dbchoong Posted March 25, 2012 Posted March 25, 2012 Caught this yesterday. Very good show, good acting, good story. About a post-apocalyptic times, in the country called Panem which is made up of 12 districts. A boy and a girl from each district are chosen by lottery to compete in "The Hunger Games" where only 1 person can survive. Although the story is about teenagers killing each other to survive, the killing scenes are done with minimal gore and blood - rated PG13. There's romance, comedy, action and characters people will root for. Recommended!
williamsoo Posted March 25, 2012 Posted March 25, 2012 Just caught the movie, very entertaining .. =)
xiao_vin Posted March 25, 2012 Posted March 25, 2012 i find it very draggy. after watching this show, makes me wanna watch Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale
pschia Posted March 25, 2012 Posted March 25, 2012 I have never liked Battle Royale. It has no real credible back story and the entire show is just one big slasher movie, slashing and killing for gory-sake and made the Japanese seem like a nation of psychopaths to me for making and enjoying this kind of sick movies. I find it laughable that one local reviewer actually said that Battle Royale is a far better version of The Hunger Games... made me feel that he/she has not actually seen the show and just any how cook up a review to meet the dateline. The Hunger Games is TV reality show Survivor at its most brutal... outwit, outplay, outlast and outkill until only one is left standing at the end. Here we have 2 protagonists who are out to game the system... one is a player from the get-go while the other played the game in accordance with her conscience slowly and clumily at the onset but gradually learned to read how the system works and outwit it at its own game. That said, viewers of The Hunger Games would definitely benefit more if they had read the book. There are a lot of back stories that's just skimmed over or left out for reasons of expediency considering that the movie was already over 140 minutes long, though it didn't feel that long in the cinema. The scriptwriters did try to cover some of the more important back stories through flashbacks though. What I did not like about the cinematography was the irritating and nauseating use of jerky hand-held video camera to shoot the beginning portion of the movie even though there was no fast action scenes andit was just about normal people going about their daily lives. I was so worried that the entire show would be like that and I would get motion-sickness right there in my cinema seat. Luckily it stopped after the'Reaping'. Can't wait for the next part of the trilogy to be made now.
dankoo Posted March 26, 2012 Posted March 26, 2012 Same sentiments...I was telling my wife I gonna throw up if it continues...managed to immerse into the story and enjoyed it...have not read the book but starting soon....
wongcp21 Posted March 26, 2012 Posted March 26, 2012 Running at 140 mins was way too long for me. Also had motion sickness and maybe that spoilt the enjoyment of the movie, and I was not even sitting close to the screen. The pace is slow. TBH the story is nothing fantastically new. Reminds me of running man, logan's run etc. 3 out of 5 star.
westendboy Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 Now I know what to draw when I see Katniss in Draw Something ;D I must say I have never read e books so my take is from purely an avid cinema-goer's perspective Stuff I like: e premise, e worlds of e districts and e Capitol but e latter is painted in broad strokes and in-your-face satire (frankly, e ppl look like nut cases and given a choice I rather live in District 12), and Jennifer Lawrence. Sometime ago when I saw her in her breakout role in Winter's Bone, I knew she will be a star. Not really exceedingly beautiful but e quiet power behind those earnest eyes shines thru. Stuff I didn't like: 1) e pacing... It sags and drags it's feet along 2hr 20min. I can't feel much tension throughout e runtime. Perhaps it's becoz everything is seen thru her eyes and nobody else? 2) other than Katniss e other characters are quite weak and not well drawn. Peeta is just not convincing. He is so weak and I can't see him with Katniss. Is he really in love? I just cannot believe in e sorta-love in e arena. The Hamish dude (I know I spelled this wrong. As I said I didn't read e book) is weird... first he appears as a drunk then somewhere sometime he is transformed into a person who has a vested interest in Katniss and Peeta? He obviously has some clout with e colorful ppl but what is it? 3) e tributes' reactions when chosen feels wrong to me... why would some of em be excited going in? Only Katniss character