7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.1 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth BanksAdventure | 100% |
Action | 81% |
Fantasy | 72% |
Sci-Fi | 56% |
Teen | 30% |
Thriller | 2% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
UV digital copy
BD-Live
Mobile features
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
My wife is a saint, and I’m not just saying that because she typically checks in on my reviews and will be seeing this. She has been a faithful reader to both of our boys throughout their childhood into their adolescence and even occasionally (when they’ll permit it, anyway) their teen years. She dutifully read every last page of all the Harry Potter books to our sons as they were growing up, and as anyone who has ever made it through even one of J.K. Rowling’s vast opuses will understand, that was no easy task. I first became aware of The Hunger Games when my wife and one of my boys shouted out during a Modern Family episode (one of the very few “appointment television” outings we share as a family), “Look! Alex is reading The Hunger Games!”. Typically clueless father that I am, I had been unaware that my younger son had been reading The Hunger Games for some time and my wife had occasionally been “helping him out” by reading out loud to him at bedtime, and had in fact become so enamored of the story that she began reading the series herself in her spare time (spare time being a decidedly relative term in our household). And so excitement was palpable when the film version of The Hunger Games was announced, and became almost unbearable when my son found out his school was actually going to sponsor a midnight field trip to the premiere for kids interested in going, despite it taking place on a school night. (Midnight premieres have of course undergone a shocking reevaluation what with the recent tragic events in Aurora, Colorado, but about the only concern expressed at the time of The Hunger Games’ premiere was how the kids were going to be able to haul themselves to school the next day after having sat in a movie theater until 3 o’clock that morning.) Rather interestingly, the critical assessment the next morning from my wife and son was rather disparate. My wife thought the film was generally successful (with a few reservations), while my son more or less hated it.
The Hunger Games is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Perhaps because the sound design is so spectacular (see below) and the relentless "shaky cam" makes the image seem blurry to begin with, the film's overall visual look may not pop quite to the degree some would expect— but fear not, this is for the most part a flawless high definition presentation. As is so frequently the case in the contemporary film world, the digital intermediate has been significantly color graded and filtered, with many of the forested Arena sequences cast in pale green or cool blue hues. This can potentially rob the image of at least some fine object detail, but the results here are generally quite exemplary, especially in close-ups. Despite the artificial filtering, colors are nicely saturated and if not exactly "accurate" looking (an increasingly irrelevant term in today's color-shifted film world), very robust. The image is crisp and clear and for the most part very precise. The only two concerns that may present any problems are some extremely minor stability issues and some variable contrast. The stability issues are really much less than one might expect, given that so much of the film takes place in heavy foliage, which for some reason wreaks havoc with high definition presentations a lot of the time. The contrast issues are a bit more of a head scratcher, as so much of the film looks good and one would assume that with a DI this would be a replica of the theatrical exhibition. But notice how hard it is to read the second note from Haymitch that Katniss receives after Peeta has been injured. These are very minor qualms however in an overall great looking transfer.
Before we address The Hunger Games' stupendously exciting lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 audio mix, mention must be made of something I at least have never seen before on a Blu-ray release: a Dolby Digital 2.0 track that has been (in the words right there on the audio menu screen) "optimized for late night listening". I don't know why that struck me as inherently funny, but there you have it—for you people staying up way past your bedtime, there's a wonderful Dolby Digital 2.0 track on this disc expressly set up for your listening needs. Now on to the track that most high definition aficionados are going to be listening to, no matter what the time of day (or night). This DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 is simply a huge, unadulterated "wow" from start to finish. Impeccably immersive and full of some of the coolest surround effects I've heard in some time, this track regularly assaults the senses with all manner of discrete channelization and bombastic LFE. I defy most listeners not to startle when they first hear the cannon which announces the deaths of various participants (and listen to how carefully it's placed in the sound field with differing amplitude along the way). One of the coolest effects comes a couple of times in the film when a huge spaceship hovers over head. The LFE here is absolutely astounding and one of the most notable things about it is how it vibrates and pulses over the listener—this is an LFE "wave" of sound. There are too many wonderful moments, both large and small, to really list in any detail, but the track sports absolutely reference quality fidelity, with huge variances in dynamic range and a totally visceral sense of "being there".
The BD containing the main feature also has three supposed bonuses, two of which at least are fairly useless "supplements", at least when measured as having any intrinsic content themselves:
The film world has been jonesin' for a new franchise ever since Harry Potter put down that bizarrely faced dude with the name no one ever wanted to say. Is The Hunger Games that franchise? Based solely upon box office receipts, one would be prone to say "yes", but The Hunger Games is a decidedly darker enterprise than the overall relatively cheerier world of Hogwarts and environs (yes, yes, Rowling's universe had all sorts of malevolence in it, but at least most of the kids weren't running around trying to kill each other). This first film had a huge hurdle to overcome, namely pleasing rabid fans while trying to bring the two or three people who hadn't actually read the book (guilty, sorry) into the club without boring those who already knew the gist of what was going on. The results are mixed, but at least now the foundation has been built for what could indeed be an incredibly exciting set of films. There's probably no denying that the film works best for those who have already read the books and can "fill in the blanks", so to speak, but there's certainly enough here for newbies to get involved in a compelling vision of what basically amounts to State controlled and sponsored murder. This Blu-ray offers great video and spectacular audio and comes jam packed with excellent supplements. Recommended.
2012
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