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.
Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.
Director:
Francis Lawrence
Stars:
Jennifer Lawrence,
Josh Hutcherson,
Liam Hemsworth
Katniss Everdeen is in District 13 after she shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta and a nation moved by her courage.
Director:
Francis Lawrence
Stars:
Jennifer Lawrence,
Josh Hutcherson,
Liam Hemsworth
As the war of Panem escalates to the destruction of other districts, Katniss Everdeen, the reluctant leader of the rebellion, must bring together an army against President Snow, while all she holds dear hangs in the balance.
Director:
Francis Lawrence
Stars:
Jennifer Lawrence,
Josh Hutcherson,
Liam Hemsworth
Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his memory is erased, soon learning they're all trapped in a maze that will require him to join forces with fellow "runners" for a shot at escape.
Director:
Wes Ball
Stars:
Dylan O'Brien,
Kaya Scodelario,
Will Poulter
In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late.
A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Director:
James Cameron
Stars:
Sam Worthington,
Zoe Saldana,
Sigourney Weaver
The powerful but arrogant god Thor is cast out of Asgard to live amongst humans in Midgard (Earth), where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.
Director:
Kenneth Branagh
Stars:
Chris Hemsworth,
Anthony Hopkins,
Natalie Portman
A reluctant hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, sets out to the Lonely Mountain with a spirited group of dwarves to reclaim their mountain home - and the gold within it - from the dragon Smaug.
Director:
Peter Jackson
Stars:
Martin Freeman,
Ian McKellen,
Richard Armitage
When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy, shy, and awkward high school student gains spider-like abilities that he eventually must use to fight evil as a superhero after tragedy befalls his family.
Jack Sparrow races to recover the heart of Davy Jones to avoid enslaving his soul to Jones' service, as other friends and foes seek the heart for their own agenda as well.
Director:
Gore Verbinski
Stars:
Johnny Depp,
Orlando Bloom,
Keira Knightley
Captain Barbossa, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann must sail off the edge of the map, navigate treachery and betrayal, find Jack Sparrow, and make their final alliances for one last decisive battle.
Director:
Gore Verbinski
Stars:
Johnny Depp,
Orlando Bloom,
Keira Knightley
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
The fictional nation in the film is called Panem. This is derived from "Panem et Circenses," or "Bread and Circuses," which comes from the latter days of the Roman Empire, in which the government would keep the masses satisfied not by performing their public services well, but by providing violent and deadly entertainments for the people to watch, which is rather fitting for the subject matter of the film. See more »
Goofs
When Katniss is kind of hiding from the careers in the tree, Cato tries to climb after her. In one shot, you can see his right arm rising to grab a branch, where in the next shot, it is his left hand grabbing it before it breaks off. 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 »
It's a shame how one aspect can spoil the entire experience but that's what happened for me. Other reviewers have commented on the use of hand-held shaky-cam, fast-cut camera-work - none of them positively that I can find.
From the Trivia section on IMDb we read this one sentence:
---- The director has stated that his decision to go with shaky cam work, "had a lot to do with the urgency of what's going on and to reflect protagonist Katniss Everdeen's point of view." ----
There was nothing "urgent" about the first 2/3rds of the film. I'm glad I don't go around throwing my head from side-to-side in normal life, stressed or not. When are film-makers going to realise they are the only ones that truly like this type of camera-work? They sit there editing the film on their desktop monitors in an office but faithful movie-goers have to watch their "creativity" on 50ft+ screens, where every sudden jerk sideways is at best distracting, at worst nauseating. It doesn't convey urgency, it conveys amateurism. Enough already.
Hitchcock asked the composer Friedhofer, "where would the orchestra be?" when the latter wanted a string piece for a scene in "Lifeboat" The composer replied "The same place as the cameraman." We expect movies to have a soundtrack, and if the music is working properly, then we don't really notice it because it joins in with the visuals and enhances the scene. We are viewers of make-believe, sometimes realistic, often fantastical, and immersion into the world of the story is key to a satisfying movie-going experience. A camera being wiggled about on purpose draws attention to itself, and it shouldn't. This constant reminder of the presence of a, seemingly badly trained cameraman, is a real turn-off. Please stop it.
As far as the other aspects of the film were concerned, I found the narrative somewhat plodding, and the pre-games section of the film could have done with being 20-30mins shorter. I knew nothing about the books beforehand, so I'm of the opinion that this is perhaps one for the S.Collins enthusiast rather than the general movie-goer. Though if the other reviews are anything to go by, plenty of Collins' readers are not very pleased either!
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It's a shame how one aspect can spoil the entire experience but that's what happened for me. Other reviewers have commented on the use of hand-held shaky-cam, fast-cut camera-work - none of them positively that I can find.
From the Trivia section on IMDb we read this one sentence:
---- The director has stated that his decision to go with shaky cam work, "had a lot to do with the urgency of what's going on and to reflect protagonist Katniss Everdeen's point of view." ----
There was nothing "urgent" about the first 2/3rds of the film. I'm glad I don't go around throwing my head from side-to-side in normal life, stressed or not. When are film-makers going to realise they are the only ones that truly like this type of camera-work? They sit there editing the film on their desktop monitors in an office but faithful movie-goers have to watch their "creativity" on 50ft+ screens, where every sudden jerk sideways is at best distracting, at worst nauseating. It doesn't convey urgency, it conveys amateurism. Enough already.
Hitchcock asked the composer Friedhofer, "where would the orchestra be?" when the latter wanted a string piece for a scene in "Lifeboat" The composer replied "The same place as the cameraman." We expect movies to have a soundtrack, and if the music is working properly, then we don't really notice it because it joins in with the visuals and enhances the scene. We are viewers of make-believe, sometimes realistic, often fantastical, and immersion into the world of the story is key to a satisfying movie-going experience. A camera being wiggled about on purpose draws attention to itself, and it shouldn't. This constant reminder of the presence of a, seemingly badly trained cameraman, is a real turn-off. Please stop it.
As far as the other aspects of the film were concerned, I found the narrative somewhat plodding, and the pre-games section of the film could have done with being 20-30mins shorter. I knew nothing about the books beforehand, so I'm of the opinion that this is perhaps one for the S.Collins enthusiast rather than the general movie-goer. Though if the other reviews are anything to go by, plenty of Collins' readers are not very pleased either!