got it right. I can't see e logic of a 12 year old gal going against a 18 year old male... downright unfair advantage but perhaps in e book I will sense e point is precisely e unfairness of it all 4) I do see e theme of going against e system but it wasn't e most resonant one. At last it was a simple calling e bluff move that beat e system? Didn't work for me 5) e sound effects guy was sleeping. This is e first time I hear a soundless arrow being let go and whizzing thru e air in silence. Where e heck is that low bass when e bow is released? No tension, see? 6) I can't feel much for e demise of e characters as e game went on becoz nobody was flashed out. I don't get how alliance are formed anyway. Other than a few tributes, everybody was faceless 7) I don't appreciate e handheld scenes which I feel is a cheapskate way to show tension But still it was enjoyable but IMHO it will not be a cult classic like Battle Royale. I see a lot of missed opportunities here like e film manages to only circumscribe e against e system theme but then again I may not be e target audience. The whole journey back me and my wife were talking abt Battle Royale most of e time. To us, this can't hold a candle next to it. This cult film manages to balance 40+ characters, fleshing a lot more of em in it's runtime, e horrendous feeling of needing to kill one's friends is thoroughly examined from a lot of angles and e theme of doing a FU back at e system is way more resonant. I must also say both me and my wife love e book too. In fact if God allows me to bring up to Heaven 10 books for company, I will surely bring e Bible (I better!) and definitely Battle Royale. 3.5 / 5 for me
naglfar Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 I just bought the soundtrack. An interesting mix of artistes, and despite names like Taylor Swift and Maroon 5, the songs are not as poppy, which is great. I haven't seen the movie yet, so I am not able to put context of the songs to the movie, but the first listen is quite awesome.
westendboy Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 Naglfar bro, e songs produced by T Bone Burnett, are inspired tunes for e film and u will not hear em in e movie. U will hear Katniss sing but thankfully e song ain't in this soundtrack ;). I am going to whack it too! I just cant get enough of e Maroon 5 and Jayme Dee tunes
pschia Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 Now I know what to draw when I see Katniss in Draw Something ;D I must say I have never read e books so my take is from purely an avid cinema-goer's perspective Stuff I like: e premise, e worlds of e districts and e Capitol but e latter is painted in broad strokes and in-your-face satire (frankly, e ppl look like nut cases and given a choice I rather live in District 12), and Jennifer Lawrence. Sometime ago when I saw her in her breakout role in Winter's Bone, I knew she will be a star. Not really exceedingly beautiful but e quiet power behind those earnest eyes shines thru. Stuff I didn't like: 1) e pacing... It sags and drags it's feet along 2hr 20min. I can't feel much tension throughout e runtime. Perhaps it's becoz everything is seen thru her eyes and nobody else? 2) other than Katniss e other characters are quite weak and not well drawn. Peeta is just not convincing. He is so weak and I can't see him with Katniss. Is he really in love? I just cannot believe in e sorta-love in e arena. The Hamish dude (I know I spelled this wrong. As I said I didn't read e book) is weird... first he appears as a drunk then somewhere sometime he is transformed into a person who has a vested interest in Katniss and Peeta? He obviously has some clout with e colorful ppl but what is it? 3) e tributes' reactions when chosen feels wrong to me... why would some of em be excited going in? Only Katniss character got it right. I can't see e logic of a 12 year old gal going against a 18 year old male... downright unfair advantage but perhaps in e book I will sense e point is precisely e unfairness of it all 4) I do see e theme of going against e system but it wasn't e most resonant one. At last it was a simple calling e bluff move that beat e system? Didn't work for me 5) e sound effects guy was sleeping. This is e first time I hear a soundless arrow being let go and whizzing thru e air in silence. Where e heck is that low bass when e bow is released? No tension, see? 6) I can't feel much for e demise of e characters as e game went on becoz nobody was flashed out. I don't get how alliance are formed anyway. Other than a few tributes, everybody was faceless 7) I don't appreciate e handheld scenes which I feel is a cheapskate way to show tension Like you said.. you didn't read the book. A lot of the back stories