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The Hunger Games: 10 Differences Between the Movie & the Book
by John Hanlon
(11 of 10)
The Hunger Games has arrived in theaters. Starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, the movie is an adaptation of the first in a trilogy of books written by Suzanne Collins.
In adapting the book into a motion picture, it was inevitable that changes would be made: characters would be removed, dialogue would be edited out and certain scenes would be deleted. Fortunately, Collins - who has publicly praised the film - wrote the screenplay alongside director Gary Ross and writer Billy Ray (State of Play). With that in mind, The Hunger Games film captures much of the main story - but there are still numerous differences between the book and the movie, and we've come up with a list of 10 big differences between the two.
If we're missing any major differences, please let us know in the comments section, and as always, "may the odds be ever in your favor."
WARNING - THIS LIST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS ABOUT THE FILM.
In adapting the book into a motion picture, it was inevitable that changes would be made: characters would be removed, dialogue would be edited out and certain scenes would be deleted. Fortunately, Collins - who has publicly praised the film - wrote the screenplay alongside director Gary Ross and writer Billy Ray (State of Play). With that in mind, The Hunger Games film captures much of the main story - but there are still numerous differences between the book and the movie, and we've come up with a list of 10 big differences between the two.
If we're missing any major differences, please let us know in the comments section, and as always, "may the odds be ever in your favor."
WARNING - THIS LIST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS ABOUT THE FILM.
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was a little disappointed that the sleeping bag was left out, I know this is a minor part but in the book it’s what kept her and Peeta close in the cave, they really didn’t protrey then as being very much in love either. I did love the movie though.
The only thing that really bothered me about the movie is that they didn’t go into the mocking jay sign that everyone gives Katniss when she volunteered for her sister, or when Rue dies. I wanted them to go into that a little deeper. But hey that can be brought up more in the sequel. Don’t get me wrong. This is, by far, one of my favorite book-to-movie’s ever. There’s just always the little things that the book lovers will never be able to let go of lol
Hunger Games Movie Review
I went to Hunger Games at 12:01 the night it came out hoping it would be as good as the book. I thought it was pretty good but not quite as good as the book. In the book you get to know the the characters and their background a lot better and it told you a little bit more of their world that I thought was interesting. Other than that the movie didn’t have many other big differences but other minor details. The characters in the movie are mostly what I thought they would look like in the book.
Some of the little things that were different was that the gamekeeper had a bigger role in the movie. The Cornucopia was silver in the movie and gold in the book. Peeta and Katniss spent more time together in the book. The stuff Katniss had in her backpack during the hunger games was a little different. The time in the arena during the movie seemed compressed like it happened during a few days where in the book it was over two weeks. Something I liked better in the movie was that it showed how the gamekeepers messed with the arena, in the book it didn’t really say anything about it. In the book Prim had a goat that helped keep them alive before the Hunger Games. The pin Katniss got was a way different story of how she got it and the meaning of what it meant, the book did a better job. Also in the book it said that Rue looked like Prim and in the movie Rue was black. Not being racist but it said in the book that the reason Katness trusted Rue was because she looked like Prim. At the end of the Hunger games Katniss and Peeta are very injured, in the book Peeta even loses his leg and in the movie they just had a few scratches.
Overall the book was definitely better but the movie got the most important things and I would give Hunger Games the movie four out of five stars and one of the best movies I have ever seen.
Actually in the book Rue is described as having dark skin and eyes. She reminds Katniss of Prim in stature and because of how young she was. It says something along the lines of besides her skin she is very similar to Prim in size and demeanor.
I was also really disappointed in what they did with the Mockingjay pin. It doesn’t seem to be of big significance now, but it comes about in the later books and i’m curious to see how they will do that. In the book the mayor’s daughter gives it to her and I think it shows a kind of support that is shown later in the series. That’s just my opinion though. I think they could’ve done a better job with that.
well they do kill em off in the third book, i mean why cast em if they are only going to appear for a school scene that never made it and possibly a memory scene amounting to less then 2 minutes of screen time.
they did mention in the movie that prim has a goat, because katniss tells her that she can sell cheese from her goat when they say their goodbyes. and they also said that it was two weeks. before the training begins someone says, that in two weeks most of them are going to be dead. it did seem like a shorter time though, but i guess they had to do that to fit it into the movie.
and in the book they couldn’t tell anything about how the games are controlled by the game makers because it’s narrated by katniss in a third person and since she doesn’t know she can’t describe it in the book. i actually thought they should have left out a little more of that and instead used that screen time for more conversation between the characters.
well ands bren already wrote that rue is described as having dark skin and eyes. i did’t imagine her being black though. and i did think it was a little funny of the movie that only the capitol and district 11 seemed to have black ppl living there.
i did like the movie, too. but those little details that were so different from the book kept anoying me throughout the movie.
