# The Hunger Games - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9138[/img] *Title: The Hunger Games
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Stanley Tucci, Josh Hutcherson, Donald Sutherland
Directed by: Gary Ross
Written by: Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 140 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: August 18th, 2012* 
*Movie:* :3.5stars:
*Video:* :4.5stars:
*Audio:* :5stars: 
*Extras:* :4stars: 
*HTS Overall Score:*88.5




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9139[/img]*Summary*

It seems like every time I turn around ANOTHER tween book is being made into a movie. Ever since the success of the Harry Potter franchise we’ve been inundated with a wave of them. “Hunger Games” is the next in the line of book to movie adaptations ripe for young girls and boys to come swarming to the theater to see. I personally have never read the books, but my lovely wife has devoured them and is a constant source of information on what tween books have done right and wrong in their adaptation. Since I haven’t read the books I was fairly comfortable going into this review in an unbiased manner with no previous misconceptions or bias besides the fact that it was based off of a popular trilogy of books. 

“Hunger Games” is set in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic, United States. It seems that 74 years or so prior to the movie there was a great civil war where many of the people rose up against the government and started a long and bloody conflict. In time the government won, but not until both sides had suffered heavy losses. As a penance the people where separated into 12 districts and required that each year one boy and one girl from each district are chosen through a lottery to compete in a “memorial” called the Hunger Games. This Hunger Games is no normal display of athletic prowess but rather a fight to the death, a way to give the people hope of a victor but still punish them and keep them under the watchful eye of the government. Each district is spread out and numbered in order of distance from the capital. As the districts go up in number the poorer and poorer they are the farther they are from the Capital. 

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is a young girl living in district 12. Having lost her father at a young age she has had to take care of both her mother and her younger sister Primrose. Unfortunately for her, this year Primrose has the “luck” of being chosen to be in the upcoming hunger games. Knowing that Primrose won’t have a chance Katniss does what has never been done. She volunteers to take her sister’s place. Along with her male counterpart, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), she’s taken to the capital city where she is to be trained for the games. Once the games begin it’s an all-out brutal war to survive, but until then they have to “market” themselves to the rich and snobbish elite in the Capital, vying for endorsements that can save their life in the arena. Once in the arena, it’s every man and woman for himself, until Katniss decides to make some changes in the way the game is played……

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9140[/img]Sounds exciting and a great romp in theory. Unfortunately for the viewer much of this story isn’t TOLD per se, but rather implied. Sidelong glances, symbols that aren’t explained, and cryptic phrases push the story along at a breakneck pace leaving the viewer to sit back and go “huh???” much of the time. I had to constantly push the pause button, look at my wife and ask her why people were doing certain things or why a certain symbol seemed to be such a big deal when it isn’t explained. I understand that this was taken from a very large book and things needed to be cut out, but disappointingly much of the explanations of things IN the movie were cut out as well. The rest of the story went very well though, had it not been for lack of explanation on certain events I would have rated the narrative much higher. My other complaint had to be the lack of emotional resonance with everyone but a select few. I found that the people NOT involved in the arena were much more fleshed out than the people INSIDE the arena. Woody Harrelson, as their mentor Haymitch, was brilliant and easily one of the best characters in the movie. Lenny Kravitch played Cinna so well that I almost couldn’t tell it was Lenny. Stanley Tucci is incredible as ever playing an over the top announcer for the Hunger games, a character so bizarrely twisted that you both hate and love him at the same time. Even Elizabeth Banks stepped out of her comfort zone and played a dolled up version of Dolores Umbridge from the Potter universe to a tee. However, the characters INSIDE the arena, the other contestants, were over clichéd and under developed. There are scenes where it’s very obvious that we’re supposed to care about different combatants deaths, but I found myself asking the question, “why am I supposed to care about this one again”? So much of the battles just felt lifeless and dull. A hollow “shell” so to speak. Personally I felt that with more fleshing out of the characters we could have had so much more on an emotional impact than what was imparted on us in this film. 

