I bought the first book yesterday and am reading it now - I thought it would be far too dark for me to manage, but reading every spoiler I can lay my hands on, helps a lot, and sayings from the author that this really is about war and the effects of war (and not primarily about weird entertainment) is probably what made me decide to go for it. I'm about two-thirds into the first book, and I like it so far.

I like that (at least so far) the author doesn't wallow in gory details - I wonder if that will change in the movie or not. I very much wonder whether it's a good idea to allow the movie for 11 year olds, as has been the grading here in Norway. I think we graded Lord of the Rings for that age as well.

I haven't read the books myself, but I've absorbed some details...

Anyway, I ran across a fan photo-shoot today that looks quite spectacular. It almost makes me want to read the book.

Almost.

Huh, that's an interesting photo shoot, Mel. I enjoyed looking through it -- thanks for sharing! Effie Trinket was pretty awesome.

I'm bumping this thread back up because The Hunger Games comes out officially tonight at midnight. Thoughts? Comments? Excited sentiments? Do share.

I've seen it already, as it released on the 22nd here in Austria.
I haven't read the book previously.

I saw the movie last night - or early this morning, technically. First ever midnight showing!

Thoughts, spoilered for your convenience:

Well, that's more than i thought i could say; i'm not good at getting my thoughts down, especially after only seeing it once. Maybe i'll have more later.

So, I saw the movie last night! I totally agree with the poster above that the camera work was really shaky and made it super hard for me to focus. My eyes don't do so well with that on the big screen so it got really disorienting at times. I'm sure once the movie is out on DVD it won't be so bad because smaller screens shouldn't make the shakiness as bad. But I wish they'd used a stable camera more.

The movie definitely has a different feel from the book, but that was inevitable since it would be almost impossible to translate Katniss's perspective to the big screen. So the movie is different, but I think it was done pretty much as well as it could have been. I thought the chariot scene and costumes were SPOT ON (the District 12 outfits were way better than I imagined; they were amazing); I just wish we could have seen more of the other tributes. I also loved Peeta's camouflage; I thought that would get dropped for sure and I loved how they did it. And Jen as Katniss; can't say much there. Her acting was incredible.

A couple things that I noticed that were changed/left out that make me curious as to how Catching Fire will be adapted:

I know there's more but that's all I could think of off the top of my head.

A couple things that I noticed that were changed/left out that make me curious as to how Catching Fire will be adapted:

Spoiler

3. Not a whisper of a mention of District 13. I know they still have plenty of time to set this up, but seems like they could have put a small mention of it in there.

Neat photo shoot, Mel! Though, I think it may've been responsible for the computer virus I got the other day.

Arwenel: Also, it was my first midnight showing, too! Quite interesting (I'm not a night owl, so I'm still not entirely sure why I said, "A midnight showing for the Hunger Games? Sure!" when my sister asked; also, long lines are not my thing---we were all the way around the back of the building---but some friends were actually right ahead of us, so it ended up being kind of fun), but I'm not sure if I fully processed the film. Of course, it didn't help that the girls next to me kept talking all through it, and during
About Gymmie's above comments:
How packed were the theaters for you all? They only had one showing when my sister purchased the tickets a few weeks before, but by Wednesday they had three showings listed, and on Thursday they had five. When they let us in, they told us to just go to any of the theaters but three (which I presume was where late showings of other films were still going on), and open seats were pretty scattered.
Also, how'd the overall reactions for the film seem to go? I was a bit surprised when people cheered during
Overall, I liked the film pretty well and am excited to see how they proceed for the next two (and I'm hoping that they do proceed---it seems to have done well though I haven't seen any numbers yet).

It was pretty crowded at my theater - we had a hard time finding four seats together, and there were at least four theaters within that theater complex devoted to it.

There were clearly a number of people who hadn't read the books -

There was some crying - i can't remember when, off-hand. And there was a good bit of applause when the movie ended.

I saw the fim at midnight Friday!!!! I was first in line! Showing up at 6 am I waited 18 hours! (I skipped school...shh ) All the people close got a Katniss poster and it was really cool!!!

but...fantastic fantastic fantastic movie! (Effie Pun intended)

I really liked it too. Peeta's actor had his sense of humor down pat.

Wifester and I went to see the movie this past Monday, and I have to say I was greatly pleased with it. The film is very faithful to the novel and I felt that the actor portrayals were quite good. Casting was excellent: Jennifer Lawrence is Katniss Everdeen and I felt that Elizabeth Banks (Effie) and Woody Harrelson (Haymitch) were excellent at their jobs. Lenny Kravitz was an inspired choice for the part of Cinna, something I'm sure that more than a few people here were really worried about *coughRiellacough*

Of course a narrative shortcut was taken here and there for purposes of streamlining the movie a little bit but nothing major. The movie starts a little slow but by the time of Reaping things pick up speed considerably, and the entire time the Games are going the pace never lets up. The film is just as tense as the book is. I was clutching my armrests in the movie theater for a goodly portion of the festivities.

