The Hunger Games

[riot_control]

So the gf said i needed to read this book. Reluctantly I did, and i am extremely happy with the series so far. I wont spoil it for anyone who hasnt read it, but i love the concept a lot. The first movie is set for release on March 23rd. Anyone else looking forward to it? Im about a third of the way thru the second book.

On unrelated note, i also recommend any of Greg Iles books. Especially Sleep No More...:)

[Zarana]

Battle Royale is better. Suzanne Collins should be writing a new Clarissa Explains it all series instead.

[riot_control]

Battle Royale? By who?

[Zarana]

Koushun Takami


Amazon.com: Battle Royale: The Novel (9781421527727): Koushun Takami: Books (http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Royale-Novel-Koushun-Takami/dp/1421527723/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326061096&sr=8-1)

[USAgent]

My son read the series and really liked after he got into it. He's pretty excited for the movie and tells me his thoughts on the actor choices whenever he sees a picture

[Nordland]

I saw the trailer a few weeks ago and the first though was also, this is a direct rip-off of Battle Royale, even down to the mystery weapon bags. I might give it a rent when it comes out on DVD, but.... a Hollywood rip-off / remake of Battle Royale aimed at the teen market? It's going to be far to tame for my liking.

[Troynos]

It's not a hollywood rip-off, it's a novel rip-off.

Haven't read either, so not sure how close they really are.

But did read that they won't be doing a Battle Royale movie (which had been planned) because it's so similar to Hunger Games which is coming out first.

[Weapon XIX]

Never read Battle Royale or saw the movie from 2000, though my interest is piqued. I did read the books recently though (just finished Mockingjay 2 days ago) and I really liked them. They're a lot darker than I thought they would be - some of the stuff in that first book is downright brutal. I'm not exactly sure how it's going to get depicted in a PG-13 movie - probably less blood, though some of it is still pretty gruesome.

I am excited to see the movie. I like Jennifer Lawrence and I like a lot of the casting choices, though I pictured Haymitch as more of a Kevin Kline (more specifically as Falstaff inHenry IV) than Woody Harrelson. I think Lenny Kravitz is a spot on choice for Cinna. And I've liked Josh Hutcherson since Little Manhattan so I'm always up for seeing him. I've got high hopes because I'd like to see a full trilogy and not have this just be another series of young adult novels turned movies that never gets past the first installment.

[Xaven]

At school, everyone tells me to read the book before I see the movie. I respond with simply:

"The movie was written by the author, so does it matter?"

Apparently, it does. From what I've heard it's pretty much Mortal Kombat, but with teenagers fighting for their community's food.

[TofuNinja]

So the gf said i needed to read this book. Reluctantly I did, and i am extremely happy with the series so far. I wont spoil it for anyone who hasnt read it, but i love the concept a lot. The first movie is set for release on March 23rd. Anyone else looking forward to it? Im about a third of the way thru the second book.

On unrelated note, i also recommend any of Greg Iles books. Especially Sleep No More...:)

My students where reading this book last year like crazy so after confirming there was no sparkling vampires involved I read it. I finished the whole series within a week.

Battle Royale is better. Suzanne Collins should be writing a new Clarissa Explains it all series instead.

Battle Royale was good, but different. If you really wanted to compare the Hunger Games to anything look to Mythology. The Minitaurs maze......

My son read the series and really liked after he got into it. He's pretty excited for the movie and tells me his thoughts on the actor choices whenever he sees a picture

I'm excited. The Hunger Games and the Avengers have me wanted to watch movies again

I saw the trailer a few weeks ago and the first though was also, this is a direct rip-off of Battle Royale, even down to the mystery weapon bags. I might give it a rent when it comes out on DVD, but.... a Hollywood rip-off / remake of Battle Royale aimed at the teen market? It's going to be far to tame for my liking.

It's not a hollywood rip-off, it's a novel rip-off.

Haven't read either, so not sure how close they really are.

But did read that they won't be doing a Battle Royale movie (which had been planned) because it's so similar to Hunger Games which is coming out first.

Unless you have read both you can't call it a rip off. I loved the Hunger Games and so I bought and read Battle Royale. Similar, yes. But then again you can also say that Battle Royale also ripped off Greek Mythology as well. BR is much more violent and read more like a guilty pleasure reality TV show. A lot of people refuse to read the Hunger Games because they love BR. That's fine. But they are different enough, in my opinion. And I liked them both for different reasons.