I just want to point out that the mockingjay pin is not just a minor detail. That pin was from Katniss’ mother’s bestfriend who is Madge’s(the mayor’s daughter) aunt. She was made a tribute the same time as Haymitch. There’s a lot more background story about the pin but I guess they dismissed it.
And Peeta’s father, although he’s just a minor character, is a major part of Katniss and Peeta’s relationship because Peeta’s father was in love with Katniss’ mother.
Real talk, if film makers want to make movies out of novels they have to plan ahead. Read the whole series and then discuss the most important aspects of every book.
Thank you the pin is one of the first things i noticed. I actually said at the movie “hey that’s not how she got it!!!”
How long do you expect the movie to be? Adding in all that would be difficult and they can still link everything later they are making two movies out of the third book after all.
I think the weird thing is that half of the third book isn’t even as interesting as the first book. This is the reason I think that the third book shouldn’t be split into two movies. But in the first movie I think they took out a lot of important character development, and some of the games was a bit strange. For example: *spoilers* when Peeta and Katniss got that medicine from Haymitch, it made it seem like they didn’t really have to worry through the games because something would just fall out of the sky and save you. Another thing that bothered me was that the games seemed focused on physical violence rather than the emotions tied in. The beginning was amazing, minus the lack of Madge’s character. Can’t complain about much but the games really disappointed me. It was a good movie but not the ‘Amazing’ I was really looking for.
-Tina
how about peeta’s new leg they barely if at all touched on that, which may seem minor now but comes sort of into play later on in the sequels
Can I just say that everyone need to stop arguing about prim and Rue. I don’t mean to sound rude or anything but it doesnt matter what race she is. The whole point is that Rue reminded Katniss of Prim. It doesn’t matter of she was colored or not, the whole point is that Rue reminded Katniss of Prim. So can u guys stop arguing about it! It’s a pointless argument!
‘Colored’?
Lol.
Sorry, it’s just a bit strange to see that word. Made me laugh :3
It’s not an argument. Rue had dark skin in the book, simple as that. Everyone who says she should have been white is wrong. End of story..
u forgot madge
Seneca Crane was supposed to be hung. The berries do add somewhat of an ironic twist to the movie, but it’s going to mess up Catching Fire in part of it. Peeta and Katniss both get twelves in their scores, breaking the record and making them even more desirable to kill. The GameMakers did it for that reason. Peeta draws a picture of Seneca, and Katniss ‘hangs’ a training dummy and labels it with Seneca’s name, which outrages them. It’s irksome.
*End of rant*
Actually, peeta paints a picture of Rue with the flowers around her the way Katniss arranged them when she died in the games. I didn’t think having him executed by the berries instead made that much of a difference though.
I was actually pretty disappointed in the movie. I understand that they cannot include every detail from the book into a movie, but I felt like they either left out or didn’t go into enough detail about some of the most important parts. Changing the story about the pin and not including Madge at all is going to set them up for a challenge in the second movie. I don’t think they did a very good job showing when Peeta threw Katniss the bread. Someone who didn’t read the book would not realize that she was on the verge of death and that throwing the bread was such a bold move on his part. Altogether, they didn’t really do a great job showing that she was from the Seam and that hunger was such a problem there, whereas Peeta was from the “nicer” part of District 12. I thought that Peeta and Katniss’ relationship during the games came off as somewhat of a joke in the movie when Peeta was actually in love and Katniss was starting to get caught up in the act as well. Also, they didn’t even show in the movie that Peeta got bit by the dogs and had to get his leg amputated. Overall, I was a little disappointed in the movie and think that they are going to have trouble portraying the second book accurately after some of the changes they made for this movie.
actually that was in the second book when he had to impress the gamemakers again at the quarter quell.
I think Rue played an excellent Rue. I think she was even better in the movie than in the book. She was one of a kind, and I don’t think anyone could have done a better job. But in the movie, when Katniss pushes Peeta, she doesn’t push him into a vase, she just pushes her palms on him and pushes him against the wall. I also think at the end when Cato dies it’s weirder in the movie because they do not add all the details and it doesn’t talk specifically about how the game maker died he was supposed to be hung, not trapped in a room with berries. But the movie was awesome. The only reason they did not add major details was because the book is like 300 pages and the movie would be about 6 hours long if they added every sing detail.
