Hunger Games: Catching Fire

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  • impala454
    Ultra Senior Member
    • Oct 2007
    • 3814

    Hunger Games: Catching Fire

    Looking forward to seeing this one tomorrow. Anyone seen it yet?
    -Chuck
  • aud19
    Twin Moderator Emeritus
    • Aug 2003
    • 16706

    #2
    Probably wait for rental myself but I am looking forward to it.
    Jason

    Comment

    • George Bellefontaine
      Moderator Emeritus
      • Jan 2001
      • 7637

      #3
      Originally posted by aud19
      Probably wait for rental myself but I am looking forward to it.
      Same here.
      My Homepage!

      Comment

      • wkhanna
        Grumpy Old Super Moderator Emeritus
        • Jan 2006
        • 5673

        #4
        The first one was ok.
        Not my style of movie in general, but we rented the DVD out of necessity since it was virtually impossible to engage in normal conversations with anybody without discussion of the film or books being mentioned at some point.
        As for the sequel, I will pass.
        I do hope the rest of you enjoy it, though.

        Too bad we can't a good sequel of 'Hitchhiker's Guide' made........
        Last edited by wkhanna; 23 November 2013, 17:40 Saturday.
        _


        Bill

        Practicing Curmudgeon & Audio Snob
        ....just an "ON" switch, Please!

        FinleyAudio

        Comment

        • impala454
          Ultra Senior Member
          • Oct 2007
          • 3814

          #5
          Saw this tonight and thought they did a great job bringing the book to life! It's been about a year since I read the books but I don't think there were any major flaws in the translation to the big screen. Was definitely enjoyable and I highly recommend it to anyone who's seen the first one.

          Bill, the second one is not really a sequel. It's a trilogy story. Understood if you're not interested, but if all you saw was the first one, you'd be missing about 80% of the story. The first one just barely scratches the surface of a really great storyline.
          -Chuck

          Comment

          • alebonau
            Moderator Emeritus
            • Oct 2005
            • 992

            #6
            not kind of movie wife would watch with me. so will be waiting till on blu-ray ! will definitely get it though
            "Technology is a drug. We can't get enough of it."

            Comment

            • madmac
              Moderator Emeritus
              • Aug 2010
              • 3122

              #7
              I'll rent this one just to watch Jennifer Lawrence !!! OH YA !!
              Dan Madden :T

              Comment

              • Chris D
                Moderator Emeritus
                • Dec 2000
                • 16877

                #8
                Originally posted by aud19
                Probably wait for rental myself but I am looking forward to it.
                +2
                CHRIS

                Well, we're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley.
                - Pleasantville

                Comment

                • Chris D
                  Moderator Emeritus
                  • Dec 2000
                  • 16877

                  #9
                  A good 89% on the Rotten Tomatometer. Good weekend of sales. Things looking up for this one.
                  CHRIS

                  Well, we're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley.
                  - Pleasantville

                  Comment

                  • impala454
                    Ultra Senior Member
                    • Oct 2007
                    • 3814

                    #10
                    Great to hear. They really nailed it I thought. If you haven't read the books, then this movie will take you on a storyline rollercoaster ride. If you have read the book, you'll be pretty happy with how true to it they were.
                    -Chuck

                    Comment

                    • Chris D
                      Moderator Emeritus
                      • Dec 2000
                      • 16877

                      #11
                      Rented it last night. Haven't read the books. Thought that parts of it were good, but I think it was a letdown and lots of it was just made as a lesser quality. In particular, I thought the end was just done flat poorly. The final shot of Katniss, a closeup on her eyes going from a surprisingly poorly-acted panic and fear into resolve and determination of revenge, I thought was uber-cheesy.

                      I don't know how they're going to make the next one now that Philip Seymoure Hoffman has died, unless his character doesn't play the significant role in the 3rd story that it seems it's going to.

                      Sorry, but this one started as :3: in my book and sunk to :25: out of :5: at the end. I hope they do the next one better.
                      CHRIS

                      Well, we're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley.
                      - Pleasantville

                      Comment

                      • impala454
                        Ultra Senior Member
                        • Oct 2007
                        • 3814

                        #12
                        I've heard that they already filmed a lot of his scenes for the final movie and they might CGI the rest?

                        The end was virtually a cut and paste from the book. I can see where not having read the book this movie might come off as a bit strange. I hate that that's the case but once I read the book I was really curious how in the world they were going to do some of these things on the big screen.
                        -Chuck

                        Comment

                        • George Bellefontaine
                          Moderator Emeritus
                          • Jan 2001
                          • 7637

                          #13
                          I was okay with it even though I have never read the books. I am looking forward to the final one, probably more out of curiosity than anything else.
                          My Homepage!

                          Comment

                          • madmac
                            Moderator Emeritus
                            • Aug 2010
                            • 3122

                            #14
                            I'm not sure I have the guts to watch this one........But Jennifer is sooooo worth watching!!!........I dunno....maybe if someone lends me the the disc.......maybe........
                            Dan Madden :T

                            Comment

                            • Chris D
                              Moderator Emeritus
                              • Dec 2000
                              • 16877

                              #15
                              Yeah, Chuck, it's not so much the story that I had a problem with. On the contrary, I think the direction it's going, where one rebellious hero prompts the explosive rebellion against a totalitarian regime that has been stewing under the surface of the rest of the country (or world?) is really cool. I think that sense is pretty obvious that it's coming, and although I haven't read the books, I get the feeling that Collins really does this really well. I think the first movie was done really well, and from what I recall, my critical analysis of the first movie focused on some of the subject matter. (i.e. the games being a fictional highly celebrated and televised slaughter of children, which seems to be an intentional construct, showing how truly lost the totalitarian regime is)

                              Here in "Catching Fire", I thought the story was actually pretty good, but the film didn't do it well, with poor styling and even acting, which was surprising. Seeing how this is one of the current "pillars" of modern sagas, perhaps being handed the torch from J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter, they certainly had the resources to make this as well as they wanted. I feel like as the movie went on, they just ran out of steam. Perhaps during the editing process, they just got fed up, turning each portion into a high quality piece with style, and just said "bah... it's good enough. People love this series, and they'll take it as it is".

