who thought that the book was better than movie?

[kate hutcherson]

i thought the book was better because in the movie, when she rested in the trees, she was sitting there. and in the book it showed her thoughts

[pagy]

Book was better in the way books usually are better than their film adaptations. There is more time for the characters to develop in a book which gets the reader much more invested in the story than a film ever can. I really liked the film but obviously they could not do a straight rip from the book as it is told in the first person by Katniss and that would not work on film. They did a wonderful job though, I thought, of capturing the essence of the book and put in some really nice touchs with the necessary 3rd person narrative.

[Thoma]

^ that, there is so much more emotion in a book

[Soldier Andy]

Book was better in the way books usually are better than their film adaptations. There is more time for the characters to develop in a book which gets the reader much more invested in the story than a film ever can. I really liked the film but obviously they could not do a straight rip from the book as it is told in the first person by Katniss and that would not work on film. They did a wonderful job though, I thought, of capturing the essence of the book and put in some really nice touchs with the necessary 3rd person narrative.

I think you are correct, books are almost always better than movies. I too liked the 3rd person development in the movie, but if I have to choose I would stick with the book.

[11thHeaven]

I preferred the film, although I did see it before reading the book. I prefer how Katniss/Peeta's relationship was done onscreen.

[Hijacked]

The books ARE better than the films, but this is because it's a different medium. In books you have time to explore, explain and develop story lines and characters. You don't have time to do that in a film.

BUT, I love the film. I think it's great as a film and has all the necessary elements from the books, plus the acting is fantastic.

[22nathancarlos]

Books will always have the advantage over films as we are spoon fed the characters thoughts and feelings. In movie format we lose the personal connection to the characters, it takes a brilliant actor/actress to portray the same emotions without the use of dialogue. It also recquires the audience to read between the lines, something most movie-goers don't know how to do, as they expect to sit back and be entertained. I think this is the reason a lot of casual movie fans dismiss certain films as being 'rubbish' and 'nothing happens'.

Anyway... having said all that I thought the book translated to screen really well. I've read books that have had such disappointing movie adaptions in the past, but the Hunger Games series is (so far) well on track and stays faithful to the novel counterpart.

[Hijacked]

Books will always have the advantage over films as we are spoon fed the characters thoughts and feelings. In movie format we lose the personal connection to the characters, it takes a brilliant actor/actress to portray the same emotions without the use of dialogue. It also recquires the audience to read between the lines, something most movie-goers don't know how to do, as they expect to sit back and be entertained. I think this is the reason a lot of casual movie fans dismiss certain films as being 'rubbish' and 'nothing happens'.

Anyway... having said all that I thought the book translated to screen really well. I've read books that have had such disappointing movie adaptions in the past, but the Hunger Games series is (so far) well on track and stays faithful to the novel counterpart.

Agreed!

I actually really hope they do the next two films really well. They start to get heavier, darker, more serious...and though I loved the first film it seemed like the violence, sadness and blood was really watered down. Katniss gets depressed, people get hurt physically and mentally- that's going to be the really challenging part but if they do it right it's going to be great.
In The Hunger Games film, I wanted Peeta and Katniss to look dirtier and more injured at the end of the Games. But never mind it was still great!

[Mhirnatsu]

Truthfully, I don't think the books and the movie are even on the same level. There were too many things that didn't get developed in the movie like they were in books.

There were two things I liked better in the movie. One, is the reaction to Rue's death in district 11. The second was just how well they depicted Peeta's camouflage skills.

That being said, the movie was good enough that I will see the sequel when it comes out.

[Graphite_Fuser]

One thing I didn't like about the movie, was the way they changed the order in which people got killed. There's a whole sequence of events, from the Tracker Jacker Drop, to the standoff of Thresh, Clove, and Katniss at the Feast, to Cato killing Thresh to recapture his body armor, that is completely out of order. The climactic showdown atop the Cornucopia becomes nonsensical. Cato has suffered severe facial wounds and is soaked in blood. But we hear Thresh getting killed offscreen, by growling Muttations that Cato has not fought.

In interviews, Alexander Ludwig, who plays Cato, said he worked hard at making Cato's motivations come out in this scene, and I think he succeeds in making Cato a Willie Loman-type figure (from Death of a Salesman by playwright Arthur Miller), someone who squandered his entire life pursuing the wrong values and now faces death with only a legacy of wrongs, to leave behind. I think this helped humanize Cato, showing us the complex side of him that Peeta successfully found and worked, to keep all the Careers hunting Katniss in the wrong places for 3 days. (In the book, Katniss only sees Cato as a raging maniac, jealous that the Gamemakers gave her an 11 and him only a 10). But it still leaves the nagging question, "If Cato and Thresh didn't fight, and Cato was camped out on top of the Cornucopia and safe from the Mutts, how did he end up covered in his own blood?"

If the new director does a better job with Catching Fire, I think this scene will be viewed by folks who buy both DVDs, as part of an amateurish effort that built an audience, who deserved something more faithful to the book, and got it. Director Gary Ross, in interviews, says the Lionsgate folks were mighty tight with money, which limited what he was able to do...so let's hope some of that $700 million in box office, pays for improved quality in Catching Fire, instead of new Lamborghinis for all the studio execs.