As far as the movie is concern,I think the most important part that had been missed to emphasize was “BUTTERCUP”…… hahaha. . just kidding.( well Buttercup did not appear in the movie the way he was described on the book right???)
Overall I think the movie was ok! It is one of the better book turned movie type of movie. I think if I didn’t just read the book I would have liked it more because every flaw that was made was still very fresh in my mind. However let me just state what I felt was really missing. I hated how they changed the whole mooing jay pin thing. How hard was it to leave that part in… Also I would have loved to see the avox scene. Although it doesn’t really play a big role in the story the avox does appear in book 2 & 3 again. Finally I hate how everything was super rushed. They didn’t really get a chance to show of the relationship that
Katniss had with everyone. I really wanted to see peeta and Katniss’ love grow more because that is a big point in the book… There’s other things but I don’t want to complain anymore it makes me angry haha. But I wanted to see rue and her relationship more too. Although they did become close very briefly I wished they slowed it down to see how much katniss felt for her. Also I always pictured rue white idk why probably cause I’m not a super detailed reader but idc. I was shocked that rue was black but I still loved her character, the skin color did not matter because the actress played the role brilliantly, and I cried when rue died so good job!
District 4 tributes are Careers and the uprising started in another district.
Another big difference between the book and the movie is how Katniss gets the mockingjay pin. In the book, the mayor’s daughter Masdge gives it to her. In the movie, Katniss buys it at the Hob. As the pin becomes a symbol for revolution throught the rest of the story, I feel this was a big mistake made by the film makers.
Honestly, this is one of the best movies I’ve seen as far as being adapted from a book.
It’s actually quite hard (Nigh impossible) to fit all the small details from the book into the movie, and i think the filmmakers did a mighty fine job staying true to the book.
Also, considering the difference between the mediums of paper and screen, the quuality of the movie would’ve suffered rather than increased if they had attempted to keep it exactly the same as the book.
So overall, they did a pretty good job. Although I wish there was a squick more gore. The brutality of the Hunger Games was honestly one of the things that made it such a powerful series.
Amen
What about Katniss losing her hearing in her left ear, tht plays a huge part in the next book, she’s supposed to be able to hear the invisible wall thingy that keeps them in the arena
I agree but at least they showed her lost hearing for a couple of seconds. ANd she was lying about hearing it in catching fire. She only said that because if she said she could see the wall (what she learned from nuts and volts) the gamemakers would change force field to make it so Katniss couldn’t see it.
To everyone still commenting on the book vs. movie: Please read the already posted comments before deciding to throw in your two cents. People keep writing the same things again and again, as if their post is the first time anybody has noticed whatever they realized had changed or was left out. It gets awfully repetitious.
The one new comment I’ve seen is the post that said Katniss’ hearing loss was left out and that it was important in the next book. They did allude to her damaged hearing very briefly in the movie, right after the explosion, but in the novel her hearing is completely repaired during her hospital stay after the games.
I went to the movie hoping that it would hold itself up to the books but knowing that movie adaptions are never as good. The first big thing that disappointed me was the Fact that Madge didn’t give her the pin. I know she really has no significance in the book besides the giving of the pin because even in the later books she is just a reason to go upstairs so Katniss can see the tv and then she dies so they could easily cut her out and give Katniss the pin another way but I liked having the characters having actual connections. I also didn’t feel a connection to the characters in the movie like I did in the books. In the book I cried my eyes out when Rue died, the only book that ever made me cry, but in the movie I didn’t feel like I knew Rue at all and had no connection to her. But the biggest thing besides the mutations and Catos death has to be the fact the Peeta didn’t lose his leg. That was a pretty big thing to leave out.
After Katniss and Peeta get to the cave, the announcement for the backpacks comes on and Katniss tries to go get it but Peeta won’t let her go. In the book she kisses him (which she does do in the movie) but she does it a second time, earning her the syrup that’s used as a sedative which she then tricks Peeta into eating, thus making him fall asleep and allowing her to go get the pack. In the movie she goes while Peeta’s asleep. I also kinda expected the whole cave scene to be more… intense or romantic or something but whatever, overall it was still good and made me girly and junk. :3
Also, they never mentioned in the movie Peeta losing his leg, which I thought was a very important detail. Not to mention, that tied in with the very emotional scene in the book where she was pounding on the glass when they were opperating on Peeta’s leg. Also, at the end of the book, Katniss admits to Peeta on the train that her feelings for him were just for the cameras, while she never tells him in the movie. There are surely many things in this movie they left out that I’m not sure how they will incorporate in the movies to come.
