totally see that point of view. All of the characters are set up to be important in the books, where in the movie they are just there in a group of characters.
Agree about the mutts too. I was waiting for those weird wolves that could stand on their hind legs and wave the group of killing wolves forward. Even so, the mutts were scary. I jumped when the one appeared out of the bush.

By: xina

xina — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:04:35 +0000

Last week, I was invited to go to this movie today. So…I picked up the book and read it in a day and a half. I put it off. The book moved along swiftly, and was easy to read and to get into, but I found it disturbing. At times I thought it was too disturbing for a YA selection, but on the other hand, it reminded of Lord Of The Flies in that the children were hunting each other. Loved the movie. I thought it followed the book in a way that was acceptable for the YA audience to watch. The killings (which are disturbing) are done in slow motion, choppy filming where the gore is not really shown. I love that Katniss is a strong female character acting as the protector..in the book and the movie. And while the reality show idea of the book..and film is a bit scary, the idea of a strong female protagonist is very appealing.
Now…on to the next book, and the next film..when it is made.

By: Lynn M

Lynn M — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:54:55 +0000

I read the book and thought the movie did a great job of capturing the essence of the story, of filling in with added scenes to help make some aspects more clear, and especially of casting the characters. One thing I thought the movie actually did better than the book was to demonstrate the “entertainment” factor of the Games. Since the book is told through Katniss’s viewpoint, it focused on the horror aspect (as it should), but didn’t quite demonstrate how much the Capitol people found entertainment in the spectacle.

My problem with both books and movie is that I have a hard time buying the fundamental premise. I know this is some alternate future world and that it is fiction so I have to suspend disbelief, but I cannot get over the fact that I truly don’t believe any society – no matter how poor or oppressed – would allow their children to be taken this way, year after year. I suppose the scenes with the District 11 uprising are supposed to demonstrate what happens when the people to try to resist. Another review I read someplace made the suggestion that what was needed was a scene where the consequences of running away from the games was demonstrated so you got an idea that there were no other options but to go along with the Capitol’s evil. Maybe that would have helped.

By: amers

amers — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:08:20 +0000

I read the first book in the series, but it didn’t grip me enough to continue. As I read it, I kept thinking of a short story I read as a kid – The Lottery. My remembrances of that made THG, by comparison, seem glamorized. There’s something about someone constantly winning in “unwinnable” situations that is false. I might eventually get it through Netflix, but I’m in no hurry.

By: Maria D.

Maria D. — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:44:41 +0000

I haven’t read the books yet but your review of the movie is very good…this is probably something I will wait to see when it hits Netflix

By: DabneyAAR

DabneyAAR — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:48:14 +0000

I, and my teens and spouse, have all read the books and talked about the issues raised at them at length. We saw the movie this past weekend.

I am now rereading the books–almost done with the third–and I think they are brilliant. Part of their power comes in the punch they pack about the horror of war–which is what I think Suzanne Collins really wanted readers to be forced to confront. But I also think they are about the nature of love and how many different types of love there are and they types we choose reflect on what we value. My teenage daughter thinks Katniss ended up with the wrong guy. I don’t. I think she picked peaceful love over something perhaps more passionate but not as able to build a life around.

I’ve loved talking with my kids about these books. I think, if you read them critically, they are the sort of works that can influence the way we think and encourage us to act for the better.