They said the games were two weeks in the movie.

Oh yeah, I had no idea that was Elizabeth Banks beneath all that makeup. She played the part pretty well.

[Edited on March 26, 2012 at 11:22 PM. Reason : .]

3/26/2012 11:17:32 PM

Marvel, Cato, Glimmer, and Clove were EXACTLY what I expected. Cato's character had great development, I just didn't like how little of a fight he put up at the end compared to what felt like a 6 hour long death in the book.

But when he snapped that kid's neck after the stuff got blown up...I knew what was coming and it still made me tremble.

3/26/2012 11:21:42 PM

Quote :

"And I agree with what someone said earlier about character development - most of those people you will never see on there again, sooo not really sure why people would want to get attached."

You don't think the main characters were underdeveloped?
One big thing I think they dropped the ball on was the significance of Peta giving Katniss the bread when they were young. Couldn't they have used a minute or two to show her despair and how she basically was ready to just give up and die of starvation then show how she changed after that and started really providing for her family?

[Edited on March 26, 2012 at 11:23 PM. Reason : ]

3/26/2012 11:23:20 PM

Yes, forgot to mention Elizabeth Banks ROCKED. IT. I loved her. I wish they had given Woody Harrelson some bitchier lines but overall he did really well.


^ Nah, not really. I actually thought Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) did a great job - that's how I imagined Peeta acting when I read the book and IMO he's a great actor. Now, some parts were obviously cheesier than others (i.e., the cave) but I think overall he deserves more credit. More credit than Liam Hemsworth, that's for sure - though he is gorgeous. But goodness he makes that stupid face in every movie.

But yeah, I thought they did a good job painting how evil the careers were. And I thought the cave was done well because it was not too obvious she was playing it up for sponsors and personally, I thought you could tell Peeta was like "say what? is this for real?" Then when Katniss knocks the nightlock out of his hands, I thought it came across in that moment she truly cared for him. (And I almost fussed out these catty middle schoolers behind us who laughed )

I can't remember who said it earlier, but I mean, the whole sponsors coming to rescue you thing isn't far fetched considering that's how it was in the book. You make good TV for the sponsors, you get rewards. Simple as that.

Forgot another part I loved - Fox Face! I know she didn't speak much and all that, but she was exactly how I pictured her. And the camo by the creek! That was pretty sweet.


And while I understand your point about the bread, I guess that didn't bother me as much because honestly, how important is that information for the movie? In the grand scheme of things, it really isn't that important. I think they did a good enough job of showing they go back quite some time and he helped her when she needed it.

[Edited on March 26, 2012 at 11:36 PM. Reason : .]

3/26/2012 11:34:38 PM

Quote :

"how did you like the film as someone who has never read the books and had very little predisposition to the content before seeing it?"

Am I the only person (who hasn't read the books) who fucking hated this movie!?!? There was little to no explanation of the rebellion that started this stuff. There was little to NO character development... even the Peeta, Catnis love thing went faster than Anikan to Darth Vader. It seemed like the characters had a lot of potential too. Woody Harrelson's character could have added so much, same with Lenny Kravits... but they're just kinda in there as side notes. Give me something about the dynamic between the president and the producer of the games... something!!!

The best part was when I was thinking... "well, how're we gonna speed this up.. we've got the heroine and her BF on the outside, and the bad guy in the inside, and both take a huge risk by going for the other." And almost as if the writer KNEW that's what i'd be thinking BAM... PANTHERS...

In short, I want my 2 hours back... and I'll use 10 minutes of that to read the cliff notes from the book, b/c it seems like this story (yes even the "put multiple people in an isolated place so they can fight to the death" idea, which has been done 20 times before) has a lot of potential... but the movie sucked IMO.

[/$0.02]

[Edited on March 27, 2012 at 12:40 AM. Reason : .]

3/27/2012 12:38:55 AM

Quote :

"What bugged me was the lack of hunger. They didn't seem to communicate the fact that people in the districts were starving to death and kids were taking tesserae so their families could stay alive."

As someone who hasn't read the books, I didn't really get the "hunger" part of it at all. It was eluded to, but nobody seemed to be starving. Common sense tells me that the poorer districts were not doing as well as others. But even when they showed the District 11 riots-- everyone looked pretty well-fed to me. Katniss did talk to Prim about trading for food and what not before she left which inferred some problems with the availability of food. But it seemed more like her telling a 12 year old how handle grown-up things since she would be gone (and they hinted at their mother not really taking care of them in the past). I'm assuming that that aspect of the the culture is firmly established in the books and they just glossed over it here. They could have easily shown some "bread line" type of situations.