and terminologies are covered and explained more clearly in the book. It must be quite difficult to condense a 307 page book into a 140 min movie, especially when the book in written from the first person's (Katniss) perspective and it is a cinematic no-no to do first person narration in a movie nowadays, though you have rightly sensed that the movie seemed to be from Katniss's perspective. There's a reason why some of the tributes were'so excited' like you said. These are the 'Career Tributes', usually from the richer districts like 1, 2, 3 & 4. They trained all their lives just to take part in the Hunger Games for the glory of winning and they usually would volunteer to take part once they feel that they are ready. They are the ones that would form alliances like the one in the movie. Like in Survivor, such alliances are shortlived and only serve the function of ganging up to weed out all the rest of the weaker or stronger competitors as quickly as possible before setting upon themselves until the final winner is decided. Katniss own alliance with Rue however came out of her true affection for the girl and not out of self interest and exploitation and it eventually saved her life at a critical stage of the Games. Haymitch as a previous winner from District 12 is assigned by Capitol to coach and mentor the tributes from District 12 in every Game. It is also his responsibility to try to 'sell' his charges and obtain gifts from 'sponsors' for them eg. the medicine for Katniss, the soup and medicine for Peeta. He does not have clout with the rich people at Capitol apart from some recognition from them that he was a previous winner in one of the Games. He is obviously not a happy person and so he drinks most of the time like some of us here. ;) There is no fairness in these Games as it is a form of punishment for those districts that had rebelled earlier and lost the war. Capitol wants to let these districts know that they can make them give up 2 of their children every year and have to watch them die in these Games, even if they are only 12 years old which is the age at which all children becomes eligible to be entered into the 'lucky draw' at Reaping. In the book, it was written that the poorer districts like 12 always get deliberate power outages every day and have only a few hours a day in which they would have electricity. The only time when there would definitely not be any power outage was during the Reaping and during the daily live broadcasts of the Hunger Games. I think in the Western culture, it is generally felt that it is a perversion and an abomination to be so gleeful about children fighting and killing themselves for adult entertainment, which is why both the book and the movie did not try to glorify or go into grisly details when the actual killings start (unlike the sickeningly perverse Battle Royale). I personally prefer it that way. The entire story arc in the trilogy is actually about the rebellion of the 13 Districts (yes... there are 13 districts and not 12 though you wouldn't know until the 2nd book) against the oppression of Capitol. The spark of the eventual rebellion was triggered off by Katniss in The Hunger Games. Noticed that she made a sign of 3 fingers in an out-stretched arm to the viewers in other Districts (particularly to District 11 where Rue came from, the residents of which immediately proceeded to run riot in the movie) after she laid flowers on her dead body. Also, when Effie Trinket asked the people in District 12 to clap after Katniss volunteer in place of her sister, all the people there raised their arms in this silent protest instead to her chagrin. This sign is a traditional hand signal that other Districts used which the rulers at Capitol frown on and view as a sign of rebellious protest.
francis wu Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 Oh oh, pacing slow and dragging ah..don't think I can stay focus thru' 2 hours and more of this so call chick movie.... :P
westendboy Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 Thanks pschia bro for that very detailed explanation. U must have read e books very thoroughly. This morn I was in a girls' school and one third of em were reading e book when I walked in!!
pschia Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 Thanks pschia bro for that very detailed explanation. U must have read e books very thoroughly. This morn I was in a girls' school and one third of em were reading e book when I walked in!! Actually, I am only half way through the first book but I can't resist the temptation to read the synopsis of all 3 books in Wikipedia ;D As this is a young adult story book, I find it quite easy to read actually... seems easier to read than Harry Potter.
