Hunger Games, one of the best books ever. Is the film worth it?

Over the last three days I started and finished the first in the series of Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins. I decided to pick them up as a couple of people had pointed them towards me a while ago, and seeing the movie is out and I have time over Easter. I couldnt put the my iPad (Kindle App) down. The book has great back story and brilliant imagery, also it helps that the story of teenagers hunting each other down is exciting and something that could not happen in current society. By half way through the book, I felt that I knew the main character Katniss and that I her during tense parts of the book.

BUT.

Yes there is a but. I no longer feel that I need to go see the film. I have heard that it is amazing but have stayed away from even the trailers as I didnt want to imagery formed from reading to be over written. This is not the first time this has happened either. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was ruined for my by watching the film after reading the books. Though Marvin was as I had pictured him in my head. Anyway I am partway through the second Hunger Games book Catching Fire, and was wondering if the movie is as amazing as people are making out, or should I wait until finishing all of the books and picking it up on bluray.

EDIT: I apologise for the ambiguous title of the post what I really waned to say (but couldnt fit it) was "Hunger Games, one of the best books I have read recently! Is the film as good as the book?". Also from reading your replies, Yes I Love Battle Royal and The Running man and recently watched both. I will admit that I tend to read a lot more non-fiction titles and guide books, but have read Lord of the Flies (Fuck you Piggy) and studied various Shakespeare plays and writings. I think Hunger Games is the latest book which I was able to enjoy as I agree it is fairly simple, but I think that is probably just my taste.

Rent Battle Royal if you haven't yet.

btw, if you have Amazon Prime, you can read all 3 Hunger Games books for free as they are part of the free Kindle checkout library feature for Prime members.

I came into say the same thing, The Hunger Games (movie and book) are safe, pedestrian looks on a concept, containing satire and social commentary that boils own to 'bad things are bad.'

Battle Royale is a sublime masterpiece, so there's that.

@mosdl: Kindle lending library only works if you have a kindle device and not an app. I was really annoyed to find that out.

@mosdl: That's only if he actually has a Kindle though. Lending library does not support devices that only run the app (iPad, Android tablet, PC/Mac, etc)

Haha.... I understand you enjoyed the book and that is great. You might want to read some more books before you just toss in the towel and hand it a trophy.

What do they call Hunger Games in Paris?

One of the best books ever? Jesus...

Anyway ignore all the silly geese recommending Battle Royale. Go watch Running Man 50 times and realise it remains the greatest ever adaptation of "People being forced to kill each other in some kind of tournament setting".

Is it the first book you've read?

THG is just a westernised Battle Royale and it shows, it's extremely tame to get mass market appeal and the film fails to strike you with any real awe or dread, which is silly considering how grim the situation in those books kind of is, the film just doesn't get that across. Battle Royale on the other hand...yikes, that film is depressing.

I think if The Hunger Games was given a more adult rating, then they could have depicted the situation much better. In the UK it's a 12A, lol.

Imagine if Terminator 2 was rated E for Everyone. Yeah.

The first Hunger Games book was pretty good, although nothing spectacular. Can't comment on the other two as I haven't read them yet. The film missed a lot of the things that the book was trying to convey and instead it actually does some things that the book criticized.

@James_Giant_Peach said:

One of the best books ever? Jesus...

Anyway ignore all the silly geese recommending Battle Royale. Go watch Running Man 50 times and realise it remains the greatest ever adaptation of "People being forced to kill each other in some kind of tournament setting".

Just watch Human Target then, that is the best action human hunting movie!

Battle Royale is incredibly overrated. I can't stress that enough. I don't know how it became a shining masterpiece after The Hunger Games surfaced (I guess its what makes you cool), but that movie has never been good. Well, maybe if you're into cheesy anime-type moments and really goofy, over-the-top characters that don't reflect humanity in the slightest.

Yup.

I'm gonna side with most others and say Hunger Games is nowhere near best book ever. I guess the only category it would ever win "Best Ever" in is "Best Book Titled The Hunger Games"

@TheHumanDove said:

Battle Royale is incredibly overrated. I can't stress that enough. I don't know how it became a shining masterpiece after The Hunger Games surfaced (I guess its what makes you cool), but that movie has never been good. Well, maybe if you're into cheesy anime-type moments and really goofy, over-the-top characters that don't reflect humanity in the slightest.

Yup.

and that's exactly how I imagine Battle Royale set out to be like. It gets across the severity of the situation much better than The Hunger Games does, so you should give it that. I think part of why people like that film so much is because of some of the goof.

maybe you haven't read many books *snark*

I'm a big fan of both the book and film, but I think calling it "the best books ever" means you don't read enough. :-) It's a great, light read, but it's not one of the best books ever. The movie is pretty faithful to the book in the way that the first two Harry Potter movies were close to the first two books, but there are always slight differences that are fine to overlook.

I understand what you're saying about not wanting to ruin the imagery in your mind, but I always can keep it separate. I still have my own vision as to how some of the characters look even after watching it. Similarly, after seeing The Last Airbender movie (AKA heep of poo), I don't let them change my vision of how the characters were supposed to look.

I think you should definitely give the movie a chance.

@Hunkulese said:

Is it the first book you've read?

I'll let you know when I see it tonight with my wife. We both just power-read all three books and are really looking forward to seeing what they do on the big-screen.

