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The Hunger Games (2012)

Trailer
1:34 | Trailer
Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.

Director:

Gary Ross

Writers:

Gary Ross (screenplay), Suzanne Collins (screenplay) | 2 more credits »
Popularity
184 ( 3)
Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 33 wins & 47 nominations. See more awards »

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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-Smith Sandino Moya-Smith ... Propaganda Film Tribute
Josh Hutcherson ... Peeta Mellark
Raiko Bowman ... Peeta's Mother
Dwayne Boyd ... Peacekeeper #1
Anthony Reynolds ... Peacekeeper #2
Judd Lormand ... Peacekeeper #3
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Storyline

In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided into 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' 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. Written by Suzanne Collins

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

The Games Will Change Everyone See more »


Certificate:

PG | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Panem is located in a post-apocalyptic North America whose land mass has been reduced by rising sea levels. It is generally agreed that the Capitol is in the Rocky Mountains, possibly Colorado, and that the District 12 town where Katniss grew up is somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains, possibly Kentucky or West Virginia. See more »

Goofs

When Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) points out the tracker jacker hive Katniss plans to cut down, Claudius Templesmith (Toby Jones) says, "Oh... those things are very lethal." Caesar continues immediately with, "Very. For those of you who don't know, tracker jackers are genetically engineered wasps, whose venom causes searing pain, powerful hallucinations, and in extreme cases, death." However, "very lethal" and "in extreme cases [can cause] death" are opposing statements. We see Katniss get stung several times when she cuts down the hive, but when Peeta finds her he tells her run (and she survives with no lasting effects); of the 5 people the hive falls on, only one dies after being unable to escape the swarm. Based on the evidence, it seems both Claudius and Caesar might have spoken incorrectly, with the tracker jackers being able to kill the way a swarm of bees, wasps or ants can kill in extreme cases. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Seneca Crane: I think it's our tradition. It comes out of a particularly painful part of our history...
Caesar Flickerman: Yes, yes.
Seneca Crane: ...but it's been the way we're able to heal.
See more »

Crazy Credits

The film opens with a worded passage about the history of the Hunger Games. In the last section, all of the text fades away except for the film's title. See more »

Alternate Versions

British theatrical version was cut for violence (sights of blood) to secure a more commercial 12 rating. The DVD includes the cut version, Blu-ray the uncut version (with a 15 rating). See more »

Connections

Referenced in Chelsea Lately: Episode #7.81 (2013) See more »

Soundtracks

Kingdom Come
Written by John Paul White and Joy Williams
Performed by The Civil Wars
Produced by T Bone Burnett
Courtesy of Sensibility Music/Republic Records
See more »

User Reviews

That which is old, is new again.
26 March 2012 | by BlueghostSee all my reviews

I guess I'm just not in sync with popular teenage culture, because I kind of liked this film, but, based on the number of negative user reviews, you'd think everyone would have dismissed this thing as the next "Gili". Well, it is a teenage action adventure romp that skews female, so there's bound to be some disappointment among young male audience members.

But, to the film. One wonders if Miss Collins, author of the series, ever read Frederic Brown, or watched classic Star Trek in the late 1960s or during its syndication run in the 70s and 80s, because the basic bulk of the story is taken right out of "Arena" (which also saw reincarnation via an issue of "Adam Strange" in Detective Comics). Which is okay, because it's not a clone of the story, but uses the basic plot and story written by Brown, and adds many young person and female flourishes to comment on contemporary TV watching habits, and societies' imperilment of becoming addicted to a certain type of bloodletting entertainment.

The film is nicely paced, and seems to be riding a fine line of trying to be edgy, real, and young person's fair all at the same time. I think it achieves this for the bulk of the audience whose dollars they're trying to capture, but the rough and tumble sci-fi gamer who is used to blood and gore via an online gaming server (and I'm talking pre-teen boys here) might probably get little impatient with it. But, the young ladies in tonight's audience, seemed to really connect with the film.

Some critiques here; in the original "Arena" we had Captain James T. Kirk pitted against a very fake looking intelligent lizard-captain, with the goal being for said starship captains to finish each other off in a "more civil" manner, as opposed to creating a mess in space via starship combat. In "Hunger Games" the main characters must fight for a dystopic world, again to avoid a messy war. And that's my biggest critique; the backstory, and the setting; because I didn't get a whole lot of logic to what exactly the Hunger Games represented. There seemed to be some kind of starvation component, but it really wasn't made clear in the film, just inferred that food might be in short supply. Yet one was hard pressed to see starving citizens, and with such lush green forests, one wonders why crops aren't planted to feed the people if food is indeed in such short supply. But, that's kind of the premise of the film, so you have to buy into it to really enjoy the film itself. This verse Kirk and the Gorn who were fighting over territory.

There's some symbolism going on in here. There's a hearkening back to ancient Greek heroes and gods, as well as an Asmodeus like TV producer calling the shots for the Hunger Games. Woody "let me tie up traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge some 12 years ago" Harrelson makes an appearance as an aged vet of the games (as I digress bitterly), who relays what wisdom and beneficence that he can to the selected champions of his district.

There's romance, there's intrigue, there's hand to hand combat, there's MTV like shaky-cam cinematography, some girlish moments, and even some pyrotechnics (a rarity for any film). In the original "Arena", or rather the Star Trek adaptation of Frederic Brown's short story, Shatner gave another sterling speech at the end to the Metrons who had been pulling his strings the entire time. "Hunger Games" does the same thing, only more cinematically, and, unlike my beloved Star Trek, does it with a female bent. Which is better, or which do I prefer? I'm not really sure. Being a starship and phaser kind of guy, you'd think I would lean towards Kirk and crew, but I think I kind of like Katniss's challenge at the end. Kirk uses a Prometheus like solution, where Katniss sticks true to Artemis' ways, even to her ultimate act of defiance to the TV producers and audience. I would ask anybody who reads this to watch Star Trek's "Arena", and compare Kirk yelling up at the sky near the end of the episode with Katniss's gesture and solution.

Technical notes; the editing is slow (thank goodness), and there're few jump cuts, which makes watching this film easy on the eyes. No digital cinematography here. This is pure film making. The costumes were interesting, and the makeup fell into the same category; trying to look appealing to young audiences while at the same time being edgy and flashy. All in all respectably shot.

Not a super sterling film, but, using recycled material from a variety of sci-fi sources, with a gripping narrative, and polishing the package with a pink female bow, makes the film an interesting watch.

Check it out.


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Frequently Asked Questions

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 March 2012 (Canada) See more »

Also Known As:

Hunger Games: Le film See more »

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Box Office

Budget:

$78,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$152,535,747, 25 March 2012

Gross USA:

$408,010,692

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$694,394,724
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Color Force See more »
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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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