Hunger Games (Read the Books before coming in here)

[CaitlynMellark]

My favorite book. Favorite movie. Last movie coming out next year.

Peeta is my favorite boy character, dunno favorite girl.

How hyped are any of you for the movie?

Did you like the books?

How did you feel about some deaths?

What are your favorite ships (couples)?

Just any ideas. :D

[blah the Prussian]

I might be alone on this, but I think that the movies are better than the books. Partly because the movies have something no book can have in the form of Donald Sutherland, and partly because I like what can be shown now that there isn't a first person perspective. Unfortunately I feel as though the Capitol suffer from being the dumbest villains imaginable; no dictator does things solely to be evil or to punish people. Also, the plot of Mockingjay felt quite arbitrary to me. What if instead of assassinating President Snow for propoganda when the war is already own, the goal is to stop him from using all his nukes to take Panem down with him? That strikes me as being a better story. Still, I can't deny that they are the best YA dystopia I have ever read (as long as you don't count Orwell's books to be YA).

[CaitlynMellark]

I might be alone on this, but I think that the movies are better than the books. Partly because the movies have something no book can have in the form of Donald Sutherland, and partly because I like what can be shown now that there isn't a first person perspective. Unfortunately I feel as though the Capitol suffer from being the dumbest villains imaginable; no dictator does things solely to be evil or to punish people. Also, the plot of Mockingjay felt quite arbitrary to me. What if instead of assassinating President Snow for propoganda when the war is already own, the goal is to stop him from using all his nukes to take Panem down with him? That strikes me as being a better story. Still, I can't deny that they are the best YA dystopia I have ever read (as long as you don't count Orwell's books to be YA).

I do feel like the movies do a very good job of following the books (except that terrible first movie, yuck). Catching Fire & Part 1 were very close to the books. Some things were still left out, but they were close.

And Snow was evil because of the treason commited by Panem, which made the Dark Days. And the Hunger Games were made for that treason. It was dumb, but it was a punishment for that treason.

[Lantairu]

I might be alone on this, but I think that the movies are better than the books. Partly because the movies have something no book can have in the form of Donald Sutherland, and partly because I like what can be shown now that there isn't a first person perspective. Unfortunately I feel as though the Capitol suffer from being the dumbest villains imaginable; no dictator does things solely to be evil or to punish people. Also, the plot of Mockingjay felt quite arbitrary to me. What if instead of assassinating President Snow for propoganda when the war is already own, the goal is to stop him from using all his nukes to take Panem down with him? That strikes me as being a better story. Still, I can't deny that they are the best YA dystopia I have ever read (as long as you don't count Orwell's books to be YA).

Yeah, I think all the movies are shit personally. The second was mediocre at best and every other one sucked. The books were pretty good though.

[twice]

I like the movies but books always win for me. As for favorite characters: I have to say Katniss (yes very cliché answer, but that's how I feel).

[CaitlynMellark]

Yeah, I think all the movies are shit personally. The second was mediocre at best and every other one sucked. The books were pretty good though.

The last two movies actually were accurate to the book. The first wasn't.

[blah the Prussian]

I do feel like the movies do a very good job of following the books (except that terrible first movie, yuck). Catching Fire & Part 1 were very close to the books. Some things were still left out, but they were close.

And Snow was evil because of the treason commited by Panem, which made the Dark Days. And the Hunger Games were made for that treason. It was dumb, but it was a punishment for that treason.

How was the first movie not true to the book? And is that even a bad thing. In my mind, a mediocre adaptation follows the book to the letter, and a good adaptation brings something new to the table. And I know why the games happen, I just think that ey don't make the Capitol very strong villains. Coin, though, is a great villain, being Robespierre with a vagina and all. Edited October 16, 2015 by blah2127

[CaitlynMellark]

How was the first movie not true to the book? And is that even a bad thing. In my mind, a mediocre adaptation follows the book to the letter, and a good adaptation brings something new to the table. And I know why the games happen, I just think that ey don't make the Capitol very strong villains. Coin, though, is a great villain, being Robespierre with a vagina and all.