I kind of got that your name goes into the lottery more often based on how much food you get.. or something like that? But I had no real understanding of how or why that worked. And only got that much after a character said something about it being related to how much food you "take." I'm assuming that's referring to taking food from the government.

Quote :

"Couldn't they have used a minute or two to show her despair and how she basically was ready to just give up and die of starvation then show how she changed after that and started really providing for her family?"

I had no idea that there was anything of this nature surrounding the flash backs to Peeta giving her the bread

I mean no clue. It wasn't entirely clear why she was sitting there. Did she just collapse outside of their bread shop? Were they at home starving, and she tried to make it to town for food and collapsed there? i couldn't really figure it out considering they had showed her hunting and what not earlier (I knew it took place before the intro of the film). I didn't understand that she didn't learn how to hunt and provide for herself until after that incident. I thought it was just meant to show that Peeta came from a family that had food (food to throw away), that she didn't, and that he was kind enough to go against what others would do and gave her the bread --- I was confused as to why she was just kicking it out in the rain when they didn't appear to be homeless. But what Fumbler said makes a lot of sense.

Quote :

"For example, at the end of the movie he asked me what the pin meant - I didn't even realize they hadn't explained it's meaning because I already had that knowledge, ya know? He also asked why all the people in the Capitol looked weird. "

I didn't really get the significance of the mocking jay pin either in regard to why Katniss said it would "protect you" when she gave it to Prim. I just assumed that it was the set up for when Prim gave it back and said the same thing. And that it then "protected her" in that it gave Rue the idea to use the mocking jays to relay a signal.... of course, that didn't pan out... so it never really "protected" her at all in that sense. Is there more significance to it than that?

Quote :

"She let her guard down for Rue and suffered for it. But the reason why she was so drawn to Rue is because she reminded her of Prim. Since we never saw just how close Kat and Prim are supposed to be, it didn't come across as well."

How much of that is coming from you knowledge of the books?
I didn't get Rue reminding her of Prim AT ALL. Unless you just mean that they're both little girls. I just thought Katniss was not a complete monster like some of the people, realized that Rue was just a little girl and was naturally nurturing of her as any decent human being would be.

Quote :

"And I agree with what someone said earlier about character development - most of those people you will never see on there again, sooo not really sure why people would want to get attached."

Which as a 9hr story/movie may be fine. But this is still a single 2.5 hr movie. I don't care too much about the tributes who died. They were fine with Katniss, Peeta, and Rue. But I would have loved to have seen more of Elizabeth Banks' character. A) I like Elizabeth Banks, and B) I liked the character. I really liked Lenny Kravitz too (cinna, i think).



After reading through this thread, i've realized how much of it is poorly developed. And more importantly, it's stuff that would make it much better. Of course they don't need to spend film time going over background stuff that's in the books for the readers, so I understand why those who know the story may really like it. But for everyone else, it seems to be missing some of the foundation of the story.

I do REALLY want to read the books though. I'll probably buy them tomorrow. It seems like the story, characters, the world, etc. all have a lot of potential.

[Edited on March 27, 2012 at 12:58 AM. Reason : a lot of words... not all about the same thing... don't read if you don't want]

3/27/2012 12:47:37 AM

Quote :

"How much of that is coming from you knowledge of the books?"

All of it. The point I was making was that the information about the characters provided DURING the games was fine, it was just the stuff prior to the games that got glossed over that would have made things during the games make more sense.

3/27/2012 3:18:12 AM

i had no problem following the movie with only a cursory knowledge of the story beforehand... but then i could tell the difference between the transformers in the fight scenes as well, so maybe i'm just ahead of the curve.

I liked the man made fire balls personally. I felt like they were really pushing the idea that the games didn't "develop," I felt like the games were there for the amusement of the capitol and they would do whatever they could to make it go the way seneca wanted. if that meant burning down half the arena to funnel katniss into the careers then so be it.

The games weren't this ephemeral challenge to push yourself and surpass your own limits to triumph and come home a hero. The games were there so the people in the capital could watch the simpletons beat each others brains in. I thought the "direction" from seneca was very inline with this

only thing i was displeased with was the appearance of the mutts. I'd have loved atleast a mention of what was going on before shit got real.

