The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Parts 1 & 2

[DarthSkywalker]

The movie is sounding like what I feared. A whole film based around stalling.

 

[Marvolo]

Not only that but it sounds like splitting the film was a legitimate cash grab and in no way served or benefited the story. I read one review that said this film could have been condensed down to 45 minutes and the plot wouldn't have suffered at all. If that's true then clearly this book should have been one film.

 

[jmc]

I'm leaning that way, they say the film abruptly comes to a stop so I might just sit this one out until next year. I'm very interested in what the reaction is going to be from fans who haven't read the book.

It actually makes me wonder if this whole splitting the final part of the story in two thing might come back to bite studios in the arse one day. There's no incentive for people to flock to see half a story.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

It actually makes me wonder if this whole splitting the final part of the story in two thing might come back to bite studios in the arse one day. There's no incentive for people to flock to see half a story.

For a film like this? The fanbase will make it worth it.

 

[jmc]

For a film like this? The fanbase will make it worth it.

I dunno, eventually people may wisen up and start skipping chapters. The final parts in these split films tend to make significantly more money.

 

[CB Fan]

It actually makes me wonder if this whole splitting the final part of the story in two thing might come back to bite studios in the arse one day. There's no incentive for people to flock to see half a story.

People are going to see it, but they might be so let down and upset that it hurts the next films BO especially if it isn't well received critically.

 

[Snow Queen]

I'm going to join those who said they're going to sit this one out. I've read the book, so I'm not dying to know what happens next and I see no reason to pay for half the story. I can wait a year and watch them back to back or just rent it later.

 

[jmc]

People are going to see it, but they might be so let down and upset that it hurts the next films BO especially if it isn't well received critically.

The thing that potentially hurts is if it's just two hours of filler. A Facebook friend of mine went to see it at midnight yesterday and found it incredibly boring. I've said this with regards to The Hobbit but I'd really like to see a fan edited version of this how last story could be been when part 2 comes out eventually.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I dunno, eventually people may wisen up and start skipping chapters. The final parts in these split films tend to make significantly more money.

Plenty skip chapters now. But the fanbase, when it is this large, makes up for that. One of the benefits of filming the two movies together is it cuts the cost by quite a bit. So it is almost like they get the revenue for one film for free.

 

[DA_Champion]

It's too bad if the film is not good, as the first two films in this series were excellent.

 

[DCW]

I'm always glad to see backlash against movies being split into two (or sometimes more) parts. 99.99999% of the time it's unnecessary.

I read the book a few years ago and like others have said, I'll probably sit this one out until the final movie comes out next year.

 

[kedrell]

Delayed in China to Jan, 2015.

Although they are spinning it as local movies need space issue, I think it has to do with the movies political message. This article has less spin.

Could China quietly bury this movie? It won't gross 1B if that happens.

I very much doubt it would cross $1b even with China. The last film didn't even cross $900m and I don't see a huge swell in store for this either. Maybe the last one can do it but with China I could see this one maybe getting into the $900m bracket. But China burying this could mean the difference between ending up #3 or #4 WW since Hobbit: TBotFA and TF4 are all but assured the top 2 spots WW. No China could mean GotG actually beats it WW(by very slim margin though....say $750m for MJ1). DOM MJ1 should still easily win the year, though with the reviews it's getting it could very well be the 1st THG film to fall short of $400m DOM.

 

[dark_b]

I have developed a crush on Malone. Don't know where it started.

 

[Persona]

Not only that but it sounds like splitting the film was a legitimate cash grab and in no way served or benefited the story. I read one review that said this film could have been condensed down to 45 minutes and the plot wouldn't have suffered at all. If that's true then clearly this book should have been one film.

yeah, this is probably the one book-to-film split that never made any sense to me at all. the Mockingjay book is literally almost all set-up for its final forty pages or whatever. making a movie out of the first half of that sounded like a terrible idea when i first heard about it, but Catching Fire was so good and i was willing to suspend my doubt knowing that maybe it was being adapted in a pretty expansive or radical way. sounds like my concerns were correct, though, but i'll have to see it for myself.

as far as my comment about the very end going over better in Europe than America, i just meant that the end of Mockingjay--if they stick to it--is not the tight, happy ending we're used to seeing in a lot of Hollywood blockbuster flicks. there is some ambiguity and more than a little tragedy. and there was some of that in the first two movies, which did very well, but Mockingjay is a whole other level and to end on that kind of a BITTERsweet note will probably be a tough pill to swallow for American audiences, especially if they sat through a whole separate movie that was just setting up for it.

 

[dark_b]

after reading some reviews there is no way i will pay for this movie. next year i will watch the last movie on the big screen.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

I will be seeing the movie either tommorow or Saturday night but it's obvious that splitting the last book into two movies was a cash grab.

 

[Quasimod0]

I'll probably be skipping this movie in the theaters. I have seen waaaaay too many movies in theater this year. lol. And the Hobbit is upcoming

 

[Lencho01]

Just got back from it. It was ok. It actually felt a lot like the final two episodes of a TV show where you know the stuff people will talking about is in the real finale. I wouldn't really recommend going out to see it.

 

[IncognitoWalrus]

Man, this is disappointing to hear.

I hope studios stop splitting the last parts in the future.

For Harry Potter it actually felt necessary, but this is just too much.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

I don't think this is as bad as some people are saying. The trailers look pretty good but I understand why some are mad about it being split up into two parts , but other movies have done the same and fans went with it.For example, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 was also filler until the finale and very little actually happened in that movie. People still liked it for what it was. So I am not going to write this movie off until I actually seen it. Because at this point I am to invested in the franchise to not go out and see this. So I will be going to see this either Friday or Saturday night.

 

[jmc]

The real sad part is the series was set up for an epic finale, it's almost anticlimactic we have to have two films for one story.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

I loved the Harry Potter movies and I felt like Deathly Hallows Part 2 was kinda a let down for a finale. The final battle at Hogwarts wasn't nearly has epic, heartbreaking, brutal as I thought it was gonna be. It was really just glanced over and I was like wait WHAT. Even the final encounter with Voldmort wasn't as awesome as I thought it was gonna be. So for this I wasn't really expecting a huge epic finale but at least a decent one.

 

[mclay18]

Wonderful.

Lionsgate and Francis Lawrence borrowed a page from Marvel Studios. Even the same font for the credits, but the post-credits bit isn't worth sitting through.

Spoiler

Instead of putting the Mockingjay symbol breaking free of the ring sequence before the main credits, they place it after all the credits have rolled. After the Mockingjay symbol breaks out of the ring, a fire erupts and you hear that 3-note theme.

I thought the producers were above this.

 

[Apollo]

pff everyone is complaining about watching the first half of the movie.

Wait till the second half of the movie comes out on dvd. paste them together. then watch the whole thing. Then! You'd see the final masterpiece!

 

[IncognitoWalrus]

I loved the Harry Potter movies and I felt like Deathly Hallows Part 2 was kinda a let down for a finale. The final battle at Hogwarts wasn't nearly has epic, heartbreaking, brutal as I thought it was gonna be. It was really just glanced over and I was like wait WHAT. Even the final encounter with Voldmort wasn't as awesome as I thought it was gonna be. So for this I wasn't really expecting a huge epic finale but at least a decent one.

I'm gonna agree with you on DP Part 2 - epic but held back by its fast pacing, which caused some really emotional moments to get cut short. However, I found DP Part 1 to be very insightful and a good justification for the split. It used its runtime well. I never felt that it sagged.

I'm still hoping Mockingjay Part 1 will at least feel right for me. Francis Lawrence really made the last one something powerful.