I honestly loved the movie much more than the book. you guys need to understand that the movie itself was already really long, it was more than two hours and it did include a lot of the major events that contributed to plot development. I bet if time wasn’t a big issue, the movie would’ve been great.
I didn’t like katniss very much in the book, in fact I was very impatient with her. but I loved her in the movie :3
I agree, in the book, it seems to teeter back and forth as to the personality of Katniss. I like the perception of her be a strong, emotionless female. In the book it is like a confusing about what you are supposed to think about her.
I thought the movie was great.
I do think they didn’t tell the backstory of the games very well but I don’t think the book told it very well either.
I think the scenes with Crane and Snow did well in discussing the games, such as the speech about the “hope” when he discussed how hope is stronger than fear and that’s why they have the games as opposed to just lining up 24 people and just executing them as well as the “underdog” speech after the riot scene.
only thing they could have done in the movie was perhaps discussing the tesserae in more detail and perhaps peeta’s leg injury being far more severe, but everything else was decent. Avox can be discussed in Catching Fire as the riot scene was jump started sooner in the Hunger Games.
i think it’s great that there are differences in the film and movie, besides the time issue. scenes like expanding Snow and Crane’s conversations and the riot scene after Rue’s death and even the conversation about “young love” between Haymitch and Crane that led to 2 Victors was a nice unique view. Since Collins wrote the screenplay, she probably wanted to do things differently as opposed to the book as it gives the viewers something “new” and unique perspective that’s not in the book to add on to the story, such as Snow’s explanation about the games and using the Riot scene early to illustrate visually the upcoming conflict and how Katniss was able to show the people of Panem a unique energy they had never seen.
OMG I Love This
Hunger Games Is Epic
There were a lot of minor differences, but that is always expected.There were a few differences that really bothered me that I thought changed the tone/plot of the story.
-The reaction to Rue’s death in District 11. In the book they send Katniss bread which is supposed to be a big deal because they are a poor district. There is no uprising in 11, the uprising starts in 8. But in the movie they start the uprising in 11 as a response to Rue’s death.
-Peeta is never really in any danger of dying in the movie. In the book when Katniss finds him (and bathes him by the river, which I would’ve liked to see in the movie, PG-13 version of course) he is in really bad shape. He is severly wounded and very weak. She cleans the wound but discovers he has blood poisoning and may die. That’s why she risks everything to get the medicine at the feast. Also she is injured a lot worse in the book at the feast when Clove cuts her. She ends up passing out from blood loss and Peeta nurses her back to health.
-Basically the whole love story between the two seems really rushed and not believable in the movie, in my opinion. I understand there was time issues but I think they should have shown that more time had passed than just one night that Peeta and Katniss spent in the cave bonding.
-And Katniss receives fewer gifts from sponsors in the movie.
-there was an “uprising”, or technically a riot, in District 11 in Catching Fire during the Victory Tour after Katniss thanked the people of District 11 about how Rue meant to her as the Peacemakers wanted this one man to stop whistling Rue’s song. I actually thought that was better in the film doing it that way then the breadbasket parachute, as having the riot right after Katniss giving the salute made Rue’s death more dramatic in a visual sense as well as the scenes feeding into the scenes afterwards with conversations between Haymitch and Crane as they were noticing the “spark” of rebellion and how the “young love” can get focus away from the District 11 riots. The conversation with Snow and Crane also added dramatic effect as they were worrying about how the Games can get things in the district out of hand which were probably happening In the novel, it didn’t really explain the rule change about having 2 victors and Haymitch talking to Crane as well as the Crane and Snow’s “underdog” speech were executed well.
-I will agree with Peeta’s leg injury was diluted in the film and could have been more dire, at least towards the end in the hovercraft. They didn’t have to show all too much blood or a massive cut, but they could have at least made the injury seem more fatal during the last fight as a dog could have bitten it or even him limping more when heading to the Cornicopia. Katniss being knocked out after the head wound while Peeta takes care of her would also have been nice and wouldn’t have taken much time to show.
-The cave scene could have been longer (such as some shots of them watching it rain while in the cave), or perhaps shown some other scenes between Katniss and Peeta such as she washing his wound in the river or even a glimpse of Peeta fighting off Cato in the background as Katniss escapes after being stung. Or, perhaps them in a sleeping bag could have done given the time constraints as opposed to him just being on the cave floor without anything when they cuddled to keep warm would have done nicely. Even though their relationship could have been shown better emotionally speaking, I am mostly fine with the way it was shown as more will be discussed in Catching Fire as their relationship didn’t really kick off until then so it could be good showing “less is more” in this first film. during the ride home, Katniss said she “wanted to forget what happened” whereas Peeta said he didn’t was a nice touch though perhaps they could have added that line where Katniss was unsure of how she felt with Peeta angry at her response that was in the book.
