Latest Hunger Games Trailer

[Adam West]

The book is aimed at teenagers but is a solid book for adults. Basic story line is set in what is now North America, split into 12 districts. As punishment for a rebellion that occurred against the government, each district must enter 1 male and 1 female between the ages of 12-18 to enter "The Hunger Games"....a televised reality show that the government requires everyone to watch. It is fight to the death among all contestants with one victor. The arena changes from year to year and is set by a game master (who often fills the landscape with booby traps, etc.)....the arena is also a fairly large expanse of landscape. The Director has repeatedly said that the movie will be true to the book, but had to tone down some of the graphic violence because he wanted a PG-13 rating on it so that teenagers could watch it (the book is considered "young adult" genre).

[Adam West]

Unfortunately, teenage girls and the Twilight crowd. Good book though. I was hugely disappointed when I saw the marketing campaign for the film. Are you Teem Katniss or Team Peeta is a direct rip off of the Team Werewolf or Team Vampire Twilight thing and honestly who freakin cares? If you read the story, you already no what happens anyway. I guess the similarity they see is the stupid three way love story is exactly the same.

I had a similar problem with Watchmen a few years ago when they threw in all those 300 references.

Agreed with the Team Katniss/Team Peeta thing which seems a bit odd since there really is no love triangle going on in book 1. If the movie is anything like the book, it isn't even on the same level as "Twilight". The book is pretty graphic once the games begin and will be interested to see what they do and don't show on the big screen. I'm actually looking forward to it and my kids are interested in seeing it too. That should give me a pass of watching the 2nd part to "Breaking Dawn". I read the entire series and the last book is the worst of the 4. Finally saw "Breaking Dawn Pt. 1" on dvd and it was terrible. I could at least put up with the other movies since there were some good action sequences.

[enyawd72]

The book is aimed at teenagers but is a solid book for adults. Basic story line is set in what is now North America, split into 12 districts. As punishment for a rebellion that occurred against the government, each district must enter 1 male and 1 female between the ages of 12-18 to enter "The Hunger Games"....a televised reality show that the government requires everyone to watch. It is fight to the death among all contestants with one victor. The arena changes from year to year and is set by a game master (who often fills the landscape with booby traps, etc.)....the arena is also a fairly large expanse of landscape. The Director has repeatedly said that the movie will be true to the book, but had to tone down some of the graphic violence because he wanted a PG-13 rating on it so that teenagers could watch it (the book is considered "young adult" genre).

Big pass for me...I go to the movies for one reason. To have fun. This movie does not sound fun at all...that was my main problem with the Nolan Batman movies...they are depressing.

[boynightwing]

^Usually fights to the death are not a fun thing so I agree with you there. But it's going to be a great movie though. Great. I read all three books in a week back in the summer. I couldn't put them down. Have you ever seen Running Man? There are some similarities to concept there.

Book 3 was really the weakest one though. I found myself disliking Katnis's poor decision making skills as I read that one. I disagree with some of the outcomes of that book. Still, all in all, very enjoyable.

[samurainoir]

Book three was unfortunately the weakest of the series. Not quite the cleaner conclusion of the Harry Potter series where ypu feel the main character fulfills his destiny. Katniss does come across weaker than she should as the heroine to this series. The conclusion is definitely more about an emotional arc for the main character. It will be interesting to see if the producers of the movie will provide a more "Hollywood" approach.

[samurainoir]

New clip from the movie.

For me, particularly as a Battle Royale fan, this highlights the big difference between BR and Hunger Games. HG really is about reality tv and it's relation to the audience and it's manipulation. Just like Pawn Stars... Except with post Columbine kids killing each other.
Second Clip From The Hunger Games Katniss Meets Cinna | Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors

[Adam West]

New clip from the movie.

For me, particularly as a Battle Royale fan, this highlights the big difference between BR and Hunger Games. HG really is about reality tv and it's relation to the audience and it's manipulation. Just like Pawn Stars... Except with post Columbine kids killing each other.

Agreed. The movie trailers don't even really seem to catch much of what the story line. I know this is the one and only movie that my kids have been asking to see this year. It has the possibility of being the highest grossing movie of the year....yep, I said it despite a March release.

[samurainoir]

Agreed. The movie trailers don't even really seem to catch much of what the story line. I know this is the one and only movie that my kids have been asking to see this year. It has the possibility of being the highest grossing movie of the year....yep, I said it despite a March release.

I think you're onto something. Just watching the buzz around this with the kids, I haven't seen anything like this since the days when Harry Potter was just a book series. I was at a comic store last night, and the girl at the counter pointed out that this ridiculous series of like 27 blind bagged tiny mini figures of Hunger Games was really popular right now.

It looks like they have the tween to twenty-something girls going into this, so if they can ensure a certain degree of quality, they can capture an even wider audience.

