# Hunger Games



## fluffybear

My 9 year old daughter has just been invited to a "HUNGER GAMES" birthday party. Since I have not seen "The Hunger Games" nor do I have the time to watch it before this weekend, I was hoping that those who have seen it can tell me their opinions on if this movie appropriate for someone of such a young age. 
I have looked at a couple of the trailers and personally see nothing wrong but Mrs. Fluffybear on the other hand is on the fence. I guess she has never forgiven my telling her I saw nothing wrong with "Blair Witch Project" either.


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## dettxw

A Kid from each formerly break-away region participates in the reality TV show The Hunger Games as part of a continuing punishment for the region's rebellion. The kids kill each other until there is one winner left. Not for most nine year old kids.


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## spartanstew

http://goo.gl/wlKv6


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## coolman302003

CommonSense recommends kids at least 13 and older: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-hunger-games

IMDb Parents Guide: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/parentalguide

http://www.kids-in-mind.com/h/hungergames.htm


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## fluffybear

spartanstew said:


> http://goo.gl/wlKv6





coolman302003 said:


> CommonSense recommends kids at least 13 and older: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-hunger-games
> 
> IMDb Parents Guide: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/parentalguide
> 
> http://www.kids-in-mind.com/h/hungergames.htm


All of these are great sources of information and they have provided me with a great insight to the movie and even consider wanting to watch it some evening. However, what I really am looking for is if 'John Q Public' would let their tween watch it and why?


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## spartanstew

My wife watched the movie last week.

She says she wouldn't let our 9 year old son watch it, because it's all about a battle to the death. The whole premise is being the sole survivor and there's a lot of kid on kid killing with axes and other brutal implements. It's not like a ghost story or make believe, because it's appears to be actual kids killing other kids.


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## MysteryMan

I would not allow a nine year old to view the movie or attend the birthday party and I would take a second look at the parents hosting the party and question their sanity.


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## 1953

MysteryMan said:


> I would not allow a nine year old to view the movie or attend the birthday party and I would take a second look at the parents hosting the party and question their sanity.


Absolutely agree.


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## Mark Holtz

"May the odds be ever in your favor." 

And Nine sounds very close to the German word Nein, which is translated to no.


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## Go Beavs

I've seen it and enjoyed the movie. However, I wouldn't let my 8 year old son watch it. I think there's too much violence and gore involved. When he's older (like maybe 12 or 13) and can understand what the movie is about, then I will let him watch.


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## EdJ

fluffybear said:


> All of these are great sources of information and they have provided me with a great insight to the movie and even consider wanting to watch it some evening. However, what I really am looking for is if 'John Q Public' would let their tween watch it and why?


Usually, when a book is made into a movie, the story changes a LOT in the movie. I read the book before seeing the movie and was pleasantly surprised how closely the movie followed the book.

I did not see anything particularly bad for a 'tween' in the movie (or the book). It is certainly much less violent than the average computer game these days. Both my 10 and 12 year old grandchildren read the 3 books in the series and watched the movie. No problems and they enjoyed both media.


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## Rich

MysteryMan said:


> I would not allow a nine year old to view the movie or attend the birthday party and I would take a second look at the parents hosting the party and question their sanity.


We just watched it and I'd consider it inappropriate for a 9 year old. We enjoyed the movie, but thought it was too short (at slightly over 2 hours) to really reflect what's in the book. My wife read the book, I plan to read it this week. Even without reading the book, I could see how condensed it was. Probably should have been a trilogy such as _The Lord of The Rings_ was.

Great cast, beautifully filmed but it seemed crammed into those two hours +. All in all, we enjoyed it, but I'm really surprised that someone would want to have a party with kids that young with that particular movie as the centerpiece of the party.

Rich


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## paulman182

It all depends on the child.

Twenty years ago I saw moms renting Freddy Kruger movies for six year olds. I guess none of those former kids are on this forum...

I would want my child to watch it with me for the first time before sending them to such a party.


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## MysteryMan

Birthdays are a time of celebration. For a child they are a time for happiness and joy. I fail to see how a "Hunger Games" theme based party accomplishes this.


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## Herdfan

My daughter saw it a month before she turned 12. But she had read all the books in the trilogy which I thought was important. She knew what was going to happen.

And while there is violence, it is not the graphic slasher film violence. A mature 9 year old can handle it. An immature 13 year old might not. It is all about knowing your kid.


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## Drew2k

Herdfan said:


> My daughter saw it a month before she turned 12. But she had read all the books in the trilogy which I thought was important. She knew what was going to happen.
> 
> And while there is violence, it is not the graphic slasher film violence. A mature 9 year old can handle it. An immature 13 year old might not. It is all about knowing your kid.


Your last paragraphs is key, so it will be up to each parent to decide whether or not their child should attend the party. But I fault the parents of the birthday boy/girl for forcing the other parents to even have to make this decision. As mentioned above, a birthday party is not the place for a movie of this type, and the birthday boy/girl may find that a lot of other children who would have otherwise attended the party will instead send regrets. Why would the parents hosting the party even want to get into that situation?