As much as I felt the storyline could have used some fine tuning I did find a lot of enjoyment in the symbolism that was used. Everything from the decadent lifestyles of the rich, the wildly gaudy hair styles and addiction to ludicrous “fashion”, down to the abject poverty of the working class reminds me very much of French culture before their revolution. While the exploitation of the poor by tyrannical governments is nothing new every little subtle queue and dress just reeked of 17th century France before the great revolution occurred. Even the houses and dress of the working class had a very “French Countryside” feel to it. 

While I’m sure I sound like someone who’s saying “the book is better” I went in without any knowledge of the books plotline besides the basics and came out wishing there was a director’s cut of the film to flesh out some of points instead of relying of previous knowledge of the books to completely understand what’s going on around us. Overall an enjoyable movie and in the “tween book to movie adaption” realm one of the better ones I’ve seen (I’m looking at you Twilight). 



*Rating:* 

Rated PG-13 for intense violent thematic material and disturbing images - all involving teens



*Video* :4.5stars:

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9141[/img] Lionsgate pictures gives us a fairly fantastic 2.40:1 AVC transfer of "The Hunger Games". It's gone through a few unique color grading and filtering ticks on the ole tweak machine, mainly relating to Katniss' home and the outdoor arena. When home the color grading goes to a bleak and drab grey hue, while the outdoor arena scenes are dominated by hues of green and blue. Detail is fantastic, especially close ups. Several times (much to my wife's annoyance) I was caught pausing the film just to look at the incredible facial detail on Jennifer Lawrence face. Colors were bright and rich with PLENTY of saturation, ranging from drab greys and mild greens in Katniss' community all the way up to every single color the rainbow could ever imagine once we get to the Capital. However when faced with shaky cam material a lot of the fine detail can be obscured due to not being able to actually FOCUS on what's going on around you. The final irritation would be the the occaisonal close up that was literally swarming with digital noise. we'd switch from a scene that's as crisp and clear as can be to an extreme close up of Katniss that would be dancing with noise. Don't get me wrong, this issues are mostly an irritant to my OCD nature rather than a large visual distraction from an otherwise pristine picture. Overall I'd say Lionsgate did an extremely faithful job of bringing this to the home market. 







*Audio* :5stars:

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9142[/img] Audio wise, the movie is just about FLAWLESS! Dialogue is smooth and clear without any distortion or overshadowing by the rest of the track. Voices are distinct and well balanced. You can hear Katniss whisper right up to Peeta's ear or hear here screaming over a friend's death perfectly without the need to jack up the audio or crank it down due to uncomfortable recording levels. Surrounds are incredible, birds chirp right over your shoulders and I swear several times that an arrow nearly missed my OWN head by about an inch! LFE, oh you beautiful beautiful thing, what can I say about you. LFE was DEEEEEEP and rich. LOTS of sub 20hz material here boys and girls. Landing ships rumbled so deep and low that I could feel some of the hairs on my arm raising during a few scenes. LFE was used frequently but also appropriately. Instead of a non stop sonic LFE attack there were quite a few scenes where the only LFE was small thud or bang from a cannon and then we would attacked by an entire 5 minutes of Katniss running from a raging forest fire that literally made my subs cry for mercy. Score was simple and beautiful, almost to the point of not noticing it, but in a good way. it wound it's way throughout the film lightly dancing around without ever becoming intrusive but still drawing the viewer into the feeling of the story. 



[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9143[/img]*Extras:* :4stars:

• Metabeam Smart Remote
• BD Touch
• DTS-HD Master Audio Sound Check
• The World is Watching: Making The Hunger Games 
• Game Maker: Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games Phenomenon
• Letters from the Rose Garden
• Controlling the Games
• A Conversation with Gary Ross and Elvis Mitchell
• Preparing for the Games: A Director's Process 
• Propaganda Film
• Marketing Gallery



*Overall:* :4.5stars:

I have mixed feelings about "The Hunger Games". On the story side I felt like there was just so much more that could have been done with it that wasn't. After viewing I was left feeling that we had the framework for an excellent movie, but instead we're plagued with several "tween" moments and a lack of "filling" that would have completed it. However It was still an enjoyable watch and coupled with it's enormous fan base I can see the other two books being made into movies which can hopefully flesh out some of the awkward and confusing moments of the film. Being that we have another new demo quality audio/video presentation I forsee this disc spinning in many homes for quite some time to come. Whether it has the staying power of Harry Potter or will fade like Twilight is yet to be seen, but either way I give it a good solid thumbs up for entertainment value alone and recommend a solid rental.