westendboy Posted March 28, 2012 Posted March 28, 2012 Did a simple experiment - every class I walked into this week I will ask for my kids' impression of The Hunger Games and not a single says it's just so-so or lousy. All raved abt it and most say e book is better. So I think I am quite rite to say I am not e main target audience ;). But that's not to say u won't enjoy it if u r a thinking adult.
dankoo Posted March 28, 2012 Posted March 28, 2012 It is indeed a teen fiction and it is definitely not easy to translate a FPP book into the big screen...and I felt that the producers managed that quite well...pushing it to top 3 spot for opening weekend earning is no easy feat too...
oneneo Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 This show is now available for rental in iTunes and also the BD is available for sale. Would you guys recommend a rent or buy for this movie?
francis wu Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 Buy if it's cheap :). Saw it last night. PQ 3.5 SQ 4 especially the scene where the heroine was forced to turn back at the edge of the forest on fire and fire balls explosions were really intense and gave my Sub and surrounds a real workout! :) Mine is a 50G Chinese pressed BR.
oneneo Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 Buy if it's cheap :). Saw it last night. PQ 3.5 SQ 4 especially the scene where the heroin was forced to turn back at the edge of the forest on fire and fire balls explosions were really intense and gave my Sub and surrounds a real workout! :) Mine is a 50G Chinese pressed BR. If I have access to 50G Chinese pressed BR, I'll definitely buy! ;)
Waddle Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 It's on Mio for $5.99. I liked it but am in no rush to but the blu ray.
Doggie Howser Posted August 25, 2012 Posted August 25, 2012 I can't believe I managed to trudge all 2 hours something of this movie. That's 3 hours (with loo breaks) I'll never get back. pschia, I know it's hard to translate a book into a movie. I've seen it fail more times than succeed. But there are exceptions. Lord of the Rings springs to mind. Yes, Jackson took extreme liberties in his adaptation and IMHO he did it very well. The other book that made a decent transition to the big screen was Jurassic Park. I thought the book had better nuances but Spielberg knew what he was doing and he also took artistic liberties with the story which helped improve the pace of the movie and made it more compelling. The director of Hunger Games (I can't even be bothered to google his name) did not. OK here is where I am going to go into spoiler mode... but this movie is so unbelievable, you wouldn't believe what I typed anyway, and maybe I can even save you some money... First the pacing was off. Molasses moved faster. I think glaciers might too. At first it was great trying to count the number of cannons so I could figure out how many more death scenes would follow. But the other characters were so non-descript, I stopped bothering. If that wasn't bad enough, the action/motivation was a tad unplausible. How did the heroine suddenly fall in love with Peeta? That one really stumped me. The last time she saw him, he was in cahoots with the baddies... And the stupid knife throwing girl who boasted she killed the little girl? She wasn't even there at that time!?? Because if she was, she could have easily killed Katniss while Katniss was crying and arranging the stupid flowers. It was also odd that she would boast about doing the deed when Katniss was there and would have known it not to be true. This would only have made sense if Katniss had found the kid dead and not known who killed her. But I digress. (and I should stop trying to make sense of the movie cos my head hurts when I try to make it make sense). And then it became really convenient when the guy from the kid's district came out just in time to kill the stupid knife girl. Yes, I know I should have given them their proper names but seriously, I don't want to waste any more time on this movie to google the 1 dimensional characters' names. Speaking of time wasters, there's a sequel out for this movie!?? Seriously!!?? If you arent a hormonally challenged teenager, I recommend you give this movie the flick or finger, whichever rocks your boat. The sequel too, I think. So what did I like? I think the premise was really cool.. a dysfunctional future like that could be possible, as is the evolution of beauty pageants, reality TV and the olympics mixed in with a gladiator style arena with the masses watching. And the actress who plays Katniss does manage to convey the steely resolve of her character. Oh and Lenny Kravitz. He da man. What didn't I like? Well, you already know that.
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