3/27/2012 3:41:46 AM

Quote :

"I kind of got that your name goes into the lottery more often based on how much food you get.. or something like that? But I had no real understanding of how or why that worked. And only got that much after a character said something about it being related to how much food you "take." I'm assuming that's referring to taking food from the government."

for each child within the specified age range of 12-18, they have the ability to put their names into the reaping drawing more times netting them additional government sponsored food for themselves and the family; it is known in the book as tesserae . for some families in the districts, this was the only way for them to survive. obviously the draw-back to it is that their chances are increased dramatically to be selected for the games.

Quote :

"I didn't really get the significance of the mocking jay pin either in regard to why Katniss said it would "protect you" when she gave it to Prim. I just assumed that it was the set up for when Prim gave it back and said the same thing. And that it then "protected her" in that it gave Rue the idea to use the mocking jays to relay a signal.... of course, that didn't pan out... so it never really "protected" her at all in that sense. Is there more significance to it than that?"

the mockingjay pin sequence in the movie is different from the book; she obtains the pin very differently. as for it "protecting Prim" i think it was to be more of a good luck charm and a remembrance of Katniss more than anything. the importance of the pin and what it symbolizes will come later; what was key is that Katniss had the pin in the end.

as for the mockingjays in the arena, Rue knew of them (from the book) because of the use of them in her District 11 as the farmers were out in the fields. she never saw the pin on Katniss as it was hidden under the jacket lapel, i believe.

Quote :

"I didn't get Rue reminding her of Prim AT ALL. Unless you just mean that they're both little girls. I just thought Katniss was not a complete monster like some of the people, realized that Rue was just a little girl and was naturally nurturing of her as any decent human being would be."

unfortunately, with the movie we miss a huge part of the inner dialogue with Katniss. Rue does in fact remind Katniss of Prim; that resemblance will come into play in the future.

Quote :

"I felt like the games were there for the amusement of the capitol and they would do whatever they could to make it go the way seneca wanted. if that meant burning down half the arena to funnel katniss into the careers then so be it."

right on the money. the games were there officially to keep the districts in-line and not to rebel for fear of what the Capitol would do. unofficially, though, the games were really just a piece to keep the rich, uppity, self-absorbed snobs of the Capitol entertained. something they could bet on, have parties over, basically have a grand 'ol time. nevermind the children killing one another in the arena.

Quote :

"The games weren't this ephemeral challenge to push yourself and surpass your own limits to triumph and come home a hero. The games were there so the people in the capital could watch the simpletons beat each others brains in. I thought the "direction" from seneca was very inline with this"

as was said by Haymitch, the games are purely for entertainment. it's a TV show. that's it, nothing more; they want high ratings and for everyone to be talking about them until the next games. just like our "reality" shows now, they are all directed and produced to show a certain result in the end.

3/27/2012 8:27:05 AM

i enjoyed this movie. (and the books.)

i also can't stop calling it The Hungry Games. just sayin'.

3/27/2012 8:39:59 AM

Quote :

"The games weren't this ephemeral challenge to push yourself and surpass your own limits to triumph and come home a hero. The games were there so the people in the capital could watch the simpletons beat each others brains in. I thought the "direction" from seneca was very inline with this"

Ding Ding ding. "All they want is a good show."

3/27/2012 8:54:58 AM

Quote :

"That's not surprising and I personally don't think it's racist."

um, have you read the reactions?

http://jezebel.com/5896408/racist-hunger-games-fans-dont-care-how-much-money-the-movie-made


try again. that shit is racist as hell. the fuck is wrong with this country?

3/27/2012 9:12:37 AM

Those prob werent the examples id pick if i was trying to portray my outrage at rascisim... i mean fuck one of those guys said he was less sad thst rue died bc she was black....

3/27/2012 9:28:16 AM

I think he was talking about the way black people were segregated/more populous in certain districts wasn't racist

3/27/2012 9:29:54 AM

They probably should have made two movies for the first book. That said, they had to keep it in line for their audience. I mean I felt that didn't nearly crack the surface with the character development I was hoping for, and the movie was still 2.5 hours. You go any longer than that and your 14,15 year old girls are going to be losing interest. We'll get a chance to see it done again since I'm sure somebody will just remake it in 10 years like they do everything else.

Not everything I was hoping for, but still enjoyed it.

3/27/2012 9:32:23 AM

LOL the fact that people even THOUGHT of that aspect is pretty damning itself. I didn't even notice really.

