Is The Hunger Games so different from Battle Royale?
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If by troll you mean "ACTUALLY a murderous raping psychotic" as opposed to someone who's just trying to get a reaction from people by ACTING like a murderous raping psychotic, then yeah.MammothBlade said:Also, greatest troll ever:
Meh... What about Condemned and the Running man...? There are other films/media in this genre...!
I don't think it is a rip off... more of a re-imagining. That has happened multiple times in the past, but successfully... for instanceThe Longest Yard, and Mean Machine... or even I am Legend, which is so different from the book and the original movie (the Omega Man), yet is still good...
Sorry to say, but pledging allegience to a cheaply made Japanese gore flick, with some of the funniest worst acting I have ever seen, just because you are unhappy that a remake is more popular is a bit fanboyish...! I like Battle Royal too, but I understand that a lot of people don't like action driven, poor acting and voice over, and mindless killing, where as from what I have been told, the Hunger Games puts a lot more thought into the why and the how and the characters...!
Hell... the fact that it has attracted so much attention, and so many people have read it, cannot be a bad thing in any aspect! It must have something about it!
I don't think it is a rip off... more of a re-imagining. That has happened multiple times in the past, but successfully... for instanceThe Longest Yard, and Mean Machine... or even I am Legend, which is so different from the book and the original movie (the Omega Man), yet is still good...
Sorry to say, but pledging allegience to a cheaply made Japanese gore flick, with some of the funniest worst acting I have ever seen, just because you are unhappy that a remake is more popular is a bit fanboyish...! I like Battle Royal too, but I understand that a lot of people don't like action driven, poor acting and voice over, and mindless killing, where as from what I have been told, the Hunger Games puts a lot more thought into the why and the how and the characters...!
Hell... the fact that it has attracted so much attention, and so many people have read it, cannot be a bad thing in any aspect! It must have something about it!
In the story a Greek king (I forget his name, started with an M though) sent 14 children to battle the minotaur every year (or every 5 or 7 years something like that) and chose those from his servant cities to keep them in line. Collins listed it as one of her inspirations.Queen Michael said:
And Collins listed Theseus and the Minotaur and the war in Afghanistan as her inspirations. She, and Fukasaku were both probably influenced by a lot of things that they didn't cite.Mebulous said:
Actually "Battle Royale" is a major cult classic, it not only had a movie, but the movie went over well enough to spawn a sequel:techmec21 said:
http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Royale-Revenge-Uncut-SE/dp/B000KF0W30/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332534133&sr=8-1
You'll also see things on Amazon like "collections" with both movies and so on.
The second movie is the one that people generally hate, at least in the US. It got away from the basic idea of the series into a massive criticism of the US. It literally has the characters going to Afghanistan which is presented as being some kind of terrorized utopia. This being made in 2005, so yeah the analogy is intentional.
That said, the idea of "The Hunger Games" is very old, as Moviebob points out it's very similar to "The Running Man" which can ultimatly be brought back to things like "The Most Dangerous Game". Over the years we've seen things like "Hard Target" with Van Damme, the pseudo-cult classic "Series 7", a Stone Cold Steve Austin vehicle with condemned prisoners (I can't remember the title), and another movie I can't remember the title of with Ice T (I think) and Gary Busey.... or heck even "Gymkata".
I think what makes "The Hunger Games" stand out is that it was written with feminist sensibilities as opposed to those for a more action-oriented, male audience, and happened to be marketed for the whole "Twilight" crowd which is a rising demographic. Just as "Twilight" was hardly a unique idea, the same is true of "The Hunger Games" and the way the series develops (which can be compared to "The Running Man" either the story or the movie, and Battle Royale's progression in the second movie... which moved well away from the intent of the book), it just happened to be aimed at exactly the right audience at exactly the right time.
I tend to see "The Hunger Games" and "Twilight" as bosom buddies on a lot of levels, filling a similar niche today to what "Fear Street" books were filling for kids right about the time I was entering college and was too old to really appreciate them. Albiet this kind of "young adult" fiction is aimed specifically at a female audience and simply doesn't mind if it picks up some male fans along the way, where things like "Fear Street" were aimed at more of a general audience. Part of it is doubtlessly that women rarely have stories like this aimed at them and stylized for them.