@VinceNotVance said:

@Tylea002 said:

I came into say the same thing, The Hunger Games (movie and book) are safe, pedestrian looks on a concept, containing satire and social commentary that boils own to 'bad things are bad.'

Pretty much. It really has to be. It is a teen novel, after all, so it's gotta be palatable for that audience. That's why the satire is so weak (I call it "high school worthy"), why Katniss is barely two-dimensional and unrealistically pure, and why there's an obvious love triangle shoe-horned in.

I agree with you except the part about Katniss, she's a developed character, especially by the third book

@Animasta: She may be, but my main complaint with the plot of the film is her purity, and how despite the complete fucked upitude of the situation, she's never forced to question her morals. Ever, because there are so many coincidences - the plot bends over backwards to allow her to survive with her consicence clear.

Doubtful that it's one of the best books ever, but if it's a favorite to you then the movie isn't bad so go see it, then come back & read other books (some great forum threads here on giantbomb with some other good books to read through).

I'm reading the first book now and it feels like it was written by someone in highschool.

One of? Try the best book ever. Of course you should see the film. One's hunger for more Hunger Games can never be satiated.

The term "best ever" is thrown around very loosely these days......

Dude....woof

So you never read lord of the flies I take it. Literacy at its best.

Yeah you should read more. Try Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, one of my favourites or Crime and Punishment. As far as watching a movie after reading the book I've never really had a problem with separating the two. If the movie is horrible I just keep it to the side and it doesn't change my image of the characters, if its good I just adopt the imagery.

@James_Giant_Peach said:

One of the best books ever? Jesus...

Anyway ignore all the silly geese recommending Battle Royale. Go watch Running Man 50 times and realise it remains the greatest ever adaptation of "People being forced to kill each other in some kind of tournament setting".

You should probably add "in a dystopian future setting" because stuff like Ben Hur, Spartacus, and Gladiator (or really any kind of gladiatorial focused film) kind of shit all over Running Man, which is already kind of a bad adaptation of the original Stephen King story.

Sorry hearing the words Hunger games and one of the best books ever is getting me upset. What are you talking about again?

@xaLieNxGrEyx said:

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Wow. You're a tremendous asshole. These books aren't the height of literature but making fun of people with Down Syndrome is disgusting. You're a credit to society.

And I thought ( post faulkner ) american literature was on the wane. Now I hear they are challenging the canon? fucking hell, sign me up!

Somewhere the ghost of Shakespeare is wailing.

That said, if you really fell in love with the books, you'll probably find the movies disappointing. They leave out a lot of the small details that make the characters interesting.

It's not exactly a classic of literature amirite?

I don't give a damn about this thread, I just wanted to insult your ridiculous title.

One of the best books ever? If you're trolling, you're pretty good at it.

@xaLieNxGrEyx said:

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I was going to say something similarly toned, but this is perfect.

@Vivek said:

Over the last three days I started and finished the first in the series of Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins. I couldnt put the my iPad (Kindle App) down.

lolwut? Three days and you couldn't put it down? The first book takes like six hours to read; you're telling fibs!

I thought the movie was good, and i haven't read the books...  so take that how you will.

Yes, you'll like it. It's exactly like the book.

Wow, some of you guys are pure assholes. I think I might have to take a break from this bullshit.

The movie is good enough. It misses on some things from the book that I wished were there and some parts seem to rush by missing out on their importance. However, I don't feel like it ruined the way I had imagined everything taking place while reading the book, and there were actually a couple scenes that I felt they represented better than how I had pictured it. I mainly went because the gf wanted to see it really badly, but since you liked the book you should give it a shot. It's fairly entertaining as far as movies go.

@PrivateIronTFU said:

Yes, you'll like it. It's exactly like the book.

Wow, some of you guys are pure assholes. I think I might have to take a break from this bullshit.

People never cease to amaze me with how terrible their comments are. Wouldn't it be nice if people who didn't have anything to add to the actual topic just walked away sometimes?

Sigh... A guy can dream...

I read all of them, but man, you should seriously read more. Catching Fire in particular is fairly weak.

Anyway, the film is fine, but certainly nowhere near as entertaining as the books. While Jennifer Lawrence is a good actress and a convincing Katniss (she essentially played the same role in Winter's Bone), other characters are treated with less care. Rue's scenes are far too brief, for example, and Josh Hutcherson is positively annoying as Peeta.

Still, the film provides behind the scenes information that the books lack, because they are told solely from Katniss's perspective. A break from this form of storytelling allowed the film makers to give us some cool scenes with President Snow, for example, who only utters a handful of words in the first book.

Also, Battle Royale is a piece of shit. Yeah I said it, suck it bitches!

The movie was pretty good, but I'm gonna be showing my girlfriend this for the first time over this Easter weekend, you know, to celebrate Zombie Jesus Day.

@Fattony12000: FUCK RUNNING MAN THE BOOK WAS BETTER

@Animasta: Books are for nerds. Videogames are the new hotness.

I never read the books and had little desire to see Hunger Games but I had a babysitter and there was nothing else to see. It was alright.
 
Much like Battle Royale it was entertaining but nothing mind-blowing. 

If you liked the hunger games I reccommend reading the Maze Runner. It basically the same premise, but the main protagonist is a guy. Overall the maze runner is a better book in my opinion.

@xaLieNxGrEyx said:

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Hunger Games, one of the best books ever.

Ballsy statement sir, ballsy statement.

"Hunger Games, one of the best books ever". Ok. Compared to what?