[Adam West]

I was one of the dad's who pre-read "Twilight" before allowing my daughter to read it. I actually enjoyed the book and action sequences. The big difference that I have noticed is that "The Hunger Games" seems to be catching on with boys and adults. It's not my daughter who just wants to see it but all 3 of my kids (two of them boys) and I'm interested as well while I was just luke warm about seeing "Twilight". One other interesting tidbit that I read is that there really aren't any advanced screenings, focus groups, etc. Maybe the trailers are relatively tame to the story by design. I see entire book sections of the trilogy plus other offshoots related to the movie being bought up like crazy. Also, smart not to compete with Dark Knight, Spidey, Avengers, Hobbit, etc. Already has a built in audience and if the movie is good, word of mouth will make this a blockbuster.

[Saroyan]

I refused to read any of the twilight books- despite many people telling me how good they were- and I am not watching those silly movies either.

There has been similar buzz with my wife and her friends around reading the Hunger Games- I caved, I liked the first 2 books but have not gotten very far with the third.

I am looking forward to the movie but agree with those who have said you should read the books before hand. I don't think you can begin to understand the underlying feelings of the characters in the movie without reading them first.

Spacecaps! The long Walk is exactly what I told my wife about after she described the Hunger Games to me!

I'm a little annoyed at the choice of Donald Sutherland as the choice for Snow- hasn't he played the corrupt \ evil president type enough? In my mind, Snow was Ian McKellen. Woody Harrelson seems to be a good choice for Haymitch- but the quote about him having "never done a sequel but signed on for 4 friggin movies"- uh Woody, you never did a sequel because no one has ever asked you to come back - that or you were so high you couldn't find the studio a second time!!

The actress they picked for Katniss looks like a good fit.

Anyone else think Captain America Chris Evans would be a great choice to play Finick Odair?

[spacecaps]

I refused to read any of the twilight books- despite many people telling me how good they were- and I am not watching those silly movies either.

There has been similar buzz with my wife and her friends around reading the Hunger Games- I caved, I liked the first 2 books but have not gotten very far with the third.

I am looking forward to the movie but agree with those who have said you should read the books before hand. I don't think you can begin to understand the underlying feelings of the characters in the movie without reading them first.

Spacecaps! The long Walk is exactly what I told my wife about after she described the Hunger Games to me!

I'm a little annoyed at the choice of Donald Sutherland as the choice for Snow- hasn't he played the corrupt \ evil president type enough? In my mind, Snow was Ian McKellen. Woody Harrelson seems to be a good choice for Haymitch- but the quote about him having "never done a sequel but signed on for 4 friggin movies"- uh Woody, you never did a sequel because no one has ever asked you to come back - that or you were so high you couldn't find the studio a second time!!

The actress they picked for Katniss looks like a good fit.

Anyone else think Captain America Chris Evans would be a great choice to play Finick Odair?

Funny..I kind of hit a wall with the third book too. It didn't really go where i thought it would and the ending was kind of.....

I actually tried to read Twilight and couldn't get through the book. The writing was terrible. I loved Stephen Kings comparison to Harry Potter..."Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it
is to have a boyfriend." Dead on.

The girl playing Katniss was Mystique in Xmen 1st Class...

Has Woody Harrison ever been in anything that warranted a sequel? No.

When I was reading Hunger Games, I thought of Alan Ritchson for the role of Finick. He's not well known at all but he played Arthur Curry/Aquaman on Smallville. Kind of fitting for Finick's aquatic background and he's be the right age too (10 or so years older than Katniss.)

As for Snow...my choice would have been Ian McShane from Deadwood or um, Kung Foo Panda if you prefer. I wasn't really on board with the Sutherland choice since he plays the same freaking bad guy character in every movie he's been in but as I've mentioned before he's not as bad a choice as Lenny Kravitz.

[Saroyan]

I dunno- Lenny Kravitz may work ok.

I didn't know the actress playing Katniss was the same who played Mystique- but I thought she was good in X-Men- so I'm sure she will be fine.

[samurainoir]

I was in the bookstore where they have a huge display of HG merchandise, there were a group of girls around 10-12 that were gushing about it... Stuff like pencils and notebooks and bookmarks. One of their moms was saying that they were all fixated on the release in a couple of weeks. It certainly has a fan base mobilized, now they just have to deliver the goods to the theatre for them to have a Harry Potter level hit.

[spacecaps]

It certainly has a fan base mobilized, now they just have to deliver the goods to the theatre for them to have a Harry Potter level hit.

The problem this series is going to have is that it's already done so staying power will be a factor. There aren't any new books planned so it's just the movies to look forward too. You can kind of see this with the Hunger Games Companion book... Also the writing isn't exactly spectacular. Kind of reminds me of how Harry Potter would have been if it didn't get huge. Look at the first two HP books and theyre about 1/4 the length of the other 5 books in the series. The Hunger Games were all written before the mass interest in them so they're really short and sometimes don't go into depth when you want it to.

[Adam West]

I'm pretty sure most of the "Twilight Series" of books were already written and released before the first movie.

My 15 year old just finished reading "The Hunger Games" and said it was the best book she has ever read (much better than "Twilight")....which might not be saying much, but she said she really enjoyed the plot twists and turns and I guess having the female hero worked for her.