Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Appetite suppressant.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 4, 2015

The questionable marketing gambit of splitting one book into two (or in some cases, even more) films may make sense from a potential box office standpoint, but it has some built in risks which can debilitate if not outright threaten whatever franchise is involved. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 were seen by many as an overly rapacious attempt to wring as much moolah out of the ticket buying populace as possible, though most critics (including our own Ken Brown, who reviewed the films here and here ) were won over by the two films’ overall dramatic heft and pacing sensibilities. When Twilight Forever: The Complete Saga split its “final” entry into The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 following Harry Potter’s bifurcated approach, fewer were convinced the tactic was anything other than an obvious cash grab, though it must be admitted that if it were only a tactic, it worked spectacularly well, something that no doubt caught the further attention of already interested Hollywood bean counters. The sheer volume and density of J.R.R. Tolkien's iconic Lord of the Rings prequel probably helped to make Peter Jackson's decision to trifurcate that novel into what became The Hobbit: The Motion Picture Trilogy more palatable. The difference in literary quality between the Tolkien and J.K. Rowling tomes and those of Stephanie Meyer perhaps played at least a small part in the somewhat less adulatory responses to the Breaking Dawn films, and that same issue may in fact hobble how fans feel about one of the latest “two-fers” that the avaricious film industry has foisted on the paying public, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. Even many rabid aficionados of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (supposed) trilogy found the final novel to be the least compelling of the bunch, and there’s a certain minor if still noticeable downward turn in this cinematic first half of the last book that the upcoming “final final” film (currently slated for the pre-Christmas marketplace later this year) will have to struggle to overcome. Those who have stuck with the ongoing saga of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) will no doubt find more than enough in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 to distract from some of the film’s lethargy, but this is one case where less (as in one film instead of two) conceivably could have been considerably more.

For those wanting to brush up on the story thus far, our reviews of the previous films can be accessed by clicking on the following links:

The Hunger Games Blu-ray review

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Blu- ray review

Note: It's impossible to discuss The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 without detailing plot points from the first two films as well as giving a general indication of what goes on in this particular outing. While there are no overt spoilers about this film in the following part of the review, those who are sensitive to even the suggestion of plot points (which in and of themselves are of course "spoilers" in one form or another) are urged to simply skip down to the technical portion of the review, below.

Much like Richard Conway in Lost Horizon or Dagny Taggart in Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt?, Katniss finds herself ensconced in a secret place which supposedly doesn’t exist as The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 gets underway. The fact that District 13 does exist isn’t that much of a surprise, but Katniss’ response to being at “Ground Zero” for the rebellion is at least a little unexpected and gives this film the bulk of its conflict, unlike the first two outings where Katniss had both the Hunger Games themselves to contend with, as well as the incipient skirmishes with the nefarious President Snow (Donald Sutherland).

While the first two films exploited visceral action sequences, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is a considerably more intellectual affair, concentrating instead on issues like propaganda and a hero’s (or in this case, heroine’s) willingness to go along with a “marketing campaign” that is ostensibly being mounted for the greater good, even if it grates on more honorable sensibilities. Katniss finds herself a wobbly semi-willing pawn in the hands of Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and District 13’s President, Alma Coin (Julianne Moore). Plutarch and Coin see Katniss as a ready made symbol for the rebellion and want her to partake in a bunch of rabble rousing videos meant to whip up support throughout the rest of the Districts. Katniss, while originally uncertain about this gambit, finally gives in when Coin agrees to help free the other erstwhile Hunger Games combatants, including Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), who are being held by Snow and his cohorts in Capitol City.

This more “philosophical” approach is actually one of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1’s more interesting elements, but it’s enervated by pacing issues, where it’s all too obvious that screenwriters Danny Strong and Peter Craig want to pad the film with sidebars in order to get to a point where—well, where it will finally be time for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. There’s also a certain disconnect in this film between the ongoing carnage at the hands of Snow, something that has already devastated Katniss’ former home of District 12, and the almost weirdly obsessive tendency on the part of Katniss with regard to Peeta. It becomes relatively obvious early on that Peeta, who seems to be in league with Snow and the “official” government, is being as manipulated as Katniss is, though perhaps in a different way.