First movie missed many things.

Madge

Lady story

Buttercup was the wrong color

The entire river scene with Peeta

Gale trying to get out his last words to Katniss before leaving

Peeta losing his leg

Peeta's dad visiting Katniss & giving her the cookies

Katniss tricking Peeta into being drugged so she can go to the feast

The ending scene when Peeta gets angry at Katniss

Sure, some of those things can be taken out to still make it a movie

But to the book fans, the people who truly care about the series & wants accurate movies, those are hindrances

As I always compare it

It is like Gary Ross just made the actors read the book, then make them list off one important thing they remember from it

I like to think that is why they made Francis Lawrence main director then

And sure, Mockingjay itself was a pretty boring book until the end

But I believe Catching Fire was one of the best movies in the series because it is finally accurate. Sure, it misses things too. The people from Eight, Peeta decorating the mockingjay symbol on pastries, the constant reminder in the arena of the fake pregnancy, Finnick & Katniss scaring Peeta awake, etc. But it has way less missing than the first movie.

And the third movie to me, was pretty okay. Sure, Gale was a complete tool & douché in that movie even though in the book he understood Peeta's position. And many other things I can't remember (haven't read Mockingjay more than twice).

But I do feel like the first movie was definitely bad.

If Francis could remake it, I'd happily donate to the effort. He'd atleast add something.

And I did hear that in Part 2, Delly could be removed, which would effect how Peeta heals.

But who knows, that might be as fake as the rumor of certain characters living when they die in the books.

[InsaneNoire]

How hyped are any of you for the movie?
I'm excited. I can't believe the final part is about to come out.

Did you like the books?

I loved the first two. I wasn't that impressed with Mockingjay. I rushed through it, so I actually don't remember a whole lot, but it seemed like Suzanne Collins just ran out of ideas and decided to blow shit up. I was sad that they couldn't fix Peeta from being hijacked.

How did you feel about some deaths?

Finnick's death definitely caught me off guard. It was as if Collins decided throughout writing the book she wanted to get rid of him. Prim's death was just depressing. That one in particular made me upset, mainly because this was the only person who Katniss truly cared about and it felt like she had no reason to live anymore. I mean, she cares about Peeta, but she truly loved Prim. President Snow's death was kind of weird. I still don't know what brought on the coughing up blood.

What are your favorite ships (couples)?

PeetaxKatniss FTFWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

[CaitlynMellark]

How hyped are any of you for the movie?

I'm excited. I can't believe the final part is about to come out.

Did you like the books?

I loved the first two. I wasn't that impressed with Mockingjay. I rushed through it, so I actually don't remember a whole lot, but it seemed like Suzanne Collins just ran out of ideas and decided to blow shit up. I was sad that they couldn't fix Peeta from being hijacked.How did you feel about some deaths?

Finnick's death definitely caught me off guard. It was as if Collins decided throughout writing the book she wanted to get rid of him. Prim's death was just depressing. That one in particular made me upset, mainly because this was the only person who Katniss truly cared about and it felt like she had no reason to live anymore. I mean, she cares about Peeta, but she truly loved Prim. President Snow's death was kind of weird. I still don't know what brought on the coughing up blood.What are your favorite ships (couples)?

PeetaxKatniss FTFWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

I can't believe the final movie is coming out either, & everyone says it's the ending. But I know it's not since fanfics & videos & such.

Catching Fire is my favorite, Hunger Games is second, & Mockingjay is last. HOW COME PEETA WAS HAPPIER THAN KATNISS IN THE ENDING EVEN THOUGH HE WAS MENTIONED IN A COUPLE SENTENCES?!

Finnick's death for me was like OH DEAR GOD. Prim's was basically a sign that she was basically meant to die & Katniss only prolonged the inevitable. I hated Snow's death just because it was like 'oh, katniss didn't shoot him oh wow look he choked on blood problem solved'. Also, a death that made me sad was Madge. It made me upset that her death was basically pushed under the carpet. Like, Katniss barely cared... Gale didn't care... No one seemed to care too much.

