The Hunger Games (2012)

Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to compete.

Director:

Gary Ross

Writers:

Gary Ross (screenplay), Suzanne Collins (screenplay),

Stars:

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 27 wins & 30 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stanley Tucci	...	Caesar Flickerman
Wes Bentley	...	Seneca Crane
Jennifer Lawrence	...	Katniss Everdeen
Willow Shields	...	Primrose Everdeen
Liam Hemsworth	...	Gale Hawthorne
Elizabeth Banks	...	Effie Trinket
Sandra Ellis Lafferty	...	Hob Vendor (as Sandra Lafferty)
Paula Malcomson	...	Katniss' Mother
Rhoda Griffis	...	Registration Woman
Sandino Moya	...	Propaganda Film Tribute (as Sandino Moya-Smith)
Josh Hutcherson	...	Peeta Mellark
Raiko Bowman	...	Peeta's Mother
Dwayne Boyd	...	Peacekeeper #1
Anthony Reynolds	...	Peacekeeper #2
Judd Lormand	...	Peacekeeper #3

Storyline

In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided between 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives.

---

Plot Keywords:

Game | Volunteer | Future | Dystopian | Teenager | 

---

Taglines:

The Games Will Change Everyone

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Lionsgate [us] Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 March 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los juegos del hambre

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$78,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$152,535,747 (USA) (23 March 2012)

Gross:

$407,999,255 (USA) (31 August 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Color Force

Technical Specs

Runtime:

142 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence, both natural blondes, dyed their hair brown for their roles in the film while Josh Hutcherson, naturally dark-haired, dyed his hair blond for his part.

---

Goofs

During the speech from an instructor before the tributes commence their training, Glimmer can be seen to have a pimple on her right cheek, near her chin. This is gone when she is on with Caesar Flickerman, but it could have been covered with makeup. When Katniss is chased up a tree, Glimmer can be seen without the pimple on her cheek, but she has one on her throat, right under her chin, where she didn't have one before. Then, when she laughs at Cato by the campfire, she has a pimple on her right cheek again.

---

Quotes

Clove: Where's lover boy? Oh, I see. You're gonna help him, right? Well, that's sweet. You know, its to bad you couldn't help your little friend. That little girl. What was her name again? Rue? Well, we killed her and now we're gonna kill you.

---

Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.114 (2012)
Jay mentions that the film is currently #1 at the box office

---

Soundtracks

"Sediment"
Written and Performed by Laurie Spiegel
Courtesy of Laurie Spiegel

User Reviews

A true game-changer for movies aimed at teens.

Let me start by saying that I'm a huge fan of the "The Hunger Games" book series by Suzanne Collins. I've read them countless times and when I found out they were making a movie of them a little over a year ago I was very excited. But I was also worried.

"The Hunger Games" is not very easy source material. The book is written in first person narrative with very detailed descriptions of everything form the characters' looks to the strange futuristic devices they use in Panem, the future version of the U.S. where the story takes place. I couldn't imagine that they would be able to convey every detail as I had imagined it and make the story believable without an R-rating or a huge budget. All of my concerns were wiped away when I saw the movie.

I've never seen a more faithful adaption of a book in my life. All of the costumes, the sets, the locations, the cast (I'll talk more about them in a while) and the pacing is as if they were exactly replicated from the book. And the small things that do differ or are added (such as more insight to the gamemakers' control room) only add to the amazing world Collins created and improve the narrative movie-wise. And the movie is great for people who haven't read the books as well. Not once did I feel as if something was vague or badly explained.

The cast is stellar. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss carries the movie and makes me regret complaining about her casting because she was too "hot" and not starved enough. She IS Katniss and one can feel the graveness of an situation just by looking at one of her expressions. Josh Hutcherson as Peeta is also a true breakout performance. The way he looks at Katniss will makes girls all over the world envy her, just like it's supposed to be. Other standouts in the cast include Stanley Tucci as the flamboyant talk-show host Caesar Flickerman, Woody Harrelson as the sarcastic but caring mentor Haymitch and Wes Bentley as the sinister game-maker Seneca Crane (his final scene might be the best one in the whole movie). The child actors Willow Shields and Amandla Stendberg who portrays Prim and Rue are believable and heartbreaking even though they're inexperienced.

Despite the PG-13 rating the movie doesn't gloss over or sugarcoat anything for their audience. The violence may not be gloriously graphic but it's still there. People will feel the tributes' pain and despair and not even realize the violence isn't gory until you've left the theater. The movie also deals with important themes like survival, governmental control, grief and helplessness. There is a minor love story subplot, but it doesn't distract from the movies main themes. In my opinion I think it rather improves them by showing some light in the dark.

The only complaint I can think of is that the movie feels too short. It's almost two and a half hours long, but it feels as if it goes by in a blink. I will have to see it again to fully pay attention to every detail (such as the costumes and animation of the Capitol, which looked amazing). But this is still not me saying that the movie is rushed, because as I stated the source material is very dense and the filmmakers managed include almost everything.

People are expecting this to become the next Twilight-style teen movie franchise. I can't say I think the two stories have anything in common even though I hope "The Hunger Games" will do as well at the box office. But if the first movie is any indication of the quality of what's to come - this will be a series way out of Twilight's league.