There are some other interesting elements in various nooks and crannies of this overstuffed film. Both Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) and Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) are back, thrust into unaccustomed roles, or at least modes of behaviors. Haymitch’s is motivated from within, as he attempts to stay on the wagon, while Effie’s is dictated from without, when she finds herself stranded in District 13 without her fashion accessories. There’s also a somewhat unexpected climactic development that plays like a warped version of The Manchurian Candidate, but too much of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 seems built on a flimsy, low stakes premise that tends to undercut the decidedly high stakes parameters of the first two films.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Digitally shot with the Arri Alexa, this release falls very much in line with both The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, with a sharp, well defined image which offers excellent and at times spectacular levels of detail and fine detail (close-ups of faces are especially remarkable). This outing once again traffics in a fair amount of color grading, with both amber and blue hues bathing many sequences, as can be clearly seen in a lot of the screenshots accompanying this review. The amber (or kind of honey yellow) tones tend to mitigate very slight amounts of detail, something that's probably exacerbated by the fact that many of these moments play out in the underground lair of District 13, where lighting is at a minimum. Despite the many dark sequences in the film, shadow detail is generally quite commendable. As with the previous entries in this series, CGI has been artfully woven into the proceedings but can tend to look a bit soft in comparison to the bulk of the presentation. Finally, there are no issues with image instability and despite the general dankness of the ambience, no noise creeps into the image.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 offers a commanding Dolby Atmos (core Dolby TrueHD 7.1) track that provides near constant immersion not necessarily limited to the somewhat abbreviated action elements this film indulges in. In fact some of the most convincing spatial recreation comes courtesy of the cavernous environment of the underground District 13, with its slightly hollow, echoing ambience. Dialogue is cleanly presented and is neatly directional quite a bit of the time, and a glut of well done sound effects are expertly placed throughout the surrounds to nicely create a lifelike ambience in both interior and out of doors sequences. Fidelity is superb and dynamic range is extremely wide in this problem free track.

For what I believe is the first time in my personal reviewing history, there's also an interesting DTS Headphone: X mix which offers a faux 11.1 surround mix. I sampled this on my home computer and while it of course doesn't provide the spacious ambience of a true surround mix, it's quite impressive on its own terms.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson


• The Mockingjay Lives: The Making of Mockingjay Part 1 (1080p; 2:14:19) is an impressively in depth assortment of seven featurettes that look at a variety of subjects, from casting to visual effects. The individual entries are:

  Hope and Rebellion: Continuing the Saga

  Designing Dystopia: Visual Aesthetic

  Rebels and Warriors: The Cast

  Fusing Form and Function: Costume, Make-Up and Hair

  Fighting the System: Shooting on Location

  D13: Rebellion Tactics: Stunts and Special Effects

  Perfecting Panem: The Post-Production Process

• Straight from the Heart: A Tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman (1080p; 11:03) is an homage to the late actor.


• Songs of Rebellion: Lorde on Creating the Soundtrack (1080p; 8:10) focuses on the film's music.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 11:18)


• Lorde "Yellow Flicker Beat" Music Video (1080p; 4:05)


• Insurgent Sneak Peak (1080p; 4:11) offers a glimpse at the next franchise set to split one book between two films.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Perhaps if The Hunger Games: Catching Fire hadn't been such a generally exciting and well done second chapter in this supposed "trilogy," the flaws of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 wouldn't be so pronounced. This is an oddly static offering, one that admittedly has a number of really interesting elements, but which never works up much momentum or (even more importantly) emotional heft. Fans of the franchise will no doubt be willing to (at least largely) forgive the film its shortcomings, but The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 already has its work cut out for it. Technical merits are very strong and the supplemental package is well done, and with caveats noted, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 comes Recommended.