*Recommendation: Rent It!​*


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## GoNoles

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

I watched this last night, and as someone that has not read the books, I enjoyed it (wife did too). I thought it could have maybe trimmed a few mins, but the PQ was excellent. Can't comment on the AQ, I rented it and it was another title where Lionsgate left the renters without lossless audio....

:rant:


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## tonyvdb

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

I enjoyed it also, I did find it a bit disjointed at the beginning but as the movie progressed it flowed smoothly. There was some touching moments as well and really helped to develop a personal relationship with the caricatures. I have never been a fan of the hand held camera look with all the shaky movement. It makes it distracting and not helpful to the story at all. there was some good deep low end but as the soundtrack was mostly ambient sounds it was not the best Ive heard.


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## ALMFamily

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

Thanks for the review Mike! :T

I, on the other hand, did read the books. And, I quite agree - there was so much more that could have been done to flesh out the characters. However, Harrelson was probably the best choice for Haymitch IMO - he plays that type of character extremely well......


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## Mike Edwards

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*



ALMFamily said:


> Thanks for the review Mike! :T
> 
> I, on the other hand, did read the books. And, I quite agree - there was so much more that could have been done to flesh out the characters. However, Harrelson was probably the best choice for Haymitch IMO - he plays that type of character extremely well......


agreed, Harrelson was my favorite character in the movie. I thought he did an excellent Job.


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## KGBSteve

Great review mike, nice bit of writing. Harrelson and Kravitz did bang up jobs playing their characters.


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## JBrax

I enjoyed this movie and agree that Harrelson was the star. Also found the audio to be excellent. The fire scene in the forrest had my sub huffing and puffing. Thanks for the spot on review Mike.


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## Infrasonic

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

Thanks for the review, I also enjoyed the movie. I didn't know much about the story going into it and figured it would be similar to the Twilight films with bad writing and characters that I don't care about but I was pleasantly surprised.

Even at over 2 hours parts of the film felt rushed and could have used some explanation but it didn't impact my enjoyment of the film. On the audio side it was a treat; from the environmental effects to waves of very low LFE in some scenes they did a great job with the mix.

After watching the movie I was surprised to find out it had nothing to do with the Japanese Battle Royale released in 2000. I saw that movie years ago and enjoyed it, too bad it seems Suzanne Collins "borrowed" a lot of the ideas from that previous book and movie.


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## ozar

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

Great movie... better than I was expecting it to be, so I've added this one to my personal collection!


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## sub_crazy

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*



GoNoles said:


> I watched this last night, and as someone that has not read the books, I enjoyed it (wife did too). I thought it could have maybe trimmed a few mins, but the PQ was excellent. Can't comment on the AQ, I rented it and it was another title where Lionsgate left the renters without lossless audio....
> 
> :rant:


No Lossless Audio if I rent.....NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :sad:

Do you guys think the audio is good enough for a purchase? I have stopped buying movies as they are watched once and never watched again but am a lossless audio snob. What to do, what to do :dontknow:


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## Dwight Angus

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

Watched this yesterday. I enjoyed it though there were some segments that were disjointed.


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## nova

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

I enjoyed this one as well even though it did not live up to all the hype surrounding it's release.


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## Dale Rasco

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

I gotta say that I was very pleasantly surprised by this one. I really thought it was going to be another Twilight type of thing. Spot on review Mike!


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## sparkymt

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

I seem to be missing out on all of these "hype" movies. I still have not seen Avatar. Maybe I'll give this movie a whirl. Thanks for the review.