I ship Everlark to the FULLEST.

Other ships I ship are Fannie, Gadge (YES I AM A GADGE SHIPPER, & MADGE DYING RUINED THAT), Gelly (YES I ALSO SHIP GALE & DELLY), etc, etc.

I do personally believe that Gadge would have gotten together after the Rebellion. After Katniss's loss of trust with Gale, I feel like Gale would still go to Two. And I feel Madge would follow him to make sure he is okay, & they'd just get together.

But since Madge died, I believe Delly took her place. I feel like Delly, Madge, & Peeta were like, a circle of blond friends. Peeta, Madge, & Delly probably knew each other's crushes, & if Gadge existed, they'd know. And I'd like to hope that after Madge died, Delly was basically watching Gale for Madge. And that Delly probably went to Two instead because Madge would want that, & then they got together. And I feel like Delly would live her life knowing that after they die, Gale will probably go to Madge, but she will keep him safe & happy until then. :3

[blah the Prussian]

Gale is still the best character in the series for being a brilliant general who isn't afraid to break a few eggs.

[Life]

From a film-making view, the movies were excellent.

Content-wise, the story (this goes for both the books and movies) are quite lacking. It's boring to read about how the protagonist is perfect in every which way and doesn't deserve to be faulted for anything. I really was not impressed but it was better than the Divergent series (that one was just bad). That being said, we're reaching for low-hanging fruit here.

I'm still waiting for a good series to be converted into movies. For young adults, I'd say either the Thursday Next series (Jasper Fforde) or the Young Wizards series (Diane Duane). It won't ever happen but those would be excellent choices, especially the latter.

[blah the Prussian]

The main issue for me is how unrealistic the society is. Panem essentially runs off of a caste system of the Capitol, the Peacekeepers, the Careers, and the outer districts. The problem is for a caste system to work the soldier caste needs to outnumber or at least not be overwhelmingly outnumbered by the lower classes, neither of which are true in Panem. An example of this failing is in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia; it didn't matter that the white upper class had all the money and guns, Mugabe still beat them because of overwhelming numerical superiority. There's also the fact that Panem segregates each caste into a different area. This is a bad idea all around, as you can't dilute the lower classes with the upper classes. Also, the different castes have no chance whatsoever to get to know each other as people; a Peacekeeper, for example, would be far keener to protect his district if he actually lived there. Finally, even in the most oppressive regimes (lets use Tsarist Russia as an example) tried to make the lower classes like the government; Russia was so effective at it it took WWI for the people to reject the Little Father. The Capitol seem to go out of their way to make the people hate them; note how I didn't say fear, because the secret police force is either completely nonexistant or seriously incompetent, given how much the characters talk about how they hate the Capitol and get away with it. Finally, the revolution. So District Thirteen is set up to be a Stalinist state, which is probably not what the districts had in mind. Why do hey obey Thirteen after this becomes apparent, then? They must make up at least 90% of the military! They could declare independence and Thirteen couldn't do shot. Mockingjay was harmed by its desire for a happy ending when that wasn't realistic. A better ending would be: Coin dies, her successor is unable to keep control, the nation dissolves into anarchy, Katniss is executed. I still hold nostalgic value for the Hunger Games, but there are far better and more realistic dystopias. Fuck, Animal Farm is more realistic, and it has Stalin except a pig!