                              I really hope they do the next one(s) right. Looking in IMDB, it looks like they're splitting up the final one (Mockinjay) into two parts, (a la Harry Potter 7?) the first of which is coming out this year. I also found this there, which is interesting:

                              Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays Plutarch Heavensbee, tragically died with one week of filming left. Due to the fact that the majority of his scenes for the final two movies were already filmed, the role was not re-cast, but finished with a combination of re-writes, camera tricks and digital special effects.
                              CHRIS

                              Well, we're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley.
                              - Pleasantville

                              Comment

                              • impala454
                                Ultra Senior Member
                                • Oct 2007
                                • 3814

                                #16
                                Aw man that's pretty annoying (the two parter thing). Though admittedly there's a lot going on in the final book.
                                -Chuck

                                Comment

                                • bigburner
                                  Super Senior Member
                                  • May 2005
                                  • 2649

                                  #17
                                  This is a deliciously dark film in my opinion, and a big improvement on the first one which didn't make much impact on me.

                                  Nigel.

                                  Comment

                                  • wkhanna
                                    Grumpy Old Super Moderator Emeritus
                                    • Jan 2006
                                    • 5673

                                    #18
                                    I was going to skip this flick due to sharing your opinion on the first version.

                                    I will give it a try now based on your report.
                                    _


                                    Bill

                                    Practicing Curmudgeon & Audio Snob
                                    ....just an "ON" switch, Please!

                                    FinleyAudio

                                    Comment

                                    • Chris D
                                      Moderator Emeritus
                                      • Dec 2000
                                      • 16877

                                      #19
                                      I'll add something here. On IMDB, I have seen many people compare the Hunger Games stories to a pair of previous Japanese films called "Battle Royale", made in 2000 and 2003. Battle Royale is also based on a book, written in 1999. (Hunger Games was written in 2006) Out of curiosity, I rented BR from Netflix. Very interesting, and I can see why many people call the Hunger Games stories a ripoff of Battle Royale. BR doesn't include nearly as much story about the greater national/global totalitarian regime that the Hunger Games is set in. But the similarities of the actual "game" is strikingly similar.

                                      In Battle Royale, one middle school class of children is selected randomly every year, and is sent to a deserted island, lush with foliage that looks amazingly like the later Hunger Games battles. There, they are given randomly different weapons and tools and forced into a contest where they must all kill each other over 3 days until only one remains. They are shackled with metal collars, that will explode at the end of the 3 days if they don't get down to only one player. The game creators also monitor the contest from a headquarters, and activate "danger zones" periodically on the island to harm players in that zone. Four times a day, the game mastermind broadcasts game updates to the players and tells them who has died during that period. Also concepts of the players breaking free of the game and overcoming the game master just like Hunger Games Catching Fire.

                                      It was amazingly like Hunger Games, and I definitely think it's possible that Collins drew her games ideas from Battle Royale. It's in Japanese with English subtitles. Normally, I don't like foreign films, but this one wasn't bad. It had its horrible moments, but also some that were very good. Lots of the violence was on the order of Quinton Tarantino, all enacted from one teenager upon another. It's not worth it to me to watch the second one; I get the point of the possible Hunger Games plagarism.
                                      CHRIS

                                      Well, we're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley.
                                      - Pleasantville

                                      Comment

                                      • aud19
                                        Twin Moderator Emeritus
                                        • Aug 2003
                                        • 16706

                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by bigburner
                                        This is a deliciously dark film in my opinion, and a big improvement on the first one which didn't make much impact on me.

                                        Nigel.
                                        Agreed. We watched this on Saturday and this one felt like it had more "meat on it's bones". Also at a loss as to how you felt it ran out of steam Chris? The credits started rolling and I felt like there should have been 1/2 hour more based on seeing the runtime ahead of watching. Sure enough I looked at the clock and it really was that late! :lol:

                                        I was also largely watching the second out of curiosity more than anything else but I think they've got me hooked now.
                                        Jason

                                        Comment

                                        • Chris D
                                          Moderator Emeritus
                                          • Dec 2000
                                          • 16877

                                          #21
                                          Huh... interesting. Well, I'm occasionally off-base on my taste so it's certainly possible I could be wrong about this one.

                                          Am I the only one that thought it fell short of the first one, and that the final shot of Katniss' eyes morphing in inner struggles, was overly-dramatic and uber-cheesy?

                                          I'm hopeful for the third (and 3.5), but do think they'll have to correct the styling to match the amazing story potential that just started at the end of 2.
                                          CHRIS

                                          Well, we're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley.
                                          - Pleasantville

                                          Comment

                                          • impala454
                                            Ultra Senior Member
                                            • Oct 2007
                                            • 3814

                                            #22
                                            I'd think the children's deathmatch concept wasn't invented in 1999 either. Short of googling around I'd bet it's a concept that's been around for a very long time. The thing to note is that the Hunger Games series is really not centered around the actual Hunger Games event. The opening story is, but that's more or less just an introduction into a much larger story, with the theme being about oppression & revolution.
                                            -Chuck

                                            Comment

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