The movie was good, but the hype for it is/was HUGE, and I don't think it measured up to the hype it received really. There were many things that were just done that don't make much sense to someone who hasn't read the books (me). The ending is set up for a sequel but seemed extremely anticlimactic.

3/27/2012 9:32:50 AM

http://io9.com/5896475/everything-the-hunger-games-movie-left-out?tag=hungergames

3/27/2012 10:01:58 AM

Quote :

"They probably should have made two movies for the first book."

I think it would be ridiculous to split a 375 page book into two movies.

3/27/2012 10:04:01 AM

Though it didnt excite me as much as Harry Potter, I'm still really looking forward to seeing it again!

3/27/2012 10:06:13 AM

^^ i agree.

and i heard that they've optioned 4 movies for this, so i assume the last book will be split into 2?

3/27/2012 10:23:33 AM

If that is the case then i think elememts from the 2 remaining books will be split among the movies rather than sticking strictly to the books.

3/27/2012 10:26:55 AM

Probably, but I think that's almost as ridiculous. There's a heck of a lot more plot and action in the last book, but it's still less than 400 pages. It'd do fine just to make it one 3 hour movie, with an "extended version" option like LOTR.

[Edited on March 27, 2012 at 10:27 AM. Reason : If you can fit Return of the King into one movie and do it well, you can do the same for this.]

3/27/2012 10:27:03 AM

Agreed

3/27/2012 10:28:31 AM

i'm really most excited about the next one. enjoyed the 2nd book the most.

3/27/2012 10:29:46 AM

Agree on the two movies thing

3/27/2012 10:33:42 AM

Just saw it last night. I have never read the books, and actually had not even heard of them until I saw the first trailer for the movie (which very-much enticed me). I'm sure everyone has all of their different aspects of the novel that they thought weren't done justice or were just excluded altogether. But as someone who didn't really know anything going in, I highly enjoyed this movie and thought they did a nice job of portraying that world. The characters were great, the actors fit their roles perfectly. Especially Jennifer Lawrence. She is a great actress, and I don't know what it is about her but she definitely intrigues me. Maybe b/c gorgeous without seeming hollywood unattainable? Oh well, looking forward to the next two films.

3/27/2012 10:33:44 AM

Preface: I've never read the book, don't read books, and I don't plan on it.

So, everyone on Facebook started raving about it, so I bit the bullet to go see it.

The movie sucked. Character development, plot, acting. It all sucked. I was totally lost by the end of the movie. Plot holes galore. It was like a bad concoction of Sci-Fi alien tech, magical Harry Potter fireballs, medieval swordplay, placed in an overdone war drama backdrop, with a dash of pathos to try and get you to cry about some cute kids dying. It had no clue what it was trying to be, this movie had no identity. At least Harry Potter, LOTR, Twilight all knew what genre they fell in. This movie was like a bad re-mix of all those.

5/10 at best.

[Edited on March 27, 2012 at 10:46 AM. Reason : Why do populations have to speak with a British accent? I don't care if it's another dimension!]

3/27/2012 10:37:52 AM

Quote :

"That's not surprising and I personally don't think it's racist. That's the way it is in America now and I don't think they'd shuffle people around for the sake of diversity in a post apocalyptic world. All the people in D12 are white. All the people in coal mining areas of the US are white. Big deal."

exactly...

district 11 is the DEEP south...

lots of black people there...lots of agriculture there...


it should probably be considered the opposite of racist since the black people were the survivors after the initial destruction of "our" version of the country...they survived the wars...they thrived in the new country...


(i'm commenting on the "OMG THE AUTHOR IS RACIST" side of the argument that i've seen...not the article about the twitter posts....those people are just stupid)

3/27/2012 10:41:03 AM

I didn't read the books and knew nothing about them before seeing the movie, no idea what it was about going in.

I thought it was ok. and I thought character development was good but then I read this

Quote :

" You don't think the main characters were underdeveloped? One big thing I think they dropped the ball on was the significance of Peta giving Katniss the bread when they were young. Couldn't they have used a minute or two to show her despair and how she basically was ready to just give up and die of starvation then show how she changed after that and started really providing for her family?"

Holy crap! in those flash backs I thought she just liked sitting in the rain or something. They definitely could have expanded on this in the movie.

3/27/2012 10:41:40 AM

I thought that was one of the most poignant parts in the books (all three). He was her dandelion in the Spring, because of that moment, and the impact on her life and his, should not have been cast aside in the movie.