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## kstich

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

I watched the movie in the theatre. I was a little underwhelmed. I then read the book and was very surprised how much better the books were (just finishing the third). There was so much material in the book that wasn't covered, which is usual. I have now bought the blu-ray and watched it this weekend. It was much better the second time, all around more enjoyable. The blu-ray audio and video quality are excellent. I had hoped there would be an extended version but the director seems to have made it clear there will not be. Maybe when all three (actually four) movies are released as a box set...


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## Angeldawn5

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

Thanks for the review. I still have about 250 blu's in the collection that haven't been watched yet, so I can't decide if it's worth it to pick up now or better to wait until it's down to $10 or so. Black Friday, maybe?


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## jweed

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

Thanks for the reviews. Sounds like it is one I need to see, but not a movie I need to purchase for the collection.


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## kstich

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

It's a good movie to have in the collection if you are a fan of either the franchise or lossless audio.


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## paulster

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

The DD audio on the rental was pretty impressive in itself, so I think I'll grab a copy to stick in the library when the price drops a little and I can get the lossless audio then.


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## bluemax_1

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

I found the movie fairly entertaining, but will concur with the poster about the shaky cam. Directors seriously need to get off that horse already (hmm... maybe they were filming off the back of a trotting horse?). When 2 people are sitting on a bed in quiet conversation, there is NO reason for the camera to be shaking all over the place! It might be barely tolerable on a 12" video monitor but it is nauseating on anything with a viewing angle from 1.5 screen widths or larger. Whoever directed the Bourne movies did the same thing, people sitting still around a conference table and somehow, the cameraman is in the middle of a 5.7 earthquake.

Fortunately, in Hunger Games, after the first 20-30 minutes, they handed the camera to someone not suffering from severe hypothermia. I doubt I could have finished the movie otherwise as I would have been severely motion sick.

The audio on the other hand exhibited an example of some of the best subtle use of powerful infrasonics to heighten drama (as opposed to the typical usage to amplify action).



Max


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## JQueen

I watched it the 28th and was not a huge fan ..I agree with the camera shaking in the beginning had my head spinning it seemed to be a bit slow in the beginning and was hoping for a little more action and was very predictable


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## pharoah

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

ive been thinking about getting this one.seems like it has ups,and downs to it.


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## wgmontgomery

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*



sub_crazy said:


> No Lossless Audio if I rent.....NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :sad:
> 
> Do you guys think the audio is good enough for a purchase? I have stopped buying movies as they are watched once and never watched again but am a lossless audio snob. What to do, what to do :dontknow:


What's up with this? Why are they giving us "regular" DD 5.1 on the rental disc, but I see lossless 7.1 in the store? I'd bet that it's something encoded in the TOC. :scratch:


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## JBrax

Wow…really? So if you rent the BR somewhere you don't get the lossless audio? Hmm…are the studios trying to force those of us that like our high def sound to purchase instead of rent? That would be pretty messed up but also a very shrewd move.


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## Mike Edwards

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

that's one of the theories. the other theory is that rental copies are on 25 gig discs while the retail version is on a 50 gig disc. to cut space they slash out all the special features and downgrade the audio to save room and cram it on one 25 gig disc for cost purposes. 

In all reality It's probably a mixture of both theories


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## paulster

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

Okay, so I haven't tried the purchased disc with the lossless audio yet (I am going to get around to buying it though), but even the DD audio on the rental is really, really impressive. I wouldn't not rent it just for that reason.

And it's got to help prevent piracy, which is one of their (legitimate) concerns now that rent, rip and return is so prevalent.


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## HTuser

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

Surprised to see that there is a difference between rented and retail versions.

Is it applicable other movies as well?


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## sub_crazy

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*



HTuser said:


> Surprised to see that there is a difference between rented and retail versions.
> 
> Is it applicable other movies as well?