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## Mark Holtz

How many of us, as adults, would consider attending a _Running Man_ party?


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## Herdfan

Drew2k said:


> Why would the parents hosting the party even want to get into that situation?


Because they either 1) Don't know any better. My kid saw it so every kid can see it, or 2) They don't care. It is all about what their kid wants and they will do whatever it takes to make them happy.

We have done a couple of birthday parties at a local theater. They have a party room and and the kids all have a good time. But we make sure the movies are age appropriate for everyone who is invited.


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## fluffybear

Herdfan said:


> Because they either 1) Don't know any better. My kid saw it so every kid can see it, or 2) They don't care. It is all about what their kid wants and they will do whatever it takes to make them happy.


or 3) or both A & B

To be fair, one could take their child to the party after the movie but that can create some 'social' issues for the child which the parents have not considered.

Personally, I can not imagine a group of 9 year old girls sitting through this movie or a movie of any kind.


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## Herdfan

fluffybear said:


> Personally, I can not imagine a group of 9 year old girls sitting through this movie or a movie of any kind.


You might be surprised. We did Furry Vengeance for her 10th birthday and Hannah Montana for her 9th. All the kids watched movies without issue and had cake in the party room. There was some girl giggling, but they were all good.


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## fluffybear

Herdfan said:


> You might be surprised. We did Furry Vengeance for her 10th birthday and Hannah Montana for her 9th. All the kids watched movies without issue and had cake in the party room. There was some girl giggling, but they were all good.


However, kids trapped at the theater act a lot differently then those sitting on the living room floor watching a 37 inch TV  .


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## Rich

fluffybear said:


> However, kids trapped at the theater act a lot differently then those sitting on the living room floor watching a 37 inch TV  .


I showed this thread to my wife and she didn't think it was appropriate either. That movie is about people killing people. The next book in the series just continues in that vein and if they make a movie out of it, it will be violent too.

Rich


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## Herdfan

Rich said:


> The next book in the series just continues in that vein and if they make a movie out of it, it will be violent too.
> Rich


Already scheduled for a November 2013 Release.

Mockingjay (3rd book) is going to be split and is scheduled to be released in November 2014 and November 2015. It will be the most violent.


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## Rich

Herdfan said:
 

> Already scheduled for a November 2013 Release.
> 
> Mockingjay (3rd book) is going to be split and is scheduled to be released in November 2014 and November 2015. It will be the most violent.


Great! I really enjoyed _Hunger Games_. Just started reading the book.

Rich


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## Herdfan

Rich said:


> Great! I really enjoyed _Hunger Games_. Just started reading the book.


Just my opinion, but I think the second one is the best book and will make the best movie.


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## bjdotson

Rich said:


> We just watched it and I'd consider it inappropriate for a 9 year old. We enjoyed the movie, but thought it was too short (at slightly over 2 hours) to really reflect what's in the book. My wife read the book, I plan to read it this week. Even without reading the book, I could see how condensed it was. Probably should have been a trilogy such as _The Lord of The Rings_ was.
> 
> Great cast, beautifully filmed but it seemed crammed into those two hours +. All in all, we enjoyed it, but I'm really surprised that someone would want to have a party with kids that young with that particular movie as the centerpiece of the party.
> 
> Rich


First, yes it was quite condensed, but the LOTR was made into three movies because it was based on three books and the movies were really condensed versions of their respective books.

Second, Hunger games is based on Book 1 of a trilogy. There will be three more movies (Book 2 and a movie split into two parts based on book 3)


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## Rich

bjdotson said:


> First, yes it was quite condensed, but the LOTR was made into three movies because it was based on three books and the movies were really condensed versions of their respective books.
> 
> Second, Hunger games is based on Book 1 of a trilogy. There will be three more movies (Book 2 and a movie split into two parts based on book 3)


I've now read all three books and I still think the movie was too condensed (or compacted). I liked the third book best of all, but they really could have made two movies out of the first book. So much material packed into so little time.

I just watched the Japanese film _Battle Royale_, a film so close to the _Hunger Games_ film it's hard to believe there's not lawsuits flying across the Pacific. It would seem the Japanese film was the basis for the Hunger Games books. Not nearly as polished and lush as the American film, but if you watch it, you'll clearly see what I mean.

Rich


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## EdJ

Rich said:


> I've now read all three books and I still think the movie was too condensed (or compacted). I liked the third book best of all, but they really could have made two movies out of the first book. So much material packed into so little time.


This is true for just about all 'full-size' novels. The books always have many more subplots going on and much more detail. We listen to a lot of audio books when we travel and most audio book novels run from 12-18 hours in length. So, when they make a movie out of the book, a LOT has to be cut. This is why we are usually disappointed in the movie if seen after reading the book.


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