I use "Fear Street" as an example largely because before the contreversies that helped shelve then and get the creator(s) to focus almost exclusively on entirely kiddie fair due to young adults being too touchy for them and stepping over the line into "adult" material one time too often, it was an example of a crazy amount of world building for a young adult series and despite what you might think had a lore behind it which while not as good, could probably be compared to HP Lovecraft's Mythos in it's level of detail. That kind of thing helped drive the series. If you check some "Fear Street" fan sites and look at the timelines and such you'll see exactly how deep that rabbit hole can go... and remember the age it was written for. I've read a few and still own some (which is why I am familiar with them, and how I decided they were too "young" for me when they came out), but a lot of my knowlege comes from having played a lot of PNP RPGs, especially horror games, with people a few years younger than me around that time, and a lot of the people I gamed with were heavily into them.... and the point is that it seems almost EXACTLY like what Twilight and The Hunger Games and their audience is like, except with a lot more girls and fem-nerds than there are guys in the audience.
from my housemate who has read both (as I haven't had time to read Battle Royale since I heard of it about a month ago)
Hunger Games and Battle Royale have similar ideas, but the approach is different. Batle Royale characterises the kids overall more, but Hunger Games explores the world more. Both are good.
Hunger Games and Battle Royale have similar ideas, but the approach is different. Batle Royale characterises the kids overall more, but Hunger Games explores the world more. Both are good.
Err... Correct me if I've missed something, but I don't think the thread-starter actually accused The Hunger Games of being a rip-off. He's just wondering why two books with very similar plots have had such different levels of success.Vault101 said:
To answer the question: I think it's just because The Hunger Games is more accessible to (and more targeted towards) younger readers. And it probably doesn't hurt that it was recommended by Stephenie Meyer.
Nobody said anything about either being a ripoff, the question was merely speculating about what makes one more popular than the other when both are similar concepts, and in the OP's opinions, the less popular is actual better.Vault101 said:
Anyways, from what I've gathered simply be noticing the trend of commentary coming from women in my social circles over the past few months, they seem to be the bulk of the fan base. Leading me to assume that, as a few others have mentioned, the The Hunger Games greater focus on romantic plot points has drawn in and solidified the youth/teen/young adult female fanbase, same sort of situation as Twilight.
No idea what the movie is actually like, nor the books, but that seems to be where the popularity is coming from.
As far as comparisons I am yet another who can not truly make one. I love the book an the movie was very Meh. I just so happen to first hear of battle royal about 1/3 through the last hunger games book but then I was all "Oh it is manga and i tend to hate manga even if i can see how it is good" and put it off entirely.
Which brings up an interesting point in it's self. These are easily two different mediums and to be honest as such one can not rip off another if you are to ask me.
Which brings up an interesting point in it's self. These are easily two different mediums and to be honest as such one can not rip off another if you are to ask me.
Never read the hunger games, but i read the battle royale manga...and have since gone out of my way to repress that piece of shit as much as i can. Honestly, i don't know if the movies good or the novel is, but the manga was terrible: The main character was a dumbass, everyone else was boring or a completely unlikeable shit, and when it wasn't being outright disgusting it was being horrifically boring (I'll give a run-down of the scenes: Boring shit, brief gratuitous violence or a disgusting scene, long and drawn out flash-back. Rinse and repeat)...to the point i wander if Frank Miller had any hand in making it.
Overall, it's an example of an interesting concept implemented badly. If you liked the manga, fine, but i didn't. I don't know if the hunger games is any good or not, having never read or watched it, but eh..i hate battle royale so maybe the hunger games did it better? Whose to say.
Overall, it's an example of an interesting concept implemented badly. If you liked the manga, fine, but i didn't. I don't know if the hunger games is any good or not, having never read or watched it, but eh..i hate battle royale so maybe the hunger games did it better? Whose to say.
collins has created dystopia lite....a young adult version of a dystopian world...watch them run to the theater, dressed as their favorite hunger games character...who is about to die
its very sad
its very sad
when did takami say this? which myth? the minotaur myth? the one collins had to really stretch to use (mutant dogs)ShadowStar42 said:
pure bs, and the "man hunting man" didnt start there...more with the romans, in reality
collins grabbed the myth, because that was the only one where teens are put into jeopardy...they are sacrificed to the minotaur....but they arent given a chance to fight back...or fight each other
nope...takami is clear, he was influenced by other modern stories of the genre, including the long walk
amazingly, collins never heard of that one either
LIAR
Similar is fine - star wars, star trek. Lord of the Rings, Narnia.Vault101 said:
Direct copy of plot, setting and idea is pretty lame.