The only other movie I remember was RED with Bruce Willis only having DD track, I was disappointed in the soundtrack that a friend just gushed over. After talking to him he told me that the rented version only had DD, that is why he bought it for the loss-less audio track. 

I am sure there are others, that is just the one I recall.


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## wgmontgomery

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

I understand not putting the special features on a rental disc, but there is NO excuse for omitting lossless audio. _If_ it is a matter of space (I'll check the next disc that I rent), they _could_ remove the 10 minutes of "previews" to make space. :scratch:


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## bluemax_1

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*



wgmontgomery said:


> I understand not putting the special features on a rental disc, but there is NO excuse for omitting lossless audio. _If_ it is a matter of space (I'll check the next disc that I rent), they _could_ remove the 10 minutes of "previews" to make space. :scratch:


Unfortunately, the almighty dollar is the bottom line here. Using 25GB instead of 50GB discs saves them money, the trailers and previews potentially peak interest generating more revenue, inducing people to BUY the disc for lossless audio also generates more revenue. Removing the trailers and previews to include lossless audio gains them nothing.

I don't use Netflix or Blockbuster (or Redbox), but I've heard that the lack of lossless audio is pretty common these days. Fortunately, the chain currently closest to me (Family Video) purchases retail copies of the movies, meaning they have the lossless audio tracks plus all the extras. When popularity and rental demand dies down, they offer them for sale at pretty decent discounts, but the important part is that the rentals all have the retail audio tracks.


Max


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## wgmontgomery

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*



bluemax_1 said:


> Unfortunately, the almighty dollar is the bottom line here. Using 25GB instead of 50GB discs saves them money, the trailers and previews potentially peak interest generating more revenue, inducing people to BUY the disc for lossless audio also generates more revenue. Removing the trailers and previews to include lossless audio gains them nothing.
> 
> 
> Max


Your assessment is dead-on, but I _can_ hope that more studios do NOT follow the path of omitting lossless audio from the rental discs.


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## bluemax_1

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*



wgmontgomery said:


> Your assessment is dead-on, but I _can_ hope that more studios do NOT follow the path of omitting lossless audio from the rental discs.


We can certainly hope, but I don't see too much encouragement for them to alter their business practices.

I actually thought about the potential possibilities when I first heard about it. Folks buying BDs more often for the lossless tracks = encouragement to continue what they're doing.

The only reason for them to change their practices would be a loss of revenue from a significant drop in rentals (and the subsequent decline in places getting the rental-lite copies) WITHOUT any increase in BD sales.

An increase in Video-On-Demand usage is no encouragement to the industry to change as they won't even have the cost of physical media. The end-user pays for the viewing rights AND bandwidth.


Max


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## munozoga22

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

I think the movie aimed at being politically correct at all times. That hurt the final result in a big way. Casting was off; sad to see Stanley Tucci in such a stupid role. This was a wasted opportunity.


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## BD55

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-Ray Review*

I'm not sure what I expected when I saw this last night with my wife. I guess reading the books first, as typical with most book-to-movie adaptations, gives you a preconceived notion of how things should look and feel. Overall, I liked the movie, the soundtrack was great. Intense and focused at times and subtle while not being lost at others. The cinematography was interesting; muted tones and shaky camera work in places changed to brilliant, over saturated colors and smooth action.


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## kingnoob

*Re: Hunger Games - Blu-ray Review*

Actors were the weak point in this movie character Katniss Everdeen did play her part well., id rate it 80/100
Very good movie, I do not want to give away any of the movie. But I will say it is a Great story and is very truthful too what might happen during a large food shortage...were rich people rule everything and own all the food sources.


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## tripplej

I saw this movie last night on amazon prime.. I enjoyed the movie and both my subs came to life at various points in the movie when the hover craft appeared. 

I didn't read the book but I wish at the end, when they crowned the winners, or in the interview part, the main characters instead of following the rules just came out and said this killing game was useless and not warranted or something to that effect and for the various regions to revolt against this so called game.. But, alas they didn't but it would have been nice just to see the leader faces and then the movie cut off. What a cliff hanger then..


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