The Hunger Games 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
Nathan Swank
October 31st, 2016
Every year children ages 12-18 must enter their name into a drawing where one boy and one girl will be chosen from each of the twelve districts to enter THE HUNGER GAMES. Here these 24 children or tributes rather must fight to the death with only one victor, televised for the world to see.
After her twelve-year-old sister’s name is chosen at the Reaping, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), in a heroic gesture, steps forward and volunteers to take her place. Along with her fellow tribute from District 12 Peeta, they must find a way to survive as long as possible. But before entering the games, they must be prettied up and groomed for display as they are paraded around through costumes and interviews for the wealthy to observe. Judging on their looks, skills and personalities, odds will be given, bets will be placed and sponsorships will be chosen. To help them along the way is their caring creative stylist Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) and their drunken mentor, the only past winner from District 12, Haymitch (Woody Harrelson). Getting them ready won’t be easy as the games are at a different location in a different environment each time. From weather conditions to vicious animals and insects, the game’s conditions can be controlled almost completely by the game master Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley) and his crew.
I regularly dislike reading books before seeing the film because quite frankly it ruins the movie. There is so much freedom in a book because one’s imagination is limitless. How is someone else’s vision (in this case, director Gary Ross) supposed to cram our beloved story into roughly two and a half hours while achieving every one of our expectations? Let me ruin the surprise, he can’t. But as someone who has read and loved the excellent novels by Suzanne Collins from which the film was based on, I was less upset with what was left out and more impressed with what was added. Other than perhaps feeling rushed at times because of too much content, Ross did an amazing job fitting and combining scenes to make sure the story flowed for film. In fact, the movie breezed by, full of memorable scenes and absent of a dull moment.
The hand held shaky camera at the beginning was perhaps at times a bit disorienting, but still very effective as it captured the surreal and confused frightened feelings these children must have while waiting to find out if their name will be chosen. Stripped from their homes and families only then to be forced to enter into a battle to the death. The production of the Capitol where the clothing, makeup, food and building structures inhabited by the wealthy are elaborately grand in color, style and gaudy overindulgence is nothing short of spectacular. But where THE HUNGER GAMES really separates itself from another inferior popular teen book to film series (TWILIGHT) is the inventive writing and terrific acting.
Covering social issues within class and leadership while still providing entertaining action and relatable characters, the story is top notch. The actors are all perfectly cast and all turn in strong performances. Lawrence, Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth as Gale all have a deeper presence that anchors the film as the three young leads. While Harrelson and Donald Sutherland as the evil President Snow give a much needed veteran presence for support. But the standout for me was Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, the Ryan Seacrest of the games. From gut bursting laughter to solemnly pretending care, His jovial understanding of showmanship as he interviews each tribute is pitch perfect. His emcee commentary throughout the games is not only entertaining but also a clever way for the audience to understand what exactly is happening.
THE HUNGER GAMES is a violent dark film about children dying and people being entertained from it. It’s a hard PG-13 but I think it handles the issues seriously and cleverly while providing a strong heroine for females with bravery and moral lessons for everyone. Using proper musical cues through a singular singing voice, techno beats or even silence, THE HUNGER GAMES is emotionally stirring and entertainingly riveting.
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: If you’ve checked out any of Lionsgate’s catalog 4K titles, then you know they don’t always give their titles the five star treatment. But this is the company’s biggest franchise, so I had hopes they would give a little more TLC to the 4K release. The result is a bit of a mixed bag. There are scenes, specifically pre-Hunger Games that seem over saturated and almost grainy. The scene where the District 12 team is eating before the games is a good example where the colors, black levels and overall clarity aren’t what you’d expect. In fact, I would say almost every scene at The Capital looked saturated. But then the scenes in the actual Hunger Games really impress and you get a lot of beautiful, rich detail in the forest setting. One thing that didn’t help the 4K realize its potential was the shaky-cam style. In the initial mad dash for supplies, the camera was all over the place and the 4K (or even the Blu-ray) clarity was almost an afterthought. So to sum up, I’d say about half the film is a clear upgrade and the other half is a wash.
Audio: The Dolby Atmos track sounds incredible and fully utilizes every speaker.
So this is kind of interesting; the special features are included on the 4K disc and not the Blu-ray disc and I think that’s the first time I’ve seen that. Also, the 4K version includes the following special feature, which was not on the original Blu-ray release of the film:
Commentary with Stephen Mirrione, Sheena Duggal and Lon Bender: These are below the line talent, but they have a clear passion for the film and offer a decent commentary. Sure, it would have been nice to hear the director and a couple of stars talk about the film, but I found these three to be a good listen.
Click the links below to read our 4K reviews of the other films in the Hunger Games series:
THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE 4K Ultra HD
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 4K Ultra HD
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 2 4K Ultra HD
Click 4K Ultra HD to read more of our 4K reviews. And you can also follow us on Instagram (@flix66pics) to see previews of our upcoming 4K reviews and more pics of the packaging.