-fewer gifts from sponsors wasn’t too bad as the main point of her getting sponsors at all at those critical times was enough. showing Haymitch getting people to sponsor and bet on her was a nice fill in. it would have been nice for the syrup parachute, but only getting 2 parachutes as well as the medicine at the cornucopia was fine.
I think the special effects were poor, the fire scence was cool with their costumes and her dress though. the book paints this very vivid picture and the capitol almost seems magical, but I didnt feel this in the movie. Some of the special effects seemed almost fake and cheesy, they need to improve this in the upcoming movies.
I think they made a big mistake by starting the uprising in district 11. This really takes away from the threat of the Capitol on Katniss and Peeta. The whole point of Snow’s visit at the beginning of Catching Fire is that he is threatening Katniss for the stunt with the nightlock berries because he fears it will start an uprising. If the uprising had already started (like in the movie) for reasons unrelated to Katniss and Peeta then it diminishes the point to Snow’s threat.
The uprising in 11 (it was more of a riot technically, a riot is a flash in the moment like the Occupy in Oakland and doesn’t last to long whereas an uprising has longer impact and staying power like Tahlir Square in Cairo that’s really threatening and changing) was related to Katniss in that the way she was honoring Rue with the flowers and then giving a tribute sign to the people of District 11. The riot happened right after the crowd saw Katniss gave a tribute sign and they gave the sign back to her so that means she was directly involved as she shown her gratitude to them for Rue being her ally and she was an ally of District 11. Even in the book, Katniss talked about showing the Capitol that they were showing defiance against them when she put the flowers down on Rue and even when she said out loud that she thanked the people of District 11 when she gave the breadbasket which the Capitol wouldn’t be happy about. In the book, she knew that the cameras won’t film her placing the flowers and even her singing to her but she knew that the audience will see the flowers when the hovercraft took her away. When she heard that they were changing the game to allow 2 Victors from the same district, she figured something must have happened to change the games and the riot scene in the movie along with the discussions between Crane and Haymitch then Crane with Snow illustrated why the rules changed for the Victors whereas in the book there was no real reason from Katniss’s POV. She spoke of riots as well, and this scene in the movie illustrates for non readers the tensions between the Capitol and the Districts. Also during the nightlock scene, Katniss was also doing the berries for Rue as well as Peeta and herself as Rue’s death helped to trigger Katniss being more defiant and the riot scene helped to show the audience how Katniss’s actions helped bring the spark.
As for Catching Fire, the riot scene in 11 in the movie can be tied into President Snow’s visit which they will probably show in the next movie as having a riot is an indicator of possible threats and tensions. The riot was contained to that little area and didn’t last whereas the uprising in District 8 was more extensive. Even though the movie jumped the gun on the riot in District 11 sooner, personally I think it was better the way they showed in the film of them having a riot after Rue died and after Katniss gave them the tribute sign than from the whistling from the old man.
Another minor difference can be that their cat is orange in the book, but in the movie their cat is black.
i think they did a very poor job of showing how much hate and contempt the was in district 12 towards the capital. and how much misery and dispair was present in the citizens of 12 where most people were dieing of starvation
also they failed to show how more lenient and tolerant the peacekeepers were in 12 compared to other districts. how she had a business relationship with a few of them as she sold her illegal game to them, and that brings up the Hob, aka black market, where she sold her collected berries and hunted game
the leniency of District 12 by the peacekeepers can easily be shown in Catching Fire as Catching Fire goes into more detail about the peacekeepers interaction with the people of District 12
starvation is hard to show, but the film in the beginning showed how poor and distraught the people were in those wooden houses as well as them going into the mines. perhaps another dialogue scene between Katniss and Gale, or with Peeta on the train talking about food could have been made to illustrate the hunger in the town.
I also noticed, even though it is not a big deal difference but, in the book katniss explains how her mother braids her hair down her back, but in the movie her hair had a Dutch braid on the side… I know it’s not an important difference and it doesnt matter at all… But I just thought I should let you know.
well in another book while preparing for the quell i believe her prep team asks her mother to show them how she did that braid.
The other big omition in the movie was the girl Katniss didnt rescue in the forest and who she meets again in the Capital as one of the toungless slaves I havent read the 2nd or third books yet. How important is this omition does she play a greater roll in the later books?
that would have been a nice scene to have in the first movie with that Avox, but that can be easily be placed in the 2nd and 3rd films. It discusses her in the 2nd and 3rd books so it can work well if she is focused on more in the later movies.