3/27/2012 10:44:24 AM

Quote :

"um, have you read the reactions? http://jezebel.com/5896408/racist-hunger-games-fans-dont-care-how-much-money-the-movie-made try again. that shit is racist as hell. the fuck is wrong with this country?"

As a minority working in eastern NC serving the full gamut of society, it's my opinion that it wasn't racist and someone else's opinion won't change the way I see it.

And, wtf? I'm saying it's not racist that black people were the farmers but your link's talking about how stupid people can be for thinking Rue and Thresh were white when they were clearly described as dark skinned in the book. How are these things related?

Quote :

"I mean no clue. It wasn't entirely clear why she was sitting there. Did she just collapse outside of their bread shop? Were they at home starving, and she tried to make it to town for food and collapsed there? i couldn't really figure it out considering they had showed her hunting and what not earlier (I knew it took place before the intro of the film). I didn't understand that she didn't learn how to hunt and provide for herself until after that incident. I thought it was just meant to show that Peeta came from a family that had food (food to throw away), that she didn't, and that he was kind enough to go against what others would do and gave her the bread --- I was confused as to why she was just kicking it out in the rain when they didn't appear to be homeless. But what Fumbler said makes a lot of sense."

Basically...Katniss' dad was dead and mom was catatonic due to this. Katniss went to town to sell Prim's baby clothes so she could buy food. No one wanted the clothes, she accidentally dropped the clothes in the mud, then basically gave up and sat down waiting to die from hunger, all the while Prim is at home also starving. Peta's family is better off but they normally eat leftover stale bread; they sell the good stuff. He saw her then purposefully burned some bread because he knew he would have to throw it away. His mom gave him an ass beating then he took the bread outside, pretended he didn't see her, then threw one of the loaves towards her.

It's a huge turning point in her life because it gave her hope. After that she realized how much food (weeds and stuff) she could collect and then decided to start taking her dad's place as hunter. I think it should have been better portrayed in the movie, but that would be insignificant unless they also emphasized the general lack of food for most of society.

Quote :

"I didn't really get the significance of the mocking jay pin either in regard to why Katniss said it would "protect you" when she gave it to Prim. I just assumed that it was the set up for when Prim gave it back and said the same thing. And that it then "protected her" in that it gave Rue the idea to use the mocking jays to relay a signal.... of course, that didn't pan out... so it never really "protected" her at all in that sense. Is there more significance to it than that?"

The movie's use of the mocking jay pin was stupid. That's the unluckiest damn pin ever because Prim got picked.

The real significance is mocking jays are a symbol of the capitol's failure. The capitol used genetically engineered talking "jabber jays" to spy on the districts so they could snuff out any rebellion.
The districts figured it out and fed the capitol fake info. The capitol killed all the jabber jays but some mated with other birds resulting in mocking jays that couldn't talk but could memorize tunes.
The mocking jay is pretty significant in the later books so I thought it was a bad idea to put so little importance on it in the movie.

[Edited on March 27, 2012 at 11:02 AM. Reason : weeds and stuff = dandelions ]

3/27/2012 10:58:44 AM

I have very little gripes about this movie and I think it's a bit pointless, BUT!

- They did not mention Effie's name once, or who she was/represented. Does anyone think it really matters in the grand scheme of things? She's your first real glimpse into what the people of the Capitol are like for the most part - how they look, behave, etc.
- Wish they had spent a little time explaining the significance of the market in District 12, you don't REALLY get the sense of what it is. Again, I'm not sure if it really matters once the movie gets going.
- No mention of the avoxes (sp?). Maybe that will come up later? Saw them in the background serving food and drinks in the Capitol rooms and it was mentioned once in the beginning when Katniss and Gale were talking about having their tongues cut out if they get caught escaping.
- No time spent on the other members of Katniss's prep team - maybe that will happen later, if at all?
- It has been a LONG time since I have read the books, but I thought that the star-crossed lovers aspect of it was pretty watered down compared to what I remembered reading (or is that later in the series?). Not complaining or applauding, just an observation.

Most everything else has already been mentioned (No explanation of tesserae, no explanation of mockingjays, tribute/muttation correlation, and although pretty minor - she didn't drug Peeta to go to the Cornucopia feast)

After watching it, I was wondering how people who had not read the books were going to like it as I thought an awful lot of it was assumed. Interesting to read everyone's comments.

