Hunger Games

**Angie** · 03-19-2012, 03:45 PM

I know a few people on here have read the books - I'm about 15 pages from being done with the last one. (I tried to hold out on reading them as long as I can, but they seemed much more redeeming than that Twilight crap looks.) Is anyone familiar with them? I haven't seen any of the promos or anything for the movie, but apparently it's supposed to follow the plot of the books very closely? I think Woody Harrelson will be a great Haymitch.

**3TrueFans** · 03-19-2012, 03:47 PM

My wife read them and loved them, and that's where my knowledge ends. The plot seems intriguing though.

**Angie** · 03-19-2012, 03:49 PM

I tend to become stubborn when people tell me I'll like something too many times (which is why I'll never read The Davinci Code) - but it's a really captivating plot. They really veer off after the first one.

**ThatllDoCy** · 03-19-2012, 03:52 PM

Read them all and loved them. I am hopeful that the movies are good, but who knows. Movies about the future are hit and miss. It can be done well, but more often it is cheesy. They are slanted towards Teens so we'll see if PG is good enough to depict the violence and gore. Harrelson is perfect for Haymitch and the other actors are good. Lenny Kravitz comes out of nowhere for this one.

I am definitely going to see the movie though.

**longtimeclone** · 03-19-2012, 03:52 PM

I read them all last summer. I really like the first 2 but I was a little disappointed in the ending.

**bringmagicback** · 03-19-2012, 03:53 PM

what is the plot? I see the previews and hear people talking about it but it doesnt really make sense.

**jbclone10** · 03-19-2012, 03:54 PM

Really liked the books. The lady friend convinced me to go the midnight showing this Wednesday night. I will give my opinion on Thursday.

**shagcarpetjesus** · 03-19-2012, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by Angie

I know a few people on here have read the books - I'm about 15 pages from being done with the last one. (I tried to hold out on reading them as long as I can, but they seemed much more redeeming than that Twilight crap looks.) Is anyone familiar with them? I haven't seen any of the promos or anything for the movie, but apparently it's supposed to follow the plot of the books very closely? I think Woody Harrelson will be a great Haymitch.

I resisted reading them for a while as well, but my 12 year old really enjoyed them so I finally gave in since it's always nice to have points of discussion with the rug rats.

Just my opinion, but I'd break it down like this:

First book - pretty good, second book - ok, third book - meh.

I agree completely though that whoever cast Woody Harrelson for Haymitch is a genius.

**Angie** · 03-19-2012, 03:55 PM

I'm also a little worried about the futuristic aspect of it. Luckily, there's not a TON of tech that's that advanced from what we have now (the hovercrafts, force fields, HOLOs are the only ones I can think of offhand). I've read that they really tried to keep the violence intact, but... there's SO much of it.

I'm not loving the ending, but I do have about 15 pages left. (Couldn't get to it over lunch.) It'd be hard to end this story, though.

**Angie** · 03-19-2012, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by bringmagicback

what is the plot? I see the previews and hear people talking about it but it doesnt really make sense.

Without spoiling too much - it's the future, in North America, after it's been ravaged by war. The capital of the country (the rest of which is divided up into 13 parts) basically commands the country. 75 years ago, there was an uprising, and the capital was victorious. To remind the remaining 12 districts that they shouldn't fight the capital, each year the districts each have to send two children (aged 12 to 18) into an arena to fight to the death.

**mapnerd** · 03-19-2012, 03:58 PM

I read the books and really liked them. I think Jennifer Lawrence is a great actress. If you haven't seen Winter's Bone, see it now. You can probably relate if you grew up in rural Iowa.

There is a lot in the book that would easily get it an R rating, so I'm curious how they are going to pull it off. From the previews it looks awesome though. I hope it's not cheese. Even if it is cheesy, it can't be worse than the Twilights.

**Angie** · 03-19-2012, 03:58 PM

Originally Posted by jbclone10

Really liked the books. The lady friend convinced me to go the midnight showing this Wednesday night. I will give my opinion on Thursday.

Definitely do share! I plan on waiting a few weeks until the crowds thin out.

**cyhiphopp** · 03-19-2012, 03:59 PM

I just read the first. My wife has read them all and figured I would like the movie more if I read it first. (She agreed that books 2 and 3 veered a bit as well but I'm not there yet.)

The first book was great. I really liked the distopian view of the future. I am very excited to see how they adapt it for the movie. So far, it is getting rave reviews from pretty much everyone that has reviewed it.

On Rotten Tomatoes it was at 100% still which usually doesn't happen unless theres only a few reviews out there. There are a lot of reviews so far so that's good.

I think the casting looks pretty good, except for Peeta. He was supposed to be a huge strong kid. The guy they cast is about the same height as Katniss. I guess they went with him for his acting over his physical stature.

Overall I think it should be a really good movie. It's a good story with dark undertones so it shouldn't be nearly as cheesy as Twilight. Hopefully they don't go overboad on the love story angle, because it really isn't that big a deal in the book (more of an undercurrent).

**Clonehomer** · 03-19-2012, 04:00 PM

I keep hearing about this being kid appropriate, but I also hear about a lot of violence. From what I can figure out, its basically a gladiator type of contest where you try and kill the others. How would that be kid appropriate?

**bringmagicback** · 03-19-2012, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by Angie

Without spoiling too much - it's the future, in North America, after it's been ravaged by war. The capital of the country (the rest of which is divided up into 13 parts) basically commands the country. 75 years ago, there was an uprising, and the capital was victorious. To remind the remaining 12 districts that they shouldn't fight the capital, each year the districts each have to send two children (aged 12 to 18) into an arena to fight to the death.

Ok, so with that being said, why has this become so popular with women, I am yet to hear of man reading this book, seems it would be the other way around?