If THG falters in any one area it is in lack of character development. This is always a hard thing to do when translating a book to a movie, but here it's absolutely critical that we understand Katniss' motives, Peeta's feelings for her, or Cinna's complicity in turning the tables on the Capitol. Katniss is the most developed character, of course, but none of the others really get enough screen time or exposition to really underscore what they're really about. We know that Peeta has feelings for Katniss, but because it's never really explored in depth the on-screen rendition of Peeta's feelings feel incidental more than heartfelt. Rue, a character who ultimately becomes of huge importance in the story (not to mention its sequels), is barely given enough screen time to really capitalize on the emotional aspect she provides for the plot. I really think that THG would have greatly benefitted from an additional 30 minutes of length, devoted entirely to character development. It would only help the whole movie, which by itself is a great movie, but could be made better.

Others have mentioned that the film wasn't as gory as the book. I would counter that when you don't see the atrocities happening but hear them on screen your imagination fills in the blanks for you well enough. It certainly did for me. If only the movie was just a little bit longer...oh well, perhaps when the special edition or Director's Cut comes out it'll benefit the movie just like the EE's did for LotR did. Other than that I thoroughly enjoyed the film and would love to go back and see it again. I will definitely be buying this movie when it comes out on DVD!

4 out of 5 stars

Lenny Kravitz was an inspired choice for the part of Cinna, something I'm sure that more than a few people here were really worried about *coughRiellacough*

Well, now that you've mentioned me by name (albeit, in a cough), I suppose I'll have to post.

For the record, I'm not nearly the only one who was worried about the casting choice of Cinna. In fact, I can think of at least 6 people who were even more worried about it than I was. (Although, I may have been a bit more vocal about it than they were, at the time. )

At first I was really worried about the casting choice. Especially since he didn't look at all how I pictured him when I read it. But then I realized looks aren't everything. As long as he nails the personality and heart of the character, the looks won't matter anyway. I had heard a lot about the actor's acting skills, and that gave me hope. I started to think that maybe he would do a very good job in the role, and I was excited to see him in the part. I gave it a good chance.

Now that it comes to it; now that clips, and the movie itself, has been released; now that I've actually seen how Lenny Kravitz has played Cinna, I have to say... I don't like it at all. And it has nothing to do with looks, or whether or not his appearance matches my mental image of Cinna. I'm not at all a fan of the way he played him, and I see nothing of the character I knew from the books in the character on the movie.

I'm looking forward to hearing what more people thought about which characters were done well and which ones weren't.

~Riella

I'm with Riella here. I didn't like it when he was cast, and I don't like it now. I wanted to give Lenny Kravitz a chance, but he disappointed me.

I agree also with Shadowlander about the emotional development. The Hunger Games, for me, was a riveting novel because it captured two things: Emotion and bloodshed. Emotion and bloodshed were two things that were largely missing from the film adaptation. So yes, the backpack was orange and the dress was blue; all the details of the book were there, but everything went so fast I was unable to relate to the characters. I didn't feel thrilled when Peeta admitted his love, and I didn't feel sad when characters died. I was detached, though not becuase of any of the performances.

I'm hoping the script for Catching Fire will be better, though. (And who is excited to see Finnick Odair cast?)

Acting was phenomenal, though, from Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss to Elizabeth Banks as Effie, to Isabelle Fuhrman as Clove, to Thresh...everyone was right on their mark. Major kudos to the casting director(s).

My favorite parts were the Reaping, the scene where Katniss shoots the pig, and Cato's monologue at the end.

I admit that I was not thrilled when Lenny Kravitz was cast, but I thought he did a good job in the movie. He had that very caring, giving side that Cinna had in the book. He was always looking out for Katniss; trying to help her as much as he could and giving her the support she needed. The scene of them in the launching room was phenomenal, I thought. Remember in CF, when Cinna said something to the effect of, "I always put my emotions into my work. It's safer that way and I don't hurt anyone but myself". He could have gotten Katniss involved in his plans, but he always arranged it so the blame would land squarely on his shoulders. I can see Lenny playing such a a self-sacrificial character in CF very well.

It's funny how some of the casting that I wasn't a big fan of to begin with has really pleased me in the end run. I was REALLY against Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, but I was blown away by his acting skills. I think people forget what a good actor he is based on some of the franchise movies he's chosen to do. But he definitely proved me wrong, and I'm thrilled with his portrayal. Liam Hemsworth as Gale was another casting choice I wasn't happy about. I didn't see enough of him in HG to figure out if I'm totally sold on him yet, but what I saw was good. He definitely has the looks and if he has the acting to go with it, CF and MJ will be very, very good movies.

And I don't even have to mention Jennifer...she *is* Katniss to me, especially since I pretty much knew she was going to play the part when I first read HG, so I already had her face in my head. Her acting is incredible and I can't wait to see her explore the character more.

I'm actually re-reading HG at the moment. While I miss some of the first-person narrative that the book is so heavy on, I have come to realize that one change that the movie has that annoys me slightly in the book is that Katniss does not come across as so self-absorbed and self-aware. I know that with a first-person narrative that Katniss "has" to comment on everything in order to educate the readers, but at times it crosses into annoying territory when you see how Katniss super-analyzes everything and just has it all figured out. In the movie, we get our exposition from viewpoints other than Katniss's, so she is allowed to SHOW us her reaction to something instead of tell us. I thought it improved her overall character and I'm interested to see how it develops over the next two or three movies.