3/27/2012 11:07:58 AM

Quote :

"The movie sucked. Character development, plot, acting. It all sucked. I was totally lost by the end of the movie. Plot holes galore."

What plot holes? Sure some development was left out but I don't see what was so confusing.

3/27/2012 11:08:57 AM

brianj320 and Fumbler, thanks for commenting on some of my questions about the story. brianj320 There was a very quick part where Rue saw her pin (at the very beginning of the mocking jay scene).

Quote :

"i had no problem following the movie with only a cursory knowledge of the story beforehand... but then i could tell the difference between the transformers in the fight scenes as well, so maybe i'm just ahead of the curve."

I don't think there are many people who couldn't follow the movie per say. It's more that they didn't pick up on all of the things that the people who have read the book have been talking about. And I also don't think the big complaint about the first transformers was "telling the transformers apart in the fight scenes" so much as not seeing the action of two giant robots fight because the entire fight was filmed in close-ups (which they did a better job of mixing up the shots in the sequels).

Personally, I could follow the movie just fine. I actually left thinking it was pretty good. Not great, but entertaining. I told my roommate not to rush out and see it unless he really wanted to. But after reading more about the book vs. the movie, and what people who read the book think, I think the movie could have been significantly better had they developed some of the basics of "why" they were in this situation. I knew that there was some sort of war almost a hundred years ago, they told us that. I knew people were starving, they told us that (even though it didn't seem like it outside of the ONE scene where Peeta gives Katniss the bread -- and she didn't seem to be starving so much as maybe just homeless.. maybe there's not much of a difference there). "Show don't tell" is a pretty basic rule that goes a long way. And sometimes you simply need exposition, but they didn't really have much of that either.

And I get that it was already a long movie and they can't include everything. But that doesn't mean it didn't still lack development in some areas. Another 15-20 minutes could have gone a long way. Many of the Harry Potter movies were longer than this, and kids didn't have trouble sitting through those.


I did enjoy it, it just seems like the movie didn't deliver on the potential of the story (particularly the weightier parts). The "weighty" part of it is exactly what I think it was missing now. Kids being required to fight to the death by the government... that's some heavy shit. The way they made a spectacle out of it, with sponsors, and the interviews and all of that. That's perverse. All of that was there but it was sort of "light" in how it was portrayed for someone who doesn't know the story.

Quote :

""The games weren't this ephemeral challenge to push yourself and surpass your own limits to triumph and come home a hero. The games were there so the people in the capital could watch the simpletons beat each others brains in. I thought the "direction" from seneca was very inline with this""

It was even beyond the people in the capital watching a blood sport. It was a public execution. I thought that aspect of it was very clear from the fact that there were a lot of people who were put off by it. And then the president said as much.

[Edited on March 27, 2012 at 11:16 AM. Reason : .]

3/27/2012 11:13:13 AM

Quote :

"although pretty minor - she didn't drug Peeta to go to the Cornucopia feast"

That actually made me mad. It wouldn't take any extra time to show this and it also would've shown how she's pretty clever. The non reading audience would've loved it.

3/27/2012 11:15:20 AM

Quote :

"There was a very quick part where Rue saw her pin (at the very beginning of the mocking jay scene)."

ah ok, must've missed that part then. thanks for the info.

3/27/2012 11:28:39 AM

Quote :

"Probably, but I think that's almost as ridiculous. There's a heck of a lot more plot and action in the last book, but it's still less than 400 pages. It'd do fine just to make it one 3 hour movie, with an "extended version" option like LOTR. "

I have to think they can't do a 3 hour movie for the "main" audience intended. 15 year old girls don't want to go see a 3 hour action movie. Hell, my wife hates any movie longer than 2-2.5 hours. Yes, for me, you and many others, I would have loved to watch a 3+ hour long Hunger Games movie to get more plot, action,etc.... Yes they did Return of the King very well, but it was almost 3.5 hours (that's the original, not extended). Different audience. IMO the "main" audience for Hunger Games was similar to Twilight. Twilight series was 500-700 pages and the movie run time was a little over 2 hours. Hunger Games had a longer runtime than any of the Twilight movies

[Edited on March 27, 2012 at 11:53 AM. Reason : ...]

3/27/2012 11:51:30 AM

What 15 year old girl doesn't want to see a 3 hour movie? I was seriously disappointed the Harry Potter movies weren't longer when I was that age. I also have heard right and left how the Twilight movies should have been 3 hours, and Hunger Games was too short. In fact, I rarely hear people complain that a book-->movie is too long.