[CaitlynMellark]

The main issue for me is how unrealistic the society is. Panem essentially runs off of a caste system of the Capitol, the Peacekeepers, the Careers, and the outer districts. The problem is for a caste system to work the soldier caste needs to outnumber or at least not be overwhelmingly outnumbered by the lower classes, neither of which are true in Panem. An example of this failing is in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia; it didn't matter that the white upper class had all the money and guns, Mugabe still beat them because of overwhelming numerical superiority. There's also the fact that Panem segregates each caste into a different area. This is a bad idea all around, as you can't dilute the lower classes with the upper classes. Also, the different castes have no chance whatsoever to get to know each other as people; a Peacekeeper, for example, would be far keener to protect his district if he actually lived there. Finally, even in the most oppressive regimes (lets use Tsarist Russia as an example) tried to make the lower classes like the government; Russia was so effective at it it took WWI for the people to reject the Little Father. The Capitol seem to go out of their way to make the people hate them; note how I didn't say fear, because the secret police force is either completely nonexistant or seriously incompetent, given how much the characters talk about how they hate the Capitol and get away with it. Finally, the revolution. So District Thirteen is set up to be a Stalinist state, which is probably not what the districts had in mind. Why do hey obey Thirteen after this becomes apparent, then? They must make up at least 90% of the military! They could declare independence and Thirteen couldn't do shot. Mockingjay was harmed by its desire for a happy ending when that wasn't realistic. A better ending would be: Coin dies, her successor is unable to keep control, the nation dissolves into anarchy, Katniss is executed. I still hold nostalgic value for the Hunger Games, but there are far better and more realistic dystopias. Fuck, Animal Farm is more realistic, and it has Stalin except a pig!

God I read Animal Farm & it gave me terrible flashbacks from last year

Don't do that to me xD

[Life]

God I read Animal Farm & it gave me terrible flashbacks from last year

Don't do that to me xD

That's all you got from his post?

There's a reason why Animal Farm and 1984 are literary masterpieces and The Hunger Games is simply a cash cow.

Even Ready Player One has a better dystopian universe than THG and that book isn't well written at points.

[CaitlynMellark]

That's all you got from his post?

There's a reason why Animal Farm and 1984 are literary masterpieces and The Hunger Games is simply a cash cow.

Even Ready Player One has a better dystopian universe than THG and that book isn't well written at points.

That's all I got mostly because I know the Hunger Games isn't the perfect dystopian book, & I really am not in the mood to read a whole speech on how it's not accurate & how it is not a good dystopian book. It's not meant to be historically accurate, & Panem's government is it's own government all together. If it's based on anything & is wrong, that's not it's fault. It's just a damn book series. So no, I joked about the post. This thread is about what you like & dislike & what you think. But it's definitely not meant to be a history lesson.

[blah the Prussian]

I wasn't trying to make this into a history lesson, I was talking about what I dislike, namely it's weak worldbuilding and politics. I put in history because 1, I like it, and 2, I'm using examples from history to illustrate my point. The strong point of the book, IMO, is how the action scenes are crafted. I haven't read them in a while, but I remember them being some of the most exciting stuff I've read, especially in the first one. It fails as a dystopia, though, because a dystopia needs to be realistic for me to take it seriously. In fairness to the Hunger Games, the only halfway realistic dystopia in modern literature is the one in Ready Player 1 (don't even get me started on Divergent) so it's hardly alone.

[CaitlynMellark]

I wasn't trying to make this into a history lesson, I was talking about what I dislike, namely it's weak worldbuilding and politics. I put in history because 1, I like it, and 2, I'm using examples from history to illustrate my point. The strong point of the book, IMO, is how the action scenes are crafted. I haven't read them in a while, but I remember them being some of the most exciting stuff I've read, especially in the first one. It fails as a dystopia, though, because a dystopia needs to be realistic for me to take it seriously. In fairness to the Hunger Games, the only halfway realistic dystopia in modern literature is the one in Ready Player 1 (don't even get me started on Divergent) so it's hardly alone.

I haven't read Ready Player 1, I didn't find it interesting. And I read Divergent, but it didn't pull me like the Hunger Games did. It wasn't that realistic, no. Hell, President Snow probably would've just killed Katniss & Peeta the instant he was allowed to instead of letting them just do what he wants. But I did like the books because even if they aren't realistic, they are interesting. And yes, the action bits are pretty good. Good in the books & in the movies.