Never read Battle Royale or saw the movie from 2000, though my interest is piqued. I did read the books recently though (just finished Mockingjay 2 days ago) and I really liked them. They're a lot darker than I thought they would be - some of the stuff in that first book is downright brutal. I'm not exactly sure how it's going to get depicted in a PG-13 movie - probably less blood, though some of it is still pretty gruesome.

I am excited to see the movie. I like Jennifer Lawrence and I like a lot of the casting choices, though I pictured Haymitch as more of a Kevin Kline (more specifically as Falstaff inHenry IV) than Woody Harrelson. I think Lenny Kravitz is a spot on choice for Cinna. And I've liked Josh Hutcherson since Little Manhattan so I'm always up for seeing him. I've got high hopes because I'd like to see a full trilogy and not have this just be another series of young adult novels turned movies that never gets past the first installment.

Jennifer Lawrence is hot. I liked how the transformed her. I wasn't sure about woody in that role either, but it could work. I was just surprised how color blind I was when I read the book. I didn't think about race or color of skin, so I was like...whoa, there are Asians? etc. I didn't expect Donald Sutherland for President Snow though.

[Iok]

I saw the trailer and my immediate thought was ''SyFy Original Movie.''

[Weapon XIX]

Did The Hunger Games really rip off Battle Royale? (http://io9.com/5888124/did-the-hunger-games-really-rip-off-battle-royale)

[ndb]

So, uh, when all the propaganda for this movie first started coming out, I was "pass" since it looks like another twilight. I DON'T wanna be in line to see a movie and I'm the only guy in a line of twelve year old girls. Should I watch it or not?

[Python Viper]

Yeah, its good man, go see it. Read the books too. I am on the third book now, its all pretty good.

[ndb]

Okay, but I may have to watch it with the gf just to be safe. Lol

[drunknmunky]

I refuse to see this movie. I absolutely hate the acting, costumes and filming techniques that I've seen. The over acting of all the royals is brutally bad. The combination of the acting and horrible costumes just kills everything for me. I'm actually watching Star Watch and the whole episode is about Hunger Games. It's making it look worse and worse. I love the names though. They sound like names you would find on The Corps! filecards- Haymitch Abernathy, seriously? Sorry, I will treat this movie like Twilight and stay as far away as possible.

[MeLikeJinx]

Just watched it and this movie was freaking awesome! It was a mix between Predators and Lord of the Flies. Watching this movie made me regret not picking up a POC Shadow Tracker... Guarantee Shadow Tracker would have won the Hunger Games. LOL.

[vermillion21]

I just watched this recently as well ... thought it was ok. So-so action and the plot was pretty predictable. I suppose in the next 2 books the girl stirs up a revolution against the Capital or something like that.

[MeLikeJinx]

I suppose in the next 2 books the girl stirs up a revolution against the Capital or something like that.
Man, that's gonna suck then. I didn't care about any of the other stuff except the jungle survival aspect of the movie. I liked it much better than The Grey... which was also a survive against the elements type movie. I hope the sequel is just next year's Hunger Games with new contestants and like the girl helps out or something like that.

[vermillion21]

I think the mini revolt in District 8 was a sign of things to come. At least, that's my guess ...

[CornDog_The_Ninja]

I read all 3 books at the request of my wife and my niece. They both loved them all and led me to believe I would too.

The first book is decent and I enjoyed. It wasn't the greatest thing I've ever read, but it was decent. I had a hard time with the authors simplistic style of writing. I thought it was too dumbed down.

The second book was horrible. Just Horrible.

The third book started really well, and had some surprises towards the end that I didn't expect, but the ending fizzled out.

We've already made plans to pick up the movie from Redbox when it comes out, but I've already heard it leaves out a lot of the elements that made the books popular.

[RolandofGilead]

I agree completely with your assessment of the books. Those were my feelings to a "T."

As for them movie, it actually does a good job of showing you what's going on in other places besides Katniss' head. There's more with President Snow and the Hunger Games director that make for a more rounded view. But I wouldn't call it the end all, be all of cinema. Certainly not something worth offering mid night showings and stocking the aisles of Wal-mart and Toys R US with posters and books.

Frankly, I still don't understand what all the hoopla is about.

[Ixz72]

Saw the movie and quite frankly, I did not get what was so special about it. It was like Ah-nuld's "Running Man", done for girls.

There was nothing unique about it or that we haven't seen before.

[Hordakfan]

Better than i expected i saw this in theaters and enjoyed it.

Does this movie remind anyone of Battle Royale, Death Race 2000 (the Stallone/roger corman movie), Escape 2000 (aka Turkey-Shoot), Akira and Running Man combined?