3/27/2012 11:53:50 AM

i hate going to a movie when it's like an hour and a half long... movies should be at least 2 hours.

3/27/2012 11:58:25 AM

^Especially if I'm paying $20 for two tickets. Gotta at least get my money's worth.

3/27/2012 12:01:01 PM

The length of the movie compared to the length of the book isn't really that important, imo. What's important is that the proper amount of time is taken to develop the story. Some 350 pages books can be easily adapted to a <2hr movie without cutting out anything critical to the plot. Another book of the same length may have to cut stuff to fit it into 2.5hrs.

Quote :

"I have to think they can't do a 3 hour movie for the "main" audience intended. 15 year old girls don't want to go see a 3 hour action movie."

Why do you think that's the main audience intended for the movie? Do you, honestly, think that the 15 year old girl demographic generated $155,000,000 in opening weekend sales? The theater I was in had people of all ages (and genders).

3/27/2012 12:10:59 PM

Quote :

"And, wtf? I'm saying it's not racist that black people were the farmers but your link's talking about how stupid people can be for thinking Rue and Thresh were white when they were clearly described as dark skinned in the book. How are these things related?"

yeah my bad, i didn't read far enough into your post and assumed you were responding to the article about the tweets.

3/27/2012 12:23:55 PM

Quote :

"What plot holes? Sure some development was left out but I don't see what was so confusing."

Maybe "plot holes" is not the right word to use...

Technology? Alien-like technology that relies on coal? Hovering space craft, yet still on high-speed rail tech?

Opportunities to kill that weren't taken? Kids dying from certain things, but not others? I thought canons were supposed to go off every time someone died?

Why's it called "The Hunger Games", hunger is barely portrayed at all. I didn't see anyone go hungry. Felt like only a few days passed before the end of the game.

Whatever it was, it was not a well thought out movie.

3/27/2012 12:24:55 PM

Quote :

"What plot holes? Sure some development was left out but I don't see what was so confusing."

Peeta(with the cool camo paint on): I used to decorate cakes at the [whatever]

THE WHOLE PLACE IS STARVING!!! Where is he decorating cakes!?!?

And I stand by my "BAM... PANTHERS!!!" analysis.

3/27/2012 12:26:21 PM

Quote :

"THE WHOLE PLACE IS STARVING!!! Where is he decorating cakes!?!? "

There are rich people in that district.

3/27/2012 12:29:46 PM

yeah, people in Effie's class didn't seem to be in need/want. Is she and more people like her in the books more? As in do you get a good look into what their lives are like?

3/27/2012 12:38:14 PM

Yes.

3/27/2012 12:44:36 PM

Quote :

"THE WHOLE PLACE IS STARVING!!! Where is he decorating cakes!?!? "

Peeta worked in a bakery that was owned by his family. the cake decorating was for special events and for important dinners that the mayor would host. also, for the "rich" folk of the district. not every family/household in the district was destitute.

Quote :

"Is she and more people like her in the books more? As in do you get a good look into what their lives are like?"

Effie is more pronounced in the 2nd book if i remember correctly. and you do get a much clearer view of what the people in the Capitol are like as you get further into the stories. very self-absorbed, selfish, snobby, uppity people who have everything provided to them.

[Edited on March 27, 2012 at 1:06 PM. Reason : .]

3/27/2012 1:03:20 PM

Quote :

"Why do you think that's the main audience intended for the movie? Do you, honestly, think that the 15 year old girl demographic generated $155,000,000 in opening weekend sales? The theater I was in had people of all ages (and genders). "

I think that teenage age group started all the book sales, which made the title more popular, then it fell into other age groups reading circles. But I think they kept that age group in mind when making the movie. Judging in my past experiences with my wife, sisters, nieces, etc...they don't care lengthy movies.

Yes there are people of all ages and all genders, but I think that teenage age group outnumbers any other and they kept that in mind. Why do you think they made the movie PG-13? JMO

3/27/2012 1:49:48 PM

Quote :

"Technology? Alien-like technology that relies on coal? Hovering space craft, yet still on high-speed rail tech? "

The coal is used for power and heat by other districts. The cool stuff is reserved for the capitol

The book does a much better job of describing the huge gap between what the districts and the capitol have.

[Edited on March 27, 2012 at 1:51 PM. Reason : ]

3/27/2012 1:50:40 PM